Do you think this book should have been graded lower by CGC?

[fantastic_four]

I don't think I exactly know what a dust shadow is come to think of it. I generally know they're created when an edge of the book is jutting out of the stack...but what exactly is the stuff? Dust and dirt? Can cleaning remove a dust shadow, or is it permanent?

[VintageComics]

I don't think I exactly know what a dust shadow is come to think of it. I generally know they're created when an edge of the book is jutting out of the stack...but what exactly is the stuff? Dust and dirt? Can cleaning remove a dust shadow, or is it permanent?

 

That's something to talk to Trace or Matt about. Can't answer it.

 

I think shadows are often confusing as some can have moisture damage along with the dust (from environmental exposure) while others are just a light bit of dust (some of which will actually wipe off with a soft cloth).

 

Again, it would be really helpful for most of us if anybody could offer clarity on these things but most of us are just feeling our way along the cave wall when it comes to factoring these things into our grading.

[fantastic_four]

If dust shadows are indeed removable, that could be the reason CGC doesn't downgrade much for them. I know they do downgrade fairly harshly for stains which can't be removed, yet the aesthetics of a stain is about the same as a dust shadow, they're both unsightly discolorations.

[osborn_fr]

Little game:

 

Here's a book (ASM #109) i sent to CGC a few years ago (sorry for the small pictures, that's the only ones i found on my hard disk).

The book was structurally a 9.4 (if not better...). The only flaw was the dust shadow on the back cover. Guess the grade .

 

[Silver Surfer]

7.5?

[MrBedrock]

Guess the grade .

 

Somewhere between 0.5 and 10.0!

[osborn_fr]

7.5?

 

[osborn_fr]

Guess the grade .

 

Somewhere between 0.5 and 10.0!

 

[osborn_fr]

Will be back with the answer in about 15 minutes,

the time for me to brush my teeth and have a shower (not bad for a french, isn't it?)

[Silver Surfer]

Will be back with the answer in about 15 minutes,

the time for me to brush my teeth and have a shower (not bad for a french, isn't it?)

 

No mention of under arm deoderant, very chic, very French.

[RockMyAmadeus]

8.0

 

My theory as to "dust shadows" is simple: exposure to light/environment.

 

I don't think it's attributable to actual dust at all.

 

I could be wrong.

 

But all the books that I've had that have sat in dust...but were otherwise protected from the elements and light for 10+ years or more...simply wiped clean, with no noticeable marks.

 

Nowwww..of course, the type of dust may be a factor, but every day human skin cells, dander, spores, and earth, probably not.

[Sal]

dust shadows and sun shadows aren't the same thing, iirc.

 

would think a sun shadow would be non-removable and thus affect the grade more than a dust shadow

[fantastic_four]

Which is on the Sensation in question, a dust or sun shadow? Or can we even tell?

[VintageComics]

I could be wrong but I think that the more the paper is affected the greater the drop in grade.

 

Dust sitting on the paper or in the paper fibres generally is not hammered as much as when the paper fibres themselves go tan.

 

 

[slym2none]

Yeah, after long enough (and especially if the environment has smoke in it) dust and other detritus in the air settles on an exposed part of the comic, sticking to it and yellowing it over time - that is "dust shadowing," correct? You can feel the dust shadow, and the bad cases might be able to be wiped mostly away, but some staining of the paper occurs.

 

Please correct me if I am wrong...

 

 

 

-slym

[gaz973]

Little game:

 

Here's a book (ASM #109) i sent to CGC a few years ago (sorry for the small pictures, that's the only ones i found on my hard disk).

The book was structurally a 9.4 (if not better...). The only flaw was the dust shadow on the back cover. Guess the grade .

 

9.4?

[RockMyAmadeus]

Yeah, after long enough (and especially if the environment has smoke in it) dust and other detritus in the air settles on an exposed part of the comic, sticking to it and yellowing it over time - that is "dust shadowing," correct? You can feel the dust shadow, and the bad cases might be able to be wiped mostly away, but some staining of the paper occurs.

 

Please correct me if I am wrong...

 

 

 

-slym

 

See, that's where I don't think it's the case. Unless the book was exposed to relatively high humidity, which might tend to expand the paper fibres, allowing molecular dirt to pass through, I think that most "dust shadows" are just the part of the covers that were exposed to the elements, whatever they may have been. I've wiped dust off countless books over the past 10 years, and it never left a mark...and these were books that were stored in low humidity, cool-ish, dark places.

 

I think the color change is simply more rapid aging of the paper due to exposure.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Smoke, on the other hand, is definitely detrimental to any exposed paper, due to its gaseous nature, which easily infuses in newsprint and the tar and other chemicals turn it a sickly yellow.

[osborn_fr]

Will be back with the answer in about 15 minutes,

the time for me to brush my teeth and have a shower (not bad for a french, isn't it?)

 

No mention of under arm deoderant, very chic, very French.

 

I always under arm deodorant, but only in the morning (if only my neighbors in the train could do the same )

After this very interesting hygienic interlude, now back to the subject:

 

 

What i deduct from that is:

 

- CGC grades golden age books differently.

- CGC rather prefers Wonder Woman to Spider-man.

[fantastic_four]

I think the color change is simply more rapid aging of the paper due to exposure.

 

Discoloration of the paper due to aging is called "tanning," and it is visible on both sides of the paper, not just one like shadows are.