Lightning55

Super comic. Heading out to buy some lottery tickets now!

I like that expression. I'm stealing it.

That looks like more than a "bend". It looks to be previously hard-folded, which when pressed, will still show where it was folded, otherwise known as a crease.

A 7.0 is still a quality grade. You will never know what was in the amateur restorer's head. Probably the most basic of motivations - "This could look a lot better if that white spot wasn't there. Where's my pen?"

Could be. You would think, though, that they would say "center of back spine". Somebody should help us all out and standardize the descriptive order for cover locations. Like front or back first, top or bottom next, finishing with left, center or right. Then we could all be on the same "page". Maybe there's already a rule in place, and I'm the last to know.

The notes said where it was, in the text you quoted: "the grader notes say 'small amount of color touch on right center back cover"

CGC does a resto check on each book. That is one reason people like to buy graded books. No surprises, you are guaranteed an authentic book. Although resto has been missed from time to time, very rare. I believe that the first thing a grader checks for is restoration, after someone has done a page count at intake to make sure the book is complete. A trained eye will find signs of it, and there are always the usual suspect areas - corners, spine tics, edges, etc. Letting light reflect off the glossy surface can show inconsistencies in that reflection, due to the original finish possibly being worn off and recolored. It's very hard to duplicate the gloss in a perfectly smooth manner. I've heard that it is all done by eye, not with a black light, but maybe a magnifying glass once you think you have found something. And of course the grader who finds it will check with others for their opinion.

+1 to the above. I bet every collector eventually has a resto situation that bites them in the behind. Hate it when that happens.

Professional restoration costs money. Anyone with a pen, pencil, marker, etc., can touch up color to hide a white area.

The ongoing severe snow storms and plummeting temperatures have slowed everything in that region to a standstill. Be thankful you are not in Illinois. It'll get to you eventually. In the meantime, you'll have to have something no comic collector has - patience.

+1 on that. Even moisture content of the paper could change the weight, especially if weighed in Florida, humidity capital of the world. If they could tell anything by weighing, they would have been able to detect trimming from day 1.

Congrats on the grade bumps. Definitely worth the investment. A stacking bend should be a routine ground ball for any presser. And probably shouldn't be present in a 9.8, since that grade is supposed to be the equivalent of an fresh comic, right out of the box. Like a new comic on the shelf, before anyone manhandled it. New comics haven't had an opportunity to form a stacking bend.

Grader notes on a 9.8, the rarest of the rare. I'm curious as to what the Notes said???

Unless he can be brought up on racketeering charges, I don't see the FBI ever getting involved. Probably never even know of its existence, as in "What comic scandal?"

Yes, it was previously suggested, a couple of times during this long journey. They could add a few things to the lookup page - maybe a History tab with all known movement (sales history, reholder history, photos of each time it was processed in any way, etc. Sort of like a vehicle title history. Maybe someday we will be saying "Show me the SlabFax".

As in the thread links that @flchris kindly provided, and various similar threads, the CGC response has generally been that the grader notes are internal tools, not all-inclusive. I think they have been purposely vague, so collectors aren't picking apart the comments, calling to argue specific judgments. Regarding the notes being from grader to grader, and I'm just spitballing here, but maybe there's a light stain that the first grader sees that could easily be missed, so he notes it. The stain figured into his preliminary grade. If the final grader doesn't see it, the early grade might seem "off". But the note brings it to his attention, making sense of the preliminary grade. Or maybe that big white subscription crease isn't noted at all, because it is so obvious no one would miss it. I just know that we have been told that the graders' job is to assign a grade. If they make notes, it is for operational purposes, and not all comics will have notes. I personally believe that all comics should have notes. If templated into the system, it might add a few seconds, big deal. Even a 9.8, with one click of a mouse, could say "meets the standard of a new comic, no added defects". Although I see that today's new comics, with the thinner cover paper, are more like 9.4 out of the gate.

Looks like it might be SCS. The condition of the case just above the comic corner (back view) doesn't look great, either. But it could just be my perception of the photo.

Maybe, for the suspected greens to blue on the list, they are just presuming it has been swapped, and immediately compensate the owner. They then keep it untouched, open it later in view of authorities to see what is actually in there.

Set of 6 at $32

Set of 4 at $20

GPA already made a statement, the one you were directed toward. Seemed to cover all aspects of the situation. I would think that their system of collecting data is very automated. So bad data is going to enter their database from time to time. Invalid sales data would have to be sorted out and removed. Only they know how efficiently and expeditiously that can be accomplished. I'm sure there's a lot of maintenance to keep it as pure as possible. The data is their product, so protecting it is Job 1.

CGC is not compelled in any way to provide any answers to the many questions we all may have. If they do address any concerns, well, good on them. There is no regulatory agency overseeing the comic collecting industry/hobby. CGC is not a financial institution, subject to SEC rules and regulations. It is a private company, owned by a public company. CGC has not done anything criminal. A bit negligent or incompetent maybe, on the reholder process, but poor performance is not a crime. There is probably fraud taking place, maybe unwittingly aided by CGC. But CGC is not the source of the fraud, so not the subject of an investigation. The person, or people, swapping out books are the criminals. On that criminal level, the parties affected (collectors who lost money due to slab tempering), would be the ones to press charges, to get law enforcement involved, since something tangible was stolen from them - money. Multiple affected parties would have to band together to seek justice and compensation. But....has anyone to date lost money?? Those who potentially could have lost money are supposedly being made whole by CGC, so no longer victims. No victims = no crime = no prosecution. And as long as CGC keeps up with current compensation, as well as funding new, previously-unknown instances of swapping, this whole affair slowly loses traction, fading away. Could be the entire strategy.

The CGC Guarantee states that each book is evaluated by at least 2 graders. Used to be 3.

How to poke a bear... Bear poking back, with restraint.