Axe Elf Posted March 11, 2022 Share Posted March 11, 2022 (edited) Found this lil beeotch on eBay, described as part of "a recent warehouse find of uncirculated copies of warren magazines." It was listed as "VF+," but I think it might be a Niner--it is definitely the best raw comic I have bought online since I started collecting EERIEs a little over a month ago. The copy I had originally was bought as part of a lot, and it was more like a 2.0, so I was really happy to find this upgrade for $16. Parenthetically, I see the same seller now has another copy listed as "VF/NM" for $30, but I don't think it looks as good as my copy. The description is now "from a recent Warehouse find in Baltimore Maryland of around 600 Magazines that were still in the original shipping warehouse." It's just about perfectly flat and smooth, just a little yellowing ("sun shadow"?) along the page edge on an otherwise shockingly white back cover, and a little blunting to the corners (lower right back cover is the worst). No spine stress ticks, no abrasions, no scratches, no corner folds, no creases... What say you? Edited March 11, 2022 by Axe Elf Galen130 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvelmaniac Posted March 11, 2022 Share Posted March 11, 2022 Slight Edge Wear, Slight Corner Wear At Top Corners, A Few Minor Spine Ticks, Slight Color Rub On The Rear Cover. Slight Dust Shadow On Outer Edge Of Rear Cover. IMO, the seller had it right... 9.0 VERY FINE/NEAR MINT (VF/NM): Back to Top Nearly perfect with outstanding eye appeal. A limited number of bindery/printing defects are allowed. Cover is almost flat with almost imperceptible wear. Inks are bright with slightly diminished reflectivity. An 1/8" bend is allowed if color is not broken. Corners are cut square and sharp with ever-so-slight blunting permitted but no creases. Several lightly penciled, stamped or inked arrival dates are acceptable. Very minor foxing. Spine is tight and flat. Staples may show some discoloration. Only the slightest staple tears are allowed. A very minor accumulation of stress lines may be present if they are nearly imperceptible. Paper is off-white to cream and supple. Very minor interior tears may be present. 8.5 VERY FINE+ (VF+): Back to Top Fits the criteria for Very Fine but with an additional virtue or small accumulation of virtues that improves the book's appearance by a perceptible amount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe Elf Posted March 11, 2022 Author Share Posted March 11, 2022 On 3/11/2022 at 9:51 AM, marvelmaniac said: IMO, the seller had it right... They certainly didn't overrepresent, but I wonder if they didn't underrepresent a bit--especially now that he's advertising another copy (which looks worse) as a "VF/NM" (which would equate to a 9.0). I guess since you included two grades you're kind of stuck between them too... Thanks for weighing in, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvelmaniac Posted March 12, 2022 Share Posted March 12, 2022 (edited) If you were looking for an "exact grade" for of a book by internet photo's only...grading is subjective, when in doubt I always assign the lower grade. Sending to CGC is also a "c**p shoot", you have no idea what grade this book will come back with, even if everybody said it looked like a VF/NM 9.0, there is no guarantee of a grade, if you were to send this book in for grading more than once you may end up with two different grades, CGC is not that consistent, after all, their graders are also "human". See if you can distinguish the difference between VF+ 8.5 and VF/NM 9.0 with your book. https://comics.ha.com/tutorial/comics-grading.s?show=comicdefinitions This would definitely help... https://gemstonepub.com/the-overstreet-guide-to-grading-comics-6th-edition/ Edited March 12, 2022 by marvelmaniac Point Five 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe Elf Posted March 12, 2022 Author Share Posted March 12, 2022 On 3/12/2022 at 10:50 AM, marvelmaniac said: If you were looking for an "exact grade" for of a book by internet photo's only...grading is subjective, when in doubt I always assign the lower grade. Sending to CGC is also a "c**p shoot", you have no idea what grade this book will come back with, even if everybody said it looked like a VF/NM 9.0, there is no guarantee of a grade, if you were to send this book in for grading more than once you may end up with two different grades, CGC is not that consistent, after all, their graders are also "human". See if you can distinguish the difference between VF+ 8.5 and VF/NM 9.0 with your book. https://comics.ha.com/tutorial/comics-grading.s?show=comicdefinitions This would definitely help... https://gemstonepub.com/the-overstreet-guide-to-grading-comics-6th-edition/ I'm sorry if you thought I was being hostile or critical of your assessment. I wasn't trying to be. I understand that grading is subjective, and yes, I think it's difficult to distinguish between an 8.5 and a 9.0 with this book--that's why I posted it. While I know I won't get any guarantee of a CGC assessment on the forums, I was hoping maybe someone with more experience could see things that I don't which would sway the grade up or down. I don't plan on submitting my books for officlal grading or preservation anyway; I'm just wanting to assign grades to them for my own personal satisfaction. In essence, I was agreeing with you, that I was also stuck between the two grades--but don't for a minute think that I don't appreciate your input (or anyone else's). Point Five and marvelmaniac 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funnybooks Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 9.2 Point Five 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grendelbo Posted March 15, 2022 Share Posted March 15, 2022 8.5/9.0 Appears to have some color rub on the back cover. Thanks for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Point Five Posted March 15, 2022 Share Posted March 15, 2022 I'll go 9.2. Very nice one! In general, not aimed at this one in particular, I do find it *really* hard to grade these magazines from scans... like, more difficult than the average comic. The magazine cover artwork tends to be painterly but the reproduction kind of muddy, and it can be very hard to parse discreet bends or rubbing wear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe Elf Posted March 15, 2022 Author Share Posted March 15, 2022 On 3/14/2022 at 9:17 PM, Point Five said: I do find it *really* hard to grade these magazines from scans... like, more difficult than the average comic. The magazine cover artwork tends to be painterly but the reproduction kind of muddy, and it can be very hard to parse discreet bends or rubbing wear. Fair point. I read the standards for posting when I first got here and it struck me that the standard for resolution is only 100 dpi--so that's what I scanned. And maybe that's partly because "normal" comics are a little smaller; maybe the 100 dpi is a good resolution for them. But not only does it not seem to be a very good resolution for discerning small flaws in these larger magazines, at least, but my scanner itself is barely wide enough to fit the whole book in at once, so it's kind of hard to pick up the edges clearly from top to bottom too. Thanks for the input and the grade! Point Five 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galen130 Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 On 3/14/2022 at 6:56 PM, grendelbo said: 8.5/9.0 Appears to have some color rub on the back cover. Thanks for posting. Bingo!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...