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Highest grade with rusted staples
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20 posts in this topic

Hi everyone,

I was wondering what is the highest grade a book can get with rusty staples?  I have an X-MEN 3 in 9.0 with rusty staples.  I bought it already slabbed and since it was graded in December 2019, the rust must have been there when it was graded.  Its a beautiful book other than the rust on the staples.

What have you all seen out there?

Jeff

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7 hours ago, CyberSnake said:

I've been looking into this subject recently. Trying to get a better understanding of everything. 

This may have some useful info for you. 

https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/topic/471923-questionable-staple-rust-and-cgc-grading/?tab=comments#comment-11281102

 

Thanks..I read that.  Anyone with high grade books and rusty staples?

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14 hours ago, jeffreyk said:

Hi everyone,

I was wondering what is the highest grade a book can get with rusty staples?  I have an X-MEN 3 in 9.0 with rusty staples.  I bought it already slabbed and since it was graded in December 2019, the rust must have been there when it was graded.  Its a beautiful book other than the rust on the staples.

What have you all seen out there?

Jeff

This would depend on the degree of oxidation. And also if the surrounding paper is affected, and again, to what degree. Oxidation can be as mild as to only be a light coat of gray, muting/dulling the metallic shine of the staples, to rust, a buildup of a brownish coating of matter on the staples. Same withthe paper. It can be unaffected, or only affected at the centerfold. Also, it can affect the paper surrounding the staples very visibly or be limited to the underside of the staple, the affect only visible when you rotate the book to see the paper under the staple. 

I can't imagine there being a definitive answer that would cover rust/oxidation in general. Like condition flaws due to wear, the degree and type/character of the oxidation to the staples and/or paper I will assume can only be responsibly addressed as to how it affects the grade on a case by case basis. 

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2 hours ago, jeffreyk said:

I am  wondering highest grade with actual rust..the brownish coating on staples.

Realistically, I remember a TOS #39 that was a 9.4 that had brown rust on one staple. I believe the final grade was a 9.2. Not too long ago, a nice looking Silver Age FF had brownish rust on both staples, and I believe it received a grade of 7.0. So as JJJ pointed out, it can vary depending upon how severely the staples are affected...

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I've been wondering this myself as I have a book I'd like to submit that looks like a 9.4/9.6 as it stands...except for the fact that it looks to have just the beginnings of rust at the top staple.

In trying to get some idea of how CGC might deduct for that defect I came across this book:

startrek1a.jpg.989aae4a8624720062a455a8ba67355b.jpg

 

As you can see in these two pictures, it looks like it definitely has rust at the top staple and maybe some at the bottom staple as well:

startrek1b.jpg.9016e8e491c4c16e09279a61cbd62b15.jpg

startrek1f.jpg.c324e867d0cc7760b89be6e44e097515.jpg

But what I found interesting is that as I was looking over the book, I spotted a number of defects that would account for the 9.0 grade:

startrek1c.jpg.5db8e00b570c580a9fa1ade878683939.jpg

startrek1d.jpg.d468b093097620742517b1f93811897b.jpg

startrek1e.jpg.498ab9f5225701702f109fa1f482270b.jpg

startrek1g.jpg.d0081dfd393a551521efaffd8d781026.jpg

In fact, it almost seems to me that there's enough defects to account for the 9.0 grade on their own without even factoring in the rusty staples.  At the very least, it seems like CGC didn't deduct significantly for the rusty staples when assessing the overall grade.

Granted, we can't see what the centerfold looks like.  I would assume based on the grade that there's no staining.  I can't really tell if the rust has migrated to the cover at all.  And there doesn't seem to be much build-up of corrosion on the staples. 

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A few months back I submitted a Tick 1 Special Edition that was a no doubt slam dunk 9.8. By far the sharpest copy I had ever seen raw, including two other copies from the same stack that both came back 9.8, except on this copy I missed a tiny dot of rust on the top staple. CGC dinged it all the way down to a 9.2 and the only grader's note was, "slight rust on top staple." 

