scburdet

4.5. Spine is pretty rough. Some discoloration.

let's go

I see a crease that appears to break color on the bottom right of the front cover. Maybe some light spine tics. 8.0±0.5. I don't see anything that would cause it to dip below 7.5. The lighting isn't great in the photos, and you should check closely for discoloration on the inside covers. It looks like maybe the back cover is yellowed a bit, but hard to say b/c of the shadow

With so much white on the cover, a flat, dark background would be better for contrast. I was about to go higher, but if the top edge of the back cover is discolored, the grade could really suffer. 8.0ish pending a better idea what's going on there.

The little bend on the back might press out. It looks like enough spine tics to get this ≤9.0. 8.5±0.5

9.2/9.4. There looks like a spot up near "Elecktra" and a spine tick on the bottom front.

Waiting on a copy of this to arrive myself. One I've been seeking for quite a while. 7.0±0.5 feels right to me for the color breaking defects around the corners. I have a magazine coming back at 8.0, which looked at least a grade better than this raw. If it was a comic, I'd be on the low end, but it seems to me like they're kinder to magazines based on what I have in hand, and have seen elsewhere.

Most of the defects I see aren't going to be greatly improved by C&P. The creases and spine tics break color. There isn't significant soiling. I think C&P could still make it look a little better. 4.5/5.0

8.5±0.5. I'd be a little concerned if the top edge is discoloring/foxing/oxidizing. Can't say for sure, but the inside of the top cover and the back cover upper edges look a little darker to me. CGC isn't kind when it comes to this for some reason. Nice book, great cover.

5.5±0.5. The corners are pretty rough, and there's that little chunk out of the back cover. C&P may improve that back spine

1.0/1.5

1.8/2.0

5.0/5.5 I agree that unless there's a pure sentimental reason to slab this one, you're probably better off shopping around for one that's already graded. Nice copies of SSS aren't terribly common, but with a little patience I think one will turn up

My copy is a 6.5. I think this looks a tad better. C&P to 7.0

☝️ yes. By CGC standards, the highest a book can get with a "major" defect is 7.0 and anything longer than a very tiny tear would be significant. Could go down to a 6.5, but I would think 7.0 is a safe bet based on what I've experienced.

>9.2

9.0/9.2. Just a couple rounded corners and a little crease on the bottom front right corner to keep it down

8.0±0.5 barring issue on the inside or additional creases that aren't visible. The two corners of the front cover appear to have some light, small color breaking creases. Is that a crease or tear above the CO in 'MARVEL COMICS GROUP'? Some small stress marks around the staple that I don't think come into play since it's <9.4. Otherwise very nice copy.

this might be one of those green vs. blue situations if it is better graded minus the structural issues. I think the spine issues (pieces missing?), color breaking creases and discoloration would put this around a 3.5±0.5 universal. Then do the loose pages knock it down a grade, or you land at the higher grade with a green label & notes.

Even in the bag, I can see the yellow bar above the title has been written on extensively, and there's a ink blob there too. Not sure what that is, but worse if it's been added by someone, which seems likely with the other writing. I can also see quite a few creases along the spine that break color. My suspicion is that this will look worse, not better, out of the bag. 4.0 max.

Is that a manufacturers crease running across the circle? I'd like to see the soiling along the spine of the back cover cleaned off. There's no visible tanning to the cover, so I think 8.5-9.2 is possible depending on the amount of nearly invisible creases CGC seems to find that aren't easy to see in photos. Nice book.

No worries. I got a chuckle out of it. I don't "dislike" CCS per se, I've just seen enough issue reported and this is a valuable enough book that I'd be inclined to go to a high end professional. I wouldn't got to a presser at a random comic shop either. I'd want someone who specializes in GA/SA books with a long track record. I would definitely get it worked on. Invest what it takes to maximize its appearance/grade and have the boost of a several thousand dollars in value on the back end.

4.0 pressed. Green label. 4.5 if you're lucky

9.2±0.2. Maybe some corner rounding, but the back is nice. Lots of copies I've seen have color breaking stress lines up and down the back spine.

I wondered why someone was tagging me in a post called Classic X-Men 1, which is like a $5 book. I'm going to go with 3.5 b/c I looked at several copies and the >3.5s all have whiter covers. Assuming the photo accurately reflects the degree of discoloration, that's my limiting case. It should go without saying that whoever cleans and/or presses this needs to be reliable with a portfolio they can show you. I definitely would not black box it to CCS