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Avengers 23 with bindery tears

Started by Jim Corrigan,

15 posts in this topic

Jim Corrigan

Jim Corrigan

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This otherwise gorgeous Avengers 23 suffers from two small bindery tears in the upper right hand corner. How much does this affect the grade? My understanding is that a 1/4" tear is acceptable in 9.4 but this is a little more than that. This book presents very well until you look at that edge under the "microscope". Then the dull edge on the paper cutter becomes very apparent. Thanks.

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Bomber-Bob

Bomber-Bob

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Never heard that a 1/4 inch tear is acceptable in a 9.4 ? Any book I ever submitted with a tiny tear came back in the 7.5 to 8.5 range. CGC seems less tolerant of problems on the right edge because it indicates the book was damaged from reading. I'm going to say this book is an 8.0, possibly 8.5 .

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Jim Corrigan

Jim Corrigan

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Never heard that a 1/4 inch tear is acceptable in a 9.4 ? Any book I ever submitted with a tiny tear came back in the 7.5 to 8.5 range. CGC seems less tolerant of problems on the right edge because it indicates the book was damaged from reading. I'm going to say this book is an 8.0, possibly 8.5 .

 

Sorry, I mistyped. I meant 1/16". That's from the Overstreet Grading criteria.

 

Overstreet Grading Criteria: 9.4 NEAR MINT (NM):Nearly perfect with only minor imperfections that keep it from the next higher grade. Subtle bindery/printing defects are allowed. Bindery tears must be less than 1/16" on Silver Age and later books, although on Golden Age books bindery tears of up to 1/4" have been noted. Cover is flat with no surface wear. Inks are bright with high reflectivity and a minimum of fading. Corners are cut square and sharp with ever-so-slight blunting permitted. A 1/16" bend is permitted with no color break. Small, inconspicuous, lightly penciled, stamped or inked arrival dates are acceptable as long as they are in an unobtrusive location. Slight foxing. Spine is tight and flat. Staples are generally centered; may have slight discoloration. Almost no stress lines. Paper is off-white to cream, supple and fresh. Slight interior tears are allowed.

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divad

divad

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I'm not fully versed in the ins and outs, but isn't a bindery tear, a tear that results from the binding process? Meaning that it would be present on the...bound part of the book??

 

Perhaps we should call the "board expert" on bindery tears??? :gossip:

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Jim Corrigan

Jim Corrigan

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I'm not fully versed in the ins and outs, but isn't a bindery tear, a tear that results from the binding process? Meaning that it would be present on the...bound part of the book??

 

I could be wrong (and I don't claim to be an expert) but I've always thought that a "bindery tear" would be any tear that happened during the manufacturing process and, to me, that would also include anything that happened while cutting the pages and cover to trim away the excess after the book is stapled together. I have another, lower-grade copy of the same issue and even though that particular book doesn't exhibit any tears, the edge does seem to have a similar roughness to the cut in that same area. By my way of thinking, that might indicate that there was a spot on the cutter blade that was wearing quicker than the rest of the blade. Perhaps my lower grade copy was cut earlier in the press run than the copy with the tears when the blade was not quite so dull yet. I only called it a bindery tear because I couldn't imagine how those tears would occur from mishandling.

 

Actually, it's only one tear. The top "tear" isn't really a tear. I noticed that the paper isn't broken all the way through. The single 5/16" tear is a little cleaner than I would expect from a shearing motion. If it helps someone else come up with a plausible explanation, I should also note that only the cover is torn. The pages underneath are unaffected.

 

Please don't misunderstand. I'm not trying to call it something that it isn't and if I gave that impression, please forgive me. If the damage didn't happen at the plant, that's fine. My purpose is to get some expert opinions about how the grade of the book is impacted, whether the damage happened during the manufacturing process or otherwise. And although I'm inclined to think that it was a result of the manufacturing process and not as a result of mishandling, I don't feel so strongly about it that I can' t be persuaded differently. What I'm primarily looking for is an idea of what a fair grade would be for this book so that someone buying it felt like they got what they paid for. I appreciate your input.

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