Cover wrap or centeredness

[Hedge Collector]

Does the centeredness of a book affects its grading?

 

And in general does it affect the market price of a book very significantly?

 

For example, how much more would a perfectly wrapped & centered Hulk 181 9.8 OW/W go for versus the same grade that has a slightly back cover wrap on the front (for which is very common for this book)?

 

 

[rodan57]

Not when professionally graded unless it's egregious.

 

When buying at a show or over the Internet, it makes a difference to some.

 

For me it's reasonably important. If there are 20,000 copies of a book still in existence, I at least want a nice looking one.

 

It's the same old story. If you have two copies side by side, the one with the perfect centering is a better looking book. (My personal bug bear is all those 9.6s and 9.8s with the white of the back cover wrapped to the front so that there's no colour for a stress mark to break. )

 

 

I guess my conclusion is that it should.

[jimjum12]

There is no real direct formula for this, as some collectors who prefer good wraps and centering will settle for less to temporarily fill in a run. Bottom line is that there are definitely collectors who will pass EVERY time on copies that aren't centered decent. I ,myself, am in that category on all but the scarcest of books. I'm a little more flexible when it comes to the wrap....I'll take a book with a slight sliver of white showing on the spine....in fact it actually keeps color breaking stress off the black line and image area of the spine. What you are referring to in your question is what we on the boards call QP.....short for quality of production....not the same as PQ, for page quality. If it doesn't bother you, crooked books sometimes go more cheaply in the uber grades....but if it were me, I wouldn't see the point in owning a 9.8 if it didn't have exceptional QP and PQ....but that's me. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

[jimjum12]

One thing to keep in mind with GA and SA books is that there are some books that were pasted up poorly and quickly in the original art phase so that if you find a copy with the spine perfectly in line, the cover image and copy will AUTOMATICALLY be out of square.....so that ALMOST perfect is as good as it gets. I'm beginning to think that ASM 26 is in this category, although there are copies where the black line starts at the edge of the front cover and finishes on the edge of the back cover and looks in line at first glance....resulting in a book where the copy is still square. There are many others....particularly Marvel SA were it is almost impossible to find a copy of some issues where the black line is square on the spine and the CCA stamp has not been trimmed at the edge. JIM 83 is a good example. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

[sakaridis]

Not when professionally graded unless it's egregious.

 

When buying at a show or over the Internet, it makes a difference to some.

 

For me it's reasonably important. If there are 20,000 copies of a book still in existence, I at least want a nice looking one.

 

It's the same old story. If you have two copies side by side, the one with the perfect centering is a better looking book. (My personal bug bear is all those 9.6s and 9.8s with the white of the back cover wrapped to the front so that there's no colour for a stress mark to break. )

 

 

I guess my conclusion is that it should.

[Flash105]

I have decided after much soul searching and putting my 9.8 pride aside I would rather have a perfectly wrapped, centered, white page 9.6 than a miswrapped OW paged 9.8. I have always been an eye candy guy and I look books with good looks.

 

[trmoore54]

Does the centeredness of a book affects its grading?

 

And in general does it affect the market price of a book very significantly?

 

For example, how much more would a perfectly wrapped & centered Hulk 181 9.8 OW/W go for versus the same grade that has a slightly back cover wrap on the front (for which is very common for this book)?

 

 

Well it affects whether it's going to end up in my collection or not...

 

( WTTB! )

[adamstrange]

Does the centeredness of a book affects its grading?

Only at the top-most grades. I don't think they'll allow much mis-wrap in a 9.9 and none in a 10.0.

 

And in general does it affect the market price of a book very significantly?

I think a significant mis-wrap will impact price but it definitely impacts it less with CGC than it did prior to CGC since they don't count off much for it. We are seeing some differentiation in price within a CGC grade based on appeal of a book or the presence of a particular defect as either situation increases or reduces the number of interested parties. I very few book with "noticeable" miswrap as I will pass on most all books with that particular defect.

 

 

 

 

[namisgr]

There are several kinds of miswraps, and I think they have very different influences on eye appeal and market value. There's the "back-to-front" that yields a visible white stripe. It's impact can be negligible (i.e., the book looks fine with it) or severe, if the stripe is wide or the cover design makes it stand out.

 

There's the "front-to-back" that cuts off some of the artwork and lettering. Once again, the extent of the miswrap has a big impact on the loss of eye appeal.

 

There's also the "top-to-bottom" miscut, in which one edge is cut into the artwork and the other has an extra strip.

 

The worst is the crooked miswrap, which invariably detracts from the cover art. I think these can be much harder books to sell and often need to be discounted.

