marvelmaniac

Rounded/blunted corners with creasing/denting, edge wear with some color loss, moderate spine stress w/color breaking spine ticks, discolored staples, minor to moderate spine roll, moderate to severe creasing on lower corners that also affects interior pages, 1/2" spine split at lower spine, 1/8" triangle missing from rear cover lower left corner, 1/8" triangle missing from rear cover left edge, minor to moderate sun/dust shadow along spine of rear cover. IMO..VG 4.0 This book in that grade has a FMV or $10.00-$15.00 (as per eBay sold auction prices) 4.0 VERY GOOD (VG): Back to TopThe average used comic book. Cover shows moderate to significant wear, and may be loose but not completely detached. Cover reflectivity is low. Can have moderate creases or dimples. Corners may be blunted. Store stamps, name stamps, arrival dates, initials, etc. have no effect on this grade. Some discoloration, fading, foxing, and even minor soiling is allowed. As much as a 1/4" triangle can be missing out of the corner or edge; a missing 1/8" square is also acceptable. Only minor unobtrusive tape and other amateur repair allowed on otherwise high grade copies. Moderate spine roll may be present and/or a 1" spine split. Staples may be discolored. Minor to moderate staple tears and stress lines may be present, as well as some rust migration. Paper is brown but not brittle. Minor to moderate interior tears may be present. Centerfold may be loose or detached at one staple.

Blunted/rounded corners w/color breaking creases, moderate color breaking creases along top edge, moderate to severe top staple tear, cover detached from top staple, minor to moderate spine stress with multiple spine ticks, discolored staples, minor color loss on cover, slightly discolored rear cover. There are no book length creases, tears, pieces missing, spine splits, etc., however, due to the detached cover I can only go as high as... VG 4.0 5.0 VERY GOOD/FINE (VG/FN): Back to Top An above-average but well used comic book. An accumulation of bindery/printing defects is allowed. Minor to moderate cover wear apparent, with minor to moderate creases and/or dimples. Inks have moderate to low reflectivity. Blunted corners are increasingly common, as is minor to moderate staining, discoloration, and/or foxing. Stamped or inked arrival dates may be present. A minor to moderate spine roll is allowed. A spine split of up to 1/2" may be present. Staples may show minor discoloration. Minor staple tears and minor stress lines may also be present, as well as minor rust migration. Paper is tan to brown with no signs of brittleness. Centerfold may be loose. Minor interior tears may also be present. 4.5 VERY GOOD+ (VG): Back to Top Fits the criteria for Very Good but with an additional virtue or small accumulation of virtues that improves the book's appearance by a perceptible amount. 4.0 VERY GOOD (VG): Back to Top The average used comic book. Cover shows moderate to significant wear, and may be loose but not completely detached. Cover reflectivity is low. Can have moderate creases or dimples. Corners may be blunted. Store stamps, name stamps, arrival dates, initials, etc. have no effect on this grade. Some discoloration, fading, foxing, and even minor soiling is allowed. As much as a 1/4" triangle can be missing out of the corner or edge; a missing 1/8" square is also acceptable. Only minor unobtrusive tape and other amateur repair allowed on otherwise high grade copies. Moderate spine roll may be present and/or a 1" spine split. Staples may be discolored. Minor to moderate staple tears and stress lines may be present, as well as some rust migration. Paper is brown but not brittle. Minor to moderate interior tears may be present. Centerfold may be loose or detached at one staple. 3.5 VERY GOOD- (VG-): Back to Top Fits the criteria for Very Good but with an additional defect or small accumulation of defects that detracts from the book's appearance by a perceptible amount. 3.0 GOOD/VERY GOOD (GD/VG): Back to Top A used comic book showing some substantial wear. Cover shows significant wear, and may be loose or even detached at one staple. Cover reflectivity is very low. Can have a book-length crease and/or dimples. Corners may be blunted or even rounded. Discoloration, fading, foxing, and even minor to moderate soiling is allowed. A triangle from 1/4" to 1/2" can be missing out of the corner or edge; a missing 1/8" to 1/4" square is also acceptable. Tape and other amateur repair may be present. Moderate spine roll likely. May have a spine split of anywhere from 1" to 1-1/2". Staples may be rusted or replaced. Minor to moderate staple tears and moderate stress lines may be present, as well as some rust migration. Paper is brown but not brittle. Centerfold may be loose or detached at one staple. Minor to moderate interior tears may be present.

