Iron Man 1 0

[Jim Corrigan]

I have an Iron Man 1 that I'd like some expert opinions on.  I always feel a little unsure how to properly grade a book when I run across a material tear in the cover.  The back cover has a 7/8" tear on the margin about 2/3 of the way up.  The page quality is ow-w.  Thanks for looking.

[1950's war comics]

Still looks very good

[Lucky Baru]

4.0ish. 

[Ride the Tiger]

Im also thinking somewhere in the 4.0 area. I've seen lots of 4.0s with more wear than this book but the tear on back gives it a significant drop.

[Jim Corrigan]

Thanks for the opinions.  I notice in the grading definitions that I keep handy that VG/F allows up to 1/2" spine split and VG allows a 1" spine split.  Neither grade says anything about a straight tear in the cover which would very helpful if they did.  Which should have more or less impact on the grade: a spine split or a tear of the same length?

VG allows for a 1/4" triangle out of a corner or edge which this book does have.  On the other hand, this book doesn't have some of the other negative attributes associated with VG or even with VG/F.  It's really a mixed bag, IMHO.  The question I'd like to have an answer to is, when a book has such a mixed bag of grade characteristics, do you try to average them out or do you look for the worst issue and match that to the highest grade which allows it?  Forgive me if I'm overthinking this but I'd like to hear some thoughts on that.

Edited April 3, 2018 by Jim Corrigan

[1Cool]

3.5/4.0 - presents well

[Jaydee]

Good looking 4.0

[Jim Corrigan]

So, we're all in agreement then?  9.4? 

Seriously, thanks for taking the time to express your opinions.  The tear still bothers me a bit so I think I'll go conservative and put this up as a 3.5.  I think that's a safe bet.

[Jim Corrigan]

As a postscript, I took the book by a local shop where I know the owner and his opinion is that, without the tear in the back cover, the book is a solid 5.0 and presents very well with good reflectivity and a minimum of wear.  He would drop the grade a half-point to a point for the tear which, in his opinion, is hardly noticeable.  So, his conclusion was 4.0 to 4.5 and anyone else would probably pick one of those two grades, depending on how much the tear bothered them.  So you folks were dead on, not that I ever doubted it.  I'm convinced that 4.0 is a solid grade for this book.  Thanks again for taking a look.

[Kramerica]

4.5.