PGM Amazing Spider-Man #150 - grade revealed 2 2

[Tom789]

This is a CGC-graded book.  I am a bit puzzled with the grade.  What do you think?  I will reveal the grade after some answers.  The back top left corner looks like it has a piece missing but that is a 1/8" crease not mentioned in the grader's notes and is white, so much better than the photo depicts.  What looks like color rub on the front cover to the right of the balloon "or am I going mad?" is a reflection off the case.

P.S. The resolution always looks better on my computer than on the forum.  I don't know of a way to improve it here.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 10, 2023 by Tom789
Changed title

[grendelbo]

On 4/8/2023 at 11:22 PM, Tom789 said:

P.S. The resolution always looks better on my computer than on the forum.  I don't know of a way to improve it here.

And it's in a slab. Hard to tell. I'd guess in the VF range. 7.0/7.5

Thanks for posting.

[SolidShredder]

It's very hard to grade slabbed books but I'll try... I see spine ticks, blunted corners, a corner crease?, and overspray (shouldn't affect grade). That could be color rub, can't say for sure. I'm guessing this book got a much lower grade than you thought? The reason I guess that is because I can see a curvature to the middle of the book, it goes from the top to the bottom. That's a telltale sign of a sub crease or something similar. It's probably invisible in the slab but under close inspection breaks the fibers all the way down the book. That would be enough to drop a book like this from an apparent high grade to a 5 or 6 depending on if the crease breaks the fibers on both sides of the cover. If it's only on the back it would be incredibly hard to see on all that white, especially behind the slab. Looks like that's the direction of the "fold" too. That's my guess anyway. 

EDIT : Now that I look at it some more, it's awefully wavy in general. Could also have moisture or water damage that has been cleaned up. 

Edited April 9, 2023 by SolidShredder

[Tom789]

On 4/8/2023 at 10:37 PM, SolidShredder said:

It's very hard to grade slabbed books but I'll try... I see spine ticks, blunted corners, a corner crease?, and overspray (shouldn't affect grade). That could be color rub, can't say for sure. I'm guessing this book got a much lower grade than you thought? The reason I guess that is because I can see a curvature to the middle of the book, it goes from the top to the bottom. That's a telltale sign of a sub crease or something similar. It's probably invisible in the slab but under close inspection breaks the fibers all the way down the book. That would be enough to drop a book like this from an apparent high grade to a 5 or 6 depending on if the crease breaks the fibers on both sides of the cover. If it's only on the back it would be incredibly hard to see on all that white, especially behind the slab. Looks like that's the direction of the "fold" too. That's my guess anyway. 

EDIT : Now that I look at it some more, it's awefully wavy in general. Could also have moisture or water damage that has been cleaned up. 

The curvature is from the camera and I think most of what you're describing isn't actually there, due to the low resolution and also some reflection off the slab.  There's no waviness, sub crease or water damage. I'll post some more images later today at a 2x setting on my smartphone.

[timfinz]

8.5

Some spine tics, blunted corner, and there is something on the RH side along the blue in Spidey's arm. But honestly it's very difficult to grade from the pictures provided due to distortion and glare.

Edited April 9, 2023 by timfinz

[Tom789]

On 4/9/2023 at 7:26 AM, timfinz said:

8.5

Some spine tics, blunted corner, and there is something on the RH side along the blue in Spidey's arm. But honestly it's very difficult to grade from the pictures provided due to distortion and glare.

That something is a reader's crease.  Will show up better in later pictures.

[Tom789]

Here are some more pictures:

 

[conan09279]

8.5 maybe

[Mars76]

On 4/8/2023 at 10:22 PM, Tom789 said:

The resolution always looks better on my computer than on the forum.  I don't know of a way to improve it here.

I have the same problem too when taking pics on my phone. 

Book looks pretty wavy. The spine looks nice. 8.5, maybe 9.0.

[cchunn3]

thumb crease w/CB mid right cover edge ** slightly blunted TRFC ** rounded LRFC ** light crease w/CB LRFC? ** slightly mis-wrapped cover or spine roll - pages showing bottom right area ** hard  to see spine defects

8.0?

[Tom789]

CGC 6.0.  Grader's notes: light spine stress lines to cover, moderate creasing to cover.

I measure the total length of the creases as a little over 2" (reader's crease front right edge, front bottom right cover faint crease, back top left corner).  I scoured the book for additional creases but didn't find any.  The CGC grade book says a 7.5 can have a crease (total creases length?) of up to 2 inches.  A 6.0 can have up to 7".  So I think the grade should have been 7.0 to 7.5.  I overlooked or forgot about the reader's crease somehow during my submission, so I don't think I would have submitted it if I saw it, and I can't complain too much, but I do feel this is a very harsh grade.

 

 

[cchunn3]

I knoze how you feel. I just went through Grade Shock with a Spidey myself.

[SolidShredder]

I called it! 5.0 or 6.0 .  . I know you said you scoured the book for creases but I wouldn't be surprised if there is creasing on the back that was incredibly hard to see before you sent it in and impossible to see now that it's behind the slab. Also, against all that white it's easy to make creases seemingly disappear with a press but when looked at super closely still has broken fibers. But, CGC graders ARE human and they DO make mistakes. It's totally possible that you just got unlucky. You could always try to resub it but with the value of the book and the creasing that is certainly there, it's probably not worth it.