Bought a CGC 9.8 but... 0

[Chudders]

Hi All,

Just wanted a piece of advice/feedback please.  I recently bought, via eBay, a 9.8 copy of All New Marvel Now! Point One #1 for the Kamala Khan first full appearance.

The seller has been great, but when the well-packed slab arrived today, I noted a couple of things that concerned me.

The first are two colour-breaking stress lines on the spine and the second is what looks like a small colour-breaking crease on the bottom corner (spine).

I feel pretty sure that this is problematic for a 9.8, but wanted a second opinion or two before I approach the seller for a refund.

I paid FMV (as suggested by Go Collect) and it was not advertised as having any problems.

What do you think?

Many thanks.

[MadGenius]

The issue on the bottom corner is nothing to be concerned about. It's a bindery tear and is common on thick books like this.

The color breaking spine ticks are more concerning. Generally speaking you wouldn't see those on a 9.8. I don't think it was damaged during shipping, but one of two things happened: 1) CGC overlooked that at the time of grading or 2) The spine ticks occurred during the encapsulation process.

Not really the seller's fault as you got what you paid for: a CGC 9.8 comic as certified by CGC but it's understandable if this wasn't what you were hoping to receive.

EDIT: It's also possible CGC did see the spine ticks and concluded the book still fit the criteria as a 9.8.

Edited April 25, 2020 by MadGenius

[vheflin]

A 9.8 can have maximum 2 small defects.  You have one small defect and one minuscule defect so it's good.

[Chudders]

Thanks for the thoughts guys.  I did think that colour-breaking spine ticks automatically disqualified a book from 9.8?  My LCBS owner often gives me that guidance.  I thought a book maxed at 9.4 if the colour breaks in a spine tick/stress?

Still learning though - hence my seeking out the input of seasoned veterans : )

Edited April 25, 2020 by Chudders

[Avi]

7 minutes ago, vheflin said:

A 9.8 can have maximum 2 small defects.  You have one small defect and one minuscule defect so it's good.

where is this graph from?

[vheflin]

5 minutes ago, Avi said:

where is this graph from?

Edited April 25, 2020 by vheflin

[vheflin]

12 minutes ago, Chudders said:

Thanks for the thoughts guys.  I did think that colour-breaking spine ticks automatically disqualified a book from 9.8?  My LCBS owner often gives me that guidance.  I thought a book maxed at 9.4 if the colour breaks in a spine tick/stress?

Still learning though - hence my seeking out the input of seasoned veterans : )

You may be right about that, I'm no seasoned veteran.  You do have a heavy zoom on that pic.  A picture of the whole cover would be helpful to better see the size of the tick(s).

If you zoom in enough on any comic you will find flaws eventually.

Edited April 25, 2020 by vheflin

[Chudders]

Here's a bigger picture for scaling, as requested.

[Chudders]

4 minutes ago, Bax77 said:

What's the difference between a 9.4, a 9.6, a 9.8, and a 9.9? Ask him that, I bet he has no idea. His advice sounds.... uneducated.

To be fair, the guidance he gives me when inspecting my raw books is often right on the nose when I see the grades I eventually get from CGC and CBCS

[Mercury Man]

Once again the gradient of the  9.2, 9.4, 9.6. 9.8. 9.9 rears it's ugly head.   

[JollyComics]

Listen to your heart. You can decide to keep or return it back.

Be aware that seller can block you after returning the book and getting the full refund.

Most dealers do not like returns but I have no problems.  One biggest con is $5 transaction fee is non-refundable. PayPal will keep that amount.

[Chudders]

I am trying to be rational and informed about this decision.  If two spine ticks are OK at 9.8, then I might consider keeping it.  If I have bought a bit of a turkey for $300, then I want to return it.  The seller seems like a decent guy in all of our interactions, so I don't want to be unreasonable.  I must admit to being pretty surprised when I saw the ticks - hence this thread.

[MadGenius]

It's probably a legit 9.8 even with the spine ticks. Are there nicer 9.8s out there? Probably, But by the letter of the law those are not egregious enough to say it can't possibly be a 9.8. 

What would I do in this situation? I wouldn't return it because the problem isn't on the seller. I assume there were pics of the book in the listing for you to examine and you chose to buy that particular book. If it bothers you, try to sell it to recoup your money and find another one. I've done this plenty of times. No guarantee you'll get all the money back you put into it, but chalk it up to the cost of doing business.

[Chudders]

Thanks for the replies.  Good food for thought

Would really value some additional views.

I am still trying to get a sense if two small ticks are acceptable at 9.8

I have never seen them on any of my other 9.8s...

[Logan510]

Not all 9.8's are created equal.

Were you able to see pictures of the book before your purchased it? In the future always ask for pictures and if they're not great pictures, ask for better ones, the worst they can do is say no.

If you're not happy with it and the money isn't a big deal, sell it and look for a copy that'll make you happier.

[lou_fine]

7 hours ago, Logan510 said:

Not all 9.8's are created equal.

Similarly, not all books are created equal.  

Since this is a $5.99 book, does it contain a lot maore pages than all of the other 9.8 graded books that you have in your collection?  

Just wondering since I have heard that on books that have many more pages (like the 68-page or 100-page GA books), CGC rightfully tends to be a little more forgiving on the number of acceptable defects as compared to one of those thin MA comic books.  

[Myowncollector]

6 hours ago, Logan510 said:

Not all 9.8's are created equal.

Were you able to see pictures of the book before your purchased it? In the future always ask for pictures and if they're not great pictures, ask for better ones, the worst they can do is say no.

If you're not happy with it and the money isn't a big deal, sell it and look for a copy that'll make you happier.

Right on. Majority of people buy the grade on the slab. If you aren't going to agree that cgc is the only grade that matters you need to only buy from sellers that have good pictures or will take some for you when you request them. Is the corner damage a tear or a crease. That book is known to have corner tears so that may go into their grading. To me it's not a 9.8 however I seen plenty of books I dont agree with. When you have a 9.7 you have to go one way or the other not saying this is a 9.7. The right thing to do is if you bought a book with bad pics then it's your fault and live with it. But if seller is willing to take it back then that's their decision and send it back. I usually just sell it for small profit or break even and try again.

[theCapraAegagrus]

It's a CGC 9.8.

[The Lions Den]

On 4/25/2020 at 3:33 PM, Chudders said:

Thanks for the replies.  Good food for thought

Would really value some additional views.

I am still trying to get a sense if two small ticks are acceptable at 9.8

I have never seen them on any of my other 9.8s...

I have a friend who grades high grade books all the time. He says this about the 9.8 grade: "There has to be something that keeps it from being a 9.9 or 10.0."  Makes sense to me...

[AndyFish]

A lot of newbies make the mistake of thinking a 9.8 is a perfect book, a 9.8 is a 10.0 with flaws.