scburdet Posted June 15, 2022 Share Posted June 15, 2022 (edited) Square bound Marvel books are the bane of my existence as a collector. There must have been a law passed at some point that you have to beat the hell out of them so finding good copies is nearly impossible. Anyhow, I have 2 copies of MS2 and can't decide which of the significant defects is worse. The first (first 2 images) is a solid copy with the exception that it appears to have been stored next to another comic at some point and had some ink transfer to the cover. The second cover is a little more worn (standard dings and whatnot), but the reverse has a tear that goes through several pages. I have no evidence, but I suspect this is from production as it's hard to see how this happened with regular handling. I think book 2 (tear) is worse, but I've been seeing/hearing about stains and other things like the ink transfer being a major area for deductions lately. I've got several other sq. bound books I just don't know how to grade that I'll share from time to time. Edited October 18, 2023 by scburdet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvelmaniac Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 I do not have my books graded so I cannot even begin to tell you what CGC would think of these books. (From everything I have been reading their grading is not consistent, they are human after all.) The first copy has moderate color rub, blunted corners with slight color breaks, a few spine ticks with slight color breaks, without a good view of the spine, staples, the inside covers/centerfold and rear cover, my approx. grade is... 7.0 FINE/VERY FINE (FN/VF): Back to TopAn above-average copy that shows minor wear but is still relatively flat and clean with outstanding eye appeal. A small accumulation of minor bindery/printing defects is allowed. Minor cover wear beginning to show, possibly including minor creases. Corners may be blunted. Inks are generally bright with a moderate reduction in reflectivity. Stamped or inked arrival dates may be present. Minor foxing. The slightest spine roll may be present, as well as a possible moderate color break. Staples may show some discoloration. Slight staple tears and a small accumulation of light stress lines may be present. Slight rust migration. Paper is cream to tan. Centerfold is mostly secure. Minor interior tears at the margin may be present. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvelmaniac Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 The second copy has what appears to be a spine split at the top, corner wear w/color breaking creases, edge wear w/color breaking creases, minor color rub, top edge is mistrimmed, minor spine stress, rear cover has moderate to severe staining and the tears you mentioned (which are not really visible to me, closer/clearer pics of the spine, rear cover, inside covers, interior pages, staples, centerfold would have been nice, however, from what I can see. IMO, the rear cover is going to prevent this book from being a higher grade. 5.0 VERY GOOD/FINE (VG/FN): Back to Top An above-average but well used comic book. An accumulation of bindery/printing defects is allowed. Minor to moderate cover wear apparent, with minor to moderate creases and/or dimples. Inks have moderate to low reflectivity. Blunted corners are increasingly common, as is minor to moderate staining, discoloration, and/or foxing. Stamped or inked arrival dates may be present. A minor to moderate spine roll is allowed. A spine split of up to 1/2" may be present. Staples may show minor discoloration. Minor staple tears and minor stress lines may also be present, as well as minor rust migration. Paper is tan to brown with no signs of brittleness. Centerfold may be loose. Minor interior tears may also be present. 4.5 VERY GOOD+ (VG): Back to Top Fits the criteria for Very Good 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...
scburdet Posted June 16, 2022 Author Share Posted June 16, 2022 Yeah, I didn't put a ton of detail photos b/c I feel pretty good about where they stand absent the big issues. Minus the color issue book 1 looks to be around 8.0, and the second one more like a 6.0-6.5 until you turn it over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galen130 Posted June 20, 2022 Share Posted June 20, 2022 One book per post, please. Personally, I'd like to see the usual number of pics for each copy for a solid estimate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scburdet Posted October 18, 2023 Author Share Posted October 18, 2023 Since this was one of my earliest PGMs, I'll provide some new before photos with the grade reveal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scburdet Posted October 18, 2023 Author Share Posted October 18, 2023 Very happy with this. Roy's signature did help to hide some of the ink transfer. grendelbo and Snowdon 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowdon Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 Gorgeous! scburdet 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morbius21 Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 Very cool. Congrats. scburdet 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
