Which is more important to you, white pages color/quality or perfectly centered cover? 3 3

[innocuous]

[ADAMANTIUM]

2 minutes ago, innocuous said:

Is that fo real?

[innocuous]

Just now, ADAMANTIUM said:

Is that fo real?

No. But thanks for the compliment on my sweet editing skills with Mac Preview

[ThothAmon]

Dos.  

[ADAMANTIUM]

1 minute ago, innocuous said:

No. But thanks for the compliment on my sweet editing skills with Mac Preview

lol

 

[Rip]

On 4/18/2021 at 1:29 PM, IronMan_Cave said:

Let say same two books, very rare, major-key book, same grade, same price...and everything else is equal between the two books, 

1. First book with white pages but with off-centered cover, thick white line runs along the spine

2. Second book, off-white to white pages but with perfectly centered cover

 

Which would you choose?

No brainer, centered.

[silverseeker]

On 4/18/2021 at 1:29 PM, IronMan_Cave said:

Let say same two books, very rare, major-key book, same grade, same price...and everything else is equal between the two books, 

1. First book with white pages but with off-centered cover, thick white line runs along the spine

2. Second book, off-white to white pages but with perfectly centered cover

 

Which would you choose?

#2 for me as well, and the fact that you may need to pay a premium for white pages makes this decision that much easier...

[mosconi]

For my current CGC collection it has to be both White and centered or I just won't buy it. Tough to be such a picky collector, creates long periods of waiting for the right copy 

Edited April 20, 2021 by mosconi

[InfantTerrible]

8 hours ago, F For Fake said:

It's funny, I had no idea centering was even a THING until I started reading these boards, 15 years or whatever it was ago. Always thought of it as a baseball card term, had no idea people cared when it came to comics. And I still don't care. If the book is craaaaaaazy off kilter, I might notice, but otherwise, it doesn't really register with my brain. Page quality either. As long as they're not brown/brittle, I don't care. The difference in white and off-white isn't any difference at all, to me, especially if it's sealed in a slab. I'm never going to open it, so as long as it's not falling apart, I don't care.

Like Oak, the defect I hate is spine dings. If the spine is pretty nice, I don't really care about much else, other than the obvious (book is complete, doesn't have bugs crawling out of it, isn't currently on fire, etc.)

But if I have to pick between those too, I guess page quality, just because page quality seems to impact sales somewhat. Have we noticed a real bump for perfectly centered copies? Surely there are some of you who care enough to pay more for perfectly centered books, but is it as many as the folks who are sticklers for white pages?

it makes a big difference when you try to re-sale the books. Nicely centered ones go fast and at higher prices than off-centered ones

[Kripsys99]

Mark me down for "neither". I view page colouring as patina, and accept off centre covers as a fact of life. I know some collectors feel a need to look for ever subtler things to differentiate one book from another (apparently barcodes are suddenly desirable?), but for me, it comes down to two things: 1) what feeling does a given book raise in me when I look at its cover and/or read it's pages; 2) how much care did I or the previous owner treat the book with because of those feelings? If I find a book I love, in great shape despite having traversed decades, I don't care if the pages are cream and the cover askew, so long as the book itself has been cared for. That said, I understand why others feel differently. My 2¢ .

[comicginger1789]

I mean, if its a slight miswrap I don't care. If it is waaaayyyy off, I might even like it more for its uniqueness

Pag quality is moot for me so long as its not brittle. 

[apollobuzz]

I prefer the better centered book over the better page quality book.  I will not pay a premium for white pages, but will for a perfectly centered book with no mis-wrap.  At the same time, I do expect a discount (and sell/trade at a discount) for bronze or newer books with OW or worse page quality or silver books with C-OW or worse page quality.  I expect an even bigger discount for books that are off-center or mis-wrapped (depending upon how bad) because they are much harder to sell/trade.  I have no gold or older books.  Mileage may vary depending upon availability.

[The Lions Den]

On 4/18/2021 at 11:07 PM, Buzzetta said:

Off White to White Pages with Centered cover.

Use Hulk 181 and ASM 129 as examples.  The page color trade off is an easy one for me as that is irrefutable.  A cover is either centered and wrapped well or not and misswrapped.  However, we have seen on multiple occasions where a page quality bounces around from white to OW/W to OW depending on the day. 

Personally I think that assessing PQ for the graders must be one of the tougher aspects of grading a book once you get to that White vs OW/W area that is so inbetween.  But, what do I know.  Maybe @The Lions Den can weigh in on that. 

I can only speak for myself, but I'm pretty strict when it comes to page quality. I prefer White pages to be completely white---no trace of discoloration around the edges. 

As far as designating page quality, I prefer to use natural light instead of artificial light sources. The problem is that professional grading companies are confined to areas where artificial light is often the only light source. To me, accurately designating page quality comes from having a consistent means of doing so and having the same grader doing the evaluation. This would help explain why there can be such a variation in page quality when books are resubmitted (Cream to Off-White pages being elevated to Off-White to White, for example). 

So while it's not hard to designate proper page quality when you have the variables under control, it can be extremely difficult to select proper page quality when the variables are different. That's why many books are given off-white to white page quality---it covers a larger spectrum of variables. 

I hope this helps, and thanks for asking...  

[musicmeta]

#2 in this case but normally would like the White pages as well.  

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 4/20/2021 at 10:12 AM, comicginger1789 said:

I mean, if its a slight miswrap I don't care. If it is waaaayyyy off, I might even like it more for its uniqueness

Pag quality is moot for me so long as its not brittle. 

 

[comicginger1789]

7 hours ago, THE_BEYONDER said:

 

Yeah like I might keep a book like that for it’s oddness. Plus as a nothing book i can still read it and enjoy its unique printing flaw.