Welcome CGC to the world of pulps" CGC will be grading them. 6 6

[asimovpulps]

On 8/9/2021 at 9:28 AM, jimjum12 said:

This is what the spine of a red colored Weird Tales should look like

...the day it came off the press! That's an unbelievable copy @jimjum12and probably the gold standard of what one could find these days. 

For the rest of us, if you can still read the words on the spine then that's a small victory.

Here are a few of mine with varying degrees of spine fading to give some additional context. Interestingly, when WT went to yellow letters on a red spine it made the problem worse because the red degrades to yellow and makes the words difficult to read (see January 1933 and July 1934 below). The older copies had blue/black letters, so spine fading doesn't look nearly as bad (see Feb/June 1926 below).

[jimjum12]

There are orange covers that have orange spines....the second installment of "The  Case of Charles Dexter Ward" is that way.... if I'm not mistaken. GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

 

Edited August 9, 2021 by jimjum12

[RedFury]

On 8/9/2021 at 1:18 PM, jimjum12 said:

There are orange covers that have orange spines....the second installment of "The  Case of Charles Dexter Ward" is that way.... if I'm not mistaken. GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

 

Only slightly orange.  Still mostly red.

 

[jimjum12]

On 8/9/2021 at 2:11 PM, RedFury said:

Only slightly orange.  Still mostly red.

 

Then my June 41 has a faded spine... It looked like it was meant to be that way, faded to a perfect match. Thanks Todd, I always get a straight answer from you. GOD BLESS ....

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[asimovpulps]

On 8/9/2021 at 8:02 AM, jimjum12 said:

You should email or call Metro, as this is a very valid concern. Sometimes the squeeky wheel gets the grease

I tend to let these things go pretty quickly, and my guess is not showing the spines may have actually made them more money (in the short term at least). The $18 shipping charge on the single $45 pulp I won....that one rankles me a bit more...especially since shipping rates weren't published and priority mail is pretty expensive and only costs ~$8.50 at retail rates.

Fun auction to watch, lots of cool books, some weird prices, and definitely some room to improve the experience. But life goes on. And the silver lining is it led to a fun discussion on pulp spines and some awesome pictures of @jimjum12and @RedFury's collection. 

 

[jimjum12]

On 8/9/2021 at 4:32 PM, asimovpulps said:

I tend to let these things go pretty quickly, and my guess is not showing the spines may have actually made them more money (in the short term at least). The $18 shipping charge on the single $45 pulp I won....that one rankles me a bit more...especially since shipping rates weren't published and priority mail is pretty expensive and only costs ~$8.50 at retail rates.

Fun auction to watch, lots of cool books, some weird prices, and definitely some room to improve the experience. But life goes on. And the silver lining is it led to a fun discussion on pulp spines and some awesome pictures of @jimjum12and @RedFury's collection. 

 

You make a valid point about the profit margin. Truth be told, it isn't the responsibility of an Auction House to convince bidders to refrain. We always have the option to view the lots in person, or to hire an agent to inspect them for us. GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[asimovpulps]

Back to the topic at hand, what is the Boardie wisdom on clipped ads in otherwise mid-high grade pulps? Will these be green label if they don't impact the story? Should I avoid like the plague or just treat it like it's a grade lower?

Looking at a few which have clipped ads so really appreciate the advice!

[RedFury]

On 8/9/2021 at 5:39 PM, asimovpulps said:

Back to the topic at hand, what is the Boardie wisdom on clipped ads in otherwise mid-high grade pulps? Will these be green label if they don't impact the story? Should I avoid like the plague or just treat it like it's a grade lower?

Looking at a few which have clipped ads so really appreciate the advice!

I don't like it, of course, but sometimes I'll accept it on an otherwise really nice book.  But CGC might hit that hard, I don't know.  Personally, I'd grade it the way the book looks and note the defect, and if high-grade knock the grade.  So an otherwise VF book I might say Fine with coupon out.  But once you get below Fine I wouldn't knock the grade.  

The one particular book that comes to mind is the 1st Buck Rogers, Amazing Stories, Aug 1928.  That book has a full page ad with "FREE" in giant letters across the top.  A LOT of people cut out that coupon.  I've handled dozens of copies, and I'd estimate somewhere between 30 and 50% were missing that coupon.

[sagii]

I eagerly await the day of the image of the first batch of slabbed Pulps. 

Who want's to bet it'll probably be Weird Tales pulps? 

