Fantastic Four 48 CGC 8.0... to CPR or not to CPR? 1 1

[JoMaGu]

Hi!

I had originally posted in "Hey buddy, can you spare a grade" but I was told my inquiry (related to an already graded book) belongs here. A few days ago I received my first grail (personal grail, if not an official one) and I wanted to get someback regarding its grade.

The grader notes mention some light fingers bends and small creases... 

• Grader Notes
• Front Cover Small Lite Bend
• Left Top Back Cover Small Crease
• Spine Stress Lines Breaks Color
• Top Front Cover Small Tear Breaks Color

 ... and I was wondering whether you all think a clean/press might bump it up a bit? Maybe it's lucky to have gotten an 8.0. Maybe the current grade is dead-on accurate. Maybe there's a little upward wiggle room. I really have no idea, but I'm curious to know what people think.

Cheers,

J

[crazyhips]

General wear around the edges and corners is consistent with a VF. White pages!!!  Beautiful book. 

[evilskip]

Nothing wrong with it as far as I can tell. Nice book!

[LowGradeBronze]

In many ways it would be really useful if the grader's notes included whether the book was pressed as part of its CGC grading/encapsulation. I know that wouldn't work if the book was pressed by an independent presser before sending to CGC, as they would have no idea, but for books pressed by CCS then immediately graded by CGC, you would know (to a certain degree at least,) whether it has been pressed to reach its current grade and therefore whether there was 'anything left on the table' as it were for future pressing. Books can only be pressed so often before they suffer, surely?

Consider the humble olive: First press gives extra virgin oil, then virgin oil, then just oil.... No improvement in grade after third pressing. 

Edited August 14 by LowGradeBronze

[AlterEgo2024]

On 8/13/2024 at 10:08 PM, JoMaGu said:

Hi!

I had originally posted in "Hey buddy, can you spare a grade" but I was told my inquiry (related to an already graded book) belongs here. A few days ago I received my first grail (personal grail, if not an official one) and I wanted to get someback regarding its grade.

The grader notes mention some light fingers bends and small creases... 

• Grader Notes
• Front Cover Small Lite Bend
• Left Top Back Cover Small Crease
• Spine Stress Lines Breaks Color
• Top Front Cover Small Tear Breaks Color

 ... and I was wondering whether you all think a clean/press might bump it up a bit? Maybe it's lucky to have gotten an 8.0. Maybe the current grade is dead-on accurate. Maybe there's a little upward wiggle room. I really have no idea, but I'm curious to know what people think.

Cheers,

J

 

I don't think a press is going to be able to fix the 2 graders notes that I've bolded, but the other 2 would almost certainly be fixed with a press assuming the back cover crease isn't severe (hard to tell from the pic). I think a press would give the book a small bump but it's not going to magically turn it into a 9.8, so the decision is up to you. 

[The Lions Den]

Looks like that back cover could be cleaned up a bit. But overall, a good-looking copy of this great Silver Age classic...  

[jcjames]

Personally, that's a great specimen as-is. 

Right now it's in a Gen-2 case, white pages, some CP-fixable defects, other CP-unfixable damage, and a nicely-presenting 8.0. 

If it were mine I wouldn't risk sending it in - getting it C&P but possibly still no grade-bump, or even worse coming back now with OW instead of White pages, or even worse coming back with some hair/shards/carp/warping in a new case sending you on the ME merry-go-round with CGC, or even worse getting some extra manhandled damage or SCS to the book. 

 

[KCOComics]

On 8/14/2024 at 7:08 PM, jcjames said:

Personally, that's a great specimen as-is. 

Right now it's in a Gen-2 case, white pages, some CP-fixable defects, other CP-unfixable damage, and a nicely-presenting 8.0. 

If it were mine I wouldn't risk sending it in - getting it C&P but possibly still no grade-bump, or even worse coming back now with OW instead of White pages, or even worse coming back with some hair/shards/carp/warping in a new case sending you on the ME merry-go-round with CGC, or even worse getting some extra manhandled damage or SCS to the book. 

 

+1

 

There are a few things that might press out, but I'm not sure it would give you a grade bump. Maybe it would,  but is it worth the cost / risk to the book to go from an 8 to an 8.5?  

 

[PovertyRow]

On 8/14/2024 at 12:42 PM, LowGradeBronze said:

In many ways it would be really useful if the grader's notes included whether the book was pressed as part of its CGC grading/encapsulation. I know that wouldn't work if the book was pressed by an independent presser before sending to CGC, as they would have no idea, but for books pressed by CCS then immediately graded by CGC, you would know (to a certain degree at least,) whether it has been pressed to reach its current grade and therefore whether there was 'anything left on the table' as it were for future pressing. Books can only be pressed so often before they suffer, surely?

Consider the humble olive: First press gives extra virgin oil, then virgin oil, then just oil.... No improvement in grade after third pressing. 

Nice analogy! And like low grade olive oil, solvents are used to extract what they can from the remains. Not unlike using solvents in certain resto procedures.

[Artboy99]

I see enough to suggest sending it in could possibly return a 7.5. I would keep it as it is

[joeypost]

On 8/18/2024 at 6:51 PM, Artboy99 said:

I see enough to suggest sending it in could possibly return a 7.5. I would keep it as it is

Agree with this assessment. Because a book has defects that can be improved or eliminated does not guarantee a grade bump. If the book was initially graded during a “loose grading period” you could be very disappointed with the results of a CPR, even if the pressing was done properly. 

[Silver Surfer]

Agree with the last two posts. Best bet would be to see if you could get it in a new holder (assuming you are looking to sell it), same grade, (don’t know what the process is or if it needs to be regraded?). 

[chrisco37]

I'll echo the others.   Best case scenario is a bump to 8.5.  But could easily stay the same or go down or change PQ.   I would keep the 8.0 WP as is.  Great book!  

[Kevin76]

It's not going any higher  

[JoMaGu]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone! Much appreciated. I may only reholder with the custom FF label. Cheers.

[Engr62]

You may want to wait to reholder until the bent inner well issue is addressed.

[JoMaGu]

I just youtubed "CGC bent inner well" and wow... yeah. I guess I'll be waiting a bit to ship my modest silver age ASM and Thor books.

[Dick Pontoon]

On 8/29/2024 at 9:36 AM, JoMaGu said:

I just youtubed "CGC bent inner well" and wow... yeah. I guess I'll be waiting a bit to ship my modest silver age ASM and Thor books.

There's a huge thread on the first page of Comics General all about it: