marvelmaniac

Do they list any of this in their own grading guide?

I found a few examples of this book on eBay with the same defects, to me, that means it is a printing defect, unfortunately because this is a $5.00 to $10.00 book you will probably not find any of these books graded with that defect to see how CGC views it. Blunted corners with small color breaking creases and color loss, creasing/dings/dents along top edge, cover is not centered, top 1/4 of front cover appears to be faded (based on other issues I have seen), minor spine wear with a couple of color breaking spine ticks, top left corner of rear cover is creased/stained, small fold/crease/ding at rear cover lower left corner, minor staining/discoloration of rear cover. Due to the fading of the top 1/4 of the front cover (not the two letters that are not colored properly), IMO...FN- 5.5 to FN 6.0 7.0 FINE/VERY FINE (FN/VF): Back to Top An 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. 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. 5.0 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.

Blunted corners with multiple color breaking creases, edge wear with color breaking creases/scratches, bindery tear at top, minor to moderate spine wear with multiple color breaking stress lines, staple tears and slightly discolored staples, cover is not centered/spine roll, some color rub/low reflectivity, back cover/top edge, stain or tear? Most of the issues with this book are on the corners/edges/spine, IMO...FN- 5.5 to FN 6.0 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.

From Heritage Auctions - Bindery chips, a common defect in Golden Age comics, are considered printing defects, and are relatively acceptable in the market. Restoration on such a defect by itself would usually be considered excessive. Marvel Chipping - The most famous is probably "Marvel Chipping" which is a bindery (trimming/ cutting) defect that results in a series of chips and tears at the top, bottom, and right edges of the cover, caused when the cutting blade of an industrial paper trimmer becomes dull. Example Of Marvel Chipping

Miscellaneous 1st Appearances in Comic Books First Sad Sack/The Sarge/Little Dot (Coverless) 1st Sadie Sack 1st General Rockjaw 1st Muttsy 1st Little Sad Sack (?) 1st Hi-Fi Tweeter (?)

I own 1 coverless book, Sad Sack #1 from 1949, paid $25.00 for it about 15-20 years ago, needed it to complete my run of Sad Sack Comics 10 cent covers, issues 1-124 (ironic since it does not have a cover). Looking at eBay sold auctions I have seen coverless books sell for more than a low grade book (PR 0.5 - FR/GD 1.5) with a cover, what's up with that?

First, comic books start to deteriorate as soon as they are printed due to the acids in the paper and inks used, printing techniques/paper used are better today than they were in the 40's - 70's/80's when everything was printed on newsprint. You can never completely stop the degrading process, you can only slow it down by using the proper storage conditions, is everyone's home environment like the Smithsonian or the Library Of Congress, no, you do the best that you can, just remember, the more a book has to keep adjusting to its environment the more acids are released which speeds up the degrading process. Books should be placed in Mylites with an Acid Free Board and then stored in a controlled environment, 40 - 65 degrees, 40-60% humidity, away from all UV light, away from all sources of heat, moisture, air vents and food products to avoid bug and mouse chew, not stored in an unfinished basement, garage or attic. Note: As far as protection goes, CGC slabs do not offer more protection than a Mylite/Board, they are not airtight nor are they UV protected so slabs need to be stored in the same conditions as raw books. Maintaining the proper temp and humidity is probably the toughest part, I live in an apartment, heat is on in the winter, A/C is on in the summer, windows are open in the spring and fall, are the temp and humidity always consistent in the 40-65 degree/40-60% humidity range?, no, but these are the conditions of normal everyday life, the best most folks can do, including myself. There are exceptions to every rule, the Edgar Church collection was supposedly stored in a basement and closets with the books piled on top of each other (no bags or boards) and this collection is one of the best (if not the best) pedigree collection ever found. Chances are that if the books are stored properly and do not receive any physical damage from reading/opening the book they will outlive all of us. I am still surprised any books from the 40's-60's survived, I grew up in the 60's, we drew on them, colored on them, removed pinups, filled out/cut out coupons, they were folded and put in my pocket while riding my bike home from the pharmacy were the book was purchased, if you left them lying around they became coasters, fly swatters or Mom just threw them out, but, miraculously they survived and they are still here. About a year ago my Sister asked me to sell her 30 book collection of Romance Comics ranging from the 50's - 70's. She gave them to me in a paper bag that was stored in her attic. The first book I took out of the bag literally fell apart in my hands, crumbled to dust and was never to be seen again, the others were not as bad. I immediately called her and asked where they were stored and sent pics of the disintegrated book and that's when she told me about the attic and said "I shouldn't have done that?" When purchasing an older book, the one thing you do not want is brittleness of the pages, that means the book has entered its final days of exitance.

