What grade might I expect if..

[jens25e]

.. all four edges of the book are razorbladesharp and rectangular and the book looks perfect on the front and back (interior flawless also) but the spine is rather white (from folding at production?). It is just a thin colorless line on the spine... any ideas?

[chrisco37]

I would guess 9.4...Darth would prob have a good idea as this seemes to be a "problem" on Modern books. If you check the census on USM #1, you'll see that the White Variant has higher #'s of High Grade (9.8) than the Red. I believe its probably due to what you've described. On the White copy, you can't really see the color breaks along the spine, where it would be easily seen on the Red copy. Don't know if that really answers your question or not, but maybe it helps.

 

Chris

[drbanner]

If by "thin" we're talking 1/16" or less, I doubt there would be any downgrade below 9.8 (meaning if it was a 10.0 otherwise, it might get downgraded to a 9.9, but if it was a 9.8 or below otherwise, the grade wouldn't be affected). What you're describing is an off-center cover, which has been the subject of numerous threads here in an attempt to determine if CGC downgrades for such.

[jens25e]

Yes it helps. Personally I would grade it about 9.4 as well. It is just a shame because else it is perfect and, as you said, it seems very common with modern books. About 80 to 90% of my modern books have that and they were bought "fresh" from the store.

I just happened to get a "Weapon X Wizard 1/2 Chicago Convention" which is slabbed as 9.8 and has about the same problem as the one comic that I speak of (DD 1/2) it even is not as sharp on the edges.

So eventually they don´t grade so hard on those problems because I doubt that those continous color breaks happened after the slabbing...

 

Darth´s idea on this would really be helpful.

[jens25e]

drbanner, an off-centered cover? Are you sure? The cover seems to be perfectly at the place it is supposed to be...

[snizzenfixit]

What you're describing is an off-center cover

 

I think he is talking about a spine fold that breaks color.

 

Phil

 

[chrisco37]

Jens is referring to the "problem" that most cardstock covers seem to have and that is wear along the spine. You cannot see this looking at the front or back of a book. If you turn the book sideways, the spine will be white, almost like the cardstock has worn off.

 

Chris

[drbanner]

a spine fold that breaks color.

 

My bad...now I know what you're talking about here, and defer to the Modern Master himself - Double-D.

[jens25e]

aha, ok, thank you

[Darthdiesel]

The fuzzy phenomenon you are experiencing has kept my Ultimates 4 and 5 from acheiving 9.8 status... chrisco is right about that occurring commonly on dark cardstock covers where the damage would show more than it would on a white cover like the USM white, however I believe it may be the length of the fraying that will factor into the grade. It can only get so long before CGC would let it go.

 

The DD 1/2 wizard with the Quesada cover is a tough one - as most of them have this flaw - my comic store has 5 copies, all with the fraying and several spinal bends anyway.

 

Not seeing this - I would say definitely not 9.8. - but 9.4 - 9.6 is a good possiblity.

[jens25e]

ah ok, thanks for the answer, Darth.

 

If I compare the fraying on the DD 1/2 to the fraying on the Weapon X 1/2 (which got 9.8) I think the DD looks better (or can the fraying also occur in the holder?).

 

Another question: I have 2 CGC books in Germany (and 5 with my gf in Omaha) and those 2 have different holder-width. The Weapon X holder is much slimmer than the Batman Holder (and feels a bit more stable actually). Did they change the holders lately? Or do they have different sizes for different book sizes?

 

 

 

[murph0]

whoa..whoa..wait a second here..you are in Germany and you have a GF in Omaha? WTF..how'd that work out..you been here in the midwest helping to plant some corn??

 

Brian

[Darthdiesel]

they flip a coin to decide what type of holder to place it in. I thought that the bigger annuals, graphic novels and double sized books would warrant the thicker case and the regular sized would get the smaller ones. But I have the two slabs of the same book (USM 1 DF) in the thin and the "fatter" case? I guess it depends on what they have on hand at the time your books is slabbed..