scburdet

ASM 238

7.0/7.5 seems like some accidental Captain Britain pages

Kind of really matters what that white smudgy thing is on the TRFC. more detail?

I'd say 3.0 as-is but with a lot of c/p upside. 4.0/4.5, the latter being a longshot

I'd say that crease on the back sets the absolute max at 7.0. This looks more like a 6.0, maybe 6.5

A little light tanning along the spine.and slightly les than square corners. Also a little miscut to start below 9.8. 8.5/9.0. This is my 2nd favorite Marvel Monsters 1st appearance cover, just edged out by Ploog's Monster of Frankenstein 1

5.0/5.5. Maybe a 6.0 with a generous GA bump

I can't find examples of slabbed versions of this book, probably b/c there are only 3 graded copies in the world. A lot of the UK stuff came with gifts, and the CGC label says it came with a badged taped to the front. It looks attached, so I wouldn't mess with it. Even if the tape was a defect (in this case I don't think it is), it would be a zero sum game to remove it b/c you'd likely create a tape pull/leave behind residue in the process. It also looks like some The other UK gifts (like a mask & boomerang with Captain Britain 1 & 2 respectively) if they aren't there, get a qualified labels. To me, this is a 7.0/7.5 as-is b/c of the big corner bend. That might be pressable, but having the badge attached will make that harder (impossible?). Depending on what the badge is made of, a good presser might have a technique to work around the badge. I know they make little card frames so they can press things with inserts without pressing the shape of the insert into the entire book. I'm going to tag @joeypost for comment, b/c I could be talking out of my backside on this. If that's foxing on the white text and whatnot, I lower my initial offered grade by 1.0

I can see this pressing to 9.0/9.2

Mine just came back at 4.0, and I think it looks better than this copy so 3.5. CGC will probably give it a 4.5 to antagonize me

Pretty deep bends around the staples. I think this can press to 8.0. Might get lucky and go higher if that went really, really well

6.5/7.0, leaning to the former but the early ASMs are grader favorites supposedly

I want to say 7.0, but I think 6.0/6.5 on account of the back cover that looks pretty tanned

+1

same with the shadows. Could be a 5.0 could be closer to a 7.0 cleaned, but hard to make good conclusions with the photos. I've found the best way is to have light above the book on one side, and take the photos from the other

5.0

7.5/8.0 pressed. Sometimes they are a little forgiving of the black covers

6.5/7.0 more 7 than 6

it's almost certainly the readers crease based on CGC guidelines. It's certainly not a particularly bad one

PSA: researching comics leads to purchasing comics. You've been warned. I was researching Steranko fanzines that would be interesting to get signed, discovered this existed & I really like the Loki. Not sure if the art is published elsewhere, it's the only Steranko work in here I see. There's a rough Buscema Thor sketch. The bulk of the book is a comic that looks mostly like a Rheem ad. It's one of the 5.5×8.5 fanzines from folding regular size paper in half. Happy 4th all! Edit: I noticed my finger shadow in the BRFC after I submitted.

9.0/9.2 the stress lines probably won't get any breaks from a "modern" book. One of my "arrival to serious collecting" grails. Bought a 2000/2001 1st gen slab way back in the day. I like the cover of issue 7 better, but the pair is nice.

That top outer corner is pretty not square. My fear is always this book loses a grade before it lands at CGC b/c they see so many & nitpick every defect. I'll guess 8.0/8.5, but

My suspicion is that CGC would say that's large enough to be a piece out rather than a chip, not that the terminology matters that much. Max would be around 7.0, but I've got this at 6.0/6.5

IDK if it's a long crease or two shorter ones that kind of line up (green suit down to the black dress). To me this maxes out at 4.0/4.5, much more likely the lower, b/c of the foxing & creasing. From what data I can find, a 9.2 sold for $150 in 2020. I'd investigate sales more before grading depending on your plans for it.

Both covers are graded and the higher is the book grade. They're rare, but very sought after by people who collect them. I think they're slightly more common (still rare) in the GA b/c the printing/binding technology was more prone to errors. IMO novelty outweighs condition with books like this. This is really neat. Outer cover: 4.0/4.5 (spine split) Inner 4.5/5.0, maybe a 5.5 but it looks like some soiling & a long almost color breaking crease. If the spine split goes through both covers, I'd say both are the same.