Glassman10

It has been pointed out to me that the type of discoloration near the spine on the back cleans off really easily with a light gray eraser from any office supply. Just a really light touch. It indeed does work fine. I have yet to try that on a color cover and eventually will with a book having no real value. I am not reading the spots you refer to and I don't know how involved they are. I should probably clean my monitor more than once a year. It seems to me for a book to get above a 7.5, it needs to be pretty clean with no spine ticks in the first place.

I'm at 7.0. The back cover is what keeps it down for me. If that cover was cleaned up, I would go up .5.

I see a 7.5- 8.0 at best and I'm not clear what you think a press would do to improve it unless it's to minimize the slight rippling. The spine checks show from the back in one of the snapshots quite well and they won't go away. I have this book in both an 8.5 and a 9.4 to compare it to.

what? How about Flash Thompson, that over rated steroid laced high school villain that set Parker's inadequacies in motion? ( we're in deep State here..)

probably worth keeping in mind that in 1967 a very nice AF15 went for around $80.00. Haven't things changed? I don't think anyone really saw this coming. I noted a "Fritz the Cat" original cover went not long ago for about $700K. Crumb would be amused. Money just isn't worth what it once was.

I do think whenever a piece is created, the artist is putting it all on the line unless they are really just making product and that happens a lot. The artist bears the constant risk of people saying that the artwork sucks. On the other hand , a real compliment is paid when someone is willing to spend money on something that came out of your head and hands after learning your craft. I remain flattered when someone buys a piece of my work and I've been at it nearly fifty years. If your work is good and fairly priced, you'll be OK. If not, you have to do something else if you want to eat. I really admire the crew that turned out this stuff for decade after decade and largely it was the same bunch. You can watch them mature in their craft. Look at AF15, just terrible artwork but it got a lot better. Ditko must have been in his 20's and then early thirties working with Stan Lee on Dr Strange and Spiderman. I adore the early Dr Strange. You won't see him at those shows. I think he's about 90 now. I would recall a time when I was demonstrating ( I blow glass) in public and this guy was watching me and he got more and more agitated as I went on. Finally, I finished the piece and showed it to the crowd watching before putting it away and he just exploded and running off shouted "I could do that if I only knew how!!" Indeed. Five bucks is not a lot to ask. $400 is narcissistic

It does get worse. Under IRS regs, if an artist donates work to a charity or whatever kind of auction. They can only deduct the materials cost. If the artist sells it to a gallery and the gallery donates it to the same auction, they can deduct it in its entirety. Galleries don't often do it since it's a zero sum gain. People hit on the artists constantly for it though. Here, I have groups call me up that I never see all year and they want my donation so they can raise money with it. Inevitably that kind of auction brings out people who pick up items at a fraction of their value since qualified customers were not there and there was no reserve. Then they brag about how they "Stole it ". These days, I only make donations if I have an actual collector of my work lined up to bid on it. Low balling is bad for everyone there in terms of reputation with one notable exception. I suspect the signature bunch is a lot like the NBA. Just because you can draw doesn't mean you can play professionally and actual pull down a big salary. Not many make it to the show. A pocketful of fives isn't that great a compensation if you consider the travel, time away from work and home and the general sucky feeling one gets eating at Shoney's or Appleby's.

the point of the picture is simply a verification of the signature which is a lousy verification. They're going to milk the cow for what's in the udder and the cow will really sell the book based on all of that documentation. Artists on a roll aren't stupid. If people simply bought a book for its value, there would not be an issue here, but they don't. They do a "value added" for the sake of the hype. Does the hype convert into cash? CGAnalysis suggests not really. Maybe it's better to buy based on the book, not the grade someone else placed on it . If you can't do decent grading, the world will eat up your intent on profiting.

I am an artist, not in this medium but inevitably the artist is the one always asked to donate to a charity fundraiser because their time isn't really valued. These guys at least have figured out how to get some compensation for the work they produced. The collector is usually looking for "collector's discounts" but in reality is simply trying to improve the monetary value of the thing they are currently holding. CGC indemnifies this process with grading and even a Collectors grading structure. " There are no dummies here beyond the people who just love the books for what they once were.

this has to be the most emaciated villain marvel had in ASM. Just burn him with a turkey baster and those feathers are history. . The corners have really seen better days and the color breaks are numerous in the lower right, I agree about the missing piece on the cover but my bigger concern is the spine from the back which is close to rotting and leaving our spiritual plain. I too can't get past a 3.0 based more on the back than the front. The interior seems pretty nice.

yours is better than mine. The spine has really taken a beating. The corners have seen better days. I'm at a 5.0 maybe a 5.5

I confess to having the most trouble with the lower end grades. . This book certainly has its issues. The tear, the tape, the ink color repair, the corners , the pencil marks on the back, the choice of girlfriends , the math problems but interestingly it has few color breaks if any. A strange combo. I'm at a 2.0 and ready for a lecture.