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11 hours ago, Number 6 said:

I've been wondering this myself as I have a book I'd like to submit that looks like a 9.4/9.6 as it stands...except for the fact that it looks to have just the beginnings of rust at the top staple.

In trying to get some idea of how CGC might deduct for that defect I came across this book:

startrek1a.jpg.989aae4a8624720062a455a8ba67355b.jpg

 

As you can see in these two pictures, it looks like it definitely has rust at the top staple and maybe some at the bottom staple as well:

startrek1b.jpg.9016e8e491c4c16e09279a61cbd62b15.jpg

startrek1f.jpg.c324e867d0cc7760b89be6e44e097515.jpg

But what I found interesting is that as I was looking over the book, I spotted a number of defects that would account for the 9.0 grade:

startrek1c.jpg.5db8e00b570c580a9fa1ade878683939.jpg

startrek1d.jpg.d468b093097620742517b1f93811897b.jpg

startrek1e.jpg.498ab9f5225701702f109fa1f482270b.jpg

startrek1g.jpg.d0081dfd393a551521efaffd8d781026.jpg

In fact, it almost seems to me that there's enough defects to account for the 9.0 grade on their own without even factoring in the rusty staples.  At the very least, it seems like CGC didn't deduct significantly for the rusty staples when assessing the overall grade.

Granted, we can't see what the centerfold looks like.  I would assume based on the grade that there's no staining.  I can't really tell if the rust has migrated to the cover at all.  And there doesn't seem to be much build-up of corrosion on the staples. 

This book is what could be called a "too much" copy. In other words, there's "too much" going on for it to be a 9.2, even without the rust on the staples. To me, a 9.0 is the absolute best grade it would (or should) ever receive. And personally, 8.5 doesn't seem too harsh...  hm

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On 8/2/2020 at 5:33 AM, Ryan. said:

A few months back I submitted a Tick 1 Special Edition that was a no doubt slam dunk 9.8. By far the sharpest copy I had ever seen raw, including two other copies from the same stack that both came back 9.8, except on this copy I missed a tiny dot of rust on the top staple. CGC dinged it all the way down to a 9.2 and the only grader's note was, "slight rust on top staple." 

This exact thing just happened to me. If it’s a modern book, I think one should be able to replace the staple like CBCS allows but I’m also too lazy to do so.

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I am about to send a book in where the only issue is rusty staples. And they arent that bad, its just at their extremities and we see it,s dark around the edges. Very curious to know the grade. Will report back when I know.

I think the reason why this is so nebulous is that rusty staples are not indicative of use/wear/tear. it's like oxidation or fading. A book can be mint (as in, never touched or opened) and yet depending on a myriad of reasons end up with rusty staples. So it's not a defect due to use and that's why CGC may be more lenient. 

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On 8/1/2020 at 8:34 AM, jeffreyk said:

Hi everyone,

I was wondering what is the highest grade a book can get with rusty staples?  I have an X-MEN 3 in 9.0 with rusty staples.  I bought it already slabbed and since it was graded in December 2019, the rust must have been there when it was graded.  Its a beautiful book other than the rust on the staples.

What have you all seen out there?

Jeff

I also had a similar problem when evaluating a book. I contacted a specialist. I think you need to find a professional appraiser. The book may have various damages (rust), which are only on staples or also on paper. I doubt that the forum will be able to give an accurate assessment of the book. Several articles have been written on this topic, with the help of the plagiarism check service fixgerald.com I even prepared one article for an online magazine. But this is all theory, only a specialist will help you understand whether the book needs to be restored (sometimes restoration will be more expensive than the book itself). Although if the book is valuable and after many years you sell it for a lot of money, then restoration can be profitable.

Edited by ChrisAL
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I have a CGC 9.8 that I recently bought which has rust on one staple.  It's not an old comic (Liberty Meadows), so the graders SHOULD have accounted for the rust in the grade, if it was there when they graded it.

I had read somewhere on the Boards that rust on modern comic staples is likely a result of improper humidity during PRESSING.  (shrug)  It sounded logical.  The only other option I can think of was that the graders didn't wash their hands after lunch.  hm

If anyone has contacted CGC regarding this problem, I'd love to hear/read the response.

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