Unfortunately I cannot answer your question on pressing since I do not use these types of services. Moderate edge wear/wrinkling/creasing/denting, moderate spine stress w/multiple spine ticks, the wrinkling/creasing on the edges/spine go through to the interior pages, rounded/blunted corners, moderate staining along the edges front and rear covers. IMO...FN- 5.5 6.0 FINE (FN): Back to Top An above-average copy that shows minor wear but is still relatively flat and clean with no significant creasing or other serious defects. Some accumulation of minor bindery/printing defects is allowed. Minor cover wear apparent, with minor to moderate creases. Inks show a significant reduction in reflectivity. Blunted corners are more common, as is minor staining, soiling, discoloration, and/or foxing. Stamped or inked arrival dates may be present. A minor spine roll is allowed. There can also be a 1/4" spine split or severe color break. Staples may show minor discoloration. Minor staple tears and a few slight stress lines may be present, as well as minor rust migration. Paper is tan to brown and fairly supple with no signs of brittleness. Minor interior tears at the margin may be present. Centerfold may be loose. 5.5 FINE- (FN-): Back to Top Fits the criteria for Fine but with an additional defect or small accumulation of defects that detracts from the book's appearance by a perceptible amount. 5.0 VERY GOOD/FINE (VG/FN): Back to Top An above-average but well used comic book. An accumulation of bindery/printing defects is allowed. Minor to moderate cover wear apparent, with minor to moderate creases and/or dimples. Inks have moderate to low reflectivity. Blunted corners are increasingly common, as is minor to moderate staining, discoloration, and/or foxing. Stamped or inked arrival dates may be present. A minor to moderate spine roll is allowed. A spine split of up to 1/2" may be present. Staples may show minor discoloration. Minor staple tears and minor stress lines may also be present, as well as minor rust migration. Paper is tan to brown with no signs of brittleness. Centerfold may be loose. Minor interior tears may also be present.

My old eyes cannot see the spots you are referring to, maybe place a arrow pointing to the spots, also, can we get a full cover shot? Also, that book does not appear to be a NM/MT 9.8, with the uncentered staple, the corner wear with color loss

My condolences for your husband passing. If you can post a list of what books you have, folks would be able to tell you what you have, if any are worth getting graded or selling individually, if it is determined there are some keys in the collection you can post pics in the https://boards.cgccomics.com/forum/42-hey-buddy-can-you-spare-a-grade/ section to get an idea on grade and value. Be careful with local comic shops, my Son decided to sell his books, 2000 books, mostly 80's/90's, I contacted numerous shops in my area (through Facebook), gave them a list of what I had, only 2 replied, one stated there was nothing in there they were interested in, the other came out to his house and looked over the books, he offered $800.00 total, saying that most of these books were dollar bin books and he could only pay 2 cents each for them, we declined. Over the last two + years I have sold approximately 200 of these books for $3000.00.

I have seen that faint line on other books, even higher graded raw books, my assumption is that it is Bindery/Printing related.

Slightly blunted corners, slightly mistrimmed top edge, a few small color breaking spine ticks, discolored staples, minor spine roll. IMO, the small color breaking tick/crease at the top left corner and the spine roll prevent this book from being a higher grade. 7.0 FINE/VERY FINE (FN/VF): Back to TopAn above-average copy that shows minor wear but is still relatively flat and clean with outstanding eye appeal. A small accumulation of minor bindery/printing defects is allowed. Minor cover wear beginning to show, possibly including minor creases. Corners may be blunted. Inks are generally bright with a moderate reduction in reflectivity. Stamped or inked arrival dates may be present. Minor foxing. The slightest spine roll may be present, as well as a possible moderate color break. Staples may show some discoloration. Slight staple tears and a small accumulation of light stress lines may be present. Slight rust migration. Paper is cream to tan. Centerfold is mostly secure. Minor interior tears at the margin may be present.

