scburdet

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.

5.0±0.5

You might be underselling a little. Obviously, there are a lot of stress marks, a few scuffs and some edge wear. But from what I can see, there are no tears (and assume there are no problems with internal pages). The staple detachment (as discussed for several books lately), probably isn't a big penalty at the low grades. The staining is going to be the deciding factor on where this lands in the G/VG range. I might start at a 2.5 and a good C&P *might* improve the appearance enough to guarantee the 2.5 or stretch to a 3.0. Now, is the expense of a C&P & grading a worthwhile investment? There's a CGC 4.0 for sale on ebay right now for $165. The raw price for this book in this condition is probably <$50 and if CGC C&P'd & graded it would cost you $60 just for the service, so I would expect no better than breaking even if you sold it since you would get some bump in price for being slabbed.

I wonder what % of books from this ear have these kinds of defects. Several of my otherwise nice book from this ear have cover issues like this that seem directly related to the cover hanging over the internal pages. Kind of like the staples on the square bounds, there's very little hope of avoiding some wear, it's just a matter of how much.

I suppose the Morbius bubble has popped, but I was a fan before as evidenced by already owning every comic appearance (i.e. excluding magazines) up to 1984. I did not know this, but I checked for my amusement and realized there was some completeness. I now blame Jared Leto for not being able to retire a couple decades early.

I was wavering between 4.5-5.0 and then I scrolled past everyone's posts and I don't feel it's an original idea anymore.

Consensus. Can't get to 2.0 with big chunks missing and other wear like this imo

1.8

2.0 b/c it looks like a lot of pages are damaged behind that back cover.

I'll go 8.5 b/c of the discoloration and maybe you'll get lucky and get to the 9.0

I'm not expecting mine to come back at a 9.8, I won't complain if it does. I've said it before, but the paying a premium for 9.8s seems crazy to me when the same book could come back with a 9.6 depending on the how well the grader slept the night before. It's not quite buying it cover price b/c I took a break from buying Star Wars comics for most of the Dark Horse era, but I snagged a copy for $60 in late 2019 or early 2020. I remember balking at buying the variant cover, which was a few hundred dollars raw. That does not seem to have been justified hesitation. For today's prices, I'd rather get a mid-grade GS X-Men My C&P guy was envious of my copy b/c he sacrificed a lot of his PC to create inventory to open his comic store and accidentally put his Clone Wars 1 in the back issue bins. He's apparently been looking for an affordable copy since. I suppose if mine gets "lost" at CGC I will know who to suspect

9.2±0.2