What you don't want to see when you unpack a 9.8 0

[The Lions Den]

Yes, books with a severe overhang have always been rejected for encapsulation. Occasionally books like this Shazam #1 slip through the cracks and wind up damaged. This appears to me as if a different inner well should have been used, eliminating the need for a wedge.  

With a little luck, they may be able to fix this book and keep it as a 9.8. Hopefully that's just a bent corner with no tear...

Edited November 17, 2018 by The Lions Den

[Bomber-Bob]

2 hours ago, The Lions Den said:

Yes, books with a severe overhang have always been rejected for encapsulation. Occasionally books like this Shazam #1 slip through the cracks and wind up damaged. This appears to me as if a different inner well should have been used, eliminating the need for a wedge.  

With a little luck, they may be able to fix this book and keep it as a 9.8. Hopefully that's just a bent corner with no tear...

Hey Lion, can you expound on your statement ' a different inner well should have been used' ? Other than size, I'm not familiar with different types. 

[thewritestuff]

I recently received a re-slab from CGC (after the original slab was damaged in transit from CLink), and it's a rather valuable Golden Age book. Comparing it to some of my other slabs, it seems that this one has too much space inside the inner well, and I'm afraid the comic has too much freedom to move around. A hard whack, and the book will move. Is this just what the new slabs are like, or did someone screw up and choose one that was too big (meaning, the inner well)?

 

It seems as though my other graded Golden Age books mostly have inner wells that just fit the book, so there is little chance of shifting from side to side. I am not in the habit of transporting or over-handling my books. However, in the event that I decide to sell someday, I'm concerned that the book might be damaged in transit. 

Edited November 18, 2018 by AuthorJMR

[The Lions Den]

15 hours ago, Bomber-Bob said:

Hey Lion, can you expound on your statement ' a different inner well should have been used' ? Other than size, I'm not familiar with different types. 

Hello Bob! I hope you're having a nice weekend. 

As you know, there are many different sizes to the inner wells. In this case, it would seem that the well selected was too wide for the book. There are a variety of different reasons this may have occurred, but it's usually because the book has a slightly different cut than normal and won't quite fit into the well that's usually selected. This leads to the need for a wedge, a small piece of plastic that's attached to the well to hold the book securely in place when the well is a bit too tall or wide. I'm sure you've seen many books like this; sometimes even two wedges are used.

Here's the thing: Sometimes the well that's selected is simply the wrong size for the book. This can happen if the slab room doesn't have any of the proper wells available, or, in rare cases, the wrong well is accidentally selected. So rather than back up the expressway, they simply attach a wedge to the improper well and call it good. 

By way of example, I had two copies of the same Silver Age book slabbed recently (not in the same invoice). The first book received a well with a side wedge, which worked OK but made the book off center in the holder (I was not overjoyed). The second book received the proper sized well and fit perfectly with no wedge.

I still think CGC does a great job, but due to the amount of books they deal with, incidents like this are bound to happen. I'm sorry this resulted in damage to this beautiful copy of Shazam #1, and I hope that explains my comment a little better. Here's to wishing they can fix this issue with no negative repercussions to the book or the owner...  

[The Lions Den]

2 hours ago, AuthorJMR said:

I recently received a re-slab from CGC (after the original slab was damaged in transit from CLink), and it's a rather valuable Golden Age book. Comparing it to some of my other slabs, it seems that this one has too much space inside the inner well, and I'm afraid the comic has too much freedom to move around. A hard whack, and the book will move. Is this just what the new slabs are like, or did someone screw up and choose one that was too big (meaning, the inner well)?

 

It seems as though my other graded Golden Age books mostly have inner wells that just fit the book, so there is little chance of shifting from side to side. I am not in the habit of transporting or over-handling my books. However, in the event that I decide to sell someday, I'm concerned that the book might be damaged in transit. 

Please see my above comment; I hope this helps to explain what may have happened with your book...

[Bomber-Bob]

1 hour ago, The Lions Den said:

Hello Bob! I hope you're having a nice weekend. 

As you know, there are many different sizes to the inner wells. In this case, it would seem that the well selected was too wide for the book. There are a variety of different reasons this may have occurred, but it's usually because the book has a slightly different cut than normal and won't quite fit into the well that's usually selected. This leads to the need for a wedge, a small piece of plastic that's attached to the well to hold the book securely in place when the well is a bit too tall or wide. I'm sure you've seen many books like this; sometimes even two wedges are used.

Here's the thing: Sometimes the well that's selected is simply the wrong size for the book. This can happen if the slab room doesn't have any of the proper wells available, or, in rare cases, the wrong well is accidentally selected. So rather than back up the expressway, they simply attach a wedge to the improper well and call it good. 

By way of example, I had two copies of the same Silver Age book slabbed recently (not in the same invoice). The first book received a well with a side wedge, which worked OK but made the book off center in the holder (I was not overjoyed). The second book received the proper sized well and fit perfectly with no wedge.

I still think CGC does a great job, but due to the amount of books they deal with, incidents like this are bound to happen. I'm sorry this resulted in damage to this beautiful copy of Shazam #1, and I hope that explains my comment a little better. Here's to wishing they can fix this issue with no negative repercussions to the book or the owner...  

Thanks Lion, good info AND it makes sense ! It's no different then when I'm bagging and boarding books at home. Sometimes I run out and make do with a different size for the book, putting a Silver Age book into a Golden Age bag and Board. I've always thought encapsulation is probably one of the most 'dangerous' aspects of the grading process. Combine that with the dangers of shipping and I'm surprised our books survive the whole process. As a side comment, incidents like this should make those that do reholders, just for the heck of it, think twice. If the case is not damaged and the book is a nice fit, don't mess with it ! 

[The Lions Den]

2 hours ago, Bomber-Bob said:

Thanks Lion, good info AND it makes sense ! It's no different then when I'm bagging and boarding books at home. Sometimes I run out and make do with a different size for the book, putting a Silver Age book into a Golden Age bag and Board. I've always thought encapsulation is probably one of the most 'dangerous' aspects of the grading process. Combine that with the dangers of shipping and I'm surprised our books survive the whole process. As a side comment, incidents like this should make those that do reholders, just for the heck of it, think twice. If the case is not damaged and the book is a nice fit, don't mess with it ! 

Good advice, BB.   

[KEY ISSUES Comics]

On November 17, 2018 at 5:29 PM, Lazyboy said:

 Comics were never meant to be subjected to the normal rigors of shipping in hard cases.

Early on, they weren't sure about the long-term effectiveness of the microchamber paper.

Thanks! I knew I wasn't crazy (at least not because of that!).

[dfx1]

On 11/18/2018 at 11:44 AM, The Lions Den said:

Hello Bob! I hope you're having a nice weekend. 

... This leads to the need for a wedge, a small piece of plastic that's attached to the well to hold the book securely in place when the well is a bit too tall or wide. I'm sure you've seen many books like this; sometimes even two wedges are used.

 

Looking at the first picture, it looks like there are two wedges. The lower end and the staple side. Maybe the thought process was intentional for this comic. Overhang triggered the wider inner well with two wedges? Its depressing these wedges don't work as planned.