Tear 1 1

[Bolton]

Hi. After some quick advice. I’m potentially buying a comic and considering how much this tear would effect grading potential? The rest of the book is nice

[marvelmaniac]

We need to see the entire cover to help determine an overall grade and how much the creases/tears affect the grade.

[Bolton]

5 minutes ago, marvelmaniac said:

We need to see the entire cover to help determine an overall grade and how much the creases/tears affect the grade.

Thanks, appreciate any advice

Edited April 19, 2018 by Bolton

[marvelmaniac]

IMO this book is a FN- 5.5.

Overall slightly better than a VG/FN 5.0 but the creases keep it from being a FN 6.0.

5.0 VERY GOOD/FINE (VG/FN): 
An above-average but well used comic book. An accumulation of bindery/printing defects is allowed. Minor to moderate cover wear apparent, with minor to moderate creases and/or dimples. Inks have moderate to low reflectivity. Blunted corners are increasingly common, as is minor to moderate staining, discoloration, and/or foxing. Stamped or inked arrival dates may be present. A minor to moderate spine roll is allowed. A spine split of up to 1/2" may be present. Staples may show minor discoloration. Minor staple tears and minor stress lines may also be present, as well as minor rust migration. Paper is tan to brown with no signs of brittleness. Centerfold may be loose. Minor interior tears may also be present.

5.5 FINE- (FN-): 
Fits the criteria for Fine but with an additional defect or small accumulation of defects that detracts from the book's appearance by a perceptible amount

6.0 FINE (FN):  
An above-average copy that shows minor wear but is still relatively flat and clean with no significant creasing or other serious defects. Some accumulation of minor bindery/printing defects is allowed. Minor cover wear apparent, with minor to moderate creases. Inks show a significant reduction in reflectivity. Blunted corners are more common, as is minor staining, soiling, discoloration, and/or foxing. Stamped or inked arrival dates may be present. A minor spine roll is allowed. There can also be a 1/4" spine split or severe color break. Staples may show minor discoloration. Minor staple tears and a few slight stress lines may be present, as well as minor rust migration. Paper is tan to brown and fairly supple with no signs of brittleness. Minor interior tears at the margin may be present. Centerfold may be loose.

[Bolton]

Thank you for answering. Will it matter that it’s actually 2 tears?

[Artboy99]

4.0-4.5 to me.

[The Lions Den]

The grading of a comic book is actually quite an arduous process. However, a few simple tips may help:  Tears are bad, especially on the front cover. However, the rest of this book looks pretty solid. I look at it like a series of positives and negatives. Good eye appeal? A positive. Tight spine and staples? Positive. Nice color and gloss? Positive. Clean pages? Positive. Tears on the top edge? Negative. Creasing and wear that breaks color? Negative. Spine stress that breaks color? Negative. This book appears to be better than a Very Good but less than a Fine. So 5.0 - 5.5 as long as there are no pages missing, coupons clipped, stains on the interior cover, chipped or torn pages, rusty staples with rust transfer, foxing, etc. I hope this helps...

[Philflound]

Looks better than a 5.0 to me. I'd be more concerned with popped staples or spine splits. Defects you can't see from the photos. Also looks like if that area was pressed, it may have better eye appeal, though will probably not improve whatever grade it is.

If you read the definition under the 5.0 that Marvelmaniac posted, up to 1/2" spine split is acceptable. Tears on the cover are less detrimental than spine splits. And the combined size of the 2 very small tears to me don't even equal 1/2".

Edited May 5, 2018 by Philflound

[The Lions Den]

On ‎5‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 9:08 PM, Philflound said:

Looks better than a 5.0 to me. I'd be more concerned with popped staples or spine splits. Defects you can't see from the photos. Also looks like if that area was pressed, it may have better eye appeal, though will probably not improve whatever grade it is.

If you read the definition under the 5.0 that Marvelmaniac posted, up to 1/2" spine split is acceptable. Tears on the cover are less detrimental than spine splits. And the combined size of the 2 very small tears to me don't even equal 1/2".

Of course, there are never any disagreements among professional graders either...

Seriously, the best we can hope for here is to give an honest evaluation based on what we can see. The book could be a .5 for all we know, since we can't see the interior. We can't count the pages. We can't look for clipped coupons. We can't see if the spine is split or if the staples are popped. So our information is limited. Even when you hold a book in your hands, there are still things that are tough to determine. Grading isn't an absolute science...it's an educated opinion based on knowledge and experience, and sometimes it's better to get as many educated opinions as you can. One of the things I was taught about grading was to give a book the best grade you can without being wrong. If someone else is higher or lower than I am, I try to see their viewpoint. This book looks pretty solid to me, and hopefully there aren't any hidden flaws. That's one of the reasons I prefer to purchase graded comics; it's usually a gamble when you buy ungraded books. But then everything in life is a bit of a gamble, isn't it? In any event, good luck and please let us know how it works out...

Edited May 6, 2018 by The Lions Den
Additional info added