Acceptable defects in 9.8 comics? 0

[Hwachi Sama]

Hi everyone! I'm new to the forums and to collecting, and I just jumped right in because there was a deal that I couldn't pass up. I'm a huge Spider-man fan, and an even bigger Venom fan, so I bought a set from eBay that included origins and first appearances of the black suit. The pictures weren't great on the listing, but they were all graded CGC 9.8. When I received them, I noticed that the spine corner was slightly torn on the Secret Wars 8, and there's a staple tear on Team Up 141. I've been reading up, and I know this is kind of a repeat question, but are these acceptable flaws in a 9.8? Would the Secret Wars be from a bindery tear, the Team Up from manufacturer flaw, either one an injury from an older CGC holder that I've read can damage the comic over time, or the rare and unlikely case of them taking out the 9.8 comics and replacing them with a less than 9.8 comic without cracking the case? Here are pics of the 2 of them. Any and all input is appreciated! Thanks!

[seanfingh]

9.8 books are not perfect.  Those books are 9.8s and they are not switched out.

[revat]

Also, even though CGC is widely regarded as the industry leader, grading is still a subjective and imperfect science that can change with the grader, the situation, and any number of other variables, which might include the chance of damage after grading.

[Bomber-Bob]

I don't like either one as a 9.8, especially the staple tear. The tear may have happened , post grading, from sliding around in the slab. The corner chip was probably there when graded. I realiize a 9.8 is not perfect but most expect them to look perfect. Obvious, visible flaws in a 9.8 is a deal breaker for me. Sorry.

[Karl Liebl]

36 minutes ago, Bomber-Bob said:

I don't like either one as a 9.8, especially the staple tear. The tear may have happened , post grading, from sliding around in the slab. The corner chip was probably there when graded. I realiize a 9.8 is not perfect but most expect them to look perfect. Obvious, visible flaws in a 9.8 is a deal breaker for me. Sorry.

But but invisible fingerprints!!

 

 

The old stink eye!

[The Lions Den]

Personally, I could live with the small manufacturing flaw on the Secret Wars, but I'm not crazy about the Team-Up---the staple tear is noticeable, and the bottom edge is a concern for me as well. It does look like this book may be suffering from SCS (Shaken Comic Syndrome). 

[newshane]

2 hours ago, Bomber-Bob said:

I don't like either one as a 9.8, especially the staple tear. The tear may have happened , post grading, from sliding around in the slab. The corner chip was probably there when graded. I realiize a 9.8 is not perfect but most expect them to look perfect. Obvious, visible flaws in a 9.8 is a deal breaker for me. Sorry.

I disagree. The Secret Wars is a slam-dunk 9.8. I probably have a hundred 9.8 slabs with the exact same bindery defect.  I will admit, however, that none of them have been submitted in the last year!  T

It's also hard to tell if that staple pull on the Team Up happened pre or post encapsulation. As mentioned by The Lions Den, that kind of damage can be done to a comic while it's inside the slab. 

Edited January 11, 2019 by newshane

[Bomber-Bob]

19 minutes ago, The Lions Den said:

Personally, I could live with the small manufacturing flaw on the Secret Wars, but I'm not crazy about the Team-Up---the staple tear is noticeable, and the bottom edge is a concern for me as well. It does look like this book may be suffering from SCS (Shaken Comic Syndrome). 

I agree. I suspect the Secret Wars chip may have been laying flat when it was graded. I can tell by the cert number the book was pressed by Matt Nelson the Texan. All one needs to do is to apply some spit and press it down. It will stay down but not forever.

[Bomber-Bob]

3 minutes ago, newshane said:

I disagree. The Secret Wars is a slam-dunk 9.8. I probably have a hundred 9.8 slabs with the exact same bindery defect.  I will admit, however, that none of them have been submitted in the last year!  T

It's also hard to tell if that staple pull on the Team Up happened pre or post encapsulation. As mentioned by The Lions Den, that kind of damage can be done to a comic while it's inside the slab. 

I said the staple pull probably happened, post grading, in the slab also. No matter what either of us finds acceptable in a 9.8, the Boards see many of these same questions from Newbies. The general buying public expects a 9.8 to pretty much look perfect. That's why they are paying a premium price. I don't blame them. 

[newshane]

Reality and expectation are separate entities. 

People should understand that 9.8 does NOT equal perfection when viewed on a ten-point scale. It's not rocket science. 

Overstreet even allows bindery defects on 9.9s. 

[Bomber-Bob]

3 minutes ago, newshane said:

Reality and expectation are separate entities. 

People should understand that 9.8 does NOT equal perfection when viewed on a ten-point scale. It's not rocket science. 

Overstreet even allows bindery defects on 9.9s. 

Agreed but when you are paying 10X Overstreet for a graded 9.8 you want it to 'look' perfect.  CGC will knock a book with a hint of a Back cover fingerprint out of 9.8 but yet allow a dangling, in your face, corner chip to keep a 9.8 . It's crazy !

[Hwachi Sama]

Thanks for all of the great input everyone! I would have to agree with Bomber-Bob a little bit more here, though. I understand that 9.8 does not mean completely perfect, but when you're paying 3x or more for a 9.8 than a 9.6, they say it's near mint/mint, and on a 10 point scale it's 98% toward perfect, I feel like you should really have to scour the comic for any defects, not see them upon first cursory inspection. Maybe I'm just too OCD for this enterprise 

[The Lions Den]

As one of my friends put it: "There has to be some reason a book is a 9.8 instead of a 9.9 or 10.0..." 

Unfortunately, sometimes the reason is staring you right in the face... 

[fastballspecial]

A lot of collectors are OCD when they get into slabs. The SW is a bigger issue for me. The MTU doesn't bother me a bit.
But as someone pointed out they could have been before or after. 

[jcjames]

That MTU definitely looks like SCS with the staple tear and the inner pages hanging out the bottom of the book.

What does the bottom staple look like. From the pic it kinda looks like it's got a high staple tear also.

And the MTU also looks like it has a bindery tear at the top also (although not reflected back like in the SW).

So it was probably an honest 9.8 that got dropped or rough-handled and the inner pages pulled the staples downward.

 

[dfx1]

Those inner well sleeve designs sometimes annoy me. The white spec on the T in lower Nintendo annoys me.

[Mercury Man]

This hobby ain't for the OCD crowd that is for sure.