Spine Issue on Square-bound Comic 2 2

[JRich282]

Hello,

I was hoping to get some opinions on my copy of Marvel Superheroes 17. It is a beautiful copy with virtually no defects on the covers, but the spine has some squishing on it. I was wondering how you might think this may affect the grade. Thanks

Edited April 4, 2023 by JRich282

[scburdet]

Always a good idea to put the specific comic info in the topic title. It gets more eyeballs of people interested in specific types of books.

I agree this is a nice looking copy. Mine suffers from a corner crease, which is outside square-bound specific defects. I believe most (all?) of these covers are attached by adhesive & crimped, so there's a decent chance this is production related. How do you tell the difference between an over-crimped spine from production and a smash that happened after? IDK. I'd say this is as attractive as any square bound book I've had graded. Mine max out at 9.2, so I'll say ≥9.2 b/c it's hard to assigned higher grades from photos. I do have another square bound book that has a small tear around the spine in the same area, affecting both covers, but it's very short. I believe that was primarily why it went all the way down to 7.5, so you never know.

[timfinz]

I am of the opinion that the crease on the bottom LH corner of that book is a production flaw and as such would likely or should have little or no bearing on your final grade. I would catagorize this as being similar to the staples on the square bound books that imprint on the front or back covers. This is only my opinion and I think this issue merits further discussion. 

If you search square bound CGC 9.8 on Heritage there are some expamples of books with the staple imprints that are 9.8 and if you look closely there are some "crimped" spines (although not as "severe" as yours) that are also graded CGC 9.8.

Great question!

I'll go out on a limb and say 9.6 with an outside chance of 9.8 provided there are no hidden defects not disclosed

Edited April 4, 2023 by timfinz

[The Lions Den]

I always ask myself what the book looked like when it was first printed and what flaws it may have had at that point. This book appears very fresh, bright and clean with minor manufacturing issues. Sqarebound books are notorious for spine problems, and I personally wouldn't be too concerned about this one.

For me, it would keep it from a 9.8 or higher, but that's just my opinion.  

[grendelbo]

On 4/4/2023 at 8:02 AM, The Lions Den said:

I always ask myself what the book looked like when it was first printed and what flaws it may have had at that point. This book appears very fresh, bright and clean with minor manufacturing issues. Sqarebound books are notorious for spine problems, and I personally wouldn't be too concerned about this one.

For me, it would keep it from a 9.8 or higher, but that's just my opinion.  

It won't affect the grade much even in the NM+ range.