Complimentary/Office use only

[shadroch]

In the late 1980s I obtained a group of books from the estate of the late great E. Nelson Bridwell. They were books I believe he used for reference. On almost all of them are stamps saying "complimentary", "complimentary copy", "office use only" or any and all combinations of the three. I have COAs from Phil Levine and Sons who ran the estate sale. Any thoughts as to how much these effect the grades,which range from strong VG to NM-, as some books appear to have never been opened as they were in the original envelope. Books include Conan 1, GI JOE 1-7,Many Flash,Green Lantern,Jla, and many offbeat Marvel and DC tiles such as Plop, Red Sonja,Warlord,and asmall group of indys like Judge Dredd and Sable. I am not really interested in selling them but I am trying to inventory my collection and wouldlike to assign conditions and values to them. T

[ninanina]

I don't think the stamp would effect the VG's. Maybe the NM-'s would become quailifieds? You're VF's down to Fines? Your F/VF's to VG/F's. I do admit I'm a little out of my element. I am thinking a scan of one of the comics might help 'cause maybe a concern is How Big Is The Stamp?

[shadroch]

Do not have a scanner, I am working off a web tv. Stamps are large and more times than not are right on the Title itself. About the height of a pack of cigs and half as wide.

[ninanina]

That's a pretty serious size stamp.I'd grade em' all VG. And only because of the size of the stamp. Like signatures, I feel a stamp that large would detract from the over-all collectability of the comic. Interested in what other people think. Help?

[Ares]

In cases like this the person who owned it would ad more value to it than the comic itself.

[tb]

Stamps like that can add considerable historical interest if they

are associated with the publisher, but you need to find a collector

who cares about other aspects than the grade. Although I usually

only collect high grade, I make an exception for copies that bear

file copy stamps or are signed by the editor/artist. Some stamps

are famous and highly desirable; people have successfully

counterfeited these (on high grade GA books!) and gotten multiples

of guide value on eBay. I don't know enough about your type of

books to give any more specifics, but you should ask around before

giving in to all the people who will try to buy them from you for less

than guide. In any case, for the type of collector who would be

interested the size of the stamp would not matter at all.