Zegeroth

9.6, maybe back bottom presses to 9.8

9.2 to me. Just rounded corners, maybe a few stresses.

There’s a reason this book is not in a slab. That’s not water damage, that’s from naphtha. If you slab this, it will get a purple label for sure. I’m looking for the listing on Ebay to check the price and if it was disclosed. I’ve experimented a bit with it and that’s what it will do. Could be alcohol also. You can see the fade in area where the paper was not soaked with it. Did this really sell for 6.5 -7.0 money😲? I’d value this at $2-3k.

7.0 as well

9.8 easy. 1 minor flaw. If you want to mess with it, put a backer board inside the cover and press it with a spoon. Do not press the entire book as you’ll gain nothing and risk those staples.

Take a damp sponge to the front and wipe off the orange and then you’ll have a 9.6

I wouldn’t worry about desirability at all. Comics are extremely hot right now, and exquisite keys are even hotter. I would sell this on a forum like this one or maybe even facebook market. You’ll avoid the seller fees which I think are 11.5% on ebay. I bet if you list your book right now as is, you can get offers within 24 hours in the 4000 range. Maybe that’s best if you don’t want to go through the rigmarole to get 5000-6000.

I can’t see the bottom right corner well enough. I assume it is completely rounded so 7.0-7.5. If ok, i’m at 8.5

I think this book can press to a 9.4. The spine roll, all the indentations, and back bottom left will press completely gone. Spine roll is never an issue and = $ for pressers. you have a stain on top left, which can be tricky. An eraser or dental tool very carefully can move that away. However, with the white background, it is very tricky to remove. I would start with a pick, then very softly graze with a vinyl eraser. If no progress, i would try a damp sponge with only dabbing motions. I would then let that be, but it may come off.

Kind of shows how bad the advice on here is sometimes. This is a 2.5 imo. The shipping cost is higher than the comic value.

These books are mysterious on the inserts. The whole slip is gone. Either it was never put in, which I believe did happen sometimes, or the staple removed/replaced. i hada 238 without the tatoo that had damage the ebay seller did not disclose. He was forced to take it back. I bought another slabbed with the tattoo to quit worrying about it. It is very possible to buy a fantastic four with the coupon and add a tatoo to your book. Just take tweezers and very carefully remove the staple.insert the slip and reinsert the tattoo. It will settle in the same spot and bend back at the same spot. Undetectable. 9.0 green label minimum. Possibly blue 9.0. Make sure the staple is original, top one.

Yeah I’m pressing myself. I was working on the spine with an iron and that makes the waves. I’m not going to do that again. I’ll give it a finishing press and that will be straight as a whistle. I bought this for just over $100. A slabbed 9.6 will be a nice return, but I think 9.8 is possible. it has 2 slight stresses remaining only in the white area of the spine. There is no color break on this at all. If you look with the right light, you seem to see 2 more. Today, I added a board under the cover and bagged it. That board should stretch those stresses over a few months of sitting. Try it, if you add a board under a stress mark, it will go away. You just need the paper to hold that shape. I believe any non color breaking defect bend can be removed if you can get to it. here are images from before: most of the work was on dry cleaning and 2 more moderate stresses.

8.0 as is, 8.5 after the press. The stress under the title block is too big for the 9+ range. 1/8” max.

4.5, can be improved to 5.5, but that front crease prohibits higher than 5.5

Here is one I’ve been working on. Trying to decide to slab it or not.

Get out a ruler and measure that top left tic. If it’s over 1/8”, which I think it is, you’re at 8.5. Also, with the tattoo being removed, we need to see the inside of the back cover. Lots of times it’s ripped out leaving damage. nice white pages though.

I would send it in to be cleaned, pressed and graded by CGC. A press is going to help what’s left of the cover a lot. This is a $5000 book, so they will charge 3%, plus fees and shipping. $200 to get this pressed and slabbed is well worth it. People normally are paying 10-20% to slab something, so slabbing a $5000 book is a no brainer. Even if it gets a 0.5 grade people are going to value this one based on the actual damage, which I think is better than a 0.5 that is molded and such.

8.5 with the top right corner limiting any improvement

Need to see it. Could get a qualified label at 9.0, or maybe it is worse than that.

That crease is almost the width of the authority stamp. Those stamps vary in size, but 1/2” is one of the smallest, so I think 3/8 is accurate for picture interpretation. Look up guide after guide and you’ll see that any crease over 1/4” is a sub 8.0 book. Based on the rest of the book, I’d expect a 7.5 if you send it in. This is a really really good example of a book you should not get slabbed. People will miss that crease or shrug it off and value it in the 8.0 or even 9+ range apparently. So keep it raw and enjoy it imo.

4.0

I want to see a better picture of the lower left front. That corner could be a problem at 9.4 or 9.2. The spine and upper right will press out 100%. If lower left is just some color rubbing, i can see 9.2.

Another thread that I am amazed on the grading. That’s a 1/2” color breaking crease. 7.0-8.0 is the debate on this book. That’s a collective of the forum off by 100% value. Amazing.

The key on this grade is the bottom right corner. If it’s over 1/8”, 8.5 max. If that is under, you might squeeze a 9.0

This is the example that I was thinking of