scburdet

All MJs are rarer than regular editions. Newsstand vs direct editions started in ~1979 until newsstands disappear in ~2013. In 1987, the Direct/Newsstand split appears to be 60/40 according to information on Google. Of that 40% newsstand, some limited % would be MJs. IDK if there's much data on numbers, but if one extrapolated from frequency they come up for sale, I'd guestimate 10% or less of newsstands were MJs. The dogma of MJs is that they were sold on or near military bases (i.e. a market that might be disproportionately looking for jewelry for significant others, etc.). That said, IDK if there are other places MJs were distributed, and haven't seen much discussion on this. All but a couple of MJs I own came from full run purchases I made in the late 90s/early 00s when I had no idea about their significance, or that they weren't just how all those books were sold. Not sure people were paying a lot of attention to them yet then (i.e. dumb luck in acquiring them). I never bought one new in the "wild". The star stamp is more definitively a military marking I believe, and there are stamped books from before MJs started appearing. All told, if you look at sales, collectors will pay a premium for MJs, especially for key issues in higher grades. MJs in the VF/NM range like this one would fall into this category IMO, but if you get 9.6/9.8 MJs, there's the additional build in premium.

3rd for Isabella & best rationale for sending. The rumor mill for the return of Misty Knight in Captain America IV is churning.

Also sent to Isabella, again more for personal reasons than added value.

Testing to see if the backlog on magazines is finally breaking. At least the fee is "cheap"

Sent this one to Tony Isabella signing strictly b/c of the MJ insert. Thought it would be very unique to have the MJ signed. Hopefully, they won't lose this one.

I prefer to self-limit to 1 comic/day, but it's kind of like that since it's the same book. If you think one is better than the other, give me a heads up.

1st US Psylocke by Claremont. Both copies have a little of the issue on the top outer corner. I assume that this is manufacturing since it's in multiple copies, still detracts a little

I don't think the inner page tear matters with the staining on the front & back, ?tape pull? on the back and split spine. My initial guess of 3.5 too. I guess there's an outside chance someone could do something with those stains if they're more like surface soiling. It might look nicer cleaned, but I don't see a whole lot of hope for a grade bump with the spine and paper damage on the back cover. Spine splits are on the list of unforgivable defects, albeit these probably get marginal leeway b/c the binding is delicate.

I found a CGC 9.0 w/MJs on ebay & went ahead and bought it b/c I assume there will be a settlement check in my future. These aren't easy to find obviously (I only had it b/c of dumb luck), so I could see a scenario where I waited until the process played out, and never found a comp. It won't be signed, which is the main reason I sent this one in. I imagine the census of TM-signed Hulk 330s w/MJ inserts graded by CGC is a very small number. Maybe I'll end up with 2 graded Hulk 330MJs, but I doubt it.

I'd give you a comparison, but my copy has been sitting at CGC for almost a year b/c of a whole series of things starting with last year's Claremont signing. This isn't annoying at all. I do have an issue 8 slabbed (8.0) and it looks better than this book, but at the same time has defects I don't think would let a regular comic see the same grade. The tear in the one corner is a concern. Lots of pressable defects, although I don't know how these type of book presses (see earlier complaint about book sitting at CGC). 7.0/7.5

so much white. Really shows the smudges on my laptop screen well. I think there might be a small smudge or something on the back cover >9.2

I would call these more indentions. Kind of like a readers crease, but not making what would be a color-breaking defect on a non-white cover, and no one makes readers creases on the back cover. it's a defect, but importantly not a stain per se b/c it's from self-interaction. If it has been ink transfer from another book or foreign substance, I wouldn't have bothered posting it b/c there's no way it would have even be in a 9s ballpark

8ish. Needs a C/P

3rd CC candidate. Definitely borderline from a ROI perspective as it would have to hit rather high to justify the cost. First appearance o Groot outside of the SA single appearance in 1958. I guess this is supposedly a duplicate Groot & also not the Groot we all know & love from the modern age I guess we know this b/c this Groot has a vocabulary beyond "I am Groot!" Solid for square bound annuals. I can feel the staples through the front cover, but no noticeable ink loss. You can see the impact of the staples/binding type on the back cover. At first I though the red spots on the back cover were staining, but these line line up with some red ink in ads on the last page, so some bleed through/transfer within the book.

Why would this still get a blue label if it's an effort to conserve or restore? Again, I state my complete ignorance of GA comics where this stuff is more common, so I am trying to learn even though I don't see myself dipping into the GA collecting pool.

For reference, find the stain on this book. I thought this one had a chance to be 8ish & the main reason I suspect it wasn't was the tiny stain that we didn't notice. Pretty rough time to send a stained book to CGC IMO, but I've started examining books my books for stains like I'm studying the Zapruder film for Oliver Stone.

I'd bet against that. The tears section of the CGC Guide does not describe tears through multiple pages explicitly, but being through the back & no apparent loss of pieces would work in your favor. Looks like 8 pages are torn give or take? On my second look, I noticed that the triangle piece center o the spine isn't just another tear/piece of the cover like the one above, but looks like a notch through the whole book? I might have to slip down to 1.0 if that's the case. Although, the Guide again leaves this very ambiguous saying even a "small" hole through the entire book could drop the grade to 8.0-9.0. I've got to imagine they mean a pinhole, but small is not defined. A notch isn't a hole, but it's the closest thing in the list of defects.

1.5/1.8. Looks better from the front, but I can't see that much tearing getting a 2.0 or higher.

9.2/9.4

>9.2

Rusty staple w/transfer to paper & the ?sticker? stain means you're lower than your current copy 3.5±0.5

4.5/5.0 depending on the day with the one caveat that the pages are a bit dark and could drop in a grade depending on how extensive it is, or if the paper quality is compromised.

Internal tear won't matter much at this grade. 3.0