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Am I hosed?
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49 posts in this topic

Hi everyone!

Are you ready for a sad story? Well, I've got one and I would appreciate any feedback or advice anyone has. I recently received a batch of books (11 in total) back from CGC. I am not an expert on this process, but all in all, I was pretty happy with the results considering several 9.8's and books otherwise graded as anticipated, etc..  However, I was heartbroken to discover that my most valuable book (Walking Dead #1) came back with a 9.0. I really thought it was a nice book. I had purchased it on the bay and here were the seller's condition comments from the listing, "Near Mint NM 1st. This is a beautiful copy with sharp corners and white pages. There are two light stress lines on the cover, which are visible at a particular angle to the light. One is near the spine (picture 9), the other is near the "D" in the logo (picture 10).  No other flaws that I can detect.". When I received the book and inspected it, I agreed with the seller's comments. Really nice book. With this in mind, I sent it for pressing and then on for grading and I took pictures the day I sent it off (see attached before and after). 

Unfortunately, after inspection, I could first see that the book was severely out of center in the slab tilted maybe 20 degrees or so. Next, to my total amazement, I could see exactly why the low grade. I was horrified to see that the lower corner near the back now has a small tear and a chunk missing? A chunk missing! The damage is so severe that it raised the paper in that area when looking at the front of the book as well. None of my other books in this batch had any such issue, so if it selectively happened to a book in the middle of my stack while shipping, I'm calling the Vatican to report the miracle. I truly have no idea what could have happened (wood chipper?), but it appears that I now own a book that is worth several hundred dollars less than it was worth previously. Again, the entire remainder of this batch was fine. I took pictures of all books prior to sending and, other than this particular book, grades were as expected, no surprises; and no other damage.

WD11.jpg

Edited by roostir
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This is the response from the presser on that question, "unfortunately we process too many books to have any documentation or photos of it prior to us shipping the book.". I still need to reach out to CGC, but I am concerned that between the presser and CGC, the customer may be caught in the middle. We'll see what happens. Will keep this thread updated.

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24 minutes ago, roostir said:

This is the response from the presser on that question, "unfortunately we process too many books to have any documentation or photos of it prior to us shipping the book.". I still need to reach out to CGC, but I am concerned that between the presser and CGC, the customer may be caught in the middle. We'll see what happens. Will keep this thread updated.

Who pressed it?

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Sorry to see this happen to you but I doubt if anything can or will be done. It could very well have happened during shipping. Since you got it pressed in Oregon, it was packed up, shipped, and unpacked twice. Even if the packing is bullet proof, if the book is free to move a little in the mylar, this exact situation can happen. I suspect it was from shipping. The impact looks relatively light, not dramatic if it was dropped or something. It also, while prepping for the press, could have bumped up against another book. It looks like a backing board touched it ? Anyway, all speculation.

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Yep, appreciate your feedback. I suspect the same. Maybe it’s just the chance anyone takes when sending books for grading/pressing. It left my hands in good condition.

It’s a bitter pill to take when you pay for a service, and entrust your valuables, and then there’s no assurance of safe handling. At this point, I’ve paid for the item, paid for shipping 4 times, pressing, grading, and ended up with a book that is about 50% of the value of when I originally received it. 

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4 minutes ago, roostir said:

Yep, appreciate your feedback. I suspect the same. Maybe it’s just the chance anyone takes when sending books for grading/pressing. It left my hands in good condition.

It’s a bitter pill to take when you pay for a service, and entrust your valuables, and then there’s no assurance of safe handling. At this point, I’ve paid for the item, paid for shipping 4 times, pressing, grading, and ended up with a book that is about 50% of the value of when I originally received it. 

I feel annoyed on your behalf. Bit like flying I suppose. When it works, it's great, but when it doesnt you really feel it :frown:

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3 minutes ago, joeypost said:

Is all the paper present? One of the issues looks like an easy fix. The other area looks like the paper if folded over and it can be made to look a whole lot better. 

The OP says it looks like a chunk missing. 

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It appears to me (not an expert) that paper is actually missing, almost like an abrasion on that corner. I don't think there's anything to fold back over. Also, it would need to be un-slabbed (is that a word?) to check it out which I don't know I'm comfortable with.

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46 minutes ago, roostir said:

It appears to me (not an expert) that paper is actually missing, almost like an abrasion on that corner. I don't think there's anything to fold back over. Also, it would need to be un-slabbed (is that a word?) to check it out which I don't know I'm comfortable with.

It's not my book, your call, but in order to find out you would have to ship to a presser and maybe go through the whole process again with no guarantee of anything. I would not spend any more money on it. 

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Good point Bomber-Bob. I'll still try to reach out to CGC to see if anyone is interested in standing behind the customer. If so, I will sing their praises amongst the inter-webs and social media. Otherwise, I'll let sleeping dogs lie.

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15 hours ago, roostir said:

It appears to me (not an expert) that paper is actually missing, almost like an abrasion on that corner. I don't think there's anything to fold back over. Also, it would need to be un-slabbed (is that a word?) to check it out which I don't know I'm comfortable with.

If it happened in shipping (impact) it would have me believe all the paper is still present. Unless there is a large amount of force behind it, an impact usually leaves a dent or an area where the paper is compressed (usually giving the impression it is no longer present). Unfortunately, if you feel uncomfortable opening up the slab to check, little can be done. 

If it is possible please take additional pictures of the affected area from different angles. That may help determining if the paper was torn off. 

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