Sillydiabetic

I’m going to be wild and say that this might pull an 8.0 after cleaning. Doesn’t look like much of an issue to remove the scuzz from the rear cover, and I suspect that dark spot on the L in Hulk might scrape off easily. Not much to be done with the cancellation ink at the top, unfortunately. A bit of cleaning and that book would make anyone’s day at any rate.

I’m also on the 5.0-5.5 team. I think you made a solid investment, even if years ago!

These guys just arrived in the mail, I swear, I thought that the ASM 194 was going to be 9.4 or better, and the Hulk 180 a 6. You win some, you lose some I guess.

Just joined the slabbed club, it’s good to have it graded finally.

This is my set up, a sorta workroom, sorta collectors hideaway room. You can see a stack of books tilted sideways, which is my “to-do” shelf for that press. I feel lucky to be able to have a cool place to hang out while being productive.

I understand the thought process you’re going through. I wish CGC grading was consistent from day to day, but it just isn’t. There is no appeals process to be had - finding examples/evidence that a really high grade book has similar defects isn’t uncommon. I chalk that up to the grader getting lucky the night before. Seeing the color rub on the upper left side (and other area pointed out already) suggests a grade around 9.2 - 9.6 in my opinion. A cleaning would likely lock you in between 9.4 - 9.8 depending on the day.

I’m going to guess that in said collection you’ll find an issue 3 and 4 of Smurfs, some DP7 with doubles, and an Amazing Spider Man 250.

She’s pretty handsome, I’ll say 8.5-9 with the clean and press.

Definitely see this all the time, I’d guess about 1 out of 20-25 books I’ve come across are stapled like this. I’ve seen them on Marvel, DC, Gold Keys through the sixties.

Hey gang, thanks in advance! Please let me know what you’d give this ASM 46.

One of my favorite shirts, but I rarely wear it due to it being “collectible.” Groo is my favorite character, who mostly remains unchanged since the Pacific issues, save for when he learned to read. The writing is clever, plus it’s easy to introduce new readers to the title since most issues work standalone.

“I dunno guys, does this rabbit seem terrifying enough?” ”Meh, just finish up and submit it, it’s past lunchtime!”

I think this is my oldest photo cover, it’s like the art department was out sick that day and the interns took a stab at throwing a random cover together.

Around 8.5, looks lightly read but cared for. Minimal damage, really handsome there! Might go higher, but I’d throw 8.5 with only two photos.

My answer for Bronze Age books: Humidify for around ten hours, press at 165 for fifteen minutes. Since nobody seems to have just answered the question.

Heck, I don’t stop to pick up roadkill!

In my neck of the woods and the books I find, they ALL need some attention. I guess it’s a lame correlation, but kinda like a hunter that would rather hunt his own food than going to the supermarket. To each his own, and I do hate the taste of game meat, so don’t get me wrong.

I have found that cleaning and pressing is probably one of my favorite things to do. It’s therapeutic for me, I love the aspect of bringing life back to old books. It takes a fair amount of learning and practice, but it also allows me to study the artwork more, appreciate the goofy ads, and finding patterns. It’s a real hoot, and if anyone is on the fence about starting off, I’d give a slight push to jumping in.

That’s actually roughly what it was. Original owner that prefers DC but has plenty of nice Marvel books that he only read once. They’ve been stacked unprotected for years, I’m just the lucky one to have met him first. He knows they’re valuable but said he gets a kick out of seeing me getting a kick. I’ve sold the worse of the two 181s and will be giving the cash to him, I couldn’t sleep at night if I took advantage of him. He’s doing me a super favor just having me over.

Preemptively, everyone is going to ask if the Tattooz insert is still complete. That’ll be the real kicker.

My lucky butt came across two of these in the wild, this is the ugly step sister of the two. Please let me know what you think.

I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that with a press a cleaning, that could get upwards towards a 7. If it were a silver age key, nobody would bat an eye giving it a seven. The dark foxing in the rear cover is the biggest detractor that I see, it is nigh impossible to remove with recommended cleaning techniques.

I completely understand your position of not having thousands to spend, lower grade books have their place in the collectors world! I don’t see any large missing chunks, and the back cover is pretty decent. I’m thinking around 2.5, maybe 3.5 if the grader got laid the night before. The center main art doesn’t have major color breaks, so this is a handsome piece all things considered.

Have you tried Asorbene on it yet? Either a document cleaning pad or some Asorbene putty should help to lift prints like that. I’m terrible at grading, but I’ll suggest that as is it’s 8.5 territory, might press to a 9. Her legs seem to be crazy long for the record! Like, there is almost an additional joint in her left leg!

It isn’t like that EVERY DAY but boy howdy, I paid $80 for ASM 50 around a 6.0 a few months back. Please don’t come here, they’re all bought up now, and the only thing left is Power Pack and Micronaut issues. Oh, and potatoes.