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What’s a medium tear and/or spine split?
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7 posts in this topic

Considering buying a potentially upgradeable book with the below notes. There are decent pictures available but surprisingly none of these defects are visible. So my question is, in your experience, what does CGC (or you) define as a “medium” tear/split (ie 1”-2”)?
 
Bottom Front Cover Medium Tear
Bottom Spine Medium Spine Split
Center Front Cover Medium Lite Crease Breaks Color
Edited by Callaway29
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36 minutes ago, Callaway29 said:
Considering buying a potentially upgradeable book with the below notes. There are decent pictures available but surprisingly none of these defects are visible. So my question is, in your experience, what does CGC (or you) define as a “medium” tear/split (ie 1”-2”)?
 
Bottom Front Cover Medium Tear
Bottom Spine Medium Spine Split
Center Front Cover Medium Lite Crease Breaks Color

In all honesty, what do you see in these notes that is 'upgradeable'. In my experience, tears and spine splits are best left untouched as they can only get worse. Press a spine split anywhere in the vicinity of a staple and you will soon be looking at a detached staple. Regarding the notes, relying on the literal meaning of the word 'medium' may be problematic. There was just another thread here about a someone doing CPR on a C-1 book, complaining that the severity of the restore was much worse than C-1 would indicate. I believe the grader uses drop down categories for this kind of stuff so it's a judgement call. Is a one inch tear small, medium, or large ? The only way to know is to disassemble. 

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4 hours ago, Bomber-Bob said:

In all honesty, what do you see in these notes that is 'upgradeable'. In my experience, tears and spine splits are best left untouched as they can only get worse. Press a spine split anywhere in the vicinity of a staple and you will soon be looking at a detached staple. Regarding the notes, relying on the literal meaning of the word 'medium' may be problematic. There was just another thread here about a someone doing CPR on a C-1 book, complaining that the severity of the restore was much worse than C-1 would indicate. I believe the grader uses drop down categories for this kind of stuff so it's a judgement call. Is a one inch tear small, medium, or large ? The only way to know is to disassemble. 

Thanks for the input. By upgradeable I simply meant a straight resubmit could yield a higher grade, but I did some reading on spine splits in reference to minimum grades and I decided to steer clear...while visually stunning I think this particular book is sitting about where it should.

And I figured “medium” had some subjectivity attached to it due to the human element plus CGC’s secrecy, but was hoping someone with more experience than me had noticed correlations between these vague notes and actuals...

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1 hour ago, Callaway29 said:

Thanks for the input. By upgradeable I simply meant a straight resubmit could yield a higher grade, but I did some reading on spine splits in reference to minimum grades and I decided to steer clear...while visually stunning I think this particular book is sitting about where it should.

And I figured “medium” had some subjectivity attached to it due to the human element plus CGC’s secrecy, but was hoping someone with more experience than me had noticed correlations between these vague notes and actuals...

Unfortunately, when the human element is removed from the process, what's left is usually impersonal objectivity. We used to measure splits and tears with a ruler. doh!

If I had to guess, I'd say that a medium tear or split would measure between 1/2" and 1". I think you're making the right decision by passing on this book---in my opinion, those flaws will only get worse.  

I hope this helps, and Happy New Year!   

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Of course everything depends on the "Overall" condition of the book, however...

FN 6.0 can have up to a 1/4" spine split, no interior tears permitted.

VG/FN 5.0 can have up to a 1/2" spine split, minor interior tales may be present.

VG 4.0 can have up to a 1" spine split, minor to moderate interior tears may be present.

GD/VG 3.0 can have a spine split from 1" - 1 1/2", minor to moderate interior tears may be present.

GD 2.0 can have a spine split up to 2", moderate interior tears may be present.

FR/GD 1.5 can have a spine split from 2" - 2/3 of the cover, interior tears are common.

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11 hours ago, marvelmaniac said:

Of course everything depends on the "Overall" condition of the book, however...

FN 6.0 can have up to a 1/4" spine split, no interior tears permitted.

VG/FN 5.0 can have up to a 1/2" spine split, minor interior tales may be present.

VG 4.0 can have up to a 1" spine split, minor to moderate interior tears may be present.

GD/VG 3.0 can have a spine split from 1" - 1 1/2", minor to moderate interior tears may be present.

GD 2.0 can have a spine split up to 2", moderate interior tears may be present.

FR/GD 1.5 can have a spine split from 2" - 2/3 of the cover, interior tears are common.

Not sure where this comes from. I have a CGC graded 4.0 with 3 inches of spine split. 

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10 hours ago, Spyder! said:

Not sure where this comes from. I have a CGC graded 4.0 with 3 inches of spine split. 

And again... it all depends on the "Overall" condition of the book and the "Accumulation" of defects to determine a "Final" grade.

There is absolutely nothing about grading that is "totally black and white" or "carved in stone".

It is like calling "balls and strikes", is the exact strike zone defined in the MLB Rulebook, YES, are balls and strikes called that way, NO.

https://comics.ha.com/tutorial/comics-grading.s?show=comicdefinitions

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