 

Here's a couple of examples that differentially affect eye appeal for me:

 

"top-to-bottom" miscut with a big loss of eye appeal; book is being offered on a website for 25% below GPA average.

 

 

"back-to-front" miswrap; I actually like the look of the straight, narrow stripe against the white picture frame with the white logo:

 

 

"back-to-front" example that is a real defect, and I think detracts from the value of the book somewhat, even though it's straight:

 

 

"front-to-back" miswrap; other than the book being one of the notorious 2 cent Marvels, I think this miswrap has little negative impact:

 

[Hedge Collector]

namisgr - thanks so much for the added images. helps to see which ones affect eye appeal and which ones not so much!

[cheetah]

You forgot the paper-coming-off-the-roller miswrap.

 

[conditionfreak]

Funny. I actually prefer a book with the white "sliver" along the spine. But only if it is straight and not too big. Versus a book without that slight white sliver.

 

Too each his own I guess.

 

I have not seen it affect a CGC given grade though, in either direction. But how would I know. They don't tell us. Anyone ever check the CGC notes and find that they listed centering or a slight miswrap as a fault, if it was not very pronounced?

[Hedge Collector]

I think that MTU #33 getting a 9.6 is proof that off-centeredness has little effect on grade?

[jimjum12]

I think that MTU #33 getting a 9.6 is proof that off-centeredness has little effect on grade?

 

I've seen 9.6 SA Marvels that have such an extreme front to back miswrap that only a quarter inch strip of the corner logo is visible on the front of the cover. There also used to be an FF 10 , 9.6 in the CGC gallery that had that type of miswrap and the price circle was mostly on the back cover if I remember correctly. Unlike coins, an extreme miswrap almost always results at a lower sale price, usually significant. When dealing with top census...as I recall is your area of interest, a perfectly centered copy may not be available at the top level...and in that case, aesthetics are often thrown out the window. I'm with conditionfreak as far as the white sliver goes....I actually like a slight one. Here's a book I just got that has the sliver like I like it....any wider than this and I'll usually pass. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

 

 

P.S. I do think I may have misinterpreted your question...and I must say that I have never seen grader's notes that mentioned QP....a good test would be to call for grader's notes on the aforementioned MTU.

[Green]

Ive always thought it was crazy qp didnt play into grade. But it would severely impact the number of books that were sent to cgc if qp was as big a part of the formulas as a sports card. I wont buy books with miswraps . I just do not agree.

[KING of JOKERS]

Ive always thought it was crazy qp didnt play into grade. But it would severely impact the number of books that were sent to cgc if qp was as big a part of the formulas as a sports card. I wont buy books with miswraps . I just do not agree.

 

Totally agree. I never understood why CGC never took it into consideration or the folks who came up with the grading system in use.

 

In the sports card hobby, off-centering severely affects the grade and price. PSA, (the CGC of the card collecting world), gives card with off-centering an "o/c" qualifier (the kiss of death).

 

A PSA 9 is a straight MINT grade while a PSA 9 o/c would sell for a discounted 50% or less than a straight 9.

 

 

[namisgr]

I believe CGC has left it up to the collectors regarding quality of production issues like cover wrap, staple placement, and color strike. These are all readily visible even after a comic is encapsulated, and so CGC grading based on structural and interior features need not take these additional aspects of eye appeal into consideration.

[trmoore54]

There are several kinds of miswraps, and I think they have very different influences on eye appeal and market value. There's the "back-to-front" that yields a visible white stripe. It's impact can be negligible (i.e., the book looks fine with it) or severe, if the stripe is wide or the cover design makes it stand out.

 

There's the "front-to-back" that cuts off some of the artwork and lettering. Once again, the extent of the miswrap has a big impact on the loss of eye appeal.

 

There's also the "top-to-bottom" miscut, in which one edge is cut into the artwork and the other has an extra strip.

 

The worst is the crooked miswrap, which invariably detracts from the cover art. I think these can be much harder books to sell and often need to be discounted.

 

Here's a couple of examples that differentially affect eye appeal for me:

 

"top-to-bottom" miscut with a big loss of eye appeal; book is being offered on a website for 25% below GPA average.

 

 

"back-to-front" miswrap; I actually like the look of the straight, narrow stripe against the white picture frame with the white logo:

 

 

"back-to-front" example that is a real defect, and I think detracts from the value of the book somewhat, even though it's straight:

 

 

"front-to-back" miswrap; other than the book being one of the notorious 2 cent Marvels, I think this miswrap has little negative impact:

 

Bob...nice job on the display with visuals...XLNT! The crooked miswrap is ALWAYS a dealbreaker for me...can't understand how the crooked ones, and I've seen some pretty severe ones, can end up 9.4 or better...doesn't jive with my grading system... (thumbs u