Cracking a CGC blue label and finding restoration 0

[pickycollector]

Hello all,

I just received yesterday a book that I bought on eBay for my personal collection. It is an Atom #7 CGC 8.0 for which I paid $200. I thought it was a nice looking 8.0 that would be a great upgrade with better centering to my current copy and was very happy when I had it in hands. All my Atom books are raw and sitting in Mylars except for the Showcase issues and issues #1,2 so the #7 had to be raw too.

However, after cracking it, the spine did look suspicious to me and I used a magnifying loop to inspect it further. I was rather shocked when I did discover two tiny dots of black color touch-up on spine. I just cannot believe that CGC missed that. Obviously I do not want to keep this book for my collection now.

If it was a raw book, returning it for a refund would be simple. However, this was formerly a CGC unrestored blue label and no longer as is now that it is cracked. Obviously, I cannot hold responsible the seller for that restoration as it was not his fault (unless he was the original submitter) and that color touch-up would have been hard to detect with certainty through the plastic holder while there can be no doubt now when looking at it raw.

So what can I do? Contact the seller and ask if I can return it? Contact CGC? Eat the loss? 

In either case I will be very anxious and nervous the next time I want to crack a CGC blue label....

Your comments and advices will be very welcome

Edited August 30, 2019 by pickycollector

[Krismusic]

it could happen how tiny were the dots. I guess CGC might have missed that I would contact them and the seller and see what they say. I am sure CGC will try to make this right. As for the seller maybe if CGC confirms what your saying is true the seller can offer a bit of a discount or see what they can do about the CT and removing it. 

Best of luck

[lizards2]

Is it in the Hawkman wing area on the spine? You should post a raw scan.

CT is something else I guess I should start looking for when cracking books out of their slabs. Although, this kind of monkey business usually "pops" to my eye.

I've had some good surprises releasing CGC books before, but I've also had my share of disappointments too, as far as grades go.

Edited August 30, 2019 by lizards2

[comicquant]

Could you post some pics where you've zoomed in on the CT.  Its odd that there would be CT when they've left other spots on the spine where you can see micro-tics that have broken color.  Did you backlight the front cover to see if you can see the CT blocking the light on the inside of the front cover?  

[pickycollector]

I will try to post a zoom picture of the raw book later tonight although it may be hard to see without a magnifying loop. The ink added is not visible from the inside front cover but with the loop you can see that there is some tiny dot of black pen added which has a different tone of black in that specific area from the rest of the spine black line.

[entalmighty1]

Aren't you being a little picky here?  

[pickycollector]

Do you mean that it is ok to have a blue label with only two dots of color touch-up?

[Artboy99]

I had something similar happen to me on a book I had bought which was an X-men 101. Upon cracking it and inspecting I found a small dot of color touch. When I contacted CGC regarding it they told me if the color touch was not done to improve the visual appeal of the book it is just a marking on the book, treated no different than as if someone had wrote on the cover and graded accordingly. When I asked why the mark wasn't in the notes they said markings on the cover are not always noted.

If you look at it from that perspective you have a nice raw 8.0 book with a couple of small marks on it.

Is it possible it is color touch and it was missed? Possibly. I will say where the dots on your book are located is highly suspect but then if someone was to color touch your book why not add a black dot over top of a spine tick?

My opinion is you have a raw 8.0 with some marks on it. Enjoy.

 

Edited August 30, 2019 by Artboy99

[Old_Man_Adam]

IMO once the book is graded by a third party company ( CGC) it places the onus and responsibility off the seller of the said comic - maybe he knew , maybe he didn’t but I couldn’t imagine KNOWINGLY sending a book to get graded with resto as it nukes the value of all but the most expensive books , missing it altogether on the sellers part is more likely . I’m also surprised how it could be missed , the books generally spend enough time onsite ... I see this more of a CGC issue ...

[theCapraAegagrus]

Restored comic are not garbage.

Why are people treating R comic like they have the Black Plague waiting to destroy their comic collection?

I would simply keep the book. It looks very nice.

