White Pages on a slabbed book10001

Originally Posted by GAC
it all depends on the era of the book. the older the book the more forgiving one can be on page quality. Bronze and newer should be white pages IMO. Older books get forgiven.

Originally Posted by esaravo
Most of the books that I submit for grading have been in my personal collection for 30 to 40 or more years. So I am extremely happy when they come back with white pages, satisfied when they get OW/W, a little disappointed with off-white, and somewhat displeased when they are identified as cream to off-white. But it’s the grade that is most important and sets the bar for value. So while I wish my X-Men #12 had white pages instead of CR/OW, I don’t think I will be replacing/upgrading it anytime soon.

I have not received any tan or brittle page quality designations, because unless it is a significant/valuable book, I probably wouldn’t submit it for grading (and yes, I do own some older books with tanned and oxidized covers and/or pages).

I do wonder about the consistency of page quality designations in BA and CA books I have submitted. For example, here’s two ASMs I had graded a few years ago.






I bought both books new, read them, bagged them, and placed them in the same long box right next to each other where they stayed for nearly 30 years, always side by side. Yet one has white pages and the other OW/W? Since storage conditions were identical, was one printed with whiter paper to start with? Or as @DrWatson says, blame the dart?

I also wonder about the new Exceptional White designation. I have gotten a few of my SA DC’s back with this page quality. Here’s two examples.






I was definitely psyched to see that on the labels. I have no idea how that designation impacts the value of the books - does anyone? And now I wonder about the SA DC’s that I had graded before that designation existed. How many of the ones that are listed as white would be exceptional white if I resubmitted them? Or maybe that was the point. Should I be chasing after the exceptional white designation the way the CPR collectors/flippers chase after grade bumps? Things are sure a lot more complicated now than they were 40 years ago, when books were either Poor/Fair, G/VG, FN/VF, or NM/M.

Originally Posted by agamoto
Quote:

Originally Posted by IronMan
Well, I'm closer in opinion to the OP.

Newsprint used in vintage comics was never WHITE to begin with.

Totally agree. I didn't see what I'd consider a truly "white" page until Marvel Fanfare came out in the 80's, prior to that, even fresh newstand copies had a slight yellow/red/brown tinge to the page.

I think the overstreet definition of white isn't actually #FFFFFF though, it's more along the lines of what's called "old lace", #FDF5E6

https://www.color-hex.com/color/fdf5e6

Originally Posted by X51
Quote:

Originally Posted by DrWatson
Quote:

Originally Posted by andy49
Quote:

Originally Posted by DrWatson
It would matter if it were consistent. It's not, especially with books graded by the cgc.

have you ever called them out on it? meaning, ask them what they're using as a scale, or send them a comparison? better yet, a resubmission?

I posted about it on the cgc forum years ago. I have had hundreds of books cracked, pressed, and resubbed over the years and the page quality will change about 50% of the time. I specifically remember one signature series book that went from white, to off-white white, and then back to white between signings. I even had one cream to off-white come back as white after a press and resub. We used to joke that he pressed the white back on to the pages.

Lighting affects everything.

We had some very large cabinets painted orange for a customer. Coming off the truck in the bright sunlight, it was obvious that the doors were a different shade than the cabinet itself. Once it was brought indoors, they looked exactly the same.
The fluorescent bulbs at work get more dim as they get older. If they are inspecting comics under recently replaced bulbs, you could easily get a better page color rating.