scburdet

It's small and on the back, but CGC hates stains. So, 6.0-9.0? I'll guess 8.0

You might have better luck getting expert eyeballs on this in the Grading and Restoration issues thread. To me, that looks like ink, which would not be cleanable by noninvasive methods. It may or may not be ink from printing, which would impact grades differently. I'd say press to get rid of the apparent spine role to get >9.0 as long as the spot isn't deemed staining.

+1 The bottom right corner of the cover is the tipping point between potential for 8.0 w/C&P and a 7.5. Could go as low as 7.0, but this looks better than typical 7.0s from the era I've seen.

Waiting for CGC to push mine through grading (I'm expecting ~4.5). Yours is much, much nicer Spine ticks, rounded outer corners and light color rub on the spine corner. 7.5±0.5. The dark colors make the defects look worse, so I hope they won't get hammered unfairly. I've got a book from this era with ticks that are a bit longer, but on a light background, that came in at 7.0. I think this is a better book even if the ticks on mine are "hidden".

I was going to start with 8.5 again b/c of the scuffing? ink transfer? around the top corner and showing on the white of the spine. It's not totally out of the question some of that could be characterized as manufacturing defect. But it does look like there's a small crease on the back corner and the other corner looks rounded. Therefore, I'm going with 8.0-8.5. I don't see that below 8.0 is justifiable & getting to 9.0 would be a heavy lift.

Nice copy. I see enough spine ticks and maybe wear along the top edge to think you might be out of the NM range, but I have noticed a lot books from this age grade pretty high with some noticeable ticks. 8.5±0.5. Definitely higher grade than mine that got the CGC stain hammer.

These darker covers always look worse to me in my photographs than the book in hand. IDK if the photos better represent how a grader doing a detailed inspection views the books tho. Nevertheless, a few typical defects and some distributor overspray. The back cover is the reason I'm sharing this one. Board members have convinced me that pressing should remove non-color breaking indentions pretty well (this one is much less severe than the on on my Hulk 141). However, I assume that pressing will no help the bent staple, and that messing with the staple would risk breaking/losing it. So, how does a bent staple factor into the grading? #TeamMan-Thing

It's always possible my laptop screen is dingy, but I would have someone (not CCS) take a crack at cleaning the cover a bit to maximize the presentation/grade, if it hasn't been done already. It looks just a little dirty, and I concur this has >9.0 potential and looks very nice. I don't see many references to this as a bondage cover, but it really should. I've tried more than once to get one of these in auctions.

Tough one for me. 5.0±0.5 after it's pressed to take some of the wrinkles out of the back cover. I'd like to go higher, but that is a pretty hard reader's crease. The writing on the back doesn't help, but I doubt it hurts either as the crease sets the grade. Forget the grade though, it looks really nice. The defects aren't that noticeable

3.5±0.5. Looking for the Spider-Man bump to get an extra half point

I think this book actually looks better in hand than in photos. More so than other things I've posted anyway. The main reason I'm sharing this one is the "creasing" on the top right corner in the "DERS" and similar things can be seen at the top of the back cover. I don't think this is normal creasing (exhibit A, it's a curved crease). It reminds me of paper coming out of a xerox machine that doesn't feed quite right and gets tiny creases (or sometime big ones). Is this a reasonable hypothesis? Is there a name for the defect? Is this common? I can't think of another book I have with this.

Lucky for me, I bought this >20 years ago. I was more interested in having the original version of the Marvel Tales book I had growing up than the death of Gwen Stacy key. I remember thinking it was an expensive then, but now it would seem like a bargain (if I could remember what I paid). The spot has a texture to it, but it has resisted my patented "rub it lightly with a fingernail" technique, which has been surprisingly effective at removing "stuff" on books that are decades old.

Another. Type "stain" into the search bar, and use the drop down option to choose This Forum (otherwise you get a bunch of other stuff)

Here's one.

