CGC 9.9 Tomb of Dracula #10 0

[ADAMANTIUM]

2 minutes ago, Randall Ries said:

9 minutes ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

Could what you call "translucent" just be pristine pages? That's what I always took it as.

 

I always saw a translucent cover as being able to see the advertising on the inside of the front cover on the outside of the front cover. I can't see the pages. I have seen many examples of this phenomenon on both DC and Marvel book. CGC and other companies don't take it into consideration while grading, evidently. If I were a grader, I would give this a 9.8. The see through cover distracts from the overall presentation IMO.

Moot point but I'm not talking about seeing "pages", but the advertisements as well, which is because of pristine white pages imo idk just a thought though

[Randall Ries]

2 minutes ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

Moot point but I'm not talking about seeing "pages", but the advertisements as well, which is because of pristine white pages imo idk just a thought though

I guess I don't fully understand what you mean. It's bleed through from the inner cover to the outer cover. Maybe they were cheaping out and using thinner paper for the covers. But not all copies have this phenomenon.

[ADAMANTIUM]

3 minutes ago, Randall Ries said:

I guess I don't fully understand what you mean. It's bleed through from the inner cover to the outer cover. Maybe they were cheaping out and using thinner paper for the covers. But not all copies have this phenomenon.

I wouldnt think blled through would get 9.9

Maybe your more informed idk

But I always thought the pages were in such good shape, and or, the book lays so flat, and or the pages were pressed that you could see the first page through the cover

That makes a lot more sense than bleed through

But idk

[ADAMANTIUM]

@Randall Ries

Because bleed through implies that there is color transfer to the front cover, no?

Which would mean it is no longer translucent as you say....

I'm trying to find the logic or reasoning is all, no worries 

 

[lou_fine]

41 minutes ago, Randall Ries said:

"Pay no attention to that translucent cover inside the holder!"

 

Ok, not exactly why all of you young 'uns are getting your panties in a knot here, as there's actually a very simple and easy solution to all of this. 

All you have to do is buy the book, crack the slab open, tear off the crappy cover and toss it, and then simply replace it with a cover that's not translucent.  

You never know...............you might even end up getting a CGC 10 out of it plus a CVA Exceptional sticker to boot.     

Edited February 18, 2021 by lou_fine

[Randall Ries]

12 minutes ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

@Randall Ries

Because bleed through implies that there is color transfer to the front cover, no?

Which would mean it is no longer translucent as you say....

I'm trying to find the logic or reasoning is all, no worries 

 

I mean translucent in that the colors from the inner cover can be seen through the outer cover. It's not true bleed through. Just some weird printing thingy I guess.

[ADAMANTIUM]

1 minute ago, Randall Ries said:

I mean translucent in that the colors from the inner cover can be seen through the outer cover. It's not true bleed through. Just some weird printing thingy I guess.

That's what I thought you meant, but could be the reason you see it on some copies and not others is because the page quality and factors I've mentioned are better? White clean crisp so much you can see through when lying flat with no bends? That sounds like a 9.9 to me or factors to consider

I'm not arguing that it's not distracting, because on certain covers it can be for sure, but if those are qualities you want in a 9.9, then good with the bad etc

[Randall Ries]

6 minutes ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

That's what I thought you meant, but could be the reason you see it on some copies and not others is because the page quality and factors I've mentioned are better? White clean crisp so much you can see through when lying flat with no bends? That sounds like a 9.9 to me or factors to consider

I'm not arguing that it's not distracting, because on certain covers it can be for sure, but if those are qualities you want in a 9.9, then good with the bad etc

You keep mentioning pages. Do you mean the story pages or are you referencing the cover as a "page"? In my mind but not CGC's, if I can see the inner cover through the outer cover, that to me is not a 9.9 grade. The actual pages can be snow white. The corners sharp enough to cut your fingers off. The staples tighter than a snare drum. The entire book lays flatter than the flat earth "theory". But if I can read the inner cover ad through the outer cover in the mirror, that is a flaw. It certainly isn't a plus, right? It's a distraction. Some collectors have a difficult time with a kids name on his own comic book and this gets a 9.9? I'm just saying I believe a real collector would buy this book, but not paying $50-$80K for it. A speculator with too much money and helping to pump up our hobby into a balloon would.

When COVID is finally (hopefully so, if ever) is under control, people start traveling, eating in restaurants, going to shows, going to sporting events, trusting their precious stock market and stuff like that again, this hobby is going to see some deflation. Hope it goes back down to reasonable levels and pricing again. Sorry if anyone paid stupid money on the 9.8 & 9.9 craze.

[ADAMANTIUM]

4 minutes ago, Randall Ries said:

You keep mentioning pages. Do you mean the story pages or are you referencing the cover as a "page"? In my mind but not CGC's, if I can see the inner cover through the outer cover, that to me is not a 9.9 grade. The actual pages can be snow white. The corners sharp enough to cut your fingers off. The staples tighter than a snare drum. The entire book lays flatter than the flat earth "theory". But if I can read the inner cover ad through the outer cover in the mirror, that is a flaw. It certainly isn't a plus, right? It's a distraction. Some collectors have a difficult time with a kids name on his own comic book and this gets a 9.9? I'm just saying I believe a real collector would buy this book, but not paying $50-$80K for it. A speculator with too much money and helping to pump up our hobby into a balloon would.

