Hey, folks. I'm new to the board, and having just gotten back into collecting, I'm very, very new to grading. I think the biggest question plaguing me is how heavily interior page quality affects the grade of the comic vs. the exterior; most of what I've turned up here and elsewhere references the exterior, and what little I have found regarding interior page quality is contradictory and inconclusive, to me at least.
I recently purchased a copy of AMS #299. The eBay seller listed it as VF or higher grade, but the more I inspect the comic, the more I doubt the grading.
I'm going to post a link to some photos I took, but I'll also provide a description of some of my observations:
I took the photos under yellowish light, so the exterior doesn't look as white as it appears in person, and the interior pages appear a darker tan, while nevertheless being somewhat tan IRL. Cover is rich in color and glossy with just a few almost imperceptible impressions on the cover (see photos 1 and 2). Among my biggest concerns are the bends to the upper left corner of the back page; the largest of the two is a little greater than a fourth of an inch in length. Next up: a handful of the pages have what appear to be faint folds or creases, which I didn't even notice at first; but the more I've inspected them under differing lighting, the more apparent they become. Lastly, nearly all the pages have a slight (maybe 2/8 inch) bend to the upper corner, an example of which you can see in the final photo.
Here's the link to the album: my copy of Amazing Spider-man #298. I tried to take the most unflattering photos as possible. While the outside condition isn't terrible, the interior pages give me strong concerns/doubts over the total grade.
I paid 65$ for it. At this point, I'm not sure whether it was worth it or not. Thanks in advance to all of you in this community for your time and attention. I look forward to participating more!