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Modern Age Spine Cracking
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12 posts in this topic

Ok, so I’ve read several previous threads on how spine issues can effect a book’s grade.  However, some of the explanations lack pictures to illustrate certain points.  Here is a copy of Lobo’s Back.  It is in excellent shape, except for the spine cracking from being read.  For this Modern era book, assuming everything else is perfect, how would this book be graded? Are there allowances made for this type of wear?  Thank you in advance for your input. 

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In my limited experience, CGC is pretty forgiving about the spine cracks as long as the marks are not visible on the front cover. It seems inevitable due to the way those books are bound.

You're more likely to get points deducted for the small tears at the top and bottom of the spine, and little scratches near the top staple. 

Edited by adampasz
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2 hours ago, TwoPiece said:

No back cover? 9.0?

Sorry, no back cover pic cause I was just hoping to gain some insight into how spine cracking effects the grade, i.e., if a Modern Age book which looks perfect except for spine cracking, is still worth having graded.  

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Just now, Rayzor13 said:

Sorry, no back cover pic cause I was just hoping to gain some insight into how spine cracking effects the grade, i.e., if a Modern Age book which looks perfect except for spine cracking, is still worth having graded.  

Unacceptable!

We do need a back cover shot to grade most accurately, though. It's a less-educated guess without it.

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Not sure why you continue to ask about the impact of specific types of damage to a book. This is simply not the way books are graded--- there is a cumulative effect of what is allowed in a grade. So seeing the entire book-- using a SCAN of the front and the back is usually enough for people to judge the overall grade of a book. Multiple pictures of each and every corner etc is often times information overload. If you see a specific damage-- yes-- a closeup of that might be useful. But taking a picture of things that are clearly not damaged does not help me, only confuses me as to why this was included.

There are resources available that describe what items are allowable at each grade level. It is not a points system-- but an overall level of wear. The higher the grade-- the more specific this stuff can be-- certainly -- but it isn't like there is a guide to assessing what one spine tick impacts a grade because other things-- like a NCB crease might cover that grade break down.

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22 hours ago, adampasz said:

In my limited experience, CGC is pretty forgiving about the spine cracks as long as the marks are not visible on the front cover. It seems inevitable due to the way those books are bound.

You're more likely to get points deducted for the small tears at the top and bottom of the spine, and little scratches near the top staple. 

I'm also no expert, but this makes intuitive sense to me. I remember buying Sandmans off the rack in the 1990s where most-to-all issues had this kind of cracking... probably safe to assume it's a production defect unless it seems worse than average. Not really sure what CGC would say about those teeny tiny corner splits.

 

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4 hours ago, 01TheDude said:

Not sure why you continue to ask about the impact of specific types of damage to a book. This is simply not the way books are graded--- there is a cumulative effect of what is allowed in a grade. So seeing the entire book-- using a SCAN of the front and the back is usually enough for people to judge the overall grade of a book. Multiple pictures of each and every corner etc is often times information overload. If you see a specific damage-- yes-- a closeup of that might be useful. But taking a picture of things that are clearly not damaged does not help me, only confuses me as to why this was included.

There are resources available that describe what items are allowable at each grade level. It is not a points system-- but an overall level of wear. The higher the grade-- the more specific this stuff can be-- certainly -- but it isn't like there is a guide to assessing what one spine tick impacts a grade because other things-- like a NCB crease might cover that grade break down.

I feel you.  I guess the OCD part of me assumes / feels that the grading deductions should be cumulative, i.e. - 1 spine tick = 1/4 deduct, 1/8 tear = 1/2 point deduct, etc., whereas it’s more of a subjective system.  Trying not to step on any toes here as I appreciate everyone’s time and input.

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If anyone happens to have time to point our some of the specific defects that push this to the 8.5-9.0 range, it would be very educational and appreciated!

I'm looking in contrast at the Hulk 181 a few threads up (see link below) with the color breaking spine ticks, color breaking crease at the right side of the front cover, and apparent yellowing around all the edges of the back cover, which came back at a 9.0 and trying to understand what the issues are with this one --

Here, I see the spine splits top and bottom, the spine edge wear which seems to have no grading standards, and some rubbing near the staples on the front cover, and a non-color breaking bend near the middle of the spine on the back.  Did I miss anything big? 

The Hulk 181 seems cumulatively and obviously worse than this.

Is there an issue that modern books are graded more harshly?  Or maybe I'm over-penalizing for color-breaking ticks and creases and not enough for spine splits (although you can't see the spine edge on the Hulk photos, so who knows)?  Thanks!!

 

Edited by unagi
typo
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I loved that lobo series.   All that’s left is unstapled pages.  Good question as I was wondering my self and hey now I don’t need to ask. Oooooo moving out of noob territory. The air here smells good

Edited by DkpNelson
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