When COVID is finally (hopefully so, if ever) is under control, people start traveling, eating in restaurants, going to shows, going to sporting events, trusting their precious stock market and stuff like that again, this hobby is going to see some deflation. Hope it goes back down to reasonable levels and pricing again. Sorry if anyone paid stupid money on the 9.8 & 9.9 craze.

You dont think the cover is a page?

It's a page and is just as condition worthy as the inners 

Do you also see fault whe you open the cover and se the 3rd page by looking through the 2nd page?

 

[ADAMANTIUM]

I said it can be a distraction but you don't  seem to think the cover is a page, nor that it can be as crisp as the inner pages, nor that is why you can see through it, because it's in "better" condition so I dont follow 

[MGsimba77]

On 2/17/2021 at 7:54 PM, lou_fine said:

I remember buying brand new books off the shelves of the LCS's way back in the mid to late 70's and I do clearly remember that certain issues would have this translucency issue.  I believe CGC views this as being caused by the printing process and hence possibly something that they don't really take into account in the final determination of the grade.  And yet, possibly one of the main reasons why this particular copy here did not receive the CVA Exceptional sticker from CL.    

I thought the translucency could have come from the scan Clink used but after seeing the old HA scan it appears to be from the book. I've had a few old slabs with the book having this problem around some sections. One of them was ASM 146 the other Hulk 176 from ~ same time, another late silver. I had them all reholdered and the translucency went away for the most part. The problematic sections appeared to strengthen in color. That being said, after taking a look at the back cover of this TOD it seems a bit worse than mine were. Nonetheless I think this could be mitigated somewhat in a new slab if the buyer were inclined. It's an irritating problem and I wouldn't want to deal with it though. Marvel was so eager to just pump these things out they didn't care how bad they looked. 

Edited February 19, 2021 by MGsimba77

[lou_fine]

On 2/14/2021 at 12:44 PM, BlowUpTheMoon said:

Currently at $52,000

 

 

https://comiclink.com/auctions/item.asp?back=%2FAUCTIONS%2FSEARCH.ASP%3FFocusedOnly%3D1%26where%3Dauctions%26title%3Dtomb%2Bof%2Bdracula%26ItemType%3DCB%23Item_1457623&id=1457623&itemType=0

 

Well, slowly creeping up there as it's now sitting at $57,000.  

Any bets as to whether it will hit the $85,000 price pointthat it was able to achieve on it's last go round less than a couple of years ago?      

Edited February 20, 2021 by lou_fine

[Randall Ries]

I wonder if the translucency is caused by the paper coming off the rolls at the printers varying in thickness. The paper thickness on such huge rolls of paper can't maintain an exact thickness all the way through.

They do quality checks through a run but they can't check every copy. That's impossible.

[LDarkseid1]

Holy Balls, $106K! By my count, the now 2nd 9.9 graded book in history to break $100K.

[lou_fine]

25 minutes ago, LDarkseid1 said:

Holy Balls, $106K! By my count, the now 2nd 9.9 graded book in history to break $100K.

Wow, oh wow, you are exactly 106% right!!!    

I never in life expected that it would be able to hit that same $85K mark that it managed on the last go round here a couple of years ago.  Looks like 3 big bids in the last 10 seconds of the auction took it right up from the $73K mark and straight into 6-figures territory.  

Maybe I really should look around to see where my copy of TOD 10 is since I clearly remember picking up a HG copy for some serious money at the time when I was in Toronto for work that time.  Remember it came along with the supposedly scarce Vampi 113 which cost me more than the TOD 10, along with a few other books at the same time.  Only problem is that I have absolutely no idea where that package of books is now since it was only a few hundred dollars at the time and hence not worth worrying about.  

Interesting and rather amazing how times have changed when they are really nothing but "throwaway" funny books.    

[jimjum12]

On 2/22/2021 at 12:59 PM, Randall Ries said:

I wonder if the translucency is caused by the paper coming off the rolls at the printers varying in thickness. The paper thickness on such huge rolls of paper can't maintain an exact thickness all the way through.

They do quality checks through a run but they can't check every copy. That's impossible.

I pop a lot of books out of slabs but never anything above 9.0. One thing I have noticed is that removing the micro chamber paper causes this translucency issue to diminish considerably. Another thing I noticed years ago was that books that people stored in homemade bags made from saran wrap seemed to exhibit this trait. IIRC the Massachusetts pedigree had books that were stored this way and they sometimes exhibit this.... and many of those were slabbed during CGC's infancy. GOD BLESS....

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[Terry JSA]

On 2/25/2021 at 10:33 PM, LDarkseid1 said:

Holy Balls, $106K! By my count, the now 2nd 9.9 graded book in history to break $100K.

This is insane to me as well, a Tomb of Dracula #10 at a CGC 9.9 breaking $100K in a ComicLink auction.

[batmiesta]

Lots of insane prices realised in this Clink auction.

[namisgr]

On 2/16/2021 at 11:39 PM, Albert Thurgood said:

As you said, surely it would not have been graded that highly if it had been presented raw while having this translucency. The "uncomfortable issue" is that the MCP or whatever CGC does in slabbing them contributes to, if not causes, this translucency. I have not seen this on any of my thousands of raw books, and certainly not in any BA issues, but have seen it now on a number of highly graded slabbed books.

It's from the microchamber paper directly underneath the cover, coupled with viewing through the plastic slab.  Anyone who's cracked a book with cover translucence out of its slab sees the difference is in the optics and not the comic.

[Albert Thurgood]

So it's purely optical? If you take it outof the slab it is not translucent anymore? How does the MCP and plastic slab mediate this X ray effect?