Examples of where you bought the book, not the label 3 3

[01TheDude]

This common saying around here about the importance of the look of a book can be fascinating to me.

Please share cases (hopefully with pictures of the slabbed books) where you ignored the grade the book received and bought it anyway. Perhaps it was being sold at a bargain-- share if that factored in. I'm sure we have plenty of people with examples where this was the case.

[MGsimba77]

Usually I try to buy both book and label but it's a case by case with me. These are a few examples of where I was seeking out 9.8 but chose eye appeal. I also have a #74 in 9.4 that I wanted higher grade but opted for the centering. Don't have the pic since it's being reholdered due to slab being smeared with giant Newton rings. Only the 80 here which was bought here on the board was at a decent price which did factor in. 

[badback83]

I don’t know if this counts but here is one of mine.  The spine is a little blown out, but the colors and lack of Marvel chipping definitely raise the eye appeal I believe.  Now, I don’t really disagree with the grade, but I try to stay around the good/good+ range.  

[theCapraAegagrus]

45 minutes ago, DocHoppus182 said:

I don’t know if this counts but here is one of mine.  The spine is a little blown out, but the colors and lack of Marvel chipping definitely raise the eye appeal I believe.  Now, I don’t really disagree with the grade, but I try to stay around the good/good+ range.  

I would definitely say that the front cover on this one makes it look better than a 1.8. Very nice.

[marvelmaniac]

I only own two CGC graded books, both were bought because I needed the issue to complete my runs of that series and the price was right for the book, did not care at all about it being graded.

 

[01TheDude]

1 hour ago, DocHoppus182 said:

I don’t know if this counts but here is one of mine.  The spine is a little blown out, but the colors and lack of Marvel chipping definitely raise the eye appeal I believe.  Now, I don’t really disagree with the grade, but I try to stay around the good/good+ range.  

That is the type of book that might drive some people crazy in a grading contest. Thanks for sharing

 

[01TheDude]

8 hours ago, MGsimba77 said:

Usually I try to buy both book and label but it's a case by case with me. These are a few examples of where I was seeking out 9.8 but chose eye appeal. I also have a #74 in 9.4 that I wanted higher grade but opted for the centering. Don't have the pic since it's being re-holdered due to slab being smeared with giant Newton rings. Only the 80 here which was bought here on the board was at a decent price which did factor in. 

 

Those are some amazing examples of just missing the 9.8 - with the smallest issue dropping them to 9.6. One might even argue that some could get a 9.8 grade on another day.

I also appreciate a book that was well made with sharp corners and well aligned spines. While CGC allows some wiggle room there with the old production error, ultimately the book is only as good as it presents. Not that I don't also appreciate a wacky looking production error now and then. 

If there is one thing I could change about my rack selection process back in the 1970s- it would be to be sure to find the best copy in the stack. My young mind was more excited to read the book and have a copy at times. Maybe it was for the best-- because there were times when there were not a lot of options condition-wise and a snobby-me kid might have passed on some great reads.

[badback83]

2 hours ago, TwoPiece said:

I would definitely say that the front cover on this one makes it look better than a 1.8. Very nice.

I thought so as well.  The back cover is pretty clean as well.

[theCapraAegagrus]

15 minutes ago, DocHoppus182 said:

I thought so as well.  The back cover is pretty clean as well.

You can tell the spine is destroyed, and why the grade was given, but it's a looker for sure.

That could possibly be the best-looking book in that issue + grade.

Edited March 26, 2019 by TwoPiece

[letsgrumble]

The 4.5 PLOD label may not be appealing.

But when you consider it's a sharp copy of a key book that's tough to find in grade - with the only infraction being is a dab of glue at the base of the spine - then I'm buying this book for 70% less than the going rate for a blue label in similar grade.

In my collection it goes.

[Wall-Crawler]

I am trying to complete my ASM run.  I had wanted a nice ASM #3 for awhile...Originally, for most of my Ditko/Lee era books, I had wanted to be in the 6.0 range (except for when/if I get an AF #15 or ASM #1 as a 6.0 in those ranges likely out of reach for foreseeable future) but I pounced on this ASM #3 CGC 5.5 as I thought it looked way better than grade assigned.

I don't have a scan of the back cover but the tiny stains on the back and tiny tears are barely noticeable in the slab.

Edited March 26, 2019 by Wall-Crawler

[Jaylam]

Maybe we should start a contest: best looking or best eye appeal for a given book in grade or a range of grades. One that comes to mind that has lots of copies with varying eye appeal is Fantastic Four #67. It is notorious for having tilted or out of center wraps and the white cover having dust or sun-shadows. Here's my 8.0 copy that I picked up just because the whites on the cover looked so good, with very little or no shading or shadows. The wrap is pretty well centered, but still has a very slight tilt to it.

