juniperpt

On 2/7/2023 at 9:03 PM, scburdet said:

IDK if that's a printer's crease going from Spider-Man's hand out, It's pretty heavy. There are several things that look like printer's creases, which aren't treated as defects per se, but having multiple and long ones does impact the aesthetic appeal. There's also something going on in the dark ink along the spine. Some color rub or something. 7.0±0.5 with some uncertainty.

Something new to me. I hadn't heard about printer's creases but yes, on the front cover there are two creases converging at Spider-Man's hand. On the back cover there are two creases, one going thought the jar of paint brushes and the other atop of the words "We're looking". Thank you for pointing those out as i had not seen them. Appreciate the grading!

Would a c/p take out the printer's crease?

Richard Tracy BLBs. Magnum PI he wasn't, but he had that walkie-talkie wrist watch way before Apple.

On 2/10/2023 at 5:39 PM, Sarg said:

What are the most coveted BLBs?

In March of 2022 to get the value of my books I was using a website "biglittlebooks.com" or .org which listed the values of each Big Little Book by Whitman Publishing. I believe the book values were lised were for Fair, Good, and Mint conditions. I have since tried to access the website with zero success. I get a scam site.

At the time some of the more valuable books were the rarer soft covers versus hard cover of the same title. But the high values did not seem current with the times. Upon further inspection of the the website, at the bottom, it had a 2012 copyright.

On 2/10/2023 at 11:09 AM, Robot Man said:

These are very easy to grade if you use the Overstreet grading standards.

No, CGC doesn’t grade them and due to their current low demand, are very unlikely to.

Personaly, I have always enjoyed them and picked up a lot as I ran into them over the years. The spines look so cool displayed on shelves.

I just store them in paperback or digest bags. They work quite well. 

Thanks for your insights. These books were handed down through the family over the years. I keep an eye out when traveling but haven't seen many in good condition.

On 12/7/2021 at 5:21 PM, ft88 said:

I do have a ulterior motive. Just picked up a BLB collection of six boxes. Over 450 of them. 

I like that “Tint Tim and the Mechanical Man”. The artistry reminds me of the early EC comic covers.

Third and final of tonight's ASM submissions.

As always, appreciate the time and energy put into your grading efforts!

Second of three ASM submissions tonight.

BC is a bit dirty and doesn't square up to the underlying pages. Whereas the FC appears to be square to the underlying pages. Not sure "square" is the correct term, but I can't think on anything else.

Thanks for taking the time to review, comment and grade!

Continuing my efforts to select my ten best comics to submit to CGC for grading.

Tonight's focus is on Marvel, specifically Spider-man!

Appreciate your comments and grades!

Mademoiselle Marie. One brave woman.

Note the addition of blue, penned in laces to her flats.

Appreciate your comments and grades!

A short run (eight issues) by Dell. Not a very popular comic, but the view out the oversized window is incredible!

Note small tear BCTL over 'BOYS".

Thanks for looking and commenting!

Tonight's focus is on War comics, my favorite comic theme.

This one is well read and has what I think is a water stain under the right leg of "Gunner". Comic has lost its glossiness and depth of color, but still portrays the action.

Appreciate your comments and grades!

On 1/31/2023 at 5:58 PM, lou_fine said:

Seeing as they don't even have any holders for the pulps or for some of the earlier oversized magazine formatted comic books like the New Fun's, Master's, Jumbo's, etc., I am pretty much 100% sure they don't have any type of holder for these BLB books.  

Bummer. I'll have to stick with the Baggies. Thanks!

Yes, you are correct about the stain on the back cover. Looking at it closer, the stain fortunately has not penetrated through the back cover and onto the last page. But while examing, i noticed another stain on the back cover, bottom right. Maybe a water stain? And on back cover, left edge, across from "Vac-U-Form" there is a small tear. The more I look, the more I find. Ugh.

The example comic you refer to looks cleaner than my copy. Do you know if the comic was cleaned and pressed?

The CGC census has a sweetspot at 4.0 so that would be my goal with a clean and press.

Appreciate your time, comments and grade!

On 1/31/2023 at 5:49 PM, scburdet said:

4.0/4.5, leaning 4.0 b/c of the accumulated length of color breaking creases. Is that a small tear on the TRBC?

Yup, a small tear. Good eye, I missed that.  At first I thought it was only an indentation. Thanks!

On 1/31/2023 at 6:10 PM, scburdet said:

All things considered, the white here looks pretty good at least compared to some white covers I own from the same era. I see a short 1/4"-1/2" tear below the torch, and some light oxidation of paper (I don't think this is foxing, but wouldn't put $$$ on my analysis). 7.5/8.0. I could see an 8.5 if cleaning lightened up the white just a little.

Your grade is very encouraging. So far this is the highest grade of all the comics I've posted. My comics were never bought for collecting, but for reading.  And somehow I have held on to them over the years.  Again, thank you for your time and comments!

On 1/31/2023 at 6:22 PM, AJD said:

4.0 for me

Thank you for grading!

On 2/1/2023 at 5:24 PM, silverseeker said:

Agreed...

Thank you for grading!

On 2/1/2023 at 12:32 AM, Mars76 said:

4.5

Thanks!

On 2/1/2023 at 1:08 AM, Mars76 said:

I love this cover. I can see a cnp getting this to a solid 7.5.

Cover was a reflection of the times. Numerous writers and artist picked up on the late 60's vibe, using it in their stories. The Archie series with the mod clothing and glasses during those years was embarrassing. Thanks for your grade!

On 1/31/2023 at 6:13 PM, scburdet said:

7.0 as is, 7.5 w/C/P. The edges on the front cover, especially the bottom, are a little rough. A small crease on the TLBC & light soiling on back cover. Maybe an indention or something on the BRBC?

Thanks for pointing that out. I took a closer look and it appears to be an ink smudge of some sort. Definitely not a indentation. 

Apprciate your comments and grade!

On 2/1/2023 at 1:10 AM, Mars76 said:

4.5 with a small chance of getting a 5.0

Thank you for grading!

On 1/31/2023 at 7:25 PM, mrlatko said:

Revised my grade above.  The spine stress is worse than I originally noticed.  Also agree that most break color and can't be fixed.

Thanks for updating your grade. Unfortunate to have that spine stress, but it is what it is.

On 1/31/2023 at 4:19 PM, scburdet said:

these clearly break color, so there's a limit to what pressing can achieve. Flattening things out might make it look a little better (or get non-color breaking creases that aren't obvious in photos), but they can't be fixed. 

Got it. Thanks for your insights!

On 8/30/2020 at 12:57 PM, Bookery said:

Only a little without seeing them in person.

(A)  Star Trek paperbacks... no value.

(B)  Hardbacks without dust-jackets... close to no value.

(C)  Big Little Books -- low demand today even for better titles.  These look rough.  Most probably near worthless, but a few, if better condition, might bring $5-$20 depending on title.

(D)  Burroughs books in dust-jacket can have value.  These are Grosset & Dunlap reprints, but even early G&Ds can bring money if in jacket.  But G&D had multiple printings, and they can vary in value.  Still... any G&D in a decent jacket is probably safe at $20, and some might be worth considerably more.  The Red Ryders in jacket would also have a little value, since jackets on these are not that common.

Good discussions, thanks.

Has the market for BLBs improved since this original post dated 8/30/20? I am sitting on some BLB hand me downs and was curious if there was any positive movement in the market with BLSs?