Book-length complete split = PR? 0

[Dr. Balls]

Bought a ragged out EC Vault of Horror on the Bay, advertised as a FR with added staples. Everything looked as it should with a FR book, but when I got it, upon inspection - the added staples were holding the book together because it had a book length split all the way through. (And not disclosed on the listing)

it’s my understanding that a full length, completely split spine would put that in the Poor category. Thoughts? Agree or Disagree?

Edited August 6, 2022 by Dr. Balls

[comicstock]

Overstreet Grading Guide 2nd Edition says completely split is Poor.  Up to 2/3 is Fair.

[Superman2006]

On 8/6/2022 at 2:43 PM, Dr. Balls said:

Bought a ragged out EC Vault of Horror on the Bay, advertised as a FR with added staples. Everything looked as it should with a FR book, but when I got it, upon inspection - the added staples were holding the book together because it had a book length split all the way through. (And not disclosed on the listing)

it’s my understanding that a full length, completely split spine would put that in the Poor category. Thoughts? Agree or Disagree?

If it was just the cover that was split, then it could in theory get higher than a poor (such as the 1.5 Tec #27 that sold on HA in the past with a complete spine split cover; I could be mistaken, but that might be the Tec #27 that was later taped up to get a 2.5, before CGC changed its stance on tape jobs)...

If the spine is split on the cover and all the pages, then yes, I think that would probably cap out at a 0.5 if graded by CGC imho...

[Dr. Balls]

Thanks guys, and yes - the book is split all the way through to the centerfold page. It’s a loose leaf book now 

[OtherEric]

I've got a few books like that.  In the case of my Venus #18, I'll take it anyway and be glad I have it.

On a couple of Target Comics with Wolverton Spacehawk, I actually got a binder with page holders and have each page in its own sleeve.  It's not worth any collector value... but they're readable, and they're not that easy to track down at all.

[Primetime]

On 8/6/2022 at 3:07 PM, Dr. Balls said:

Thanks guys, and yes - the book is split all the way through to the centerfold page. It’s a loose leaf book now 

Without seeing it….but, generally, if it was just the covers fully split and detached, that would still be a Fair. If the wraps are also fully split, then that’s in the Poor category for me. 

[fifties]

I have a number of books that were in three pieces; FC, BC, and interior pages stapled and intact.  I'll tape inside the covers together and consider the book to be in Fair condition, since I can remove the now one piece cover in order to read the contents.  If I were to sell it, I would indeed not only note that the cover had been split and taped, but in addition show a scan of it with the pages moved over a bit.

AFA the pages themselves being split, the only way I have noticed this occurrence is due to brittleness.  I almost never keep books in this condition.  I hate having a small pile of flakes develop after reading it on my bookstand.  Definitely a Poor.

[Robot Man]

I had an otherwise nice old Detective that some fool very neatly cut top to bottom along the spine with a razor blade. Very pretty copy otherwise with nice paper. Because of that, I bought it as a fair and was happy with it for the price.

I had it at a show and showed it to a guy.  I told him it was poor and told him why. Then he asked me “how poor is it?”. 

[Bat-Man]

On 8/7/2022 at 5:02 PM, Primetime said:

Without seeing it….but, generally, if it was just the covers fully split and detached, that would still be a Fair. If the wraps are also fully split, then that’s in the Poor category for me. 

Agreed

[Tbone911t]

 

 

[KirbyTown]

On 8/6/2022 at 2:43 PM, Dr. Balls said:

it’s my understanding that a full length, completely split spine would put that in the Poor category. Thoughts?

This PEP is a 1.5, but the label might be wrong; possibly a taped cover spine-split only and they left out the word "cover"?

For extra fun, here's a double-cover folder holding a stack of paper. Matt has mentioned how double-cover quality can modify the total grade, so maybe that's what earned it the 1.8:

[Dr. Balls]

Wow - two very different books with the same problem, but almost the same grade. And a decent grade of 1.5/1.8 at that (all things considered).

I’d have thought full book splits would almost definitely earn a 1.0 (unless you had a sweet presenting cover like that Joe Palooka)

Edited August 11, 2022 by Dr. Balls

[Dark Knight]

If you staple an acetate cover to it to hide/seal the splits, it'll grade out at least a 9.8!!!