scburdet Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 (edited) So there are 5 copies of part II of the Tomb of Dracula 10 reprint on the census, presumably b/c it is the one with the original cover art. Having looked at a limited number of these magazine-sized UK reprints, I can't understate how cheaply these were made. I sincerely hope it was meant as a big FU to our former oppressors 🇺🇸 My (assumed) production related notes on this copy: The top edge has some unevenness in the blue color along the top edge. There aren't a ton of copes out there to compare with, but this seems like a pretty consistent feature of the book. I think it was intended to be a solid blue, but my best guess is that the red ink from the title box was applied in a way that it mixed with the other inks. The TRFC is like a little brown box (this was the only reason I hesitated buying this), but in-hand I'm pretty sure it's an extension of the same ink issue. There's clearly gloss all along the top and no evidence of staining on the reverse of the page. The bottom staple is not attached to the centerfold, however, I'm not sure it ever was attached b/c I don't see staple holes. I don't want to mess with it too much b/c the paper is so thin and the spine fold isn't helping that Edited January 27 by scburdet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goblinjareth Posted May 17, 2023 Share Posted May 17, 2023 Really odd when it comes to the staple... I know if things have become totally detached at one staple, it tends to fall to a 4.0, but I've never seen something graded that was missing a staple from a production error. Depending on that, the rest would have me guessing around 6.5 scburdet 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still Only 35c Posted May 17, 2023 Share Posted May 17, 2023 Staples missing in production is a known issue and CGC don't penalise the grade, so if high enough grade can still hit 9.6 or 9.8. my understanding is they add a note on label something like "Manufactured with staple missing" Regardless I'm at 9.2+. Again you may want clean and press prior. goblinjareth 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scburdet Posted May 17, 2023 Author Share Posted May 17, 2023 On 5/16/2023 at 10:01 PM, Every Day A Story said: "Manufactured with staple missing" Yip. I've got a 9.6 "manufactured without staples" green label. This one is a little weird b/c there is a staple, it just didn't get into a lot of the wraps. I've got to see down with it and carefully examine. I also wish standard magazine boards were tall enough to back the entire book for these kind of UK books. I've got 5 books now that the top hangs over the board by ½" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scburdet Posted October 19, 2023 Author Share Posted October 19, 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scburdet Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 Also happy with this one. The 2nd appearance of Blade in the UK reprint . There is one 9.0 in the census and only 8 other copies (should be 9 when the census updates). I think this speaks to ow few of these are out there, and how most of those copies are not in great shape. TBH all these UK books are a total PITA to handle. They're flimsy & large. Not a great combo. The notes did mention the detached wraps at the bottom staple & the tearing of those wraps. Hard to know exactly how that factored into the grade, but they're the only notes. Again, I believe this is production related b/c the materials are so cheap, but IDK for sure. I'm just glad it didn't get totally hammered for that b/c it looks great in the slab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...