Does this seem a wee bit deceptive? 3 3

[KirbyJack]

I once bought an incomplete copy of X-Men 101 from a trusted dealer who emphasized how rough the book was (it looked fine on the outside). It was so cheap that I didn’t really care which page was missing, or so I thought.

What was missing was of course the Phoenix splash. It turned out I did care.

[LowGradeBronze]

It's a bit like Schrodinger's cat: Until he opened the box he didn't know if the cat was still alive. In your case, until the slab was cracked Wolverine could still have been in there. I agree the notes here are awful and should have made specific reference to 'cutout damage to final story panel' or similar comment rather than leave you guessing. 

[shadroch]

You took a shot and it didn't pay off.  Send it back in and in a year you should have a green label 7.0 to sell to a label chaser.

[thunsicker]

It reminds me of so many GA coverless comics that CGC has the "Classic Cover" notation on.

[The Lions Den]

On 5/11/2022 at 1:32 PM, Mystafo said:

Oh ok, I didn't realize the only count 16 pages (one page has a front and back) even though the page number is 32.  I guess I never had a green label other that one that said "Marvel value stamp missing" or "Manufacturing error."

No worries, my friend...  

 

[The Lions Den]

On 5/11/2022 at 10:55 AM, Bookery said:

The issue is... paid notes be danged... shouldn't something this catastrophically significant be spelled out right on the label? 

CGC graders don't usually go into that kind of detail, but saying something like "Wolverine cameo missing from last page" would have been helpful...

[MR SigS]

On 5/11/2022 at 8:44 AM, Inhuman Fiend said:

What kind of a twisted deviant would do that to a comic?!   

My dad said he did it to a Superman #1 when he was a kid. Unfortunately, I wasn't around to stop him.

[Blastaar]

First silhouette of Wolverine? 

[rjpb]

Sadly, CGC is not known for the specificity of their notes, but there really isn't an excuse for this. I cracked a CGC 1.0 book to see what the "piece missing from last page, affects story" was. turns out something had spilled on the last leaf, making the center entirely brittle (PQ was listed OW), and about 50% of the artwork was gone. The second to last page was also brittle, and had a few tiny pieces that had broken off in the art area (not noted). More of an 0.5 than 1.0 given other issues, but fortunately most of the value was in the cover and unaffected story

CGC uses leaf count for page count, which I guess simplifies missing/damaged page notes. Whenever I see slabbed books with such notations I always check GCD to see what story pages are effected. 

[lordbyroncomics]

I don't think it's deceptive, I think it's obtuse and inept. If they were deceptive, that'd at least give them credit for recognition- the entire point of 181's value is that last panel. I think whoever graded that was just very literal without recognizing the sheer effect in value that specific cut would have. 

I think they owe it to you to now make a special label which says "1st app of Wolverine's seldom used Invisibility Power".

[Qalyar]

On 5/11/2022 at 3:29 PM, wisbyron said:

I don't think it's deceptive, I think it's obtuse and inept. If they were deceptive, that'd at least give them credit for recognition- the entire point of 181's value is that last panel. I think whoever graded that was just very literal without recognizing the sheer effect in value that specific cut would have.

Technical grades are not intended to be measures of marketability, at least not directly, just as they do not necessarily correlate with a book's visual appeal. It would not have been appropriate for a label to read "ONLY REASON ANYONE CARES ABOUT THIS BOOK CUT FROM P16".

The only problem here is that, depending on your point of view, either CGC mislabeled the page reference or the CGC system of referring to page numbers is confusing (and, if that one, contrary to everyone else's practice).

[Lightning55]

On 5/11/2022 at 2:12 PM, shadroch said:

You took a shot and it didn't pay off.  Send it back in and in a year you should have a green label 7.0 to sell to a label chaser.

If you send the book and label back in just for a reholder, you might not have to wait too long.

[zzutak]

On 5/11/2022 at 9:48 AM, The Lions Den said:

As far as I know, CGC graders have always counted pages the same way.

I've railed against CGC's misuse of the term for years, often via posts on these very Boards.  And yes, my use of the term "misuse" is accurate and intentional, as every comic book publisher has always used the term "page" to refer to one side of one leaf.    However, Lions is correct: CGC has been consistent in its use of the term since the company was founded.

Collectors take note: If you ever run across a CGC-certified book with a Green Label that says "Large piece out -- INCOMPLETE", interpret that as a Blue Label 0.5 PR.  It's better to be safe than sorry. 

[WolverineX]

Yes, I would be pissed.  Should be in the trash where it belongs.

[FlyingDonut]

Going to Sarasota RIGHT NOW

[The Lions Den]

On 5/11/2022 at 4:49 PM, zzutak said:

I've railed against CGC's misuse of the term for years, often via posts on these very Boards.  And yes, my use of the term "misuse" is accurate and intentional, as every comic book publisher has always used the term "page" to refer to one side of one leaf.    However, Lions is correct: CGC has been consistent in its use of the term since the company was founded.

Interestingly enough, CGC graders sometimes put page counts in the notes differently. For instance, a normal Silver or Bronze Age book would usually be 8 - 8 (designating 8 pages before and 8 pages after the centerfold) but there'd occasionally be graders that would enter it as 8w (meaning 8 wraps).  

But no matter how it was entered in the notes, the pages would always be counted the same way when it came to clipped coupons, missing pages or other interior issues...

[Bookery]

On 5/11/2022 at 2:12 PM, shadroch said:

You took a shot and it didn't pay off.  Send it back in and in a year you should have a green label 7.0 to sell to a label chaser.

I would never send a book like this in to be graded.  I'm glad I broke it out... I would have been horrified to sell it to one of my customers only for them to find out years down the road this was what it was.  I'd rather lose a few hundred now than alienate a customer later.  Also, since I didn't realize what was meant by p.16 (even after all of these years, I have only owned a handful of qualified grades... and they stated exactly what was wrong, such as missing MVS).   I might have accidentally misrepresented what the potential problem might be.  As i said... I doubt if there is another copy on the planet with this particular flaw... so it should have been spelled out since it would be impossible to guess this was what was meant.

[Bookery]

On 5/11/2022 at 4:51 PM, Wolverinex said:

Yes, I would be pissed.  Should be in the trash where it belongs.

I guess it might be of some use to someone with a coverless copy.  They could dis-assemble the book and replace the wrap (the copy otherwise is pretty decent) and have a married copy that would still be significantly more valuable than it is now.  Or one could keep it as a conversation piece... sort of like the Stan Lee spider-blob signature.

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 5/11/2022 at 5:20 PM, Bookery said:

I guess it might be of some use to someone with a coverless copy.  They could dis-assemble the book and replace the wrap (the copy otherwise is pretty decent) and have a married copy that would still be significantly more valuable than it is now.  Or one could keep it as a conversation piece... sort of like the Stan Lee spider-blob signature.

How much? 

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]