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Newbie question about spine roll/spine alignment

Started by trip74-migration,

40 posts in this topic

trip74-migration

trip74-migration

Posted
Posted

I grew up collecting comics and after a long hiatus am getting back into it. Boy how things have changed in the last 15 years.

 

I have one particular question about grading as it relates to spines. I'm aware of "spine roll", but I often also see what I call a "misaligned spine." I'm not sure if there's an appropriate name for it. I believe it's a manufacturing defect and I was curious what the impact on grading was (I usually try to avoid it if possible, but maybe that's just me).

 

I can probably best describe by focusing on the line between the front and back of the comic and the angle of the staples.

 

In a normal comic, the line between the front and back is perfectly on the left hand side and can't be seen when looking at the front or back of the comic and the angle of the staples are parallel to the pages of the comic.

 

In spine roll, the line between the front and back can be seen from the front or back view and the spine is rolled, such that the staples are no longer parallel to the pages of the comic.

 

In the case I'm wondering about, the cover was misaligned before the staples were inserted. As a result, the line between the front and back can be seen from either the front or back view, but the spine itself did not roll and the staples are still parallel to the pages of the comic book.

 

What impact does this have on the grading of a comic?

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wee_s2e-migration

wee_s2e-migration

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Sounds like you're talking about miswrap. And it doesn't affect grade.

 

Right, CGC does not take eye appeal into consideration with respect to manufacturing errors. You can find threads like "how does a comic with such a fugly miswrap get a 9.6?" on this Board. That's why the mantra is "buy the book, not the label" and "all 9.6s are not created equal". For many purists, the miswrap does affect the grade (maybe price would be more accurate), it's just that CGC can make any policy they want.

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VintageComics

VintageComics

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Just to clarify, it will affect the grade in the upper echelon, so the miswrap can cause a grade drop in the 9.6-10.0 range depending on severity.

 

 

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VintageComics

VintageComics

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The degree of miswrap determines what grade they will allow the book in.

 

The smaller the miswrap the higher the possible grade.

 

You can have a miswrap in 9.8, you just can't have a "larger" miswrap that is allowed in 9.8 to appear on a 9.9 book etc.

 

There is a cutoff point for each miswrap that will limit the grade.

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Boozad

Boozad

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Where'd you get that info from Roy? I've never heard that before. And really, that TKJ has 99% of the spine on the front cover at the bottom, I wouldn't have thought that would be allowed in 9.8 if they took miswrap into consideration.

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Battle

Battle

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Where'd you get that info from Roy? I've never heard that before. And really, that TKJ has 99% of the spine on the front cover at the bottom, I wouldn't have thought that would be allowed in 9.8 if they took miswrap into consideration.

 

and the 24 hour response clock starts ticking... :baiting:

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VintageComics

VintageComics

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Where'd you get that info from Roy? I've never heard that before. And really, that TKJ has 99% of the spine on the front cover at the bottom, I wouldn't have thought that would be allowed in 9.8 if they took miswrap into consideration.

 

Part of it is from me reverse engineering CGC's grading standards through 1000's of submissions, some of it from conversations with CGC employees and some of it from reading the Overstreet grading guide (2nd edition).

 

In the grading guide there is a chart and a graph that shows how many defects and what size of defects are allowed in grade.

 

If you look at the graph, it shows that you are allowed 1 "larger" or 2 "smaller" defects in NM/M grade of 1/16" - 1/8" in size. I took that to mean that you can have two 1/16" or one 1/8" defect on an otherwise perfect book and the book will grade a 9.8.

 

That would include a miswrap of up to roughly 1/8"

 

A miswrap larger than 1/8" to 1/4" would drop it to the 9.6 range.

 

If you look at 9.9, you'll note that only one defect of 1/16" in size is allowed on an otherwise perfect book...so a perfect book with a 1/16" miswrap would drop the book into a 9.9 grade.

 

A perfect book with no miswrap would not drop the grade.

 

GradingScale1.jpg

 

GradingScale2.jpg

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VintageComics

VintageComics

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Where'd you get that info from Roy? I've never heard that before. And really, that TKJ has 99% of the spine on the front cover at the bottom, I wouldn't have thought that would be allowed in 9.8 if they took miswrap into consideration.

 

and the 24 hour response clock starts ticking... :baiting:

 

lol

 

:whatev:

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VintageComics

VintageComics

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A miswrap larger than 1/8" to 1/4" would drop it to the 9.6 range.

 

So that should have dropped the grade of the TKJ?

 

Yes, only I noticed that there is almost no wrap at the top so they may actually average it out if the miswrap is uneven (on an angle as opposed to one that is perfectly straight).

 

No miswrap at the top, 1/4" miswrap at the bottom = 1/8" average.

 

I think the Grading Guide rules only apply on a straight miswrap.

 

That's an educated guess on my part of course since I don't know what CGC's grading standards actually are.

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VintageComics

VintageComics

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It's the Overstreet Grading Guide. People say the 2nd Edition is better than the 3rd if I remember rightly.

 

Yeah, the 1st of anything is going to have it's bugs so I avoid those except for collectability.

 

The 2nd is the one I would try to get. I think I just bought mine from eBay second hand a few years ago. You might be able to find one if you look around.

 

The 3rd edition has some strange stuff in it that a lot of people didn't agree with, like 10.0 copies with various defects, so it's not completely useless and for 99% of the stuff will be fine.

 

 

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VintageComics

VintageComics

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alright, after adding to my wish list, Amazon told me you guys that buy this guide are also buying the Sex in the City Movie :D

 

:tonofbricks:

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