PGM F.F #84 1 1

[Bmattioli86]

Hello,

new to collecting and recently won this book in an auction. 
the noticeable defects I have found is the spine roll, as well as spine ticks and a stain on the back left bottom corner. 
 

thank you in advance! 

[scburdet]

4.5/5.0 Welcome to collecting! I am old to collecting, but newer to using 3rd party graders. If your intention is to buy books for CGC grading, I would avoid stained books like the plague. They treat stains rather harshly and if/when you resell, there would be a grade on the corner that might negatively impact how much of your investment (in the book and grading fees) that you could recoup. On the other hand, if you're just collecting raw books and only care if the front cover presents nicely, buying slightly stained books would be a great way to acquire some comics that might otherwise be unaffordable. 

Edited May 20, 2023 by scburdet

[Bmattioli86]

On 5/20/2023 at 12:18 AM, scburdet said:

4.5/5.0 Welcome to collecting! I am old to collecting, but newer to using 3rd party graders. If your intention is to buy books for CGC grading, I would avoid stained books like the plague. They treat stains rather harshly and if/when you resell, their would be a grade on the corner that might negatively impact what how much of your investment (in the book and grading fees) that you could recoup. On the other hand, if you're just collecting raw books and only care if the front cover presents nicely, buying slightly stained books would be a great way to acquire some comics that might otherwise be unaffordable. 

Thanks a lot for your input! I have plenty more books to post, was just using this one to test the waters. I have yet to get into CGC grading and don’t own any graded books. So this one was purely purchased to keep raw as I like to write a rough estimate of the grade on the back of the comic board for future reference. Cheers! 

[LowGradeBronze]

I'm totally shameless. I buy stained and otherwise low grade to read and handle and smell. Nothing reminds me of 1970 better than sniffing a comic from 1970. It's a psychic time machine. This one is a favourite of mine for the intricate cover. I'd say it looks 5.0 because the stain and slight damage, which prevent me from going higher. Lovely book in hand I'm sure. 

Smack dab in the Kirby/Sinnott sweet spot!  Wonderful cover design. Look how 3D it seems just through placing the castle in front of the 'c' in Fantastic. 

Edited May 20, 2023 by LowGradeBronze

[Bmattioli86]

On 5/20/2023 at 12:15 PM, LowGradeBronze said:

I'm totally shameless. I buy stained and otherwise low grade to read and handle and smell. Nothing reminds me of 1970 better than sniffing a comic from 1970. It's a psychic time machine. This one is a favourite of mine for the intricate cover. I'd say it looks 5.0 because the stain and slight damage, which prevent me from going higher. Lovely book in hand I'm sure. 

Smack dab in the Kirby/Sinnott sweet spot!  Wonderful cover design. Look how 3D it seems just through placing the castle in front of the 'c' in Fantastic. 

I always almost immediately do the same thing with my books.. nostalgia at its finest. I’ve been after a lot of low grade silver keys or books with iconic art. I don’t intend on grading any of them, as I find they just look just as great sitting in a Mylar. But I do like to write the estimated grade of the book either by the seller or from other sources (such as this forum) for future reference. Appreciate your input! 

[Mars76]

5.0

[1950's war comics]

5.5 due to solid interior

[NY Roadkill]

Also relatively new to grading, and judging stuff from EBay auction photos. Can't believe some folks list something and give 1 or 2 pictures of just the cover and set a minimum bid of fair market value and expect it to sell. I think this one is @4.5, a stretch for 5.0 with the stain, noting also what almost looks like a puncture through the back cover to the right of the stain.

P.S. I don't sniff my comics - nothing wrong with that - just noting

[LowGradeBronze]

On 5/21/2023 at 3:13 PM, Ray Monroe said:

P.S. I don't sniff my comics - nothing wrong with that - just noting

I know that in many cases the page colour is the main giveaway, but sniffing can help determine whether they've been stored well. A quick sniff will tell you a lot, especially if the smell is acrid. 

 

On 5/20/2023 at 10:20 PM, Bmattioli86 said:

I find they just look just as great sitting in a Mylar. But I do like to write the estimated grade of the book either by the seller or from other sources (such as this forum) for future reference. Appreciate your input! 

Mylars work wonders for presentation, don't they! Like you, I note the grade it was sold as and my own estimate. In fact I write a whole mini data sheet for mine which I keep in the bag. Artist, inker, month & year, any interesting contributors to the letters page, and print run stats in the issues that have them. 

 

 

[Bmattioli86]

On 5/21/2023 at 2:37 PM, LowGradeBronze said:

I know that in many cases the page colour is the main giveaway, but sniffing can help determine whether they've been stored well. A quick sniff will tell you a lot, especially if the smell is acrid. 

 

Mylars work wonders for presentation, don't they! Like you, I note the grade it was sold as and my own estimate. In fact I write a whole mini data sheet for mine which I keep in the bag. Artist, inker, month & year, any interesting contributors to the letters page, and print run stats in the issues that have them. 

 

 

When I started collecting (a few months back) and a seller shipped some books in Mylar, I mistakingly threw them out and switched them for my silver age generic bags just because the book was so snug and tough to get out of the bag, I was worried that it would cause further damage to my 1960 book. Now that I have acquired a few more Mylar bags from other purchases, I’m switching over just because of how well they present. 

[LowGradeBronze]

On 5/21/2023 at 11:28 PM, Bmattioli86 said:

When I started collecting (a few months back) and a seller shipped some books in Mylar, I mistakingly threw them out and switched them for my silver age generic bags just because the book was so snug and tough to get out of the bag, I was worried that it would cause further damage to my 1960 book. Now that I have acquired a few more Mylar bags from other purchases, I’m switching over just because of how well they present. 

They need to be wide enough with boards to suit and I tend to use a sandwich of two boards with a comic 'filling' when getting the book back into the mylar. Mylars are much less forgiving if they catch the edge of the book as you slide it in and damage can result. 

[Bmattioli86]

On 5/22/2023 at 12:17 PM, LowGradeBronze said:

They need to be wide enough with boards to suit and I tend to use a sandwich of two boards with a comic 'filling' when getting the book back into the mylar. Mylars are much less forgiving if they catch the edge of the book as you slide it in and damage can result. 

Yeah, exactly. I have a Wolverine #1 I’m posting here now that is in a Mylar with the 2 board sandwich. Had a hard time to get the book out. It’s a good thing it’s a very crisp copy. 

[LowGradeBronze]

On 5/23/2023 at 3:38 AM, Bmattioli86 said:

Yeah, exactly. I have a Wolverine #1 I’m posting here now that is in a Mylar with the 2 board sandwich. Had a hard time to get the book out. It’s a good thing it’s a very crisp copy. 

Mylar needs to be wide enough that you can squeeze gently at both sides to 'release' the book for removal. The board may need trimming width ways slightly to give you the squeeze room, but it's well worth playing with the right size mylar/board to allow for this little trick. It's mainly my GA I have in mylar, so extra care needed. Majority of my collection is just bag/board. 

Edited May 23, 2023 by LowGradeBronze