[OtherEric]

On 8/9/2021 at 4:40 PM, sagii said:

I eagerly await the day of the image of the first batch of slabbed Pulps. 

Who want's to bet it'll probably be Weird Tales pulps? 

At least 50/50 they’re in the batch, less certain they’ll be the whole batch.  

[OtherEric]

On 8/9/2021 at 3:31 PM, RedFury said:

I don't like it, of course, but sometimes I'll accept it on an otherwise really nice book.  But CGC might hit that hard, I don't know.  Personally, I'd grade it the way the book looks and note the defect, and if high-grade knock the grade.  So an otherwise VF book I might say Fine with coupon out.  But once you get below Fine I wouldn't knock the grade.  

The one particular book that comes to mind is the 1st Buck Rogers, Amazing Stories, Aug 1928.  That book has a full page ad with "FREE" in giant letters across the top.  A LOT of people cut out that coupon.  I've handled dozens of copies, and I'd estimate somewhere between 30 and 50% were missing that coupon.

I just checked my copy, the coupon is intact, for what that's worth.  Unfortunately, the spine isn't.    Still just in awe at the fact I have a copy at all.

[Sarg]

On 8/8/2021 at 7:10 PM, RedFury said:

The spine should be deep red.  The yellow one is extremely faded, most likely from sitting on a bookshelf in sunlight.  I don't know how CGC will account for it in grading.  Me, I still give the book the same grade but note the spine fading.  But as a collector I avoid spine fading.  I like the reds.

 

On 8/9/2021 at 9:58 AM, jimjum12 said:

Ultimately, I think it will affect the grade.... I try to use logic when deciphering grading parameters... If it wasn't faded when the bundle was tossed off the back of the truck, it should be precluded from anything that starts with a "9" ... but that's just my vote. GOD BLESS....

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

I think faded spines should definitely affect grades. Of course, I also think writing on covers should affect grades, but CGC doesn't agree with me.

[Sarg]

On 7/22/2021 at 9:18 AM, Bookery said:

Here are two consecutive issues of Startling.  BOTH have been trimmed.  The one on the left has the typical trimmed overhang, rather crudely done with scissors (note right edge).  The other copy has been trimmed using an Industrial Meat-Cleaver (see early Warner Bros. cartoons for model specifics).  

 

The one on the right looks more like the kind of .25" trim on three sides you find typically on bound volumes. Perhaps this issue was in a hardcover volume at one point. 

A distinction needs to be made between the trimming in which just the overhang is trimmed, and the kind of "trimming" where .25" or .375" of the entire book is cut off. The latter should not be called "trimming" at all. 

[Scrooge]

On 8/9/2021 at 7:40 PM, sagii said:

Who want's to bet it'll probably be Weird Tales pulps? 

I bet they'll be weird horror books.

[Scrooge]

On 8/9/2021 at 2:56 PM, jimjum12 said:

Then my June 41 has a faded spine

The advantage of collecting Adventure is that you know right away how good your spine looks like. I grabbed a few lying around on my desk .

The 1st September and the 2nd November easily jump out as worse.

[Scrooge]

On 8/9/2021 at 10:51 AM, asimovpulps said:

I know spines aren't easy to scan

I don't believe they are any harder to scan than the covers but they do require more work on the back-end to prep the scan. I know you guys are talking about higher grade books and shades of red but on the lower end, the state of the spine is sooo important for readibility of the pulp (it's no different from a comic). However, with a comic, when you hear the book has a 1/2 inch spine split, you get a general idea without the need for a photo. Hearing a pulp has 75% of spine left means nothing unless you see where it came off. I don't mind missing pieces at the extremities but I generally dislike when the title on the spine can no longer be read or the date is no longer in evidence.

[aardvark88]

On 8/9/2021 at 9:38 PM, OtherEric said:

I just checked my copy, the coupon is intact.   Still just in awe at the fact I have a copy at all.

About which page of the Amaz Stories Aug, 1928 has the big 'Free' ad, as I am hoping 1 of my 2 copies actually has it intact?

[Bookery]

On 9/5/2021 at 10:15 PM, aardvark88 said:

About which page of the Amaz Stories Aug, 1928 has the big 'Free' ad, as I am hoping 1 of my 2 copies actually has it intact?

p. 465

[aardvark88]

On 9/6/2021 at 7:57 AM, Bookery said:

p. 465

Got lucky and both free 'Vanguard of Venus' pg. 465's  intact.

[Bugfarm]

Any update on when pulp grading will be available?