What You Won't Accept

[PovertyRow]

Folks have all sorts of dislikes, and, with paper, the range of possibilities is considerable, from rat chews to arrival dates to tan (but supple!) pages to someone's name on the inside front page to water stains to detached at the staple to whatever.

 

So, what won't you accept in a book? Now I appreciate that there are folk here who seek out NM and above CGC copies but even then, there are certain "characteristics" that are allowed in the higher grades.

 

I will start first - and as pretty much all of you know cause I say it so often - I am now collectiong pre-code horror so my list is probably gonna be smaller than others.

 

I will not accept water stains, writing (except for arrival markings - or something especially poignant like that "Hide the book! Ma's coming" I wrote about a month or so ago), pieces off the cover, pages less than cream (off white or better preferred), detached staple, tears through multiple pages unless very small (1/8th inch or less thereabouts), scrapes that remove color and finally, subscription creases unless they are VERY light and color fading.

 

Some of the more dratsic things I will accept include foxing, miscut covers and ink transfer stains (I once had two Atlas pre-code horror books - both black covers - that I swear would have graded 9.4 with ease. These things were almost impossible - except they both had incredibly deep green ink transfer stains on the inside front covers. I wish I had them today - would be interesting to see what CGC would have done.)

 

I will probably think of a few more things but that is the general idea.

 

I wonder if I should have posted this in the GOLD AGE folder?

[Zonker]

Tape!

 

I realize this is almost incomprehensible to most of the CGC-buying audience, but yes there actually are comic books being sold out there with scotch tape on them...but not to me if I can help it! Something about knowing how that glue is degrading the book every minute just drives me nuts.

 

CGC 9.8 with bone white pages? Nah, don't bother, I just want something complete, no tape, structurally sound. Cover gloss is a luxury!

 

Cheers,

Z.

 

 

[FlyingDonut]

Foxing!

 

HATE foxing. HATE IT HATE IT HATE IT!

[PovertyRow]

Tape!

 

Now I KNEW I would be adding an item or two to my list but I didn;t think THIS soon! Yes, I will not accept tape! Unless it is a good title (say something like a Mister Mystery 12) and I can get it at a good price because of the tape. Because tape can be pretty danged easy to remove, and if it is not on the spine but, say, is acting as corner reinforcemnt, then the book doesn't have to be disassambled.

[C3Galaxia-migration]

Well, for a reading copy anything will do except for missing pages!! Nothing worse than missing out on part of the story...

 

But for collectibility, anything around VF-NM or better works fine. I especially don't like large creases, folds, or tears...

 

Or even better... when the spine roll is soo bad that the staples wrap all the way behind the comic...

 

sigh...

[Guest]

I wont accept soiling on my comics! I dont even want to know what "soiling" a comic is!

[murph0]

I only buy VF and up on G.A. books, and NM or better in Silver...so it's a given I don't want the stuff that comes with a lower grade such as foxing or soiling. The things I can't stand in high grade are..date stamps of any kind, name written anywhere, anything that would fall under the CGC graders notes that they used to have, off-center covers, miscut covers, and distributor overspray..

 

Brian

[fantastic_four]

Ask some of the Cherry Poptart collectors in the forum. I'm sure they've got quite a lot of experience with soiling comics.

[Guest]

...yes, I have heard of this phenomenon. Darth is a prime offender of this, no?

[Polyphemus]

Pet peave: cover miscut diagonally. I can stand a straight overlay or white stripe but the haphazard one make me nuts.

[PovertyRow]

I only buy VF and up on G.A. books

 

A serious question in the midst of the mirth. Do you find that VF or better in GA considerably restricts what you are looking for? Or makes the search frustrating? I am interested in the experiences of a VF and higher GA collector. Having spent a lot of time at cons, on the net and eBay I know that were I to limit my pre-code horror to VF or better, I would be in a sorry state. Hell, my own limitation of Fine (excluding really hard to find books) makes it really hard. I cannot imagine what VF must be like.

[Joanna]

Missing pages, or cut-out coupons on story panels. I'm not fond of detached covers, either. Then again, I bought books with almost every defect you can think of, so I'm not that particular. I even bought several books with missing pages/coupons because I didn't inspect everything I bought. (when you're digging through a cheapo bin, taking time to inspect means that the guy next to you might get all the prime stuff). I was very lax when I was collecting. It's a wonder I ended up with any nice books.

