X-Men 14. Please grade.

[sckao]

Hi. I recently came into possession of some HG books and I was wondering what some of the high grade collectors here think. The scans are extremely large (about 500-600k) to show the maximum detail. I'm planning on sending them to CGC but I'm wondering if it will be worth it (or even if I should.)

 

Thanks for any comments.

 

 

X-men 14 Front Cover

 

X-men 14 Back Cover

 

Here's a smaller jpeg of the front cover:

 

[supapimp]

nice book, i just love that date stamp, no kidding around here. book grades VF+ 8.5 - VF/NM 9.0, but the back cover crease knocks it out of a solid VF/NM 9.0.

[COI]

It's got a nice structure, and decent centering. A beauty from the front, but the back keeps it out of the 9.X's.

[Gorgo]

Your biggest hurdle will be the damage on the back cover, this usually drops these early keys to a strict VF 8.0 to VF- 7.5 assessment. Without that, you'd be looking at a VF+ to VF/NM at best. Nice book though, I've got a few copies of that book in very similar shape that I've kept in poly bags for 20 years. Hope that helps.

[murph0]

Nice scans. I was going to say I'd give it an 8.0 but CGC'd probably give it an 8.5 since it doesn't seem like they downgrade for date stamps. But there's a bit too much damage so I'd say they'd give it an 7.5

Does the bottom of the cover have overflash or how did that slight crease along the bottom of the book happen?

 

Brian

[sckao]

Thanks. I was afraid of that... (They were sold to me as NM.)

 

I also have Daredevil 11, Avengers 22, Fantastic Four 45, Thor 127, Strange Tales 138, Spider-man 58, and Batman 174 in similar or better condition (hopefully).

 

I'll post those scans later today.

 

 

 

[COI]

I agree.

 

Books like these that have a crisp appearance from the front but suffer from one key area of damage, especially on the back, are better left unslabbed.

[Prophet78]

Gorgo....you are a tough grader!

 

I say 8.5 solid. Could be lower. That date stamp is a real [!@#%^&^]!

 

Nice book though!

 

-Jeremy-

[supapimp]

nah, he's just jaded, he got ganked by CGC in the past.

[Gorgo]

No, supa, it's true! I just submitted a book that I had advertised as a 7.5 VF- on E-Bay raw, and received a 9.2 NM- from CGC. I guess I'm being too strict? Things I mark down in terms of grade that CGC doesn't are: offset covers, mis-cuts, bindery defects, and reverse overlapping (like that Hulk #181 9.8 "Holy Grail" book) covers. As just a hobbyist, I try to grade according to my particular comic book tastes, just like the books I like to buy, slabbed or unslabbed. I might as well be strict, get a lot of happy customers that way, who can read & enjoy the book, then they can send to cgc for slabbing if they want for superior preservation & protection.

[ArAich]

nice book sckao...The book itself (as AK says) has excellant structure and I especially love the luster of the front cover....the old x-men books that I have seen seem to have deep rich colors when they are well preserved.

That being said I think that the flaws add up to a max grade of 8.0...so don,t CGC it...keep it, until a better one comes along...

Unless you are really wanting to sell it...in that case sell it "raw"...rah rah rah....

 

[sckao]

 

Thanks for all the comments. I probably will end up selling some of these titles just to recoup my cost. I'm not really a high grade collector and just started selling at smaller conventions to get rid of some of the 10k+ comics I've accumulated over the years.

 

I was a little surprised at some of the low grades but I understand how the back could be a problem. (I think large, clear scans magnify the imperfections somewhat. Looking at the scans, I can see things that I didn't see when I was just looking at the book with the naked eye. Then again, I'm not an experienced grader especially with older books.)

 

One quick question though... who has the best discount for CGC? And which level of service do most of you use? (Economy vs Standard)

 

Thanks.

 

[murph0]

www.heritagecomics.com or www.monumentalcollectibles.com?

 

Brian

[sckao]

 

Once again, a majority of the grading responses to this book was right on the mark. Very impressive.

 

This X-men #14 Green River copy received an 8.5 VF+ CGC grade.

 

 

[murph0]

Did you send in anything else?

 

Brian

[sckao]

 

I sent in 8 books this time. All have the Blue Universal label. Here are the grades.

 

Amazing Spider-man #58 VF/NM 9.0

 

Batman #174 VF+ 8.5

 

Strange Tales #138 VF/NM 9.0

 

Fantastic Four #45 VF+ 8.5

 

Avengers #22 VF+ 8.5

 

Daredevil #11 NM 9.4

 

X-men #14 VF+ 8.5

 

Thor #127 NM 9.4

[Solar]

I'm saying 7.5. Sweet book, but between the back crease and the upper staple stress, downgraded to VF- IMHO. Date stamp is a non factor.

[uluru]

7.0 - 7.5

[Tomega]

Hi. I recently came into possession of some HG books and I was wondering what some of the high grade collectors here think. The scans are extremely large (about 500-600k) to show the maximum detail. I'm planning on sending them to CGC but I'm wondering if it will be worth it (or even if I should.)

 

Thanks for any comments.

 

 

I am going to end up being on the low end on this one - 6.5 maybe a 7.0. There are enough defects on the spine, staples, and the back cover to pull this down to that range. I just re-read the posts and saw that it pulled a 8.5, I am very surprised - just goes to show that it is hard to tell froma scan and that CGC has different standards for different eras. I alos think they tend to bump up grades from pedigree collections.

 

Tom

[supapimp]

guys! the book already came back in may, it came back as a universal VF+ 8.5.