Dr.Fate'sFullHelmet

Great topic, sad to say it was the one that provides my avatar, More Fun Comics #71, CGC 6.0 unrestored, sold it at the same time with a golden age Green Lantern 3 same grade. You know how some people say they have no regrets? I'm not one of those people. At the time I sold them I knew they were rare in decent, unrestored grade. Ah, stupidity...

Just received the book back from CGC today, and I'm friggin' ecstatic. As indicated by the pics, the waviness in the back cover has been removed and the book reholdered in a slab with a wider well and a spacer so the book cannot be squeezed. Other than the anomalous miscommunication, this process was quick, professional and has resulted in one very satisfied customer. CGC went above and beyond the call of duty.

Thanks BB, I did get a response from a very interested and proactive professional at Submissions after I expressed my concerns, and I'm now hopeful that all is as it should be, as my book is in the reholdering process.

Just an update for anyone interested, GCG received this book on May 3rd, and up to this moment all I have gotten in response is that no one seems to know where my book is. I can only hope that it's just a matter of a one hand not knowing what the other is doing situation...

Looks like I put my first reply in the defunct one...anyway, I think it's best for ebay auctions to end on Sunday night. Buy It Nows can end anytime, but you want an auction to end at a day and time when the most people will be home and available to be watching the auction, because when people are watching an auction they are more likely to fall victim to the "I gotta beat the other bidder" syndrome. If an auction ends at, say, 3AM on a Tuesday, most potential bidders will not be able to be watching at that time, so they will simply put in a very sober, sane maximum bid. If they are right there, however, watching that clock tick down and wanting that victorious feeling of being a winning bidder, they will often bid more, especially right at the last minute, to obtain that "achievement gratification". So take advantage of it.

I think it's best for ebay auctions to end on Sunday night. Buy It Nows can end anytime, but you want an auction to end at a day and time when the most people will be home and available to be watching the auction, because when people are watching an auction they are more likely to fall victim to the "I gotta beat the other bidder" syndrome. If an auction ends at, say, 3AM on a Tuesday, most potential bidders will not be able to be watching at that time, so they will simply put in a very sober, sane maximum bid. If they are right there, however, watching that clock tick down and wanting that victorious feeling of being a winning bidder, they will often bid more, especially right at the last minute, to obtain that "achievement gratification". So take advantage of it.

Very nice.

And they aren't even very expensive, especially on a cost-per-book basis. If one likes a book and desires to preserve it, it makes sense to store it properly.

"Honey, I'm starting to worry about what's going to happen to our house on White Mountain at noon..."

"What?? I distinctly remember you saying The Palace...geez...ok, ok, which building DID you want it on top of?"

Good point, it seems I bought the front cover and not the back cover also...

I'm gonna get a bumper sticker that says that!

Nice rack!

Exactly, and what it seems to boil down to is really common sense, if all other things being equal and we are trying to mitigate the deleterious effects of gravity. A book in a slab is resting on something. If the slab is vertical then the focus of the gravity will be on the bottom edge of the book. Laying any book down horizontally spreads out the effects of gravity rather than concentrating them on one specific area. As long as slabs are not stacked too high I don't see it (horizontal stacking) contributing any additional degree of gravitational pressure on the book. I'm sure in reality a lot of this is superfluous minutiae and in actual terms and practical results may not matter in the least. Theoretically I think there can be no doubt that a book laying flat experiences the least gravitational effect on any particular area of the book.

I purchased this one from ComicLink, and the seller provided only a front scan, not a back one. I did have trouble initially taking pics that would show the waves, but of course I was able to eventually. Honestly, if the seller had included a high quality back cover scan that showed these waves I probably would have passed on the book. I know what you mean about if yours had been a book you really wanted to keep you would have sent it to CGC. That's the way I feel about this one...this book is mine now, I need to take steps to address these waves. Who pressed the book seems to be a pretty darn important consideration, I'm understanding. I am under the impression that CCS is one of the top pressers, because of CGC's association and because of their prices! They seem to be about the highest out there, but (and I'm sure you can understand my mindset with this book at this point) the cost is almost a secondary consideration--I want this book to be right! If for no other reason than, nobody uses carbon copies any more!

Great question, raws should only be stored horizontally/flat if they are not stacked, as you mentioned, stacking raws would put undue pressure on the spines, whereas stacking slabs would only place pressure on the slabs. I suppose that if one stacked enough slabs horizontally it could conceivably press down hard enough so the bottom books would be affected, but I'd think that would take a lot of slabs.

"You know Joe, I'm kind of ashamed of you for not coming up with something better than The Thing. I mean, anyone can see it is some kind of thing...tell you what, I'll throw you a bunch of consonants with no vowels and we'll see what we come up with."

No, from everything I've read on the topic I've concluded that the best, safest way to store them whether slabbed or raw is horizontal...less gravitational pressure exerted on any particular part of the book. I know that displaying them horizontally is not as aesthetically pleasing as vertically, especially if they're sitting on nice shelves.

Seems I owe you an apology, BB and mschmidt...this is quoted from the CCS website, a leader in the pressing industry... "There are various levels of pressing we have witnessed in the hobby, from spot pressing to very aggressive methods. The more aggressive techniques can cause warping, cockling, waves, color loss, flaring, damage to staple areas, and an overall limpness to a book, even with one pressing. With slightly less aggressive techniques, one press may not damage a book, but multiple pressings using the same method can produce negative results." So it is quite possible that the book has been pressed previously by someone who was not as skilled or knowledgeable as he could have been, and his attempt to correct them was short-lived. So certainly you are correct in bringing up this clear possibility. I've had several very helpful conversations with CGC about all this, and those along with those I've had in this discussion lead me to the only sensible action I can take, which is to send the book back to CGC. They have informed me that, if in their estimation their slab well was too small and caused the waviness (and they did acknowledge that possibility), they will reslab for free. However, in the last week I took the book to a local shop that I've done lots of business with over the years, and he is convinced that the waviness can only be removed by (perhaps another) pressing. CGC told me that in that case, they will have their associated service, CCS, do the pressing and then they must not only reslab but re-grade at my cost. I have absolutely no problem with that...I'm kind of a Journey Into Mystery enthusiast and early Thor even moreso, and this JIM #90 in high grade is pretty scarce, so I want the book right. Of course I'll update whenever I have any further information for anyone who might be interested.

I know this is an aside, but inside those boxes are your books horizontal or vertical? Seems like the consensus, from what I've seen, is that slabbed books are most safely stored horizontally. Anyway, do you think you'd need specialized or custom stuff? I'd think you'd be able to find lots of standard shelving options that would fit the size of slabbed books. As long as they are fairly sturdy, as slabbed books tend to get heavy when you have as many as you do, I think you might be able to find a good variety of standard shelving options.

A small price to pay for the elimination of such a threat to mankind...except, of course, they don't work because nothing humans can do to these things ever seems to.

I'm sure more than a few of them were simply looking for vowels.

"Look, the huge missiles have no effect! Let's shoot at him with our revolvers!"

I didn't claim that there was a widespread problem. I said it was possible. There is No evidence that a pressed book returns to its previous wavy or creased state. So we're back to the same starting point. CGC receives a book. It either has waviness or it does not. If it had the waviness this one does, at this grade, that waviness would have been mentioned in the grader's notes. It was not. Therefore the possibility exists that the waviness occurred after encapsulation. That's all I'm saying. And as of yet no one has come up with any more likely explanation. The fact that some refuse to even consider the possibility is a bit disconcerting, to be sure.

The vast majority also split hairs. Have you noticed?