Mr. Zipper

On 5/8/2024 at 2:53 PM, trademarkcomics said:

I would think placement would matter. Stan's sig here in black sharpie on ASM #28, for example, would make the grade of the sig fall for me, since you can't see it well. Also, he had a penchant for signing right over Spidey's face...that would have to matter. 

Of course contrast matters. Signature grading is based on boldness, placement/contrast, fading, smearing, skips/streakiness. 

On 5/8/2024 at 5:02 PM, troydivision1 said:

What does the Signature Series hive mind think -
Will books (like mine below) that took the grade hit to keep a solid label yellow label fair better in the long run vs. a higher grade new yellow and black stripe label?
(presuming the current yellow and green labels on eBay will resubmit for the new label)

The Kirby will not pass authentication. I don't know what the policy when one sig passes and one fails. You're likely best leaving it as-is.

A superior looking 7.0

My key takeaway is that I almost can't overgrade, even when I "round up" one increment to what I think it likely is. 

Silver Surfer #10 - 7.5 +1

X-Men #87 - 9.2 +2 (Seriously... 9.6 with a freaking scuffed top spine corner?!?)

Jungle Action #21 - 9.0 +2 (Not a 9.4 I would accept in my collection)

Web of Spidey #51 - 7.0 +1 (I debated between 6.5 and 7.0.. the one time in entire contest I overgraded)

Y: The Last Man #1 - 8.5 +1 

I think it's a generous 2.5, so an upgrade is highly unlikely IMO. And the spine is likely weak and in peril. Unless you have a burning need to thumb through it, I'd leave it as-is.

On 4/30/2024 at 8:42 PM, ChrispyC66 said:

My very raw, very cranky reaction about the Cap book grade is 
I originally had it graded as a 9.0/9.2 and saw that 4” white line on the back cover and thought it was a crease and downgraded the book to a 7.0.

I think throwing in books with barely visible non-defects is screwed up, That book is unfair specimen and playing outside the margins 

This goes beyond guessing the grade and into “what’s the grainy white line on the back cover? Is it a 4” crease or did someone lose a string from their shirt when scanning the book?” 

Congrats to the players who missed the line and aced the grade on the book 

Same. 7.0 on Cap due to what seemed like a massive crease. I was so proud of myself for not missing the hard-to-see crease... that didn't age well. 

How do you determine 6th place? If there are a number of people tied in the 4th slot, do they battle it out? Or do you skip down to the 6th place score slot and let those people battle it out? Presumably there will be multiple people with the same 6th place score. 

I actually did better on this round (5 pts), but I have to say the 9.6 Showcase (with the stain) from Round 1 got into my dome and discombobulated me.   That said, it actually helped me with the Marvel Spotlight. I gave it a 9.2 (with the dust shadow), which is more generous than I would have been prior to Round 1. Previously I would have thought shadows and or moderate stains would be VF territory at best. 

On 4/26/2024 at 10:45 PM, Cerebus3000 said:

I have a tendency to zoom way in and say "dang, look at that crease" or "that stain is huge". Fortunately I usually catch myself by holding a comic up to the screen and sizing the picture before passing final judgment.

I use the high res images just to be sure I am not missing anything, and use the "normal" size image for the grade. IMO it's a mistake to spend too much time on the high res... it magnifies every little crease and corner rub into more than it appears in hand. Especially on dark colors. 

On 4/23/2024 at 3:16 PM, Cerebus3000 said:

The Official CGC Guide to Grading Comics does not mention foxing on the write up for 9.8.  The write up for 9.6 specifically says "the presence of one very small light stain, such as a spot of foxing" is allowed.  The table of defects also seems to have foxing top out at 9.6.

This is correct. Foxing tops out at 9.6 and "stain" tops out at 9.8. I conflated staining and foxing in my original post. 

On 4/23/2024 at 7:58 AM, CGC Mike said:

It's hard to choose which notes that I should include with the books.  My current rule is, if I can see the defect, I do not note it.  With that said, I suppose that there are exceptions to every rule.

Frankly, I would have graded it the same (9.0) whether it was foxing or some other sort of stain. I don't see this as a miss on your part, Mike.  

