Randall Dowling

Broadly speaking, rust on staples will continue doing it's thing until remediated. Rate of deterioration is determined by atmospheric conditions. One of the early warnings from CGC was to not store slabs in "fire proof" safes as they had a propensity for causing staples to rust in the slab. There's a few tough looking casualties of this out there.

I'm sure this has been posted before but I just found another copy of this nice repository of Matt Baker art (copy shown was sold to a board member recently). Interiors obscured for the innocent.

I think this is the most important part. Most recognized pedigrees fit your criteria, but not all. As you say, it's subjective and generally requires consensus in the community of collectors for recognition.

Fortune favors the bold, Triple J! To the OP, I think your best bet is to carefully remove the staples and then clean them with vinegar. That way you can clean off the paper of any rust residue and access all sides of the staple. You want to be careful to only remove rust, not scratch the staples further. It's been a while but I seem to remember using an old toothbrush to clean them up before restitching (takes a little patience but better than over doing it). If the staples are extremely rusted, your best bet may be replacement. In any case, if you haven't done it before, best to practice on something you don't care about.

I found the original thread in which it was discussed. One of the most reliable board members had seen it in hand and confirmed the issues. https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/topic/203503-hulk-181-cgc-99/page/7/#comments

Edit: seemed funny but not everyone would laugh.

I think they may have followed your advice.

Here's a helpful breakdown for how to approach it. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/061715/how-are-collectibles-taxed.asp

No, I get that. @comicdonna's reaction just mad me laugh.

I did a google search and couldn't get a better or more recent picture. Pretty sure there was a thread on the boards about it but I'm in the middle of something right now. Pretty sure it's the upper right corner that got blunted.

That goes away when you crack it out.

You've got to give Comic Connect some credit for showing the back cover. They don't do it for every book.

No, here's the link on Comic Connect for the Brave and the Bold 61 https://www.comicconnect.com/item/903714 Here's a picture of the Hulk 181 but it's low res and hard to see. My recollection is that the upper right corner is smashed. Not a 9.9 anymore.

It's listed on Comic Connect.

This book (Brave and the Bold 61) is closing on Comic Connect tonight. The current bid is way low for what it should sell for so I got interested. It's one of my favorite covers of the DC Silver Age. Gorgeous book, right? Except it's sitting a little bit low in the case... So I looked at the back cover. Really... this is becoming a very common occurrence with books that are in slabs. I'm now beginning to think that the most risky thing you can do with a high grade book is to send it for grading. If you follow the Grading and Restoration sub forum, books like this are showing up all the time now. CGC has got to fix this so it doesn't keep happening. SCS has been a problem since the beginning but each successive redesign of the case seems to make it worse. I no longer find it acceptable for sellers to say "no returns on graded books" as you can easily get a book that is now an 8.0 in a 9.6 case. Many of us have seen the IH 181 9.9 with the crushed corner. I'm bringing this forward in the hope that CGC will take this seriously and figure out a better way because it's really sad to see a book that has been preserved for 50+ years in immaculate condition, only to get damaged when it's put into a slab. Most of the seasoned collectors know the old adage of "Buy the book, not the label". Unfortunately, this is in direct contravention of the very purpose for CGC to exist. If you can't trust the number on the slab, what's the point. I feel bad for the consignor. But no one should buy this book without being made aware of that corner.

That's pretty shocking! Deserves a screenshot of the result for posterity.

That's a very pretty copy!

FTFY

I believe time will reward you for that purchase.

Well, it's about time. Grab 'em while you can, fellas!

Removing the staples on a comic isn't so bad. It's much easier than you probably imagine. It involves a Dremel tool with the extra fine cutting wheel carefully applied at full speed to each side of the staple. Once that's done, you'll need a needle to push the embedded tines of the staple through the book and out the centerfold. Then you can set the Dremel down. Using a magnet, hover within a hair's breadth of the book and pick up all traces of metal debris. Make sure the needle and the magnet do not, at any time, touch. Finally, remove needle(s) from the book. Done.

Small world. I met Kenny Mauer about 25 years ago (he's a Minnesota native) at his place. He showed me a few of his favorite movie posters which sparked my interest in them for a little while. Fairly affable guy.

Yep, I got mine in today as well along with my winnings from another auction site. I agree, the quality of these books is pretty impressive. The copy of Torture Garden that I won is about as clean as I've ever seen. I have piles of books to process but should post highlights later this week.

I was thinking the same thing. There's a good chance our friend, The Lion, had a hand in this.

One of my favorite magazine covers. Incredibly tough in high grade!