Edge wear w/denting and color loss, rounded corners, minor to moderate spine stress w/color breaking spine ticks and some vertical color breaking creases, discolored staples, minor spine roll, staining on rear cover lower edge with some wrinkling, appears to be a stain from a liquid, possibly a Dust/Sun shadow. There are no "major defects" that I see on this book such as spine splits, long color breaking creases, tears, folds, pieces missing, detached/loose centerfold/cover no "major" staining/discoloration, as such, even with the stain along the rear cover lower edge, IMO... FN- 5.5 6.0 FINE (FN): Back to Top An above-average copy that shows minor wear but is still relatively flat and clean with no significant creasing or other serious defects. Some accumulation of minor bindery/printing defects is allowed. Minor cover wear apparent, with minor to moderate creases. Inks show a significant reduction in reflectivity. Blunted corners are more common, as is minor staining, soiling, discoloration, and/or foxing. Stamped or inked arrival dates may be present. A minor spine roll is allowed. There can also be a 1/4" spine split or severe color break. Staples may show minor discoloration. Minor staple tears and a few slight stress lines may be present, as well as minor rust migration. Paper is tan to brown and fairly supple with no signs of brittleness. Minor interior tears at the margin may be present. Centerfold may be loose. 5.5 FINE- (FN-): Back to Top Fits the criteria for Fine but with an additional defect or small accumulation of defects that detracts from the book's appearance by a perceptible amount. 5.0 VERY GOOD/FINE (VG/FN): Back to Top An above-average but well used comic book. An accumulation of bindery/printing defects is allowed. Minor to moderate cover wear apparent, with minor to moderate creases and/or dimples. Inks have moderate to low reflectivity. Blunted corners are increasingly common, as is minor to moderate staining, discoloration, and/or foxing. Stamped or inked arrival dates may be present. A minor to moderate spine roll is allowed. A spine split of up to 1/2" may be present. Staples may show minor discoloration. Minor staple tears and minor stress lines may also be present, as well as minor rust migration. Paper is tan to brown with no signs of brittleness. Centerfold may be loose. Minor interior tears may also be present.

Foxing is generally spotty since it is actually mold, it is usually not a solid stain, your staining appears to be a liquid spill of some sort, do you see any signs of water/liquid damage, did it bleed through the rear cover to the interior pages? I own one of these, bought it when I was selling my Grandson's Baseball and Pokémon cards, the UV light will show foxing and fingerprints. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KS7BGN5?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_dt_b_product_details https://www.artemconservation.com/blog/foxing/

Edge wear w/color loss, rounded corners, multiple scratches and color loss, minor spine stress w/multiple color breaking spine ticks and staple tears, stacking curl and moderate spine roll w/fanned pages, moderate to severe staining on the rear cover. I took a look at other copies on eBay so I could see what belongs and what doesn't, cover color loss (in different spots) seems to be a common theme with this book, even in low grade this book is selling for around $100.00. There is no significant creasing, pieces missing or spine splits, I always seem to get these grades wrong when there is staining present, however due to the staining, IMO... 3.0 GOOD/VERY GOOD (GD/VG): Back to TopA used comic book showing some substantial wear. Cover shows significant wear, and may be loose or even detached at one staple. Cover reflectivity is very low. Can have a book-length crease and/or dimples. Corners may be blunted or even rounded. Discoloration, fading, foxing, and even minor to moderate soiling is allowed. A triangle from 1/4" to 1/2" can be missing out of the corner or edge; a missing 1/8" to 1/4" square is also acceptable. Tape and other amateur repair may be present. Moderate spine roll likely. May have a spine split of anywhere from 1" to 1-1/2". Staples may be rusted or replaced. Minor to moderate staple tears and moderate stress lines may be present, as well as some rust migration. Paper is brown but not brittle. Centerfold may be loose or detached at one staple. Minor to moderate interior tears may be present.

I did this in 2015, I graded (myself), photographed and cataloged 2000+ books and used Yahoo Mail Compose to catalog all of it, the list is saved in "Yahoo Drafts" so I can make changes (add new books) easily and as a PDF, the list and photo's are saved to my laptop and also on two separate flashdrives for backup, the PDF is 37 pages. When I cataloged them I made notations if there was an additional defect that lowered grade. I did this for future reference for me, insurance purposes and for my kids who will be left with these books when I am gone. Example ASM... I, among others, use eBay sold auction prices for books in the same grade to determine FMV, this is as realistic as you will get to true FMV since this is what folks actually paid (on their own) for these books, just be careful, No BIN's, look for auctions that had at least 5 bidders and be sure there was not a bidding war that artificially increased the price. Every 6 month's (June/December) I recheck FMV on my top books and record it, and save it to my laptop and flashdrives, I have been doing this since 2015, the past couple of years I have been recording the FMV for my top 50 books for the year to keep track of market trends, and yes, prices are falling. Example; 2015 2022 If you are going to undertake this I would suggest you purchase the Overstreet Price Guide and Grading Guide (or the new CGC Grading Guide), the price guide even with prices being outdated is filled with ton's of useful info.

