Pantodude Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 (edited) GRRR! I mean, good evening folks. I've been trying to guestimate grades of late, hoping to improve. Curious how the gang would grade this book. The pix below are hopefully detailed enough despite the book being in a universal slab. Grade reveal at end (like in a few days i guess?), along with what I thought it could be, for what it's worth! And of course I start the fun with this: BTW, assume the faint straight line along bottom back cover is just case-related shadow, i.e., there is no color variation down there. I've seen many pictured slabs with this. Edited December 19, 2020 by Pantodude JPEGs broken after site upgrade? Galen130 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comicdonna Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 I'll guess 4.0 based on the amount of color that was scraped off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pantodude Posted July 31, 2020 Author Share Posted July 31, 2020 (edited) 16 minutes ago, comicdonna said: I'll guess 4.0 based on the amount of color that was scraped off. You mean from the mid-spine, rear mainly. Conveniently appears to be mostly isolated there. That is my assumption when grading this one. These Heritage Auction pix are very detailed! Edited July 31, 2020 by Pantodude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comicdonna Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 2 minutes ago, Pantodude said: You mean from the mid-spine, rear only. Conveniently appears to be isolated there? That's what I assumed when grading. These Heritage Auction pix are very detailed! The front cover has been scraped some, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silversurfer275 Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 4.5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KCOComics Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 4.5 / 5 I was going to comment that the colors look beautiful, but heritage is known for high contrast scans. Still a pretty looking book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmbassadorSlip Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 5.5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keys_Collector Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 10 hours ago, comicdonna said: I'll guess 4.0 based on the amount of color that was scraped off. I like to guess the grade in my own head then read the comments. 4.0 is what I had guessed as well. I have a 3.0 copy and this one looks about a grade point higher IMO. comicdonna 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theCapraAegagrus Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 4.5 IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galen130 Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 4.5 is a reach, but I'll stick with it. IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pantodude Posted July 31, 2020 Author Share Posted July 31, 2020 (edited) I guess we have enough folks putting their reps on the line to wrap this up, so the winner can brag and the losers can sulk for more of the weekend! Reveal: blue 5.5, off-white to white pages. AmbassadorSlip is the winner! Got it right on the nose. Congrats! My first impression was the cover looked quite nice with just minimal MC along right ege and rather sharp/nice edges and corners, with no significant creases or tears, with an especially nice unbroken color on this ridiculously dark front cover. The back cover looks really good...I can't see any issues except the mid-spine CT removal and the lone tiny mark lower right corner. Even the spine otherwise has minimal stress, because otherwise the front cover (which is so dark) would show it? I had not noticed that the small white area lower front cover might also have been some CT removal (as opposed to MC), but that is tiny on this otherwise nice black cover. So, overall I thought it was at least 6.0. So I was off, but not so off to be discouraged. So in short, I agree with the comment that the book presents really well, especially the dark areas of the front cover. The evident structural integrity of the spine (modest stress/wear) and those edges/corners, which are better than some 5.5s I've seen, counts for something too, as well as the OW/W pages. I wonder if it has a shot at a 6.0 at least, if resubmitted. Edited July 31, 2020 by Pantodude CournalCrunch and Keys_Collector 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldrover Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 Great looking book! I had a Hulk 1 7.5 with minor color touch, which when scraped and pressed, became a 6.5. Yours looks almost as good. If it hasn't been pressed, it's worth a press and resub IMHO. Pantodude 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primetime Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 22 hours ago, comicdonna said: I'll guess 4.0 based on the amount of color that was scraped off. yup comicdonna 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pantodude Posted August 1, 2020 Author Share Posted August 1, 2020 (edited) On 7/30/2020 at 9:45 PM, KCOComics said: 4.5 / 5 I was going to comment that the colors look beautiful, but heritage is known for high contrast scans. Still a pretty looking book. BTW, the colors on this book actually are exceptional. Whether or not HA scans have high contrast, I have yet to find Hulk #1 pix on HA (at this or any grade, and HA has sold many Hulk #1s over the years!) with colors that pop like this. I just checked HA's scans again....this book stands out without exception, even the thumbnail! So in this case, at least, the nicer colors do not appear to be due to peculiarity of HA scans, as confirmed in hand. The white areas in the text bubbles on the front cover are "whiter" than what I see on Hulk #1s in general, which makes the red and black pop in there. The yellow is brighter too. Because it's an all around thing, perhaps this book was printed rather early in the run, with fresher ink? Edited November 5, 2020 by Pantodude KCOComics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KCOComics Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 8 minutes ago, Pantodude said: BTW, the colors on this book actually are exceptional. Whether or not HA scans have high contrast, I have yet to find Hulk #1 pix on HA (at this or any grade, and HA has sold many Hulk #1s over the years!) with colors that pop like this. I just checked HA's scans again....this book stands out without exception, even the thumbnail! So in this case, at least, the nicer colors do not appear to be due to peculiarity of HA scans, as confirmed in hand. The white areas in the text bubbles on the front cover are "whiter" than what I see on Hulk #1s in general, which makes the red and black pop in there. The yellow is brighter too. Because it's an all around thing, perhaps this book was printed rather early in the run, with fresher ink? I dunno. But I like how it looks. No doubt, the colors jumped off the page!! Pantodude 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