 

-- Joanna

[Guest]

One printing defect that drives me nuts is front-to-back cover overwrap. Werewolf 32 is a prime example of this - often half the 25c price will not be visible on the front cover.

 

Back to front bothers me, too, but nowhere near as much.

[Bonds25]

I won't accept a 9.6 or higher book if it's off-center by more than a teeny bit. I also will not accept rusted staples.

[murph0]

I can't say I concentrate very heavily on my G.A. runs, so I can't really give you a 100 percent answer...but when I get into those kicks where I look for G.A. Cap's or Cap related books..it's a bit tough in a lot of the books, but there are a bunch that I have been able to find at or around VF 8.0. With the Cap run, it's hit or miss..some issues are tough others are not.

But I must say, if I were looking for a specific issue it would take some searching. But I am missing so many issues of the run that whatever I fall onto in that condition, I'll usually buy.

 

Brian

[originalisbest]

Wish I could afford to be all that picky - on the other hand, I probably could; as if I'm picky enough nothing would meet my standard and I'd never buy anything.

 

Large water staining's a no-no - but really it's just common sense, if something looks disgusting I don't want it. But I'm not going to get all excited if a book has tanning, etc. (again using common sense, if I touch the book and it's going to literally crumble, that won't do.) If I find a great book in high grade that's terrific! But usually I can't, or I can but too much $$$ for my budget.

 

I basically won't want a book if there are large piece(s) missing, any color loss/fading, either staple detached, or a really crooked or off-center cover. Anything else is fair game, and just depends on how badly I want the book/how tough it is to find. And it boils down to value received (in my mind) for the price paid. About all I can say with absolute certainty is I will reject a book with restoration, whether it be color touch, trimming, tear seals, what have you. This kind of material just doesn't do it for me.

[awe4one]

Don't know if I can accurately explain this....

 

You get a Silver/Bronze VF/NM, pull it out of the bag, and the book feels stiff in your hands. Even though the pages are white off-white, the book feels as if its been immersed in water and laid out to dry (I'm exaggerating a bit to make my point) with no indication of water damage. If you only went by the look of the book you'd swear it was high grade (another reason why pics can be deceiving)

 

Humidity maybe? I've bought a couples of books with this "defect" and didn't realize it until I got home. I've commonly seen this with 25/30 cent Marvels but late Silver Marvels are not immune.

 

I don't like this a bit!

 

 

Jim

[fantastic_four]

There's a seller in my area who has about 3 boxes of books with that evenly distributed moisture damage you describe. It took me about a half-hour of taking comics out of bags to eventually realize that he keeps his comics in his shed and must have had some water leaking problems at some point, because the damage was isolated to all the comics in a few boxes. Those boxes were probably the ones nearest to the water exposure; he's got a few dozen others he brings to shows that don't have that water damage.

 

Some of the comics in those boxes have the rippling you would expect from direct water spillage, and others just have the all-over moisture problem. My assumption is that the leaking hit some books directly, and the water introduced into the boxes may have "drifted"--maybe evaporated and even condensated--on the other comics.

 

Lesson to be learned--don't keep your comics in an outdoor uninsulated shed. Especially one with a leaky roof.

[Tomega]

My biggest pet peeve is there must be no large amounts of feces on the comic. Small chunks of poo here and there is okay but........

 

Seriously, besides what everyone will not accept - I will not buy comics with date stamps. A lot of people it doesn't bother but it drives me nuts. A stamp on the back cover of a really nice book I may purchase but otherwise - no way.

Another thing is cover overwrap. I have seen so many comics graded at nm with this defect I just cannot see why.

Tom

[fantastic_four]

I swear, I'm SO sick of you picky collectors. Overstreet does not say anything about the fact that feces should lower grade, and CGC doesn't note it on their label. Yet if I sold you a comic that had undisclosed feces on it, I bet you'd pitch a fit, wouldn't you?

 

I'm with FlyingDonut all the way. If a buyer is so damn picky that I have to list every little defect like feces, anthrax spores, or comics with a scent of diapers and moldy feet, then he should e-mail the seller to make sure those things that Overstreet and CGC don't downgrade for aren't present on the books prior to bidding on an auction.