MGH

will anyone care? A) no doubt will return in near future anyway. B) even if it was permanent, is it really going to upset the comic fandom like Marvel was letting on?

That's explained by them only grading the acetate cover and ignoring the actual comic it was applied to post production .. That in itself blows my mind because typical ( correct) procedure would be to grade the comic as if the acetate cover wasn't attached.. And apply a green label to recognise the score ignores the damage caused by the extra staple holes

Cgc grading it is not illegal. But recognising it as a legitimate book was pretty stupid.

All cgc has to do when receiving a book they hadn't seen before was check the barcode and they would have known straight away it was an augmented version of the previous variant, not a new comic This is something I personally assumed cgc does as part of their verification process. Evidently, they do not

What you are talking to is pretty reasonable for near mint and below provided there are no major defects in the interior such as staining tears creases etc When we cross over into mint 9.9 and gem mint 10.0 the whole book should be pristine.. 10.0 is the unicorn.

But do they honour it to the letter? Or are favours granted? SS is not a recorded process where we can say watch a video of every signature being created and how it s slabbed .. The whole SS Simply relies that the customer trusts that the right thing has been done and the rules have been followed .. Like trusting that cgc, as an impartial grading company, will only certify legitimate books per their grading standards at all times

I'm far from convinced it was a mistake beyond mistaking how the response to this poor decision making process would be and how much exposure it would attract

@TTony Re: response above specifically says "The grade assigned will take into consideration the grade of the acetate cover as well as the interior book." That should address your concern. How does that address concern... It implies they only graded the acetate until they succumbed to public pressure and agreed it should be the book.. Is this a one off? Or is this common practice where only the exterior cover of a modern is used to determine grade

It does appear to be their approach to moderns. Id like this clarified as don't want to be in scenario where pay premium to buy a slabbed modern 9.6 / 9.8 only to crack it and find out its full of crisps, greasy finger marks and creased pages on the inside

Seems like that's their position they are walking back to. Certainly aren't going back to where it should be in my opinion ( the fact they have to qualify that the whole book is graded is a head scratcher)

I believe this statement addresses that "The grade assigned will take into consideration the grade of the acetate cover as well as the interior book" The way I read this, those books were not graded this way.. Ie, only graded cover

I bet you regret not pressing it.

I suspect if there was a response will be another strawman like ' marvel states no retailer can modify books but states nothing of the original artist modifying the book which are the rules we determined when assessing this artists variant'

@CGC Mike Will CGC still be responding to / further clarifying their current position given marvel has gone out of their way to state this practice is not accepted with their books? They have all but confirmed the acetate is an unapproved post production modification that they don't want to be associated with. Surely 10.0 blue label is sending wrong message to your customers, now and in the future. "all cover artwork must be created and approved by Marvel. Once submitted and accepted, no retailer has permission to use these comics or art to create new products, edit, or change the published comic in any way. This of course pertains to all past and current comics"