Marvel rubbing

[Chadwick]

Sorry if this has been discussed already, I did a search and found nothing. I know that marvel has had an issue with cover rubbing for a number of years, but is this viewed as a production defect or a damaged book? Is there a max grade a rubbed book can achieve or is it just an eye appeal thing similar to chipping?

 

Some examples -- click for high res

 

 

[joeypost]

Those are pretty severe. I would say these move to the realm of damage and will get hit by the graders.

[Bomber-Bob]

I don't know about CGC but those examples are so bad it would be wrong to dismiss them as production defects.

[DR.X]

I don't think you can always say rubbing is a production defect. I had lots of Dark Night Return books that had severe rubbing on the back covers from being shipped. Books are stacked in shipping and rubbing against each other in transit.

[rodan57]

I don't think you can always say rubbing is a production defect. I had lots of Dark Night Return books that had severe rubbing on the back covers from being shipped. Books are stacked in shipping and rubbing against each other in transit.

 

I think this is the distinction to be made -- production vs. distribution defects.

[Chadwick]

I assumed this rubbing occurred while the ink wasn't completely dry. Does this happen during shipping?

[BlowUpTheMoon]

I assumed this rubbing occurred while the ink wasn't completely dry. Does this happen during shipping?

 

I think if the ink were still wet it would more of a smearing look. I'm guessing the rubbing appeared during shipping.

[Goldsquadronldr-migration]

This drives me crazy with Marvel covers. Most of what I've typically seen is more like this on the back cover, and even sometimes on the front cover.

 

 

It's not a lot, but it definitely hits the appeal and just completely bothers me. I asked CGC about this and showed them the above picture and they replied with

 

"Since it is a byproduct of how the books were manufactured, we are fairly lenient with them, however once it gets past a certain size/intensity we will start downgrading for it."

 

See an example from mycomicshop that is selling a Batman #1 CGC 9.8 that has a lot rubbed off on the back, especially near the staples like some Marvel books.

 

 

Your examples are pretty extreme and I would assume would be downgraded. But I complain all the time about Marvel covers shipping damaged because of the softer covers.

[Finhead]

Batman #1 is not a great example of this effect since it's part of the art on the back cover. It's not rubbing it's the cover.

[RockMyAmadeus]

As others have said, this is classic shipping rub, where the books rub against each other. This mostly happens when Diamond packs the books to send out to their distribution hubs, and it's why you see it along the spine and mostly at the staples, which is the "highest" point of contact the book has. A couple of tossed boxes, and rub, rub, rub.

 

By the way...this can also happen just by being in a bag and board if the book is jostled around inside. Go ahead and look at your boards once in a while...see that ink transfer line along the spine?

 

Yup.

 

Drives me insane. The only way to preserve books is to keep them completely immobile as much as humanly possible, in a cool, stable environment. Otherwise....

[Goldsquadronldr-migration]

Is the ink transfer just an accepted part of keeping a book in a bag/board then? I know I've seen transfer before but Marvel's self covers are probably the first time I've seen the ink completely come off of the book, especially in those high contact points. Is it worth even going after pristine copies if this is going to happen?