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Paddy_McShillihan

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Posts posted by Paddy_McShillihan

    Buying slabbed books to upgrade

    in Comics General

    Posted

    On 2018-01-19 at 11:16 PM, Philflound said:

    I'm not sure if this was covered in any previous topics in the past, but I figured I would get some information out there for those of you who purchase slabbed books to try and get an upgrade and make some extra profit. Here are some pointers.

    1. Examine book closely to see defects which may press out to get an easier upgrade.

    2. Examine defects of book both front and back and make sure they correspond to grade. It's very disappointing that a book may be slightly overgraded and have the resub come back lower.

    3. If you open the book, make sure you don't damage it. This may seem logical, but I can't tell you how many times someone slips with a blade, especially trying to open for a signature at a con and slices the end of the book. Or when removing book from the slab/well winds up putting some finger bends or even tears the book. Also, artists may damage books with finger smudges, creases/bends, or spine dings. Window bags help a lot. Just because a book was 9.8 universal doesn't mean the book will retain the 9.8 with a yellow sig label.

    4. Older slabs from early 2000s may have a better chance of upgrades as most weren't pressed at the time and bends will usually come out. But be wary about "time" damage. What I mean here is was this book sitting out on a shelf for years? Or stored in a hot attic? Had drastic temperature changes over the years with the seasons? A book may be a 9.4, but sitting out for long periods of time can fade colors, especially the red. Page quality may have dropped from the temperature. So again, examine books before you buy them. Make sure the grade seems to correspond with the quality from what you see. Grades will drop on occasion.

    5. If you work on books yourself, watch the pressing. Trying to get that 9.4 up to a 9.6 can be rewarding, but popping a staple will kill any money and time you put into it. Pressing defects will also drop a grade if done improperly. Butterfly corners, rippling, staple indentations all can lead to even just a slight drop instead of increase. If you don't know what you are doing, don't work on expensive books. Learn by practicing on $1 bin books or leave it up to the professionals.

    Anyway, good luck with trying to make some extra profit. Hopefully you can take my advice and use it to your advantage.

     

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