Need help grading 12-back Obi-Wan !!!

Hi Folks,
I have a vintage Obi-Wan on 12-back card and need a little help from all of you experienced collectors.
The card is in almost absolutely perfect shape with no edgewear, unpunched, no warping, the bubble is clear and has not a single mark, Ben has grey hair and lightblue eyes, the tip of the lightsaber in the drawing on the back of the card is short( not made longer with a yellow stripe,clearly added after the drawing was finished,like on a vader card I have to resemble the actual lightsaber tip,opposed to the two-part extension in the early bird figures).
Well, one could say I should be a happy camper.
But there is a really sad thing with this card.
IT HAS A RIP OF ABOUT 15 MM ON ONE SIDE OF THE CARD !!!
AUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH THE PAIN !!!!!!!
It has been so long that I bought that card I didnt remember much about it, only having it somewhere. Imagine my happiness after unearthing it again, and the shock when I saw its flaw. In addition to this, some dope (the one I bought it from five years ago)tried to cover the white (yes teh cardboard hasnt yellowed *whimper*) of the tear in the front with using a black pen attempting to do a little retouching (which really fooled me years ago), and he didnt do a good job. The black marker is almost invisible, but you can see a little irregularity around the edge of the upper left corner of the inner silver band.

Okay, looong story ( I have on or two other about disastrous buys or destroying a collectible by my own clumsiness...) so i will come to my question.

How would one grade such a card ?
A C8 or less ? Of course I think I will keep it for a while until I find a better card (*whimperwhimper*) for a reasonable price (when hell freezes over *pain*).

I might be able to post a pic if anyone is interested, though.

Thanks in advance,
Mike

P.S.: I read somewhere else that some of you guys are retreating into the prop building and collecting ? I thought about that too, it would mean no worrying about grades and stuff, just goood craftsmanship and scourging the hardwarestores for the right hardhat or correct doorbells or anything else. Just make the pain go away... and stop those voices in my head...

Tough break leo! :( The card sounds beautiful but that small rip just breaks my heart. The rip and the black marker would be reason enough for me to rate it at a C7. You can usually get away with bends and creases, but rips are another matter entirely. Sorry.

I'd probably agree with Jedieb with the C7, maybe a bit less. I don't think the rip itself would be that horrible but when you try and repair and do a bad job it just makes it worse.

I'd be curious to see a picture of it if you get a chance.

I'm not into the props, I still collect some toys along the way but most of my collecting money goes into Comic Books and G.I.Joe toys.

Thanks folks,
I´ll post a pic as soon as I can.
C-7 really hurts, but it is still so beautiful