The book probably had a detached cover and they glued it back on, Your ASM 15 is in the $200.00 - $300.00 range, how much is professional restoration removal? The question then becomes, if you or a professional removed the glue, what would be left, a detached/split cover? Would removing the glue create any more damage to the cover or pages? What type of glue was used? I did this on a couple of my lower grade books (PR 0.5 - GD 2.0) that had detached/split covers back in 2015 when I graded/cataloged/photographed the entire collection, the glued on cover will not affect the grade on these "Well Loved" books and I do not plan on selling, so for me, it was/is fine. https://www.beaconadhesives.com/product/zip-dry/ As it is right now, if you sent that book to CGC for grading you would get a Purple Restored Label (PLOD). IMO, place the book in a Mylite with an Acid Free Board and enjoy the book as it is.

I do not know about CGC, but according to the Overstreet/Heritage Auction grading criteria there are no bindery tears allowed on anything above a NM 9.4 and a NM 9.4 must be less than 1/16", after that it becomes a spine split. 9.6 NEAR MINT+ (NM+): No bindery tears are allowed, although on Golden Age books bindery tears of up to 1/8" have been noted. 9.4 NEAR MINT (NM): 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. 6.0 FINE (FN): There can also be a 1/4" spine split or severe color break.

It all depends on the overall grade the book would receive, in order to give you any opinions on the top edge/interior pages affecting the grade we need to know how the entire book looks so an overall grade can be assigned. I would suggest posting clear pics of the front/rear outside covers along with pics of the spine/staples, inside front/rear covers and splash pages and the centerfold in the ... https://boards.cgccomics.com/forum/42-hey-buddy-can-you-spare-a-grade/ Just looking at your pic I already see a bindery tear/spine split starting so just on that your grade will not be any higher than NM- 9.2. As far as Bindery Defects by themselves go... (Overstreet/Heritage Auctions) NM+ 9.6 - Only subtle bindery or printing defects are allowed. No bindery tears are allowed, NM 9.4 - Subtle bindery/printing defects are allowed. Bindery tears must be less than 1/16" on Silver Age and later books NM- 9.2 - A limited number of minor bindery/printing defects are allowed. VF/NM 9.0 - A limited number of bindery/printing defects are allowed. VF 8.0 - A limited accumulation of minor bindery/printing defects is allowed. FN/VF 7.0 - A small accumulation of minor bindery/printing defects is allowed. FN 6.0 - Some accumulation of minor bindery/printing defects is allowed. VG/FN 5.0 - An above-average but well used comic book. An accumulation of bindery/printing defects is allowed. Printing Defect - A defect caused by the printing process. Examples would include paper wrinkling, mis-cut edges, mis-folded spine, untrimmed pages, off-registered color, off-centered trimming, mis-folded and mis-bound pages. It should be noted that these are defects that lower the grade of the book.

