comicginger1789

Also anyone seeing anything press worthy? Or should I just do it because why not. I reached out to the seller I got it from, he said was in an older collection and he sold as is.

Thanks I personally pondered that high but was afraid to allow myself to think it was that nice. Either way it is going to CGC next month and I will do my best to remember to post follow ups.

I think 9.0 is tops. There’s that crease at top of spine and then some ticks near the staples. The indent near the bottom mentioned in the notes might be fixable but I would be surprised if it went higher than 9.0

Nova price drop! $325 shipped

Hi all, So I worry my love for a good date stamp might be clouding my judgement on this one. Curious what people see. I see two spine ticks (one of GL shoulder and one slightly higher), the date stamp (can you really even call it a flaw ) and maybe the corners aren’t razor sharp? Aside from that it’s flat as can be, no rips or tears other than the 1-2 millimeter one at the top of the spine. All thoughts appreciated!

New books this week! Nova lot! Includes 1- CGC 9.2 2- VF 3- VF 4-VF 9- VF 10- VF/NM 12- VF/NM 13- VF/NM 15- VF- 17- VF 18- VF 20- VF/NM 25- FN/VF SOLD

Well yea but when you have the small chance of books getting damaged even while in the slab combined with human error because it’s impossible to be 100% in any job, that accounts for these anomalies. Remember you are scrolling through this thread seeing some terrible examples…maybe what six or seven so far have been shared? Out of how many 9.8s though? Has to be 100000 on the census across the board. I’m not excusing these flaws but rather just showing that mathematically (and because it’s humans) they have to occur.

If you are buying the grade always ask for pics. Never assume the 9.8 is your definition of a 9.8 or whatever. I’ve seen books graded 6.0 even and I look and feel that they are more 4.5-5.0 by my standards. I always ask for more pictures and never assume all grades are equal. Many are but you also have to account for every 10000 9.8 books out there, surely a handful are wrongly graded

I agree with this. A LOT of amateur guys in the pressing “biz” and comics in general who are not great. And that is a problem

Yes, in Canada a press and clean range from $15-25/30. I imagine its similar if using someone stateside and I forget what CGC charges (its somewhere on their site for sure) And yes the popped staple happens if the paper is a little weak. With Golden Age era books, this can be common. I had a horror story (my own fault partially for not vetting people well enough) where an amateur presser tried to fix a spine roll on a Hulk 180 and the staple popped. I learned quick to get references and spend the extra money to have it done right if I want it done right.

How severe we talking? Stuff like the example below never really bothers me when reading. Presents better after sure, but I don't think you need to worry too much while reading. I honestly worry more about pressing these because I have seen more amateur (and even some professionals) who when pressing this, they pop the staple. And popped staples bother me a lot.

The tape one I too am on the fence about. To me, a book with any tape, even minor, should never get above a 5.0 anyways. Maybe you give some leniency Golden Age books and allow as high as 6.0. Most books with tape I see are 1.0-3.0 range at best. And the tape isn't improving anything. So I would expect when selling, that a 3.0 with tape sells for less than one without. And I think that generally holds true as not all low grade comics are treated equal even if the grades are.

Right? But people who are anti-pressing (or get caught up on the language) just prefer to ignore your notions. Which is fine. They feel how they feel. I agree that in theory, an untouched comic that is a 9.0 book SHOULD be worth more than a copy that is 8.0 but with a press got a 9.0. Problem is unless someone tells you, you never know. And does it really matter? It's like the shirt. If I found a vintage valuable t-shirt that someone stored on a hangar in a closet for 50 years and it gets pulled out and is worth $200 I find the same shirt at a yard sale, wrinkly and maybe even with some dirt on it. I toss it in the wash, give it an iron when done and it presents the same as the other. Should it really be worth less? Or regarded as less? I mean you can get upset that someone beat you to the idea of charging for the washing part of the old shirt before you did....that would be my only upset feelings if I time travelled back to when CGC started doing this.

Cleaning (dry cleaning which is not seen as restoration by CGC), removes contact dirt and contact soiling. It can make white areas whiter, especially the back covers of many older books thus improving their appearance and grade. Pressing flattens the book, eliminating (most often) dents and dings and bends and non colour breaking creases. It can also be used to fix a spine roll on a book if done by a professional without damaging the book. All of these things have the potential to improve the grade of the book and if one cares about it, the value as well Certain defects (colour breaking spine ticks, creases, stains, rips, sun fading, foxing, etc) are all not something that cleaning and pressing can fix. It really comes down to knowing what defects can be repaired to determine whether it is worth doing. You could have a 4.0 book that still stays a 4.0 book because the small ding that was smoothened out to improve it is not enough to warrant a grade bump if the comic has a rip and lots of spine wear and marks still present

What if we call it "non additive structural and visual improvements"? NASVI for short! NASVI, good....restoration, bad.