The only thing I see is slight dinging of the lower corners, I cannot tell if there is any cover discoloration since the pics seem to be dark and in shadows. IMO...NM- 9.2 - NM 9.4 9.4 NEAR MINT (NM): Back to Top Nearly perfect with only minor imperfections that keep it from the next higher grade. Subtle bindery/printing defects are allowed. Bindery tears must be less than 1/16" on Silver Age and later books, although on Golden Age books bindery tears of up to 1/4" have been noted. Cover is flat with no surface wear. Inks are bright with high reflectivity and a minimum of fading. Corners are cut square and sharp with ever-so-slight blunting permitted. A 1/16" bend is permitted with no color break. Small, inconspicuous, lightly penciled, stamped or inked arrival dates are acceptable as long as they are in an unobtrusive location. Slight foxing. Spine is tight and flat. Staples are generally centered; may have slight discoloration. Almost no stress lines. Paper is off-white to cream, supple and fresh. Slight interior tears are allowed. 9.2 NEAR MINT- (NM-): Back to Top Nearly perfect with only a minor additional defect or defects that keep it from Near Mint. A limited number of minor bindery/printing defects are allowed. Cover is flat with no surface wear. Inks are bright with only the slightest dimming of reflectivity. Corners are cut square and sharp with ever-so-slight blunting permitted. A 1/16-1/8" bend is permitted with no color break. Small, inconspicuous, lightly penciled, stamped or inked arrival dates are acceptable as long as they are in an unobtrusive location. Slight foxing. Spine is tight and flat. Staples may show some discoloration. Almost no stress lines. Paper is off-white to cream, supple and fresh. Slight interior tears are allowed.

Rounded corners w/color loss, minor spine stress with a few/small color breaking spine ticks, cover not centered/spine roll, moderate to severe staining on interior pages, wrinkled back cover with some staining/discoloration. Two things...I cannot see the staples, if they are rusted or there is rust migration the grade will be lower, also, it was never mentioned weather the MVS is present. (That would be the difference between a Blue and Green Label) I have no idea how hard CGC hits on interior page/rear cover staining or water damage, I am sure that someone with CGC experience with this type of defect will chime in, will a Clean and Press increase the grade and appearance of the book? Since there is no creasing/folds/color breaks/tears, IMO... 6.0 FINE (FN): Back to TopAn above-average copy that shows minor wear but is still relatively flat and clean with no significant creasing or other serious defects. Some accumulation of minor bindery/printing defects is allowed. Minor cover wear apparent, with minor to moderate creases. Inks show a significant reduction in reflectivity. Blunted corners are more common, as is minor staining, soiling, discoloration, and/or foxing. Stamped or inked arrival dates may be present. A minor spine roll is allowed. There can also be a 1/4" spine split or severe color break. Staples may show minor discoloration. Minor staple tears and a few slight stress lines may be present, as well as minor rust migration. Paper is tan to brown and fairly supple with no signs of brittleness. Minor interior tears at the margin may be present. Centerfold may be loose.

Actually in the description, the seller has this book listed as a FN. 6.0 (raw), the book sold for $585.00 , 37 bids, 13 bidders. Everything I am reading says this book is readily available, why the high price? Does anybody have production numbers on both covers or how many Green covers were destroyed as a result of the recall?

a couple of small color breaking spine ticks, slight spine roll, mistrimmed outer edge of rear cover. 9.2 NEAR MINT- (NM-): Back to TopNearly perfect with only a minor additional defect or defects that keep it from Near Mint. A limited number of minor bindery/printing defects are allowed. Cover is flat with no surface wear. Inks are bright with only the slightest dimming of reflectivity. Corners are cut square and sharp with ever-so-slight blunting permitted. A 1/16-1/8" bend is permitted with no color break. Small, inconspicuous, lightly penciled, stamped or inked arrival dates are acceptable as long as they are in an unobtrusive location. Slight foxing. Spine is tight and flat. Staples may show some discoloration. Almost no stress lines. Paper is off-white to cream, supple and fresh. Slight interior tears are allowed.

The only thing I see is a 1/8" (?) Bindery Tear at the top left. 9.4 NEAR MINT (NM): Back to TopNearly perfect with only minor imperfections that keep it from the next higher grade. Subtle bindery/printing defects are allowed. Bindery tears must be less than 1/16" on Silver Age and later books, although on Golden Age books bindery tears of up to 1/4" have been noted. Cover is flat with no surface wear. Inks are bright with high reflectivity and a minimum of fading. Corners are cut square and sharp with ever-so-slight blunting permitted. A 1/16" bend is permitted with no color break. Small, inconspicuous, lightly penciled, stamped or inked arrival dates are acceptable as long as they are in an unobtrusive location. Slight foxing. Spine is tight and flat. Staples are generally centered; may have slight discoloration. Almost no stress lines. Paper is off-white to cream, supple and fresh. Slight interior tears are allowed.

