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Comic Book Spine Realignment Therapy, turn your 8.5's into 9.2's!

3,329 posts in this topic

There's a thread in Silver that folks need to be made aware of - Insane press and flip Avengers 1. Props to spiderphill for keeping tabs on this seller, looks like it's been going on for a while.

 

In a nutshell, ebay seller "collectors_comics" is somehow managing to realign the spine of books (Batman 1, Avengers 1, Showcase 22, etc.,.) to shift the spine wear to the back cover, and apparently CGC doesn't downgrade as much for the exact same defects on the back cover as on the front cover.

 

Here's the result, before (CGC 8.5)

 

av1_8_5_zpsab9b5e61.jpg

 

And after (notice the book has been squashed and the pages unnaturally extend beyond the right edge of the cover):

 

av1_9_2_zpseb9fe0e2.jpg

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As mentioned in the other thread it looks like this black eye of the hobby has been going on for a while now and this seller in question may be one of the biggest players in gaming these books.

 

Really does take pressing to a whole new level and shows a big flaw in how CGC grades books.

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I was reading that last night and looking at the photos over too much Jack Daniels to start posting. You have to have a steel pair to pull a 10k plus book and then start tugging and pulling on it. My question is, is this the same book. Most say yes. Here are my problems:

 

CGC doesn't grade on wrap. That's CVA's new job. This 8.5 (which people are even questioning that grade), especially since CGC's new tightening may have got it an 8.0. Spine ticks are very obvious and will dump a grade, but CGC is supposed to grade the front AND back. I've bought some nice 9.2's that should have been 9.6 and the back is where the points were lost. Great front eye appeal; low grade.

 

HOW DID the person grading this book not note the back defects that were pushed from the front cover? I think CGC was not expecting this. Maybe they grade on front eye appeal over back covers? Either way, we now know what to look for when buying high end books. If the cover wrap is wrong and we see too many interior pages showing, we can assume that this book was realigned with a press.

 

You do have to give the guy some credit. It took a huge pair to buy, crack, and to come up with the idea no matter how distasteful it is to collectors that prefer books as they are. Personally, the book is worth less to me than its 8.5 price now that I know it's been tampered with.

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Here's the result, before (CGC 8.5)

 

av1_8_5_zpsab9b5e61.jpg

 

 

I don't care for the look of the 8.5.

 

That's a 7.5 spine & top corner.

 

I agree...I liberally opined that it was an 8.0 in the other thread, but given the dozen visible spine stresses, the mid-spine color flaking, the 1" edge crease at the top edge of the book in the logo box, and the corner abrasion at both the top and bottom of the spine, 7.5 is probably closer to being accurate.

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goodolboys_zps0ae5b403.jpg

I would love to be a "member" does the new owner of this "beauty" ;) know something or somebody that the "normal" everyday CGC submitter doesn't?

You be the judge.

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I'm only surprised that anybody's surprised. This is simply a natural progression and there will be more to come.

Yeah, it's weird anyone is shocked. With every 'non-additive' tweak under the sun allowed, bumps like that IS 'the Game'.

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The back cover extends WAY beyond the front cover. It's either been manipulated (most likely), or had a nasty but natural spine roll flattened out by a pressing (least likely, since a press would be an opportunity to properly realign the spine).

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After knowing what to look for, I would say yes, this has been going on for a while. If he would have waited for the photos to expire off EBay we would be clueless to it.

 

I wonder if this Avengers #1 didn't undergo the same "treatment" ?

 

Linky

 

 

Different seller though he may have caught on to the technique used ...

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After knowing what to look for, I would say yes, this has been going on for a while. If he would have waited for the photos to expire off EBay we would be clueless to it.

 

I wonder if this Avengers #1 didn't undergo the same "treatment" ?

 

Linky

 

 

Different seller though he may have caught on to the technique used ...

Or they use the same pressing service.

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