RobHW

The little thing I've learned that maybe everyone knew but me is that the page color shown on the slab is describing the page color at two different locations on the page, namely the edge and center, like: edge color - interior color Knowing this is helpful. So if the slab says Off-White - White then the page edge color is Off-White and the page interior color is White. If the slab says simply Off-White then both edge and interior is Off-White.

Below is what rodan57 said on a CGC forum on July 22, 2013 which looks helpful. What follows is just opinion and a lot of it is terribly simplified and self-evident but it is an approach. The OWL card is really far too difficult to use easily. It displays the lowest acceptable colour for each category. The chart colour for off-white is cream and the lowest range displayed for white is actually pretty white. Putting to one side anything that is cream, find a book where the whites of the word balloons are clearly and evidently white. Compare the white of the word balloons to the white of the page edges. If they match, it's white. If the edges are a bit less white then it's OWW. Colour assignment should work from the edges inwards. As white pages are less farther along the scale towards paper decay, a book with white pages will probably also look brighter -- colour and inks. Identify a couple of books this way and you can use them as models. Holding the pages of one book to another does allow you to more confidently categorize your books. Be sure to use a consistent incandescent light source. Regular florescent light has an incomplete spectrum and things tend to look a bit less red and grayer. And, cream coloured paper is yellowish brownish. You're not looking for soft yellow tones.

From what I've read, it is not helpful.

I'm trying to get my head around this and I would appreciate feedback on what to look for. If I'm buying raw books then I want to feel like the page quality is at least Off-White. Here are four silver age books that all seem to have nice page quality. Upper-Left is Thor 165, UR is Daredevil 16 LL is Amazing Spider-man 39, and LR is Amazing Spider-man 51. The square piece in the middle is a swatch to help with comparisons. The first picture is a group picture at the centerfolds. The second picture is the interior front cover and splash page. Does any book seem like it has White pages? Does any seem to have less than Off-White pages? Any general guidelines to share for judging?

I think it's actually SSOC #8, not SSOC #9, for the Conan the Conqueror storyline.

I would say 7.0. Nice looking book at first view but no sharp corners so an 8.0 is out. There are enough color breaks I think to take it down to 7.0. The back looks a little rough but I can't tell that there is anything that would take it down further. So a beautiful 7.0.

Beautiful book, but the spine stress takes it to a 8.5 and with the color breaking creasing I'd say 7.5. No foul for the spine defect issue (production). I wouldn't expect a press to raise the grade.

Ignoring the sun shadows on the back it looks generally like a 6.0. No tears or pieces missing or water staining or writing or things like that. But the back looks to have significant general wear, plus the sun shadowing, so I'd go with 5.0.

I think this book makes a good study. Ignoring the sun shadow, I think the color breaking crease takes it to around 6.5. In my observations of grades, sun shadows don't clobber the grade like a color breaking crease of the same length would. But since the sun shadows hit every side on both front and back, I'd guess at a 5.5 grade. I'd love to know how this one grades. I've even seen 9.0's with a distinct sun shadow down the long edge of the front cover. Personally I find sun shadows a strong negative on presentation but I may be in the minority. I wonder what others think. With me it's kind of like a date stamp.

You're not allowed to simultaneously list the item on eBay. Either close your post or take down the eBay listing.

Amazing Spider-Man #41 $350. Solid 4.5 copy, well-centered, no writing or date stamps. First appearance of the Rhino. First new Spidey villain from the team of Lee and Romita. Rhino made his MCU debut in The Amazing Spider-Man #2. I'm sure we'll be seeing him again.

The Rules No one on the probation list or Hall of Shame list may purchase. 1st wins; tie/indeterminate goes to the thread. Payment via PayPal Goods and Services (for our mutual protection) required within two (2) days of invoice. Your PayPal address must be confirmed, and I'll only ship to your confirmed address. Shipping: To United States destinations is $10. Will ship to foreign addresses for actual charges but you’ll have to help me figure it out. Returns: Are accepted, just notify me within seven days of receipt and get it back to me in the same shape at your expense.

Purchased a slabbed She-Hulk #1. Super well packaged and excellent communications. Buy with confidence.

Take off 10 percent!

Just a heads up that PayPal Friends and Family is not allowed. 8. Forms of payments must be listed. PayPal "goods and services" is an acceptable payment method, but Personal PayPal, aka "friends and family," is not allowed. It is also against the rules to ask for Personal PayPal via private message.

The bottom right corner takes a VF range book to 7.0. Is the stain in the upper-left corner enough to affect the grade further? Don't know. Guessing probably yes. It's a fairly large stain. So I think tops 6.5. Curious to see what others think.

The overall condition puts it in the VF neighborhood due to the corners. So using 8.0 as a starting point, the back cover corner crease puts it to 7.5 and the generally dirty appearance to 7.0. But it might clean up to 7.5.

Jungle Action #8 CGC 9.0 signed by Roy Thomas. $250

Nova #1 CGC 8.5 signed by Marv Wolfman. $250

Savage Sword Of Conan 9.4 signed by Roy Thomas. $275

The Rules No one on the probation list or Hall of Shame list may purchase. 1st wins; tie/indeterminate goes to the thread. Payment via PayPal Goods and Services (for our mutual protection) required within two (2) days of invoice. Your PayPal address must be confirmed, and I'll only ship to your confirmed address. Shipping: To United States destinations via USPS Priority for $15 for up to two slabs, $5 for each additional slab. Returns: Are accepted, just notify me within three days of receipt and get it back to me in the same shape at your expense. I've been on the boards for a while and made a few purchases. I'm here today to make my first attempt at selling. Listing three books. Thanks for looking!

Beautiful 9 range book at first lookover. Stain takes away 9.2 I think. So 9.0.

take as per PM

My thoughts exactly.

9.0, outside shot at 9.2