I do see some spine ticks but they really are not bad at all. The biggest problem I actually see is the centering which is pretty far out. I don't think the date stamp on the back hurts you but perhaps wiser heads can come to a different conclusion. The centering is making the staple punch through in not a great place. I have to wonder how the center fold is holding up. It just scares me to see the page folded back as far as you have it in the lowest picture. Those are staples yearning to be free. All in all the corners are really pretty square. I'm at a 6.5 actually. Nice book.

I don't disagree about measuring but I do think the print has a definite length when being mocked up for galley in the first place. My point was to compare the total space from the top print and then look at the bottom print to see if it had been lost somewhere. I don't see that comparing the 7.5 and this book which makes me doubt the trimming. If both books appeared the same at the top but not at the bottom and the bottom of the suspect book was shorter on the bottom visually I would be going in the trim direction. I just don't see that. It certainly is clean though. So is the right hand part of the front cover when you consider it. The cover was not particularly well centered and the front color work overlaps on to the spine and around the back a fraction which would have kept that front right from getting a ton of abrasion. That in turn would have pushed the back cover out and away from the content and I would have thought more abrasion would occur due to that but it seems very clean as well. Maybe someone hated the FF4 , , read it once and threw it in the closet. Nice Book.

I see the color pretty fractured on the cover with a lot of staple cracks on the spine top to bottom. I see color breaks in three of the four corners. I see a major stain on the back spine top. The back cover is pretty dirty. A 5.0 tops.

when I look at the two books I see in the slabbed one more space at the top between the edge and the comic code auth label and I see less space between the *hide out" at the bottom. On the non slabbed one, the reverse appears to be the case. There's more space at the bottom on the one with the really clean edge at the bottom. While I don't have a tape measure on it and I do accept that the covers were not cut with surgical accuracy, it does seem to me that there isn't the evidence to support the notion that the book has been trimmed. Am I way off on this logic?

I'm at 9.0

On a backer board in a mylar sleeve mildly compressed flat and out of sunlight in a nice cool place would be my choice. Having them out where you can see them has an extractive cost. Again, It's not a four or five figure book. Enjoy it. You can get higher quality glassine pieces at Staples that can likely seal it a bit better but it would put them in a binder. It does seem to me that the term"Dust Shadow" is really an oxidation of the paper due to temperature and potential exposure to light causing the browning tone. Is that essentially correct?

I love the books for themselves, not the money but the money is the prime mover. Right now in GP Analysis, a 9.2 pulled $215.00 in April. A 9.0 was down trending and had a $116.00 in April, a slight downtrend. Anyone buying the book is looking to see if a press can increase value and that is marginal for lots of books compared to the press and grade costs. I'm relatively new at this but I can add. Your book is really really nice. If you want it because you love it, I would not slab it and read it really carefully when you find the muse. If you're looking for money, I would not slab it now but rather see what the market does. Not all books automatically go up. Processing the book from being a great graphic arts book ( which you've got) to a monetized slab is a strange and sometimes pricey experience that may not pay you. At this point I tend to think this could be a 9.0. I have doubts about higher and I can't see a press making that corner disappear. Getting rid of the crease was an enormous help. It has very few other problems. Just a pretty book and it's in my hoard. This book peaked for now at $365 in winter for a 9.4 and I don't see this getting there. I don't know what the dust shadow is that 1Cool sees. Perhaps he could explain. I am learning, just like you are.

If that's not a flaw, I'd go 8.5 to a possible 9.0. What is going on at the lower left corner on the front.? If that too is nothing but the photo, I'm at 9.0

I see a few issues. The lower left corner looks to be a bit crunched as does the top outer back. The large issue I see is the color break in that unusual curve off to the right of the surfer's left arm. It must have been pressured at one time making that odd crease and I think that brings down what otherwise is a really nice looking book with excellent color and sheen, very nice spine with no staple tears at all. I would hazard an 8.5 possible an 8.0. CGC grading remains opaque to me at times. I imagine it has a value at about $150 perhaps a bit less if that grade is accurate so slabbing is a decision that's fair. It might help to press it but it's hard to tell if that peculiar munch is breaking the color. Pressing would cut down the profit for sure if that motivates you. If you love it for itself, good for you. Once it's in its little plastic prison you can't read it anymore. Nice Book.

Once again, I don't quite get it. Why this gets an 8.5 and another a 9.2. You certainly have scored well on this bunch of books. Nothing to complain about, except for the 8.5 of course.

I'm 6.5 as well. The checks on the spine bring it down

Another remarkable spidey. It has what appears to be a small fingerprint near the code authority label and a dent near spidey's left forearm. I'm at 9.0-9.2 You have really scored .

I can only see one minor flaw of the lower left cover being ever so slightly turned out. Nothing else. A very sweet looking book. 9.2