From Near Mint to Good

I can imagine the year is 1962. It is a nice summer day outside and my parents hand me a dollar to leave the house and have a good time. I bolted from the front door, not realizing the $1 I was given was more of a bribe for some needed alone time between adults. I was ten and wouldn't realize until a full nine months later that it was either the best dollar they ever spent or I should have known better and held out for more like my older brother. I imagine going into the local shop and scarfing down some ice cream before heading to the movie house for a film. It was the last day Dr. No was playing. 

Once the movie was over, with money to spare, I headed back to the local malt shop and checked out the spinner rack. I looked at comic book after comic book wondering why there weren't any comic books like what I read in my older brother's collection. What happened to all those great, gory stories; the ones where my sister was freaked out by the pictures? I liked my copy of the Fantastic Four #1, and looked for more that were like it. I leafed through, looking for something that would impress my brother, when I finally spotted it. Amazing Fantasy #15 was sitting there towards the bottom. 

I didn't know it at the time, but it looked different; it looked life-changing. I took a single copy to the counter, leaving behind a handful more and parted with .15 cents. I couldn't believe that comics were no longer a dime. I purchased that and a Hershey bar. I rolled up the comic and placed it my back pocket, munched on the candy bar, and ran for home. It was late and I had to make it back before dinner.

At least that is how I imagine what buying an Amazing Fantasy #15 would have been like. Comic books today are made from paper, just like those over fifty years ago. But there have been so many technological advances to improve the look and feel of a comic book. (This does not include digital). As a recent experiment I decided to combine my two materialistic loves, Star Wars and comic books.

I purchased a few of the newest number ones since I knew what I was about to do was unthinkable to any collector. I intentionally purchased one that I graded at 9.6 and then treated it much like the Amazing Fantasy #15 that the ten year old described earlier might have. The only difference is the first appearance of Spider-Man had over fifty years to age and deteriorate. I was giving the Star Wars #1 just 24 hours.

I rolled it up into my back pocket. I dropped it. I laid it on water. I poured coffee over it. I placed it under my pillow as I slept...the last one, yea my fiancée only just found that tidbit out as she proof read this post. I wanted to see how good of a job I did in creating fifty year old conditions in just one day. I sent it to CBCS under the two day modern tier, which is something I recommend to anyone who wants their books graded right away. Before I wrapped it up, I gave it a quick once over. I just looked it over, front cover, back cover and leafed through the pages. My quick assessment was I knocked the book from a 9.6 to a 4. 

I checked my grade after getting an email telling me my books had been graded and encapsulated only two days after they were received. At first I wasn't going to look since I was planning on picking it up at a CBCS grading seminar. I am unsure if my grade would have been different if I had graded it like I knew they would have, or like I should have. The comic book will make its way to me after CBCS ships it, it never made it to the seminar.  I will have the graded comic back in my hands soon, after all I am looking forward to seeing what would happen if I "accidentally" drop it down a flight of stairs...or two; and then maybe I will be able to crack it again and see if I can get the grade a bit lower.

Thanks for reading

Tnerb