scburdet

CGC doesn't like staining, but this is FF3, so 6.0/6.5. I think a less significant book would drop a grade, maybe two. I don't really see the waviness, but if someone tells you this is a pressing candidate otherwise, it can probably be removed.

My initial thought was 4.0, but the more I scrolled through the detailed close-ups, I progressively downgraded my guess. I'm at 3.0/3.5 b/c there's no one big defect to detract from the appearance, especially the front cover. Discoloration, small piece out, tear, rust migration (or other staining) at the top staple. It looks like the cover is still attached, but I'd want to check for structural issue if I had it in hand.

Yeah, lots have this and I agree hard to grade. I bought a collection of them at ~$2-3 ea. Mixed grades, but the value a few probably cover the entire lot. Oddly, not a single one has an address label. A big win, I'd say.

4.5±0.5. I would imagine keeping it in a humidity free environment would put a stop to further migration. Kind of hard to stop iron from oxidizing once it starts though

I barely remember what happened in the movie. I recall though the character is more like the one from Deapool Max, which isn't even the Prime Universe, so a completely different character

4.5/5.0 depending on how hard they want to treat the internal staining.

Few more shots to see if you are more or less suspicious. The cover still overhangs the inner pages, The edges have small imperfections, similar to all edges (we're at the limit of the camera's abilities here. I think the photos make the edge look cleaner than it is). The two corners look "naturally" rounded to me, but that & $5 will buy you a new book at your LCS. If it was trimmed, I would say that it had to happen a while ago.

Looks like one to me. Looks 7ish.

No, they're plain matte print (or similar). The really old ones (there are a couple for sale at MCS with scans) look like they're just 8½×11 paper folded, stapled & a postmark put on it. Some look to be printed in "portrait mode". The paper isn't typing paper, and it's higher quality than the pages of a regular comic, but we have now reached the extent of my paper knowledge.

Thought about sending this to Tony Isabella signing. Ultimately, didn't think it was good enough since it's only his character, but not involved in the actual book. Think a press would help the top edge.

One of those books I already owned, but really was below really collectible standards (stained). Casual shopped for a long time now & was surprised no one was bidding on this copy, so I'm wondering if your grades will be close to the seller's . Definitely, the nicest raw copy I'd seen in a while. The one thing I can see now that wasn't noticeable in the listing is a light crease from the title to the Puppet Master. <4" & doesn't extend to the edges. It hides well in the full cover shot, although I'm pretty sure my higher resolution camera shows it pretty well. Seller says:

8.5±0.5. Just the crease. Might merit a 9.0, but haven't seen too many with one so obvious scoring a NM. I have a magazine with a similar defect at an 8.0

9.0/9.2, if the back page was an ad, not a pinup, maybe a grade higher. Scratches keep it from getting to a 9.4 probably.

I'm not sure a lot of the later issues in Vol 2 were particularly noteworthy. Just this one b/c of Starlin & the final issue (81) b/c of lower print run

Yes! I also posted a copy of this a while back, which is a preview of the issue by Starlin too.

If it's not obvious, I've been on a bit of a Starlin kick lately. I have this copy of his only GR, which is pretty nice, but I'm not sure it's grade-it-nice. I've been looking around for a while, but haven't found a better raw copy. Trying to figure out if I should break down & shop for an already graded copy as much as it doesn't appeal to me. It matters how much an already graded copy would be compared to how this one would grade.

I have a tape pull comic graded at a 7.0, but it's on the back. I can't tell if that's a tear on the back cover or something stranger. It think 4.0 is about right. I guess that I could see a gift 4.5 but it's a stretch. Things in the 3s are starting to really lose visual appeal and minus the tape pull, it doesn't look bad. Front cover pressed minus the tape pull might be a 5.5 or even 6.0.

it's some loss of surface material. Hard to say what to call it, especially for a semi-professional production. It's not a tear or a chip out though.

Here's one to keep you entertained on a Friday night if you're the kind of person, like me, whose most exciting Friday night plans are grading comics online. This follows up on the SSC 8 I posted earlier. Interestingly, I've reached out to several creators recently to find information on early/obscure books. EVERY SINGLE ONE has responded, and more quickly than I get responses to work emails I send. Anyway, Al Milgrom confirmed J Star from issue 8 was Starlin. Starlin uses a slightly different pseudonym here. This one is from 1969, so a 20ish year old Starlin. The issue 8 was 3 years earlier. Milgrom would have been 15/16 & Starlin might have been 17. Crazy.

I've been waiting for a signing opportunity to throw this one up, although the price point of the Michelinie event makes me hesitant. The most glaring defect is the two white lines perpendicular to the spine. If I did send it, the window would put the signature window right in this real estate to try & cover it up. I'm not sure what the white lines are from. They kind of resemble production ink loss, but all the examples I've seen of that are parallel to the spine & very close to the fold. There's no obvious surface abrasion or loss of gloss on the lines, but I can find no other copies with this defect. It could be production, but I have serious doubts it would be treated as such, especially since it impacts the aesthetics. The only other thing I worry about is the BRFC, the tiny creases are what they are. The little black dot looks like ink, but again doesn't look like someone hit it with a marker, hard to say though. Harder if you're looking at it in a photo, but give me your grade guess anyway.

Small crease on the BRFC & it seems like a stain in the UPC box. The stain is going to hold this down. I call this an 8.5/9.0 with the crease, but CGC seems to be treating stains harshly, so I'm guessing this might top out around a 7.0

around 9.2

9.0 look like some ink loss in a couple areas along the spine

Englehart II. I really do like this book & photographed it for the forum months ago. I've looked at this for long enough to convince myself it should miss the sign/grade cutoff. It's not offensive, but the BRFC corner has some short creases that when added to the lighter defects elsewhere are going to do this. Still interested in other opinions.

Mulling the Englehart's signing. Not much in the queue that wouldn't mean sending something I've already investing in signing and/or grading. This one has been getting some traction b/c of Kang. Some light defects & what looks like some yellow ink application problem on the upper right. Pretty sure that's production, but definitely impacts presentation. Would be less on the fence if it was the cover artist.