Do not forget to place a desiccant in the SDB with the books.

https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Bull's_Eye_(Earth-616)

I am not necessarily a lover of low grade books but I do not hate them either, I do have about 300 books in my 2000 book collection that are graded (by me) at GD- 1.8 and lower including many PR 0.5 books and 10 remainder copies (only 1 coverless, Sad Sack 1,1949), of course I would rather have a book in the FN 6.0 range than a book in the FR 1.0 range, however, buying low grade books was basically done out of necessity due to budget constraints and wanting to complete runs, buy as many books as possible for as little $ as possible, also, my being a collector was basically founded on my love for comics as a kid in the 60's so grade was very seldom a consideration for me, in 1965/66/67 there was no such thing as a 9.8 and if there was and I found one, it was no longer a 9.8 after I folded it, put it in my back pocket and rode my bike home with my baseball cards were flapping against the wheel spokes. I also have no issues with Date/Store Stamps, Subscription Creases, Corner Box Cut Out, Remainder Copies, Missing MVS/Coupons, etc., I also do not mind when someone added their name to the cover or splash page (folks pay BIG$$$ these days for people to draw/scribble on their books), for me, those items add character and a bit of history to the book Before the internet when I made my monthly rounds to the 4-5 LCS's that were in the area or went to a local, smaller show I bought what I could find when I found it, I had to decide right there, "do I buy it?", if not it might not be there when I go back, grade really did not matter, it was more of a...WOW, Look What I Found!!! and nobody cared if it was a "Well Loved" copy or not, just the fact that you found a copy in the wild that you could afford was enough. Once the internet came along for me in 02/03 and eBay had all of these books and I did not have to leave the house, well, OCD/Anxiety and a need to Buy/Complete runs took over, unfortunately the budget constraints were still in place, the self control not so much. The only way I could justify the purchases and satisfy my OCD was to buy the least expensive books I could find and that = lower grade books. I stopped buying in 2010, the prices for the books I was looking for (early issues of JIM and ST, issues mainly in the 1-40 range) became more than I could afford or wanted to spend for a comic, even in very low grade. Now that I am 68 and I look back, would I have done the same things over, absolutely not, I do not/did not need all of the books I bought, I love early Silver age, the Late Silver/Early Bronze stuff not so much, so why did/do my ASM, F.F. IH runs go to issue 200? why does my Thor run go to issue 260?, Avengers to 130. DD to 132??? To all of the folks that have no real issues with low grade books, here a few of the most "Well Loved" books in the collection.

Watch the first 15 seconds...

To Start The Weekend, X-Men (1963) #1 is a Facsimile Edition, My collection stops with issue 66.

Tales To Astonish

What he said!!!

I remember these from being a kid in the 60's, I collected Rat Finks and loved the Ed "Big Daddy" Roth cartoons/drawing. Everytime I went shopping with Mom I would ask for another Rat Fink from the gumball machine. Thank You for posting this and reviving Great Memories for me.

Tales Of Suspense (Unfortunately I do not have TOS 39, there are no significant 1st appearances in issues 1-38, 40-44)

Folks seem to be enjoying my posts so here is another, Enjoy!!!

You beat me to it, going in alphabetical order IH was next up for me, here are a few not shown. BTW, Nice Avengers 1 and IH 1.

In your last pic, is that a page missing, a stain?

How about some Journey Into Mystery 1st appearances, Enjoy.

Blunted corners with color breaking creases at the outer corners, edge wear with color breaking creasing at the lower left, outer edge and small dents/dings at the upper edge, color breaking scratches across the cover, minor to moderate spine stress with color breaking vertical creases and multiple color breaking stress lines. moderate staple tears, cover appears to be loose, ink mark between "Brave and Bold", minor to moderate spine roll, a 5/8" tear on outer edge, minor tanning/discoloration along rear cover edges. IMO...VG+ 4.5 to VG/FN 5.0 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.

Moderately blunted/rounded corners with color loss, two, long color breaking scratches at lower edge and one from the outer edge to the lower edge of book, moderate spine wear with multiple vertical color breaking creases, multiple color breaking stress lines/tears and staple tears, staples off center along with a minor spine roll, staining at the lower right of front cover, slight chipping/denting of edges on rear cover, tanning along the edges/spine of rear cover, small ink mark at lower right corner of rear cover. IMO, the amount of creasing/stress along the spine prevents this book from grading higher...VG+ 4.5 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.