Cracking a CGC blue label and finding restoration 0

[PopKulture]

2 hours ago, entalmighty1 said:

That blue label getting a 6.0 is absurd.  I've got 5.0s that look better.

Regarding the CSS 20, I have to agree with you. Maybe a 6.0 with the light creasing and few surface ticks, but not with the spine wear/abrasion also.  

[Old_Man_Adam]

14 minutes ago, chromium said:

So either they missed it the first time over a decade ago, or by sheer magic a tear seal grew and nurtured in the slab.

I just spit a bit of my drink out .... good times ... thanks for that  

[PopKulture]

1 hour ago, The Lions Den said:

Ask yourself if it's worth the time and trouble to pursue any of the other options. 

I think this is at the crux of the situation. 

And as at least one user suggested, the upside is that this was not an extremely expensive book on the order of an Amazing Fantasy 15. 

[The Lions Den]

11 minutes ago, PopKulture said:

Regarding the CSS 20, I have to agree with you. Maybe a 6.0 with the light creasing and few surface ticks, but not with the spine wear/abrasion also.  

[Larryw7]

35 minutes ago, PopKulture said:

Regarding the CSS 20, I have to agree with you. Maybe a 6.0 with the light creasing and few surface ticks, but not with the spine wear/abrasion also.  

People say grading is so much stricter now, but the comic shops I went to when I was a kid would have graded that CSS as no better than a VG.

[PopKulture]

4 minutes ago, Larryw7 said:

People say grading is so much stricter now, but the comic shops I went to when I was a kid would have graded that CSS as no better than a VG.

And I saw a scan of a Church book the other day that was a 9.4 and boasted tan lines the whole right margin. When I was a kid, I bought comics from a few different dealers who quoted Overstreet: "any tanning on cover is no better than a VG."

I have an Amazing Spiderman 20 to this day from one of those dealers, Bob, which would grade maybe a 7.0 or better today. Yesterdays tanning, today's "dust shadow" I guess. 

Edited August 30, 2019 by PopKulture

[wombat]

I don't see how the seller can be held responsible. I would never hold a seller to a higher standard than CGC. The other issue is how do you prove the cracked out book is the same that you bought? And I don't mean "you" personally, but just in general. 

[sfcityduck]

2 hours ago, PopKulture said:

And I saw a scan of a Church book the other day that was a 9.4 and boasted tan lines the whole right margin.

Are you sure that wasn't a dust shadow?

[the blob]

Moral of the story is don't crack your books of of slabs?

[PopKulture]

12 minutes ago, sfcityduck said:

Are you sure that wasn't a dust shadow?

No, I'd chalk it up to general exposure - mostly from the light, I'd guess -  but I often see the terms used interchangeably. I guess it owes as much to semantics as science - trying to quantify what the contribution is from light, air, dust, etc. The end result is that a portion of the book peeking out of a stack winds up discolored, and that CGC doesn't treat it as harshly as grading standards of yesteryear.   

[pickycollector]

Here are scan of the book now raw and close-up pictures. The two dots are between the right wing and the chimney. I have hard time being able to take a good picture of them and these are the best I could get with my iphone. I realize when looking at the pictures that it is not obvious but they are more visible when looking at them in hands under light with a magnifying loop. One dot is near the chimney, the other one is near the three little green points.  The 1st picture after the scan shows a little bit of reflection from the black pen ink though. Sorry I cannot get better pictures so don't jump at me because of pictures not clear enough. The dots are tiny but they are there.

[KryptoMayor]

That’s not color touch IMO. Does not look purposely done to improve the condition of the book. 

[pickycollector]

15 minutes ago, KryptoMayor said:

That’s not color touch IMO. Does not look purposely done to improve the condition of the book. 

I wish you were right but unfortunately it is color touch although hard to see clearly in pictures above indeed; if you could see the book in hands with a magnifying loop, you would agree.

I don't know how to get better pictures 

Edited August 31, 2019 by pickycollector

[dupont2005]

I can see the dots but can’t tell what flaw they’re hiding. Before the pics when I read color touch I was thinking black sharpie on the spine

Edited August 31, 2019 by dupont2005

[The Lions Den]

3 hours ago, the blob said:

Moral of the story is don't crack your books of of slabs?

I can honestly say that I've done it many times, and most of the time it doesn't pay off... 

[the blob]

Why risk wrecking a not so expensive book to get it from a 7.5 to an 8? Nuts.

[the blob]

2 minutes ago, The Lions Den said:

I can honestly say that I've done it many times, and most of the time it doesn't pay off... 

Obviously it is your collection and you want to present and store things in a way that makes you happy and mylars are snazzy, but I just see tossing $50 or whatever in grading fees.

Edited August 31, 2019 by the blob

[pickycollector]

6 minutes ago, dupont2005 said:

I can see the dots but can’t tell what flaw they’re hiding. Before the pics when I read color touch I was thinking black sharpie on the spine

Each of them are hiding a stress line that would show some white if the dots were not there.

[The Lions Den]

1 minute ago, the blob said:

Obviously it is your collection and you want to present and store things in a way that makes you happy and mylars are snazzy, but I just see tossing $50 or whatever in grading fees.

By way of explanation, I've cracked out many books for possible upgrades (for other people) and most of the time it doesn't work out...

[kav]

9 hours ago, Jaydee said:

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

'knell'