marvelmaniac

F.F. 26, May, 1964 X-Men 9 January 1965

Rounded top corners, blunted lower left corner, spine wear and a few stress lines, top edge wear especially seen on the rear cover, staining on the rear cover. IMO it is the spine wear on the upper to middle of the cover (and staining, I understand CGC is tough on stains) that prevents this book from a higher grade, since your book does not display and of the other flaws allowed in FN 6.0 I am saying... FN+ 6.5 6.5 FINE+ (FN+): Back to Top Fits the criteria for Fine but with an additional virtue or small accumulation of virtues that improves the book's appearance by a perceptible amount. 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

Other than slight corner blunting/creasing with some color break, very slight edge wear and several small spine ticks I do not see anything else that stands out. IMO... 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.

All of the problems with this book are creasing along the edges/spine with a larger, corner crease at the bottom right and the small, bent over tear on the outer edge. To me, the larger pics/scans tend to exaggerate the actual issues, making them look worse than they actually are, is this the case here? The book does not appear to have a detached cover/spine split/rusted staples/severe staining or any other major issues, so... VG+ 4.5 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

I have noticed in my own collection that not all Golden Age books are the same size, some are smaller than the Standard Gold Size of 7 3/4" x 10 1/2", I used Gold Bags/Boards for all of them, OCD = Uniformity.

Spine Creasing, Front Edge Wear, Crease on Bottom Right Front Cover, Color Fleck Top of the "R" in Thor, Slight Blunting of Corners, Slightly Rusted Bottom Staple (?). Overall the book presents well and the cover is very clean. 5.0 VERY GOOD/FINE (VG/FN): Back to TopAn 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.

https://www.cgccomics.com/news/article/3327/CGC-Modifies-Stance-on-Grading-Submissions-with-Tape/

No, it was a former girlfriend that I have not seen since 1995. Being a Grandfather I am filled with great stories that I will tell you over and over again, many of them start with..."Back In My Day", or "Have I Ever Told You?"... My Son has "CRS" (Can't Remember S**t) so my stories are always new to him.

Does it have to be your signature, can it be a friend or family member if they wait for the package at your place?

This is true, however... Hard to believe but I was not as smart/wise/knowledgeable 30 years ago as I am today... (I was in my mid 30's at the time, now if I were still in my early 20's I would have known everything like all 20 year old's do, ask my oldest Grandson... ) The book was a Christmas gift, the person who bought it for me was not knowledgeable about comics, probably had to do a lot of running around to the 6-7 LCS's in the area looking for any of the books on my list and possibly had to make several trips back and forth, I probably did not even look through it at the time and even if I did see it I would not have said anything about it as that would have hurt her feelings, I was just ecstatic to have a copy, any copy, remember there was no internet, books were harder to find back then, and when you found that treasure you scooped it up , also there was no eBay/PayPal buyer protection, what were comic shop policies in the late 80's/early 90's? And that my friends is the story of my F.F. Annual #1, Luckily I have 44 years of the F.F. on DVD so I can read the story in its entirety whenever I want to, wait..., my laptop does not have a disc drive... Thanks For Listening.

Well DUH!!! I am right here.

Welcome To The Boards!!! Bindery defects do happen. Luckily that is a low dollar book and can be easily replaced with a correct copy, buy another copy and keep that one as a "unique" issue and enjoy them both. My F.F Annual #1 (1963) (given to me as a gift in the early 90's) had pages 1 - 24 placed in the book twice, the complete cover story is 38 pages, pages 25 - 38 were omitted and pages 1-24 were put in its place. Now you are making me wonder... If the book is supposed to be 72 pages but 1 -24 were put in twice that would add an additional 3 full pages, is something else missing? Here are pics of the book, the last pic is from F.F Annual 8 which reprints F.F. Annual 1 and you can see page 25 as it should have been.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...

I do not have my books graded so I cannot speculate on how CGC would view this, however, IMO, that book will take a large hit for the crease, If that were the only defect on the book I do not think that book would grade higher than a FN/VF 7.0. Does that crease qualify the book for a Green Label since it is an otherwise higher grade book???

"It's just my way"... I understand completely, I also have OCD tendencies, as long as you are satisfied/happy/content with your decision, that is all that really matters. The best insurance in the world is insurance you have but never have to use, using it means something went wrong so hopefully you never have to use it.

I was not trying to be a "Smart A**", I just thought I would throw that out there as a "humorous" remark since I learned about tape pulls from first hand experience.

You are making this way more complicated than it needs to be...

Unless you catch the book on the tape when removing/inserting it from/into the bag...

I don't like Cats either.

All depends on your take on tape, some HATE tape... I use tape on books like you have pictured just to keep them from falling apart/getting worse when handled, a book that is a FR 1.0 without tape is still a FR 1.0 with tape but retains all of its pieces, IMO, the tape cannot make an extremely "Well Loved" book any worse for wear than it already is.

Expounding on #3. IMO all or your most valuable/cherished/coveted books and put them in Mylar Bags (Mylites) with Acid Free Boards. Since you are not able to store your books in the most desirable/optimal conditions, you do not need to compound that with degrading bags. Plastic (Poly Bags) degrade over time and as they degrade produce acids that can/will damage your books over time, in ideal conditions Poly Bags should be replaced every 5 years. Mylar is an inert/stable/archival safe material that will not degrade and does not contain any releasable materials that can damage the book, they are good for a lifetime. https://www.egerber.com/ https://www.bcwsupplies.com/comic-book-storage

https://www.gemstonepub.com/en/the-overstreet-guide-to-grading-comics-6th-edition https://comics.ha.com/tutorial/comics-grading.s?show=comicdefinitions http://www.teako170.com/terms1.html http://www.teako170.com/terms2.html http://www.teako170.com/terms3.html http://www.teako170.com/terms4.html

I see blunted corners, slight edge wear and a mistrimmed top edge, mine is also not trimmed properly but not as severe as the book pictured, I am assuming this was/is a bindery defect but it does take away from the books aesthetic appeal, not sure how CGC views this. With only the defects I have noted (my old eyes may have missed something), IMO... 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.

IMO this book is a VG- 3.5, I feel the tear on the lower edge keeps this book from being a VG 4.0 as long as the spine split does not exceed 1" in length. 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.