How often do you encounter comics with missing centerfolds? 3 3

[stormflora]

So I bought a ton of comic issues lately, and after encountering one with an undeclared missing centerfold for the first time, I'm now spending the time to do a thorough examination of each comic I have to make sure no others are missing them as well. I'll try to contact the seller(s) for reimbursement for these issues, and if that fails, I'll resell them with the issue stated and replace them with new copies.

In your experience, how often do you end up with comics sold with missing centerfolds that were not mentioned in the listing (perhaps because even the seller wasn't aware)? Are non-Modern Age comics prone to this sort of issue? When centerfolds are missing, what grade does it automatically drop down to no matter what?

Edited December 8, 2023 by stormflora

[Ryan.]

3.9%.

[Lightning55]

I believe it's a 0.5 grade, incomplete. 

[stormflora]

On 12/7/2023 at 7:56 PM, Lightning55 said:

I believe it's a 0.5 grade, incomplete. 

Oof, so not worth anything. Glad I'm planning to replace these then.

The only reason why I could fathom a seller omitting this bit of detail is if they aren't even aware of what the comic should include and they never bothered to check, and they secured the comic without the centerfold to begin with.

[Lightning55]

Sounds likely. 

[Point Five]

With golden age books a missing centerfold is not uncommon at all, particularly the 1930s/1940s ones... they were 64 pages each, and that many pages can get stressed at the staples and it's common for a centerfold (or two!) to loosen and/or pop out. Less common with SA to CA, unless there's something specific to an issue that would cause removal (example: Batman #181, the centerfold was a wall poster that many kids took out).

Lots of GA books have value even with a missing centerfold. You can call it a .5, or you can call it a Qualified [fill in apparent grade]. They're certainly not worthless.

Good catch on that issue! Yes, you should always count pages for any older comic you're buying or selling.

 

[steveinthecity]

60’s & 70’s era Archies often have Pin-up pages trimmed out of books. Easy to miss if you’re not counting pages.

[Lightning55]

Which comics did you find to be without centerfolds?

[stormflora]

On 12/7/2023 at 11:07 PM, Lightning55 said:

Which comics did you find to be without centerfolds?

A couple of Tom and Jerry issues. I’ve been double checking with Comics.org and have confirmed two to be missing them so far, interrupting story. 

[AJD]

On 12/8/2023 at 2:53 PM, Point Five said:

With golden age books a missing centerfold is not uncommon at all, particularly the 1930s/1940s ones... they were 64 pages each, and that many pages can get stressed at the staples and it's common for a centerfold (or two!) to loosen and/or pop out. 

Jon is right. And it's worth adding that many comics published during WW2 had a single central staple. Those are even more prone to having missing parts.

[stormflora]

@Point Five @AJD I suppose whether or not the comic will still have any value depends entirely on what it is. Key issues originally worth hundreds to thousands might take a hit to its final value but would still sell for quite a bit. But on lower priced comics, probably would not be worth reselling at all, or maybe just to someone who wants it as a reader issue with the issue explicitly mentioned. Thanks!

[BA773]

The problem is that if i do that it will spoil me the story of the book so... 

[BA773]

On 12/8/2023 at 1:32 AM, stormflora said:

So I bought a ton of comic issues lately, and after encountering one with an undeclared missing centerfold for the first time, I'm now spending the time to do a thorough examination of each comic I have to make sure no others are missing them as well. I'll try to contact the seller(s) for reimbursement for these issues, and if that fails, I'll resell them with the issue stated and replace them with new copies.

In your experience, how often do you end up with comics sold with missing centerfolds that were not mentioned in the listing (perhaps because even the seller wasn't aware)? Are non-Modern Age comics prone to this sort of issue? When centerfolds are missing, what grade does it automatically drop down to no matter what?

I have no idea of how much comics you have, but personally i cannot see me who have a collection near of 1000 comics examine each one carefully...

[shadroch]

On 12/10/2023 at 7:43 AM, BA773 said:

I have no idea of how much comics you have, but personally i cannot see me who have a collection near of 1000 comics examine each one carefully...

I had well over 100,000 books at my height, but that doesn't excuse a seller from going over every book to see if it is whole. Give the book that you are selling the same inspection you give books you are buying.

[ThothAmon]

There’s no centerfold in my Batman 11. Got one? Sadly quite common in GA. People loved to take scissors to silver romance, funny animal and Archie titles. Watch when buying marvel bronze for the missing Marvel Value Stamp. Very common. Definitely you can’t judge a book from its cover. 

[BA773]

On 12/10/2023 at 3:48 PM, shadroch said:

I had well over 100,000 books at my height, but that doesn't excuse a seller from going over every book to see if it is whole. Give the book that you are selling the same inspection you give books you are buying.

Im not speaking as a seller i speak as a buyer... how do you want that i inspect a quantity of books that i event cant reading before i die, more of that im just starting and the stack will never stop to grow up i think that rightly is even more logical for a seller to inspect their books than for a buyer. 

[BA773]

On 12/10/2023 at 3:55 PM, ThothAmon said:

There’s no centerfold in my Batman 11. Got one? Sadly quite common in GA. People loved to take scissors to silver romance, funny animal and Archie titles. Watch when buying marvel bronze for the missing Marvel Value Stamp. Very common. Definitely you can’t judge a book from its cover. 

I even often see some books on ebay with specification "with pin up" or something, like if for certain books its even more common to have an uncomplete copy than a complete one

Edited December 10, 2023 by BA773

[shadroch]

On 12/10/2023 at 9:11 AM, BA773 said:

Im not speaking as a seller i speak as a buyer... how do you want that i inspect a quantity of books that i event cant reading before i die, more of that im just starting and the stack will never stop to grow up i think that rightly is even more logical for a seller to inspect their books than for a buyer. 

If you can't examine the books you buy, try not buying so many. I realize you are buying crappy DCs, but you should hone your habits for when your tastes mature and you start buying good stuff.

[BA773]

On 12/10/2023 at 5:17 PM, shadroch said:

If you can't examine the books you buy, try not buying so many. I realize you are buying crappy DCs, but you should hone your habits for when your tastes mature and you start buying good stuff.

Thanks for your reply, these times i was already feel bad in my life and it make me think to stop the hobby, but now that the other people told me that i love the cr*p i think i will defintly leave it... 

But no because

There is the people who try to complet run and the people who prefer to buy a comics into a slab with a number to determine his f****** value for 1k...

I realize that since im spend to much time on this forum i m started to  derive from the reason why I started and always questionning me on if i have to continue, if i have to stop, if i have to buy some mess from the 50s just to look well at the eyes of the other people...

I think i will make my path and leave this freaking place, its not why i started to collect comic books. 

Edited December 10, 2023 by BA773

[stormflora]

Sellers have a responsibility to make sure that the products they are selling have not been tampered with/are damaged, but when a company gets larger and they start dealing in thousands to tens of thousands of comics a day, it becomes unreasonable for them to spend too much manpower on inspecting each and every comic they receive in boxes/bins/palettes. They focus on flipping them quickly, as the bulk of comics out in the market are worth only dollars at most, and fulfillment times and storage space are far more valuable to them.

So yes, as a buyer, you should indeed by inspecting the products you buy. Why would you buy something and settle with it being faulty in some way? There is no logical reason why you would want a broken product. You paid good money for something you equally expect to be good.