According to the CGC Grading Guide foxing is allowed up to 9.8, but I would have assumed that in higher grades that would mean a very small and light spot of foxing that is barely visible. I never would have thought that a large and moderately dark spot could go to 9.6. 

On 4/22/2024 at 8:26 PM, jcjames said:

That smudge on the back, the light fc lower spine wear/color loss (not the glare), and slightly soft spine corners... and 9.6!? Wow. 

I gave it 9.0

 

Same. I thought Showcase was structurally a 9.6 and deducted 3 increments for the stain landing at 9.0. Sheesh. Why don't my submissions EVER get it this easy? 

And the 9.4 Superman with spine corners frayed at the top and bottom? C'mon... 

It's probably 8.0 without the rust stain. It's tough to gauge how much that will knock it down, but likely 6.5/7.0

3.0/3.5

Frankly, the PGX slab adds zero value, and actually may detract. Many collectors see PGX and think, "over-graded and possibly unnoted restoration, missing pieces or trimming."

I would crack and it and keep it raw. Slabbing at that grade level doesn't add much. It's a reader. But, If you want it graded, send to CGC. 

On 4/14/2024 at 10:54 AM, BingBangBong said:

No way I'm giving Goldin my SSN number either 😄 Does any other site require this to sell with them? I know Ebay and MCS don't...

Is this the hill you wanna die on?  In all seriousness, this is common practice in almost all auctions houses for high-end collectibles. Goldin routinely sells six and seven figure items. And they have global bidding clientele. I assume the Social Security number is for tax purposes and also to prevent fraud.

It's likely a small amount of color touch can be removed without reducing a 2.5 grade. If I was mine, I would probably give it a go using a credible third party presser. There's not a lot of downside on trying with a PLOD 2.5. 

On 4/11/2024 at 7:25 AM, Paul Kosnik said:

Josh a word of caution--with the popularity of Blue LED photobleaching and H2O2 bleaching in recent years, CGC is working overtime in an attempt to make sure comic books are appropriately labeled so prospective buyers can reasonably expect that any work done to a book is disclosed to them prior to any purchase.  The problem is that there are not definitive non-destructive tests for detecting either of these methods.  So CGC uses a number of clues to infer if one of these procedures has been used and then grades the comic accordingly, which can include Universal, Conserved, and Restored labels.  This leaves room for interpretation which of course is subjective and sometimes incorrect.  They are doing an admirable job sorting out many books that have been bleached, but it's possible that comics with exceptionally white pages would be flagged for possible restoration.  

If you do decide to send it for cross-grading, good luck and please share the restyle with us!

This is all true, and an unsettling trend. However, I believe most of these peroxo-bleachers are doing the cover, not the internal pages. In fact, that is one of the ways CGC is flagging it... an unnaturally white cover paired with internal pages that are toned.

It can, especially on dark colors. Pressing a light break flat can make the break wider and slightly more prominent. It depends on the severity of the break. In this case, it appears the paper fiber is lightly broken (even if the color is not.) This may press flat, but there will always be a fine disruption to the surface of the paper. 

On 4/11/2024 at 8:10 AM, Paul Kosnik said:

Objectively it's better, yes, but this presser left a lot on the table.  The spine roll should be fixed, and the creasing can be improved further.

That said, i would not do all of the work this book needs for $15.  It takes a lot of time, care, and experience to do this properly, so i think you got what you paid for.

Right. For $15 you'll get a one and done and out of the press as soon as it cools. Probably no dry cleaning or spot ironing.

I'm not sure I get it. So Goldin Auctions will continue to be branded Goldin, but they will use ebay as their auction platform?

On 4/10/2024 at 11:40 AM, Sigur Ros said:

Goldin is scum. 

What makes you say that?

On 4/9/2024 at 11:45 AM, RockMyAmadeus said:

 

If the point is that TPAs make mistakes, "fakeautographs" is using a misleading example.

The seller "fakeautographs" is referring to is a Chinese seller who offers fakes with COUNTERFEIT Beckett stickers. Beckett is not certifying the fakes. Chinese knockoff slabs and stickers are a problem, but usually easily identifiable especially when coming from a Chinese seller with hundreds of items at 1/10th typical FMV.