[BriD.]

I'm not a fan of brittle pages but I really wanted a copy of this. It looks great and I got it for a good price. I'm interested in upgrading to a non brittle copy. There have been a couple up for sale in slightly higher grade, but they just didn't look nearly as good even considering the writing on this cover. If the right copy comes along I'll try to get it but I'm fine with this copy for now.

Sorry for the bad pic

 

[MGsimba77]

5 hours ago, 01TheDude said:

One might even argue that some could get a 9.8 grade on another day

I've combed over every non 9.8 I have and the only one that I'm relatively sure of an upgrade is a 9.6 iron Man 16 since it has a small pressable defect. Out of those I listed the ASM 110 is just one corner short of a 9.8. I think CGC allows slight wear on 2 corners but not 3.

5 hours ago, 01TheDude said:

If there is one thing I could change about my rack selection process back in the 1970s- it would be to be sure to find the best copy in the stack. My young mind was more excited to read the book and have a copy at times. Maybe it was for the best-- because there were times when there were not a lot of options condition-wise and a snobby-me kid might have passed on some great reads.

Where did you buy your comics in the 70's? First comics I bought were in 1991 at my LCS

[MGsimba77]

3 hours ago, Jaylam said:

Maybe we should start a contest: best looking or best eye appeal for a given book in grade or a range of grades. One that comes to mind that has lots of copies with varying eye appeal is Fantastic Four #67. It is notorious for having tilted or out of center wraps and the white cover having dust or sun-shadows. Here's my 8.0 copy that I picked up just because the whites on the cover looked so good, with very little or no shading or shadows. The wrap is pretty well centered, but still has a very slight tilt to it.

Nice date stamp!!! Love those! Looks like a bright copy! One particular pet peeve is when they're overwrapped in silver & bronze. In other words when the price tag is too close to the spine or in some cases kind of half visible. Those are maddening 

[Cat-Man_America]

15 hours ago, 01TheDude said:

This common saying around here about the importance of the look of a book can be fascinating to me.

Please share cases (hopefully with pictures of the slabbed books) where you ignored the grade the book received and bought it anyway. Perhaps it was being sold at a bargain-- share if that factored in. I'm sure we have plenty of people with examples where this was the case.

Interesting topic, but I'm not convinced that the terms grade and label are synonymous.  High grade collectors buy the book, not the label, but are compulsive about condition.  An essential aspect of what we collect requires encapsulation from a reliable third party grading service combined with an aesthetically pleasing label that doesn't detract from the book.  That last part is where it gets tricky.  

My point is that the options are limited for HG collectors because the current CGC label design is quite literally all about the grade.  BTW, when I post images, I don't post labels.  So, from my perspective, It's still all about the book.

 

[batman_fan]

Light tan pages and slight restoration were big no-nos for me but I figured this was likely my only chance to own a copy.

[01TheDude]

13 hours ago, MGsimba77 said:

I've combed over every non 9.8 I have and the only one that I'm relatively sure of an upgrade is a 9.6 iron Man 16 since it has a small pressable defect. Out of those I listed the ASM 110 is just one corner short of a 9.8. I think CGC allows slight wear on 2 corners but not 3.

Where did you buy your comics in the 70's? First comics I bought were in 1991 at my LCS

At a 7-11 about 2 miles from my house. I would go on monthly collections for my paper routes and with the money I earned, I would continue on to the store on my bike (especially tricky to do during the winter months in the south suburbs of Chicago). I probably did this for about 2 or 3 years (1976-1978). Finding that comic book rack was a great day-- and it was the closest 7-11 in my area. I would buy a copy of every single Marvel superhero book on the rack available. I also bought a bunch of candy bars and a superhero Slurpee cup. It was awesome. One time my friends mom happened to be in the store observing my purchases and many years later remarked how she was impressed with my routine. I had the money- not an allowance-- and I bought what I wanted. Times were not exactly great in those years for kids in our town-- so someone busting their tail with 3 paper routes and saving money to get what they wanted was not typical. My favorite purchase though was a Schwinn 36x36 Chrome BMX bike that was about $140. I rode the hell out of that sucker - football/wrestling practice (around 7th grade to sophomore year being able to drive)-- and before we moved (just after high school), a friends kid bought it from me for $100. Best $40 I ever spent.

We didn't really have a LCS to work with in my town back in those days--- one popped up eventually but it was right around when I stopped collecting and pretty much had bagged and boxed up my books for long term storage (well until I realized I needed to add backing boards and get them into new bags-- at least once every ten years or so).

Edited March 27, 2019 by 01TheDude
added some more details

[SuperBird]

I normally avoid restored, but...

[badback83]

1 minute ago, SuperBird said:

I normally avoid restored, but...

I’m done, you win.