MatterEaterLad

It's hard to tell without holding the book, looking at it under magnification, smelling the paper, etc, but it looks like the interior could be real. Not sure what's going on with the staples, but you can see the white areas around them, which looks like someone tried to clean them.

Could you post a close-up of the staples?

For comparison, this is also a 2.0.

I'm sorry for your loss. Your dad left you a wonderful comic. The key thing is, don't be in a hurry to do anything. Time is on your side. If you decide to do nothing and leave it in a safe for a year it's only going to increase in value. I would have it pressed, cleaned, and graded. As others have said, having it in a slab will keep it from being damaged. A few small dings could take a 5.0 to a 4.0 and cost you thousands of dollars in value, so buy a cheap reprint for reading and get this one in a protective case. An unrestored 5.0 sold for $6200 in 2006. Last I checked there was a 5.0 on Comic Connect going for $45,000. So if you can hang onto it for 10 years you'll see solid increase in value. But if there's a chance your mom's health could decline in that time, I'd sell it sooner rather than later and take her on a cruise or something.

Not sure I understand the question. Are you asking how much resto can be removed by cleaning? Like, cleaning off the color touch? Oddly, I have seen some minor color touch removed from books where the color touch was done with water soluble paint. So the paint was removed without damaging the paper. But I think that's rare.

I agree. It's tragic that a purple label with minor color touch gets the same label as one with extensive resto, trimming, married covers, pieces added, etc. The Conserved label is a step in the right direction.

Gal Gadot is easy on the eyes. The 80s nostalgia was fun. But wow...what a clunker of a film. Good moments, then lame moments, then moments where the writer was taking a nap.

Merry Christmas from the 31st Century.

If only I had a time machine.

Thanks. I'd made a higher offer last year and was turned down. This year I tried again with a lower price and was astonished that they accepted my offer immediately. Upon further examination it's debatable if it's a C-1 or C-2, but no complaints.

I bought this one in April for $16,750. I can't remember what the seller was asking at the time, but somewhere around $24k. I used GPA to look at relatively similar sales. Last year an SP 5.0 sold for $25k. An EP 5.0 sold for $14,500. I looked at what similar books were selling for on eBay and Comic Connect. Considering the book is tight and the edges sharp and the only restoration was a small amount of color touch, I was thrilled with the purchase. I hope this helps. Feel free to PM me if you need more info.

I think you're getting lost in the weeds here, Shad. It's not a binary. It's not, "He's doing nothing wrong" or "He's scum." I think what most recognize is that he's in the grey area in the middle. You're fine with it. Others aren't. Both of those things can be true, based on how they feel about disclosure. This is a book that was graded a 9.0. I thought it might go up a bit with a clean and a press. But when I got it back it was still a 9.0. A guy wanted to buy it and I could tell by the way he was talking that he was going to have it regraded. I told him I already tried. He appreciated the honestly and still bought the book. I think most sellers on here would disclose that. This eBay seller might not unless directly asked, or outed. So he's not doing anything illegal, but he's definitely not being 100% honest.

Oddly enough, I sold Halperin a book this summer.

The last guy who was doing this tried to buy one of my slabbed books. I sent him a message and said "I really don't want to sell you this 8.5 if you're going to crack it open and sell it raw as a 9.4, that's unethical and I don't want to be a part of it." He never replied, but I do think sending a message will at least let him know that people are aware of this scam and watching. Maybe he'll change his ways. Probably not.

Ironically, Jim Halperin of Heritage who owns most of CGC, did this with coins for years. "He was dead center of his next misadventure after launching a coin grading agency, Numismatic Certification Institute, in 1984. It, too, went out of business, after the FTC found that Halperin was giving inflated grades to coins and marketing them through a Heritage-backed outfit called Certified Rare Coin Galleries. Using television ads to draw in victims, they sold high-grade silver and gold U.S. coins for more than twice what they would have fetched in more-reputable retail channels." --Forbes

I just happen to have an 8.0 on my desk right now. Either my book's under-graded or that book is over-graded.

Wow. That Voldy thread came and went in rapid fashion. If only we knew who the mods were...

Dylan

I think the mods should all have these avatars.

While I completely agree with Donna's opinion of GW, that Weather thread is political or at least bumps into politics like the Covid one. You can scroll through it and see how it's been generally moderated in one direction, that of the original poster, who happens to be the moderator. Definitely feels like a do as I say not what I do, kind of moderation.

I zero problem with member mods. Most forums have them, they care about the place and usually volunteer their time. But it's always been weird to not know who they were. I'm glad we know. Transparency is nice.

PM sent

Thanks.

So do you have access all the time and just don't look unless there's an issue?

Do we know if they have access to our PMs? Would be quite unethical to have anonymous eavesdropping on sales, special events, and just creepy in general.