PG..someone else's... ALL-SELECT #1 1943, Orig. Owner

[Sackolantern]

So, long story short, an All-Select #1 showed up for sale among a GA collection. I made a run at it, and lost out to another collector. What scared me off and made the book questionable was that sometime during the sale, a very tenuous tear at the ONLY staple in the spine gave way, resulting in a detached cover. I only have the 1 picture, taken with my cell phone, so I apologize for the lousiness of the scan... but boy, was it a nice book! I'm curious though, to figure out what the detached cover does to the grade on this? Slight roughness at top of cover, and a small fold at bottom right of cover. PLEASE take a look, all experienced, considered and reasoned opinions are appreciated!

 

 

http://i1045.photobucket.com/albums/b451/Sackolantern21c/allselect1_zps34rnfzb4.jpg

[Comicdey]

3.0 tops ?

 

I have a nice Marvel Mystery with a detached cover 2.5 slab

[HighStakesComics]

As is 2.0, maybe 2.5.

[kav]

I remember something from the grading contest about detached covers now being graded the same as coverless or something since with a detached cover you cannot be sure the cover is actually from that book or not eg is resto. I could be wrong but I recall something along these lines.

[Michelangelo]

i've never seen anything higher than 2.5 with detached cover

 

I'm almost positive it cannot be higher than 3.0

[Sackolantern]

AH, but there's the rub: Only 1 staple, and it clearly has a small triangle of cover stuck in it, where the nazi guard is falling backwards, aligned with the human torch 'swoosh' / trailing flame. So... even if that gets a 2... that's a damn fine looking 2!

[Comicdey]

So blue 2.0 or restored higher grade ...

[rjpb]

As long as that bottom fold flattens out without further damage, I'd call it a 3.0.

 

I don't know what CGC's current stance is, but in the past they given as high as a 4.0 to books with detached covers. At least they no longer give out even higher grades to books where the cover was obviously reattached by removing the staple, taping over the tear on the inside, and putting the staple back through.

 

IMHO the grade given is less important than the fact of the detached cover. For some collectors it's too big a flaw to get past, no matter how nice the book looks, and for others it's a flaw they can more easily overlook, especially if the book looks nice otherwise. Personally I prefer a book that looks like a 6.0 but has a detached cover, than one that looks like a 3.0, but the cover is solidly attached, but that's just me.

 

 

[Tsp99]

3.0 if back cover looks as nice as the front

[kav]

I'd rather have a 3.0 attached cvr than a 6.0 lookin detached. I'd also rather have anything than a book with rusted staples cause that's the gift that keeps on giving.

[jimbo_707]

I found one 3.5 with a detached cover, so I think this book has a shot at that grade, but I can't see it grading any higher.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pep-Comics-45-So-Rare-You-Dont-Have-It-4-Copies-Graded-2-Copies-Higher-Cgc-3-5-/371510444026?hash=item567fbf7ffa:g:XlkAAOSweW5VAHX1

[Primetime]

3.0 if back cover looks as nice as the front

agreed

[buttock]

detached covers routinely grade out at 3.0 +/- 0.5 from CGC. There is occasionally some variance (there was a Supe 1 that got a 4.0), but I would send that one in expecting a 3.0.

[miraclemet]

I remember something from the grading contest about detached covers now being graded the same as coverless or something since with a detached cover you cannot be sure the cover is actually from that book or not eg is resto. I could be wrong but I recall something along these lines.

 

the detached issue was always that in the past CGC graded retaped detached books with universal grades and at a higher grade than a detached copy (assuming all other conditions were the same). So it basicly incentivized people to take detached books and slap some non-restoration grade tape on the book to potentially get a grade bump of a few grades. All of which is bad since non-restoration grade tape eventually does damage to the book, so CGC didnt want to encourage a practice that did damage.

 

So now re-attached books get the same grade as if they were still detached.

 

So in this case the book still attached might be a 4.5 (or higher?), but when the cover becomes detached it drops to a 3.0 or lower due to the detachment....

 

and yes CGC and other top level graders can typically tell if a cover is from the same book or not (wear/tanning patterns matching and so on)

[oldbsturgeon]

I want to know why the book was being handled enough for the cover to detach while its being sold?

[Sackolantern]

The simple reason it got detached was that this was at an estate sale, with rubes just walking up and flipping the books around roughly. I actually got in one guy's face and told him rather loudly to "STOP IT. You're damaging the books!" But, damage done. I tell you this; it was rather harrowing, seeing the GA books being mishandled and slightly further damaged right in front of us.

 

It wasn't the worst I've ever seen:

 

I was at an auction about 3-4 years ago that included a personal SA collection. Among the unprotected/unbagged/unboarded books was a Showcase #22 in about a 4 or so condition. Well, this older lady was among the presenters for the auction. So when they came up for bid, she walked up to the stacks of comics, got about 4 or 5 fanned out in each hand...including the #22... and proceeded to call the audience's attention to the comics by waving the comics back and forth...and then flapping them front to back...CLEARLY breaking the spines on all the books, as a CHORUS OF HOWLS of "NO!" "STOP IT!" "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?" erupted!