Other than the roll at the top right corner, which I assume will come out with a press, my 67 year old eyes do not see anything else, so, IMO... 9.4 NEAR MINT (NM): Back to TopNearly perfect with only minor imperfections that keep it from the next higher grade. Subtle bindery/printing defects are allowed. Bindery tears must be less than 1/16" on Silver Age and later books, although on Golden Age books bindery tears of up to 1/4" have been noted. Cover is flat with no surface wear. Inks are bright with high reflectivity and a minimum of fading. Corners are cut square and sharp with ever-so-slight blunting permitted. A 1/16" bend is permitted with no color break. Small, inconspicuous, lightly penciled, stamped or inked arrival dates are acceptable as long as they are in an unobtrusive location. Slight foxing. Spine is tight and flat. Staples are generally centered; may have slight discoloration. Almost no stress lines. Paper is off-white to cream, supple and fresh. Slight interior tears are allowed.

All I see is what appears to be a tiny ding at the lower right corner with slight color loss and some minor foxing/discoloration of the rear cover. IMO, you are in the NM 9.4 range. 9.4 NEAR MINT (NM): Back to TopNearly perfect with only minor imperfections that keep it from the next higher grade. Subtle bindery/printing defects are allowed. Bindery tears must be less than 1/16" on Silver Age and later books, although on Golden Age books bindery tears of up to 1/4" have been noted. Cover is flat with no surface wear. Inks are bright with high reflectivity and a minimum of fading. Corners are cut square and sharp with ever-so-slight blunting permitted. A 1/16" bend is permitted with no color break. Small, inconspicuous, lightly penciled, stamped or inked arrival dates are acceptable as long as they are in an unobtrusive location. Slight foxing. Spine is tight and flat. Staples are generally centered; may have slight discoloration. Almost no stress lines. Paper is off-white to cream, supple and fresh. Slight interior tears are allowed.

I was still buying new issues to read back in 96, my Son was in the Navy, aboard the USS Trenton in the Mediterranean. The only communication we had was by hand written letter, he was interested in comics and I told him about a new mini-series coming out that I was excited about, he was very interested and wanted to know the whole story, so, as each issue came out I would write him a letter explaining the story and what happened with each of the characters in that story. Sorry to the OP, there are 4 issues in the min-series.

Since I only own one graded book...

I did mine for me, for reference of what I have, again, no Black and White, lots of Gray. The difference between "what is" and "would be, could be" is a Blue Label and Green Label with CGC. A book is graded in its entirety, not by its most major defect. A NM 9.4 with a detached centerfold would probably get a Green Label which basically states "would be, could be" if that one defect were not present, how much of a hit that same book would take if it were to be graded with the defect being taken into consideration, , pretty sure that CGC has set some form of guidelines internally for these situations. The question then becomes, how did CGC determine the amount a grade will drop for one defect on an otherwise almost flawless book, at one point in the past they had a meeting and determined how much of a hit a book like this would take for only one major defect once they did that and "consistently" used that as their reference it became a precedent, however, CGC is not going to share all of their grading secrets with us, otherwise, we would no longer need them. My suggestion would be to buy the CGC Grading Guide and see what that has to say, if anything, about this situation. https://www.cgccomics.com/news/article/10586/cgc-guide-grading-comics-nelson/

Rounded/blunted corners with color loss, slight edge wear with some color loss, color breaking creases on the outer edge, minor spine stress with a few color breaking spine ticks, slight staple tears, discolored staples, minor dust/sun shadow or discoloration by spine on rear cover. 7.0 FINE/VERY FINE (FN/VF): Back to TopAn above-average copy that shows minor wear but is still relatively flat and clean with outstanding eye appeal. A small accumulation of minor bindery/printing defects is allowed. Minor cover wear beginning to show, possibly including minor creases. Corners may be blunted. Inks are generally bright with a moderate reduction in reflectivity. Stamped or inked arrival dates may be present. Minor foxing. The slightest spine roll may be present, as well as a possible moderate color break. Staples may show some discoloration. Slight staple tears and a small accumulation of light stress lines may be present. Slight rust migration. Paper is cream to tan. Centerfold is mostly secure. Minor interior tears at the margin may be present.

