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Can a press possibly bring this ASM 300 9.6 to a 9.8?
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25 posts in this topic

I'm trying to figure out if my book has any potential for a 9.8 with a press. The only grader notes are "very light spine stress lines break color." The book was graded in June 2018. I see from the CGC scale a 9.6 has "several minor...handling defects" and a 9.8 has "negligible handling defects."  I know a press won't help with stress lines that break color, but I'm wondering if the fact that they are very light (I can't even see them at all when looking at the book) means I could possibly improve the book slightly with a press and then get lucky with another grader to get a 9.8. Also, as shown in the cover picture, there does appear to be a 1mm length tear on the top left corner spine. I'm also considering having it signed by McFarlane and Michelinie and then pressed. 

Unfortunately my scanner added a bunch of dust artifacts or something, which makes it look like the book is covered in scratches, but the pictures should at least give a good view of the spine. Thanks for any help!

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Edited by SBRobin
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Sometimes this stuff is like a dog chasing his tail.

I got a Hulk 271 back at 9.6... with no grading notes at all. LOL

If you couldn't find anything wrong, mates, why not a 9.8? :)

I did not resubmit... but to each his own. Good luck!

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Thanks all. I think I'm going to press and resubmit and see what happens. I'll probably add Michelinie too since Desert Winds has an upcoming signing with him and today is the submission deadline. Too bad there is no word on McFarlane this year. 

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17 minutes ago, TwoPiece said:

I would say "no", but I'm no expert.

+1

The color breaking defects aren't going away with a press. The only chance of a 9.8 is a gift grade IMHO.

Edit: great looking book though, and it will look even better with a Michelinie sig.

Edited by Catwomancomics
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I would assume the colour breaking defect is what might keep it from a 9.8 but I could be wrong and maybe if you get that spine stress out it might get a 9.8 but I don't think so but I am no expert and best of luck.

Also does that book look like it has minor NR (Newton rings)?

Best of luck

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Yes, it has pretty significant Newton Rings. Every book I have from CGC has Newton Rings. I just live with them. Sending it off to Desert Winds now to get Michelini. I'm selling my original ASM 300 6.5 to pay for the sig and submission. Hoping for a gift 9.8. Will let you guys know results in a few months. 

Edited by SBRobin
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11 hours ago, TwoPiece said:

I would say "no", but I'm no expert.

And I would be inclined to agree. Whatever else is happening that we could only see by viewing the spine edge on, a worm's eye view, that right edge appears way to deckled for me to get this into 9.8 territory, even with a pressing to smooth out that deckle-right-edged coast-line. If the rest is as good as it seems, 9.6 seems like full boat to me on this one.

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1 minute ago, James J Johnson said:

that right edge appears way to deckled

That is a very common printing defect on this book and CGC doesn't count it against the book at all when grading this issue. 

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3 hours ago, SBRobin said:

That is a very common printing defect on this book and CGC doesn't count it against the book at all when grading this issue. 

I'm aware of that. Any of these with real close to a perfectly straight right edge are more than likely trimmed. But they do exist, I put away several. Now, question is when is the deckling, those right edge serrations that are typical of the production on this book, severe enough to approach a point that will affect the grade? I'm looking at the right edge, as best as I can, not easy through the slab, and without a high res very close-up image and I may be wrong, but I'm interpreting the image that the right edge scallops may be severe enough in several places to have torn into the paper. Not just the usual rough cut (more accurately, deckles or scallops). If that's the case and I'm not seeing something that isn't there, then 9.8 is out of the question, IMO. Mild deckling = OK. Can 9.8 on this book because almost all were produced that way. Moderate to severe deckling/scalloping that created micro tears at the nodes of the scallops, no. Not 9.8 material.

I never looked into it, but does anyone know if these were produced/manufactured on machinery other than what produced issues #299 and #301? The right edge on 300 strikes me as reminiscent of O-Pee-Chee cards vs. Topps cards, the O-Pee-chees cut with a mechanism that produced a serrated, sawtooth type edge rather than the relatively smooth cuts on the Topps cards. Very odd how most of the 300s are like this and not the 299 and 301.

What's even more puzzling is that the scalloping does not appear to be random! There's typically a repetitive pattern, the waves repeating at set distances. Was this book guillotine cut with that deckled pattern guillotine blade that looks shaped almost like a piece of decoratively scalloped molding for a wall/ceiling juncture? If this is rough cut, as in Marvel chips and pre-chips, the rough cut with dull blades produces random tears, chips, and pre-chips. The right edges of 300s all seem to hare the same repetitive decorative pattern, and the byproduct of dragging a dull blade across the paper would be random damage and aberrations from a straight edge, not a predictable, repetitive scalloped pattern.

Edited by James J Johnson
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7 hours ago, BlowUpTheMoon said:
On 5/10/2019 at 6:49 AM, SBRobin said:

I'll probably add Michelinie too since Desert Winds has an upcoming signing with him and today is the submission deadline.

Do research on Desert Winds. 

What he said

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7 hours ago, SBRobin said:

Assuming Desert Winds doesn't mess it up in handling, I would lose faith in CGC if it got a 9.4. 

Why? For every book that gains a tic at resubmission, pressed or not, some percentage probably drops a tic. Graders are human and grading is an art. A visual art. There are those that are more skilled than others at comic grading, and the graders at CGC are pro quality, among the strongest and most consistent graders in the hobby. But they're not using rulers, weights, or any type of measures to check. It's done with their eyes and as scientifically as they approach the grading table, grading is more art and subjective than science and objective. And the way a grader or jury of graders sees a book at noon on Monday may change at the second viewing the same day at 2PM!

I would have more cause to lose faith if a book dropped by 2 or 3 tics, to 9.2 or 9.0. Or submitted 10 books and many of them returned minus a tic or two. Or graded with a different colored label. And even then that's occurred on super-rare occasion, again, even the most seasoned pro is still subject to error, though it will happen far less frequently to a pro, which is the difference between a pro and a joe.

But one book? A .2 net loss on resubmission? Nothing to lose faith in whatsoever.

Edited by James J Johnson
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