arinya Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 (edited) I need some advice. I bought a Thor 337 several years ago thinking it was a 9.0 so when I heard CGC had Walt Simonson as a guest to sign books I jumped on it. This book looks to be in such awesome condition. But before sending it off I took a closer look I realized that maybe I'd get an 8.5 because of the very faint ticks on the spine you can see them in his cape. Take a look and tell me what you think. The book looks amazing no? Now I lowered my expectations a bit and figured I'd probably get between a 8.0 and 8.5 and I could live with that but then I got my book and well...I think I'm in denial. I'm including the Grader's Notes below. I'm not even sure what Light bends to the cover mean....the book was so flat! Like I said...I'm a bit shocked that it got such a low grade. Am I crazy? Can I do anything to boost the grade? Should I use it as kindle for my fire this winter? Thanks for listening. Yours truly. Grader Notes:light bends to cover light spine stress lines to cover Oh and Walt or someone smudged his signature!...I'm so sad. =( Edited December 11, 2020 by arinya Hollywood1892 and 1950's war comics 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funnybooks Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 A BC pic would be needed for a proper assessment Is there a small tear somewhere? thehumantorch 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arinya Posted December 12, 2020 Author Share Posted December 12, 2020 12 minutes ago, Funnybooks said: A BC pic would be needed for a proper assessment Is there a small tear somewhere? I posted the Grader Notes and no there were no tears. What are BC pics? I posted the photos I took before I shipped it to be slabbed. Is that what you mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revat Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 well sometimes things get damaged a bit in shipping or even cgc handling. And who knows about the interior, there could be some issues. To be honest, if you would have been happy with this comic as an 8.5, then you should be happy with it as a 7.0, because it would have been a financial loss either way by getting it signed and graded. The smudge is very unfortunate....but part of the risk. I would say its a positive that the smudge was made on such a low grade comic, as opposed to a 9.8. Old_Man_Adam, Funnybooks, Randall Dowling and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revat Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 3 minutes ago, arinya said: I posted the Grader Notes and no there were no tears. What are BC pics? I posted the photos I took before I shipped it to be slabbed. Is that what you mean? BC is back cover. the damage could be there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arinya Posted December 12, 2020 Author Share Posted December 12, 2020 4 minutes ago, revat said: ...its a positive that the smudge was made on such a low grade comic, as opposed to a 9.8. Dude...my wound...your salt..=P Joking...so about any other issues. wouldn't that have been in the grading notes? The notes and the grade don't add up for me. Here is the back cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funnybooks Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 Based on these pics, I have to agree that this book is in no way a 7.0. Seems like a 9.0 as you said earlier Beige and James J Johnson 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzutak Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 That's a pretty nasty smudge (just below Simonson's signature). Also, with cream to off-white pages, there's a good chance that the inside covers are also no longer white. On higher-grade specimens, CGC will generally deduct for tanning to the inside covers, so it's something you should always check. comicdonna and Funnybooks 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1950's war comics Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 yep... they must have lowered it for the page quality.. have never seen a cream pages designation on 60 cent issue before, FoggyNelson and Funnybooks 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arinya Posted December 12, 2020 Author Share Posted December 12, 2020 51 minutes ago, 1950's war comics said: yep... they must have lowered it for the page quality.. have never seen a cream pages designation on 60 cent issue before, Yeah...I'm beginning to think that's a major point. The photos don't do justice...this book looks so sharp. You really have to squint to see the spine ticks and they are faint. Thanks my friends....I believe I have reached acceptance. =P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arinya Posted December 12, 2020 Author Share Posted December 12, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, zzutak said: That's a pretty nasty smudge (just below Simonson's signature). Also, with cream to off-white pages, there's a good chance that the inside covers are also no longer white. On higher-grade specimens, CGC will generally deduct for tanning to the inside covers, so it's something you should always check. Is there someone at CGC I can complain about the smudge? Unless it was Walt that did it. Edited December 12, 2020 by arinya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumantorch Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 Hi. The grader notes indicate light bends to cover. Light bends are as they sound, light bends to the surface of the cover that don't break the ink printed on the cover. To see light bends it's best to hold the book under bright light and tilt it up and down and look at it at different angles. Now that your book is in a case they are very hard to see. If the bends were severe enough to break the ink of the cover they'd be visible as white lines. Did you have your book pressed as it should be possible to remove them. Unfortunately most of us have had disappointments when submitting to CGC. Smudge likely happened during the signing or when the book was being handed off to CGC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DR.X Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 really hard to tell from these pics but like another boardie said, what could be going on inside. its hard to tell but in the one BC scan the outside lower corner looks suspicious but it could be just the way the light is hitting the case. yes at first glance it looks much better than the assigned grade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatterEaterLad Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 Looks much better than a 7.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hollywood1892 Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 This book looked really nice....and a press can take out the indent that would or could be caused by the marker during signing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul © ® ⚽️💙™ Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 You might want to think about the title of your thread? I'm sorry about your your book, but Jesus, I thought someone had died. Hollywood1892 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arinya Posted December 12, 2020 Author Share Posted December 12, 2020 12 hours ago, thehumantorch said: ...Light bends are as they sound, light bends to the surface of the cover that don't break the ink printed on the cover. ...Did you have your book pressed as it should be possible to remove them... I've had it for so long I've never noticed any bends. No I did not have it pressed but I could tell that it had been pressed before. With white cover I notice they become a bit transparent and I could see that with this book. I guess CGC saw something that never picked up on. I am thinking about sending it back to have pressed and graded again but not sure if it would be worth it. 1 hour ago, DR.X said: really hard to tell from these pics but like another boardie said, what could be going on inside... I do remember the page looking very creamy inside. I wonder how much more come into play than the slight bending cover. 9 minutes ago, G G ® said: You might want to think about the title of your thread? I'm sorry about your your book, but Jesus, I thought someone had died. Posting on a forum about Grading Comics on a Grading Comics website in a thread about Grading and Restoration...I can see how the title could be confusing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hollywood1892 Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 6 minutes ago, arinya said: Posting on a forum about Grading Comics on a Grading Comics website in a thread about Grading and Restoration...I can see how the title could be confusing. You must be gutted over the grade...I myself am not a professional grader, but I thought the book looked really crisp....I would definitely be peeved, not sure I'd be heart broken 💔 😕 The Lions Den and Paul © ® ⚽️💙™ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lions Den Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 18 minutes ago, arinya said: I've had it for so long I've never noticed any bends. No I did not have it pressed but I could tell that it had been pressed before. With white cover I notice they become a bit transparent and I could see that with this book. I guess CGC saw something that never picked up on. I am thinking about sending it back to have pressed and graded again but not sure if it would be worth it. I do remember the page looking very creamy inside. I wonder how much more come into play than the slight bending cover. Posting on a forum about Grading Comics on a Grading Comics website in a thread about Grading and Restoration...I can see how the title could be confusing. A couple of thoughts here... Cream to Off-White pages are still allowable even in Near Mint, so the grade reduction probably didn't have much to do with that. The spine stress lines are tiny, so not much of a hit for that one, either. That leaves the cover bends, which would have to be pretty significant to knock it down to a 7.0. So examine the book closely under a good light source and you may be able to see the bends...but keep in mind that the holder can hide flaws of that nature. And I'm sorry about that ink smudge, but that's one of the inherent hazards associated with having someone sign the book... Randall Dowling 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeypost Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 CGC also deducts for smudged signatures. Hollywood1892, The Lions Den and 1950's war comics 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