[Old_Man_Adam]

6 minutes ago, Artboy99 said:

My opinion is you have a raw 8.0 with some marks on it. Enjoy.

He said it better 

[entalmighty1]

29 minutes ago, pickycollector said:

Do you mean that it is ok to have a blue label with only two dots of color touch-up?

I was mostly teasing you about your name, but color touch doesn't bother me that much either. 

Carry on!

[Boric Gold]

10 minutes ago, Artboy99 said:

I had something similar happen to me on a book I had bought which was an X-men 101. Upon cracking it and inspecting I found a small dot of color touch. When I contacted CGC regarding it they told me if the color touch was not done to improve the visual appeal of the book it is just a marking on the book, treated no different than as if someone had wrote on the cover and graded accordingly. When I asked why the mark wasn't in the notes they said markings on the cover are not always noted.

 

 

this has always bothered me...we've all seen books with the date written on it in grease pencil and this has less of an impact on grade than a touch of ink on the spine. Shouldn't all ink or writing on the cover be subject to a downgrade?

[sfcityduck]

The "Certified Guarantee Company" does NOT guarantee their evaluation of a book.  From this website, what they guarantee is that the "Collectibles are authentic and have been inspected by at least two professionals."  That's it.  They also state: 

Quote

"For CGC-graded Collectibles, the assigned grade represents our opinion, as grading is subjective. Because of the fragile nature of these Collectibles, the grade is not guaranteed."  

Finally, CGC states that even the minimal guarantee they do make as to authenticity is voided if you crack the comic out of the holder.  

In sum, what is going on here is that everyone is taking CGC on faith, because they are NOT guaranteeing their grade and evaluation, and there's no recourse against CGC if they get it wrong.  Pretty awesome business model!  Having said that, they have every incentive to try as hard as they can to grade accurately because the only thing they are selling is their reputation.

[Artboy99]

1 minute ago, Boric Gold said:

this has always bothered me...we've all seen books with the date written on it in grease pencil and this has less of an impact on grade than a touch of ink on the spine. Shouldn't all ink or writing on the cover be subject to a downgrade?

in this case I think it is. To me visually the book looks better than an 8.0, perhaps graded an 8.0 because the small ink marks were taken as a defect and deducted from the overall grade.

[Jaydee]

13 minutes ago, theCapraAegagrus said:

Restored comic are not garbage.

Why are people treating R comic like they have the Black Plague waiting to destroy their comic collection?

I would simply keep the book. It looks very nice.

YES YES and MORE YES!!!!   Purple Label isnt the death nail. 

[theCapraAegagrus]

Just now, Jaydee said:

YES YES and MORE YES!!!!   Purple Label isnt the death nail. 

I know we call it the "PLOD", but I like to think it has more to do with the seller's ability to cash in vs an un-restored copy.

I personally don't like the look of the CGC Restoration label (purple just distracts too much from the cover(s). I have no problems with owning an old, raw, comic with a small about of restoration.

(Most - there are some Frankenstein monsters out there) comics deserve love, too!

[Midwest Comicman]

3 minutes ago, Jaydee said:

YES YES and MORE YES!!!!   Purple Label isnt the death nail. 

Especially with GA books, the newer the book, the less I like it

[Artboy99]

15 minutes ago, theCapraAegagrus said:

Restored comic are not garbage.

Why are people treating R comic like they have the Black Plague waiting to destroy their comic collection?

I would simply keep the book. It looks very nice.

If you buy a book and you know it is restored when you buy it because the restoration is declared then I agree with you. If given a choice between a book with restoration on it or the same book with the restoration removed leaving visually ugly gashes of cover removal I choose the previous.

It is something else entirely to buy a book that you are assured isn't restored, paying unrestored prices to discover it is restored and that is what is at issue here.

[pickycollector]

1 minute ago, Jaydee said:

YES YES and MORE YES!!!!   Purple Label isnt the death nail. 

There is a BIG difference. Purple labels sell for MUCH LESS than blue labels. You should not pay blue label price for a book that should sit in a purple label.

This is just an Atom #7, can you imagine if it was an Amazing Fantasy #15 instead?