scburdet

On my list: 1) Color breaking creases bottom right (2, which are long); 2) hard crease top left back cover; 3) bottom right back cover, there's something. Looks like a tear, but I'll take your word that there aren't any, but it's something; 4) 1/2 dozen give or take color-breaking stress lines alone the spine, a couple are above average in length; 5) corners are rounded and have some wear; 6) top edge of the front cover has some non-color-breaking lines, this seems like the area where pressing would offer the greatest improvement; 7) the white on the back cover is a little dirty; 8) photos maybe make it look less so, but the cover is just a tad dull. IMO the longer stress lines on the spine and the 2 creases at the bottom are the different between 5.0/5.5 and maybe a 7.0. Long story short, I have an Astonishing Tales 25 that has similar spine wear (I sent if for the canceled Pérez signing since it had his first Marvel work & I had another CGC copy) and it came back as a 7.0 even with the rest of the book looking pretty sharp (i.e. no color breaking creases). The black on this book really highlight the color breaking defects whereas the AT25 has a yellow background that can hide things a bit.

Thanks for your post. Before someone else chimes in, I'll let you know that a full front and back cover is preferred even if you're asking about a specific defect. This was the first thing I learned when I posted here a few weeks ago, so it happens all the time. I've got this book too, with a couple of 3-4 very small stress marks on the spine and I ultimately decided not to send it. If the tic is deemed manufacturing (I doubt it), this may be handled less harshly. My fear would be that this is considered a single moderate defect, which would knock you down to 8.5. I would imagine the best case scenario is a 9.0. Given that the private signing/grading rate is close to the Standard Tier price, I think the book needs to come close to being a $400 book (or have some personal value to the collector). The highest recent sales for 9.6s are south of $300, around $250. 8.5s/9.0s would go for $200. As people in the sig room would probably tell you, if it's the JSC signed book you want, then go ahead. If you just want it graded, then you can probably get this done for ~1/2 the fee through standard Modern Tier grading. At least for me, I had a few alterative JSCs to consider, so it was easy to exclude mine which is maybe a 9.0 and certainly no better than a 9.2. I'll kick the tires of trying to find a better BP1 (or lose interest) since JSC seems to be a regular private signing visitor.

Seems like things are pretty active here at the moment, so I'll toss out my Thor 126, which I acquired when I was going after Cap Am 100, Hulk 102 and any number of "firsts" since there was no hope of affording a true first for those characters. Plus it's Thorsday, so no time like the present. This might be the one that's in the best shape and part of the sequence of books introducing Hercules.

Yeah, the 66 is black cover and every little thing shows like a sore thumb. White covers--get dirty. Black covers--show scuffs and stress marks. Can't win.

In the ≥9.0 range. Hard to be that exact with NM stuff without having the physical book to examine. Lack of flatness I believe is a pressable defect. I am not sure about that discoloration on the back cover. I think it depends on that it is.

5.5-6.0. Pretty close to my copy, which is in my sharing queue

5-5.5

8.5±0.5. Looks like some color breaking on those stress marks. Probably prevents going much above 9.0

7.0-7.5

The chipping on the back cover (could that be insect chewing?) is unfortunate b/c the front looks quite nice. Some rust migration. I'm guessing 4-4.5 but "presents well". Hopefully someone with Golden Age expertise weighs in, particularly on the pressing, b/c it seems like these Golden Age books present some challenges depending on how delicate the paper is. It also seems like there's a slight discount on some defects (staple rust?) with GA books b/c of the age.

I agree with private pressing, if nothing else, it's going to make the process *MUCH* longer using CCS. TBF, they're quite fast with the private signing pressing, which I understand is a quasi-separate operation, but I don't have enough data to assess how reliable they are compared to regular CCS. My experience has been good so far with signed book pressing, getting expected or higher than expect grades on everything with the exception of 1 book that was stain and therefore probably not "fixable" by any C&Per. It does seem to be pretty universal that the newer the book is, the less forgiving CGC is on little defects, which also makes sense.

