Mr. Zipper

That’s Mike. His Instagram is https://www.instagram.com/hero_restoration?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==

That’s not Mike.

Some may recall that Mike, for many years, was a well regarded member of the community, a respected restoration expert with a thriving business, and someone who had great passion for the hobby. And now his life has come apart at the seams. As someone who has chatted with him casually on and off for 15 years, the situation is unreal and shocking. I was hoping against hope that Mike would pull it together and all the outstanding issues would be resolved. I’m not excusing or defending any of his actions, and I have great empathy for the people who lost money and may lose their books. This is a tragedy. There is nothing to celebrate or joke about. The most recent developments only reduce the chances that the victims will be made whole.

Security probably means "bail" and that is pending, hence he is still in custody. He can't pay his bail. I truly hope he can bounce back from this for everyone's sake.

Oh my. From bad to worse. This does not weigh in favor of books being returned anytime soon.

It would take many months for the police to build a case to present to a judge. Then anything seized would likely be held for a long time until the legal matter is settled. There is no quick fix with the legal system. The best case scenario is the detectives assigned would pay HR a visit and give him the opportunity to resolve the matter before the case proceeded any further. This is why I was suggesting a third party administrator solution for the most efficient way to resolve. Mike can move on and hopefully regain his health and people get their books back. But I understand and appreciate the landmines in that scenario as well.

Understood. Obviously there would have to be an organized process like the owners signing a release to allow the third party to take possession... maybe spearheaded by a trusted dealer. If there is no record keeping system now linking books to owners, then the third party would have the same issue HR would face -- no way to know what books are whose. The best case scenario would be the books are still in the shipping boxes with the submission forms, but unlikely if payment was charged upon receipt. Sadly, I don't think there is a perfect solution. It's going to get messy either way. But maybe a third party administering the returns is the best hope for the least messy outcome possible.

Catching up here. Has any effort been made to reach an agreement with Mike to send a small group to his location to take possession of the books, who can then distribute to the proper owners? He gets the responsibility off his plate and people get their books back. Seems more efficient and likely to get results than legal action, threats, etc.

Thanks for your input. I’m pretty an experienced grader and I’m confident this book is structurally no worse than a 4.5 and probably a 5.0 on a good day. I was just inquiring if anyone had specific experience with this type of staining. Some people have called it foxing, but I don’t think it is. It’s like the paper has toned except in certain spots. In any case, from what I gather, it won’t have a significant effect, if any, at this grade level.

I buy very few comics on ebay... if I do, it's almost always slabbed. I've stopped my daily ebay searches because they are almost a total waste of time and effort. I just buy from trusted dealers. My time is worth way more than the rare eBay steal. As hard as it is to believe, ebay sellers have actually gotten worse in the past several years. Many refuse to issue a grade. "I am not a professional grader... look at pics and you decide" is the new mantra of the lazy and incompetent sellers who won't accept accountability for items they are offering. So the buyer is supposed to look at angled, grainy phone photos and make an educated guess at the grade. If you miss any subtle flaw in the horrible photos... well... that's YOUR fault. The rise of the phone and demise of the desktop with scanner. Auction photos are way worse than they used to be. You actually used to be able to make a relatively accurate assessment of the book in many cases when scanners were used. Now it is quite rare. But no worries... you will get steeply angled pics of all four corners!

I’m considering submitting this book to CGC, however, it has some unusual mottling on the inside of the front and back cover. The light spots on the toned cover. In every other aspect, I estimate the book to be about 4.5/5.0. Anyone know what this is and how or if CGC may ding it at this grade level. The paper is not at all brittle, and it’s not water spots.

Hopefully delayed long enough until there’s a Congress that will kill it.

Nailed 3 of 5. 2 points total. Happy to end strong.

Geez I keep checking this thread to see the results and then I realize it doesn’t close till tonight. For some reason I thought it closed last night.

Same. With the lower shredded spine split and a constellation of creases bottom left front cover… 7.0 is quite puzzling. Otherwise I was close with everything. That said… in four rounds, one bad miss is all it takes to torpedo you.

The restorer guy in the video is well known for selling a liquid cleaning product that often results in purple labels. I have no patience for videos that drag out 5 minutes of content into 15.

Mike was a well-regarded, upstanding member of the community here and in other forums for many years. I always admired his passion and drive to be a top-notch restorer. I used his service several times with excellent results and never had an issue. Obviously he's made mistakes and poor business decisions, which were amplified by significant health problems. Knowing some middle age friends who went through heart issues, it can take many, many months to get your strength back, even after a "mild" event. I do not believe for one second Mike would intentionally harm anyone, even if that may be the consequence of his actions. I pray he regains his health and can find happiness and his passion again. I also hope that everyone affected can be made as whole as possible. It was upsetting and gut wrenching catching up on this topic.

Count me in

I'm curious about the story behind the Lucas CGC SS. Where was he that it could be CGC witnessed?

Usually tonfulle-84 (Anthony Fuller of Montgomery, Alabama) uses 50 cent bin books for his dreadful forgeries. Looks like he is stepping up with the Thor 130 and Dr Strange #1, which sold for $213 and $102 respectively.

Good old Tony Fuller (tonfulle-84) is back with his horrendous forgeries. What better way to elevate a badly water stained and rusty Thor than to add some fake signatures?

Agree. There is not one authentic Kirby signature in this thread yet IMO. The compare by Jaybuck43 are all 90s proxy signatures in my opinion. The Simon + Kirby is a malicious fake. Thanks for the tag. :-)

I ran across this alleged Jack Kirby + Stan Lee Signed FF 71 on eBay. I could not help but think of the previous Masterworks that was questioned. Some striking similarities. Superficially, both are pretty close, but they both appear a touch too slow and deliberate. The seller, gigu-lis also has other suspect items including this Lee + Boseman Black Panther. gigu-lis is located in "Atlanta, New York, United States" on his eBay listing. Interestingly, a seller with a similar name, algig-5141, who is also located in "Atlanta, New York, United States" is offering this suspect FF 92 also purportedly signed by Lee and Kirby.

Too much mumbo jumbo and dopey cryptic silliness. Can someone send out concise notes in English when this is all figured out?

I thought of this as well, however, the problem is routine handling and rubbing could easily tear a frangible tamper evident sticker on the outside of the slab. They would have to figure out some way to put the sticker on the inside of the slab to show that had been cracked or the label and/or inner well have been removed.