There is no black and white in grading, it is all about individual perspective. Yes you can see obvious defects, however, there is no guide that states a book in VF/NM 9.0 with (insert one additional defect here) would drop to a (insert grade here). IE; "Book is a VF/NM 9.0 but has (enter defect) and you could look at the guide and it would tell you that a VF/NM 9.0 with only one additional (insert defect here) will drop to (insert grade here)", that would make life easier, unfortunately that does not exist.(For us to see) I also graded my own books, graded/cataloged/photographed over 2000 books in 2015, there are numerous books that would be a higher grade if not for one additional defect such as a loose/detached centerfold, subscription crease, small tear, writing on the inside, coupon cut out, etc. When I cataloged and graded a book like this it would be noted, IE: "VG 4.0" "(Would be FN 6.0 except for the subscription crease)", basically you are cataloging the book with that single additional defect that will lower the grade with a Blue Label and a Green Label grade, the green label grade will be the grade without the additional defect, the Blue label grade would be with the defect, how much does it lose... Take the VF/NM 9.0 book pictured above, what would the grade be if that were a Blue Label rather than a Green Label, would it drop 1 point to a VF 8.0 or would it drop much lower to a FN 6.0 or all the way down to a VG 4.0 where a loose/detached centerfold at one staple is allowed. Since a book is graded in it's entirety assigning a VG 4.0 would be overkill, but by how much? Here are examples of how I did it, this is from my "Adventures Of The Big Boy" collection. 64)*GD 2.0 (*WRITING ON COVER, CROSSWORD PUZZLE FILLED OUT) 65)VG 4.0 67)*FN 6.0 (*WOULD BE VF 8.0 EXCEPT FOR 1/8" TEAR AND CORNER CREASE ON REAR COVER) 68)VF 8.0 70)*VG- 3.5 (*WOULD BE FN/VF 7.0 EXCEPT FOR TEAR AND TAPE REPAIR) 73)FN/VF 7.0 74)*FR/GD 1.5 (* WOULD BE FN 6.0 EXCEPT FOR TAPE REPAIR, PIECES MISSING AND WRITING ON REAR COVER) 75)FN 6.0 (*1/4" TEAR ON FRONT EDGE OF REAR COVER, STAIN ON INSIDE OF FRONT COVER AND 1ST PAGE) 76)FN 6.0 77)*FN 6.0 (*WOULD BE VF 8.0 EXCEPT FOR 1/4" TEAR ON FRONT EDGE OF FRONT COVER) 81)*VG 4.0 (*WOULD BE VF 8.0 EXCEPT FOR TAPE REPAIR ON REAR COVER) 82)GD 2.0 88)*VG 4.0 (*WOULD BE VF+ 8.5 EXCEPT WORD PUZZLES HAVE BEEN FILLED OUT) 92)*VG 4.0 (*WOULD BE VF 8.0 EXCEPT FOR WATER DAMAGE AT BOTTOM OF BOOK) 94)FN+ 6.5 95)VF 8.0 96)*VG 4.0 (*WOULD BE VF/NM 9.0 EXCEPT FOR 1/2" TEAR ON BOTTOM EDGE AND 1/2" PIECE MISSING FROM LOWER RIGHT CORNER) 98)*VG- 3.5 (*WOULD BE VF/NM 9.0 EXCEPT FOR 1" PIECE MISSING FROM LOWER RIGHT CORNER AND VERTICAL CREASE) 99)*FN/VF 7.0 (*WOULD BE VF/NM 9.0 EXCEPT FOR LOWER CORNER CREASING STARTING ON REAR PAGES, GETS BETTER WITH EACH PAGE TOWARDS FRONT)

Slight edge wear with slight color loss, small bindery tear at top left corner, 2-3 color breaking spine ticks, small tears along top edge of rear cover, minor foxing on rear cover. Before assigning a grade, is this pic showing rusted staples and possible rust migration?

You are 100% correct, I only looked at the prices, not the covers, , a CGC 5.0 Green sold for $645.00 on 5/13/23. I had no idea, I have owned both covers for years and never gave it a second thought. There is currently an auction taking place for the Green Cover, 4 days left in the auction and it is currently at $171.00 (17 bids/9 bidders), seller has it listed as VG- 3.5, looks better than that (VG/FN 5.0?) except for a long diagonal crease on the right side.