MPH1964

You nailed it! I’m going to continue to ride your grading coattails...

8.0

2.0

6.0

5.0

Even when a lion speaks softly, he's worth listening to...

4.5

Much English good speak... ugh!

Is that a spine split on the top and possibly the bottom? If so, how big?

Go Collect is where those numbers came from, and those are selling prices aggregated from a number of sources. (Including eBay, where there are some stupid crazy asking prices.) In any case, I'm asking $1,000,000 USD for my Dazzler #1 variant (no cover). I might not get that but I'm holding out hope...

And very nice receipts they are, but... Comparing a Golden Age Superman 1, Detective 27 and Batman1 to the Silver Age Hulk 6 is kind of like comparing my house to the Burj Khalifa because they both have windows. Or my 1979 Chrysler Cordoba (with Corinthian Leather) to a 2021 McLaren Artura because they both have at least 3 wheels. They are not the same! There's a certain leniency granted to older books and perhaps especially, key books. While I could sit and stare lovingly at your treasures, I wonder if this were an Amazing Spider-Man #37 (or, insert some suitably vanilla book) with a detached cover, would it get the bump to 1.0?

The book does not appear to be over graded. And what would a competent clean and press do that could lower the grade? I mean a fully detached cover is allowed up to 2.5, and this cover looks pretty secure. Certainly there is risk, but I think you have a bit of upside with this book. A clean and press would surely improve the presentation and quite possibly the grade. So if you're going for a nicer looking book then, yeah, clean and press it. If you're doing this for purely monetary reasons, then what is your risk vs reward? Understand that the difference in value between a 1.8 and a 2.0 is about $200, and the difference between a 2.0 and a 3.0 is about $300 so there is quite a bit of price compression at the lower grades. The cost to grade, press (CCS), ship and insure will probably cost at least $200-$250 (Express) so there is little to gain unless you hit 3.5/4.0.

5.5

Probably insect. Silverfish, would be my guess...

Well, I understand your argument, and you make a good point regarding grade reduction. But just a half grade difference can literally mean 100’s or even 1000’s of dollars in the value of the book. In the case of ASM 300, just a half grade drop from 7.5 to 7.0 is $125. Using your TTA example: For Tales to Astonish 27 (I understand that this likely isn’t the issue you were describing, so please forgive my whimsical bit of hyperbole) a grade drop from 9.2 to 9.0 is $200,000. So a small grade drop (due to a tear or otherwise) is not necessarily insignificant. So, I stand by my statement: Tears are bad. (And perhaps in some cases, really bad.) Disclaimer: No comics were harmed in the typing of this statement.

3.5 - Yes to the press

5.0

One would think that if you trim the pages, that would likely cause the book to drop to a restored grade (if detected). Since they are a production flaw, just leave as is because it would not affect the grade of this book. 7.0/7.5