If you want to call it restoration, that's fine. I don't. And I view it very differently than adding colour, leaf casting, gluing, etc. Maybe you don't and it's all the same, and that is fine with me. You say the hobby hasn't agreed but I would disagree with that. Definitely a portion of the hobby disagrees but the masses seem to accept it. That is good enough for me. To me it seems silly though to only want a comic that was "never touched or pressed" especially because you would never know (there are sometimes signs but not always). And if it is encased well, then you will really never know. All being said, I would not be opposed to CGC ever putting "pressed" or notating in some way on the slab (a tiny star on the back or something trivial) to denote a book they took part in pressing. Maybe such a thing would appease those who view pressing/cleaning restoration

I guess I just disagree. If you clean a dusty covered car, wash the interior and buff out a few dings, all while keeping the car original and not adding any new parts, pieces or pant, that is still a 100% original car (and I should think car guys would say the same). You clean it by mechanical means to make it look much better. And people would pay more for it after that because it looks great and took a little work to get there. I view comics in the same way. Maybe that is wrong but it is how I have felt ever since I learned about pressing within the hobby.

I have also thought about this and it really doesn't make sense. They grade the entire book. Granted a large portion of the time, one can guess a grade correctly from the front or back cover but for all the times people guess 9.6 and get 9.2 on a book, I feel that that is because they missed something inside (a bend, indent, small fold, minute tear) because they don't open the entire book. Now CGC should tell you about this (and that is another story regarding their lack of notes in many cases)... So to scan every page, time consuming. It is also near impossible to detect certain restoration without handling the books (which is why the do handle them sans gloves) I think the real solution here is to spend time hiring more graders, which takes time and again, I don't think anyone predicted the boom comics experienced last year or so. They were not prepared. All we can hope for is that they are now and are spending time ensuring that new graders are as consistent as the 20 or so they had. I should think about 50-60 graders makes sense.

Now, if a book has been chemically cleaned, that's a different story...but a comic cleaned with dry erasers and the like should never get a purple label (and never has to my knowledge)...

Restoration means adding something that wasn't there previously. Colour touch, sealing tears, using glue. I view pressing and cleaning like freshening up an old antique item. You could dig something out of a barn (an old sign, a piece of furniture, heck even a classic car) and its covered in dust and coon poop and whatever. You aren't going to leave it...you will clean it. And if that is all you do (maybe with the sign you smooth out a couple dings without changing the sign) you immediately improve the appearance of the book and therefore the condition. Nothing has been restored in these instances, and nor has it when you use a little dry eraser and a press on a comic.

There are people who pay a premium for CGC 9.8 newsies from any era, even if it was the early days when, in theory, the newsstands were more prevalent. But a 9.8 is coveted by many for any book and you add the newsstand element for those who want and they are willing to pay up. For 9.0-9.4 grades though, I feel both direct/newsstand are plentiful. You are right, there aren't as many 9.8 books newsies for those books. The She-Hulk is because of that white cover for sure. And I feel the Avengers and Moon Knight also show flaws because of those rich background being primarily all one colour. Off the top of my head I cannot think of any other keys from that time frame that fit the bill but I am sure there are issues from other series (with white covers or backgrounds of all one colour) that are equally hard to find in 9.8 but perhaps not as coveted by the masses because they are not "keys"

Get both. If you like both. That's what I did. If you are late to the game, hey, we all are in some regard.

I said 4.0 I clicked to see what you said and you said 4.0 I scrolled to see others saying 4.0 I think we have a winner!

The front is pretty nice. From experience, I find CGC can be forgiving if flaws are on the back. Now the rub/discolouration and the small tear are noticeable. I sent off my ASM 252 last year and it came back a 9.0 with many spine ticks (more than I thought would be allowed) but because they were only seem from the back cover, I feel like it got averaged out (the front was a 9.4, the back to me more an 8.0, to they finalized a grade in between). This is probably not exactly how they do it but it gives some idea. To me, your book is similar, maybe a bit worse on the back. I feel 8.5 is achievable here. If they hammer it down, the lowest I am seeing is 7.5

I am harsh and personally would call 5.5. Someone might call it 6.0-6.5. Too much edge and corner wear and minor creasing to go higher for me, mainly because of the bottom right corner.