I would go with 3.0±0.5, but I would be more surprised if it went on the high end of this range instead of the low

We've discussed water damage/stains. You can probably do a search w/in this forum to find some good discussions. The search tools work pretty well. From a CGC perspective, you would get hammered on this book. I see several stains on the front and back. I would expect 5.5±0.5. Other grading schemes may be more lenient, but CGC really hates stains.

I certainly don't see the bend, nor any other defects (≥9.4). If it was mine, I would be tempted to roll the dice just b/c it is so nice and a MJs. Not a key issue, but it does seem like MJs, especially higher grades get a bump in selling price even if they're not in the highest possible grade. I'd also be tempted to do a sign and grade with Gerry Conway. That's probably a break even proposition in terms of investment, but it wouldn't surprise me if a signed slabbed MJs at this grade is a one-of-a-kind comic. I find that kind of thing intriguing.

pressing may help some of the issues, but the middle spine tick seems significant enough that it won't go away completely. That top edge on the back looks rough too, and maybe some color-breaking minor edge wear on the front. My best case scenario is a 9.0 and it could go lower b/c standards for moderns are strict. C&P + grading is going to run $41 (non-fast track, which will take >300 days) , plus shipping. Return shipping is $20 by FedEx plus whatever it takes to get it there. There's a CGC 9.2 newsstand for sale right now on ebay for ~$65 including shipping. Just my 2¢

At one point I had this one out thinking about a Gerry Conway signature/grading despite there being some obvious creases, ticks and so forth. The yellow does a decent job hiding a lot, and it's a significant book. Then I noticed whatever that is near SM's inner thigh, and decided not to. No idea what that could be? I guess it must be some kind of spill, it just doesn't look like other similar defects I've encountered. Trying to figure out what the floor is for this one, plus people here seem to like Spider-Man books

I think you can be comfortable sending it. The back looks like it has some light creases or impressions. These could be pressable. I do see some kind of discoloration on the bottom right corner of the front and if that's staining, you could get dinged. Fortunately, it's quite a small spot. I assume the TATTOOZ is in the packet? You can check by shining a light behind it. They green tag if it's missing, unfortunately. The presence/absence of the TATTOOZ impacts pressing too. Mine was C&Pd by the authorized dealer who sends in my CGC orders, so I know that care has to be taken to prevent damaging the book when pressing with an intact packet. Most notably, you can't use as much heat b/c it melts the adhesive and can gum up the pages. Reducing heat also means you can't press creases out as effectively. IMO, this makes a solid case for CGC dispensing with considering the TATOOZ essential to having a Universal label. I'll go with 8.0 as is with potential of 9.0 with pressing (pending IDing what the discoloration is)

comparing the images to my copy (there's a lot going on), it looks to me like there are a couple of stress marks on the spine, it seems safe to expect a 9.0/9.2

Cleaning will likely help more than pressing. The latter might get out some superficial creases and make the book present better. I'm going to say 5.0±0.5. I think the tears and the reader's crease are going to hold this down. I'd almost guess lower, except it's a square bound and generally looks much nicer than a lot of VGs

My untrained eye says pressing will making that crunch look better, but it won't disappear. Upper limit is probably an ≤8.0. I see a recent ebay sale for an 8.5 of $40, which is less than the cost of grading+pressing. Is this the UK edition? The back is different than all the copies I can find.

Thanks, it's actually this one that I don't have: https://www.ebay.com/itm/265777226742 Granted, the titles of these books are stupidly similar. I stopped looking for a while b/c I balked at >$100 for something that essentially is a reprint of the regular Marvel books, which I have. And you have to have a giant long box to store them, which will never be filled.

I would lean no. The highest sale I can find is ~$100 for a 4.0. There's also a 6.0 for not much more. This looks no better than a 3.5 IMO. If you were doing your own C&P, you might make a small profit with a graded vs. raw. Not that you have to sell, but it's at least how I think about whether it's worth grading. I want the purchase price + grading expenses to be at least equal to the FMV (exception is if having a signing/grading gives me a collectable I just want regardless of grade/value). I am pro-encapsulation for protection, but IDK if this is a big enough key as opposed to HoS92 (which I don't own)