I am pro-C&P just to make sure books are clean and have any minor (i.e. barely visible and even not visible in photos) handling defects ironed out. From what I can see, there is only 1 little bend on the back that definitely could be removed. I can see enough white on the small spine and corner defects that there won't be much benefit on those. I'm going with 9.0-9.2. 8.5 if the grader was harsh. I don't think this one can get to a 9.4

Grading with maybe some light C&P to maximize appearance, yes. Restoration, no IMO. I'm not in the restoration game and obviously this is a big ticket book, but my impression is collectors would rather have an "untouched" book with a few dings, rather than a book that's been restored book and looks like a higher grade but carries a purple label. This looks like a 7.5±0.5 to me with the overall appearance coming off better (i.e. it presents well) since the few stress marks and the one corner crease really stand out b/c of the black cover. My impression is that restoration is primarily for big ticket books that are falling apart from age or have a major defect that really makes the book look bad. Typically, Golden Age stuff that's seen some things. I've even heard appraisers scold people for restoring books that were not in that bad condition. My uneducated guess is that you would not gain much from restoring/grading vs. C&P/grading in terms of a sale price or insurance appraisal. So far I've had no takers for the *very* crisp $10 bill (chance at a 9.9) I've offered for several books, so it's still on the table if you're interested.

Yip. I take photos of 1st appearances too, but not necessarily for here since I don't think it helps assign a grade

I skipped over this one initially when thinking about Warlock grading candidates b/c I thought it was in similar shape to the issue #66 I have. After taking an actual look, I think this is at least 1-2.0 pts better than the #66, which also only has Him/Warlock in a cocoon. Calling things 1st appearances where the character is completely hidden is the first step on a slide toward chaos and not a world I want to live in.

I've found using the minus sign is very helpful in saved searches, especially since a lot of the false positives are the same, or from a limited subset of other books. I use -cgc to search for raw books for example. I might have 1/2 dozen excluded terms, but it's easier/more efficient that making the search more specific.

Definitely interested in what the hive mind has to say about this. I have a pretty sharp Journey into Mystery 112 that's got a similar chunk out of it (I do not have the piece tho). I would guess 5.0±0.5 w/o the piece detached. My gut says no higher than 4.0 b/c of those two little pieces being separated.

1.8 based on comparison to other low grade sale listings of the same book. Has there ever been a Glenn that did anything worthwhile? Didn't think so.

Your reply reminded me to go look at my Cap Savage run. My issue 7 is in quite nice condition. IDK why all most of the important books I have from the 60s are ≤7.0, but this Captain Savage that almost no one cares about is apparently pretty high grade. I do like being reminded to go look at these quirky old books that there's otherwise very little reason to pull out.

It's more or less impossible, IMO, to grade through a holder, especially when you're trying to choose between tightly packed grades. The holder is worse than a bag at hiding defects. I see enough apparent small scuffs and dings to make this a 9, but I wouldn't bet more than $1 on my selection

Let's get this forum back on topic. Possibly unpopular opinion: the green falcon uniform is better than the red

Agreed! I got my Something is Killing the Children #1 signed and graded and I noticed a small something along the spine as I was packing it up. I was actually worried (1st world problem!) that it would come back in the low 9s. It got a 9.6 and it's pretty obvious this is the reason. But I have other 9.6s and 9.8s I just don't have the time or imagination to figure out what is the reason for 1 over the other. The best policy is to store your comics bagged and boarded in long boxes, never open the box, and assume they're all 9.8-10s.

I am not a defender or detractor of how they operate, but it kind of makes sense that the highest grades wouldn't necessarily have grader notes. There are multiple graders looking at the same item, and making a note implies consensus across all those eyes. If there's a difference of opinion about the nature of a defect, it's likely "safest" to not delineate that. I suspect this is the case for many areas where people desire more transparency. If they give too much information, they just open the floodgates to customers objecting to what often amounts as a judgement call. We can all agree what a crease is, but if there's a small spot on a spine, does that constitute a manufacturing defect or something that's damage? Lots things being decided on the margins.

Apparently Dads were not always the best at comic investment and care. TBF, I would have loved if my dad (or mom) had a stash of comics they had growing up, regardless of condition, so I could have seen what kind of things they liked. That's something that doesn't need a grade to have value. As far as I know my dad had no comics and given his parents had s-tons of old Nat Geos, Life, etc. magazines, it wasn't b/c they got tossed. My dad was mostly into model cars & probably would have liked one of his boys to share that interest.

Someone really needs to explain to me why a 9.8 can go for 33-50% more than a 9.6, and you'd have to squint at the books and still be guessing why one was "better" than another. I would be willing to trade anyone my 9.8 for a 9.6 plus whatever the surcharge for 0.2 points (that may or may not be arbitrary) costs.