Guess the CGC Grade (Golden Age Edition): Rd 1

[drbanner]

Over the last few years I have slowly been getting some of my better books graded by using my CS coupons and sending in a few here and there, with the primary goal being to confirm they are unrestored. I recently sent in six GA books, and lo and behold, one of them came back in a purple label...the first of my "keeper" books to get dinged.

 

Since most of the books posted here are SA/BA, I thought it would be interesting to see how the forum grades GA books. Bonus points for correctly guessing the restored book, and don't forget about the nefarious "Golden Age Grading Curve" we've all heard about!

 

First up - All Winners Comics #12, featuring a fantastic Schomburg motorcycle cover with our Heroes rescuing US POW's from a Japanese prison camp. The back cover is in similar shape to the front, but unseen in the scan is a 1" spine split at the bottom of the spine, and light cracking/flaking along the spine edge (similar to what you see on modern books with a hard fold line along the spine).

 

[Red Hook]

8.5 (okay, I caved after hearing about the spine split....)

[Aces]

edit after the Doc included info about the spine split.

 

7.5

[comic_lot]

9.0. Beautiful book!

[Sal]

7.5

 

nice book!

[Timulty]

The Grading Bastiche Says....7.0. Nice book though.

[joeypost]

7.0

[thedarkknight]

VERY FINE- (7.5)

[jimjum12]

The 1 " spine split would probably take it down to 6.5.Nice book.GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[drbanner]

edit after the Doc included info about the spine split.

 

7.5

 

Yah...sorry 'bout that slight oversight, you can't see it very well even having the book in-hand as it's a clean split that blends in with the slight spine cracking/flaking mentioned above. The BC on this one is nice and I didn't think it would help in determining the grade, but I will include BC scans for the remaining 5 books, along with notes on any "hidden" defects.

[143ksk]

FN/VF

[topofthetotem]

6.0-6.5 Doc, nice book!

[aaron568]

i would go 7.5 - 8.0 nice book

[Jeffreykli]

I'd say 7.0.

[uclapeterg]

6.5.

[inconceivable]

Looks like a solid VF 8.0 before the spine split. With it? FN+ 6.5?

 

Dan

[divad]

Looks like a solid VF 8.0 before the spine split. With it? FN+ 6.5?

 

Dan

 

Can't go wrong jumpin' on this bandwagon . . .

[drbanner]

Okey-dokey then, this book was purchased off ebay from a seller who indicated he bought it from Motor City Comics as a F-. Obviously, it presents very well for a mid-grade book as it is well-centered, fresh, and clean. Anything better than off-white pages on WWII-era Timelys are tough to come across so this book has a few things going for it. Apparently, glue on the spine isn't one of them. It really doesn't both me though, and I have several "restored" Timelys like this (centerfold reinforced, cover reinforced, etc.,.) and would gladly pick up more given the chance.

 

As many Timelys were manufactured with only one staple, a lot of low-mid grade copies have detached covers, and a lot of them have been re-attached. I didn't see anything on this one before I sent it in, and I still don't...I suspect the glue is either around the staple area, or it is serving as the terminal end of the spine split.

 

Sorry folks, no winners this time!

 

[osborn_fr]

Concerning the glue, i think that the frontier is small between restoration & conservation. I'll take restored books like that every day

[drbanner]

Concerning the glue, i think that the frontier is small between restoration & conservation. I'll take restored books like that every day

 

Me too...I guess the amount of glue on this one passed the Blue Label threshold, but it couldn't have been by much.