Sauce Dog

Due to the situation of many customer books being stolen from Hero Restoration, and how that now involves the police, anyone who still has not received their property back should be considering what legal channels they can go through or contact. If Mike is still returning books, or is in contact with some customers, he needs to be more communicative and transparent about that here (and not just rely on customers to post on his behalf). You should still post here if Mike has not responded to you directly, as it is better than nothing.

I've never had a page I've cut from a wrap come back as trimmed or qualified - maybe it's a possible risk, but for me personally it has never been an issue. I've cut my pages with a knife, so it was clean, but scissors will suffice. And yes, you can request how the page is facing. Be sure to include a sticky note attached to the bag/board of the page that specifies how you want it (not guaranteed they will do it though) https://www.instagram.com/p/CiLV6koOSWG/?img_index=1

per pm

No. Signature series should not have their own sets, that only serves to fragment existing collections, add needless complexity overall, and also possibly allow people to double dip (I can buy a 9.8, crack it and keep the label, get it signed and regraded, then use these label numbers for a single book in two separate sets)

I am all for any additional changes that can bring new paths to being competitive, and in the case of page quality I don't think it need be something as detailed as signature series points, rather just focus on the edge cases: +1 point to a book if it has WHITE PAGES, -1 point to a book if it as BRITTLE PAGES. That's it - no need for more rows for each grade/point values in between for each books as it is unified across every book regardless of grade. Everything else in between neither gains nor looses a point. This means two people competing for a common bronze set, where 9.8s are easy enough to find, can edge out the competition if they focus on finding only the best white pages. Likewise those who want to fill a golden age run with low grade white pagers might find they can compete against those who have the same books in mid grade books but with brittle pages.

This is 100% the case and has been occurring with customers going back to the beginning of his operations. Unfortunately I cannot share details publicly at this time (by request of several contacts of mine, who are happy to keep this to ourselves so long as they see that Mike continues to return books to customers, and works with police regarding a recent new snafu).

SpideyFein bought an epic big grail from me and the transaction could not have been any smoother. A pleasure to negotiate with!

That is just part of the other side of the wrap that is still connected (but folded over). You can see the exact panel that matches the art on the wrap.

Yup! Which is why I much prefer #4 over this issue when it comes to being the actual KEY book in JSA formation. They actually do something as a team in that book, not just sit around the table waiting for lunch

Good news for those of you who have not yet joined the club: You can win this copy soon at auction and instantly put everyone else in this thread to shame! https://comics.ha.com/itm/silver-age-1956-1969-/superhero/tales-of-suspense-39-marvel-1963-cgc-nm-mt-98-white-pages/p/7369-117010.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

This is certainly going to be something crazy to watch https://comics.ha.com/itm/silver-age-1956-1969-/superhero/tales-of-suspense-39-marvel-1963-cgc-nm-mt-98-white-pages/p/7369-117010.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

This might not fall into CIS coverage though, but anyone with such a policy should inquire regardless (as based on what I understand there isn't any insurance on Mike's end anymore) What doesn’t CIS insure? The following are excluded from our coverage: Government seizure or destruction of property; war and nuclear hazards; gradual deterioration such as fading, creasing or denting; nesting, infestation or discharge or release of waste products or secretions by insects, rodents or other animals; dampness or dryness of atmosphere; changes in or extremes of temperature other than fire; fraudulent, dishonest or criminal acts; voluntary parting with covered property; loss or damage while being worked on by you or others working on your behalf; and mysterious disappearance. This is not a complete list of exclusions and exclusions can vary by policy.

Whose insurance would they file a claim with?

That is my Tales of Suspense #39 in top right which has been returned disassembled. It was leafcasted and some color touch was done on it but never completed and most needed to be redone due to color mismatch (it is now in the hands of Phil at Phantom Restoration)

This! Inspect all the wraps returned to you carefully. A few customers have recently told me of missing pages, damage, and/or missing staples from books that were returned disassembled and never had the restoration work finished.

He says his intention is doing the right thing, and it sounds like he wants to mail back stuff (especially to those customers he knows are pushing for legal action) but what will come of this I don't know - especially if he no longer has those books to return.

Not in custody, just that all his regular/public phone numbers and emails do not seem to work anymore (bounce backs, and the phones are no longer his or disconnected). I don't have a phone number either for him, only one email address I think he set up after all this started and it has been my only method of commutation with him.

I appreciate everyone's kind words, and I am happy to have helped bridge the gap between customers with concerns and Mike so that returns could be organized. Unfortunately at this time I believe it best to stop my involvement as the situation with Mike has escalated to a point I do not feel comfortable with. I sincerely hope more customers get their property returned, however that is now solely in Mike's hands. Those of you who have discovered your own books listed on ebay for sale need to push forward on your own at this point (While I know contacting him is impossible now, I still will not provide Mike's current email to anyone and break his trust by releasing personal information. However, I do know he reads this thread so anything posted here he can address directly himself)

...and yes I am well aware I'm being a massive tease regarding my box of secrets, trust me - if I could I would love to spill the beans, but for now I'll just have to leave you all basically like

There is the new info Mike tells me, there is the new info my contacts tell me, and then there is the new info I get from other customers...and all I know is plenty of people here are going to be very unhappy in the future. I've done all I can for now, and I hope the last few invoices I've pushed to Mike do get sent out, but I'm sitting on info that is just awful and I need to figure out if it can even be released (and how much of it is legit while protecting people, also hearsay stories are not any help posted here to anyone actually wanting to take legal action...so all it would do is blow up the place up into lockable chaos).

For those wanting a general vibe check on the entire situation, I can't say much but maybe this will suffice.

The explanation he has given me was that he mixed up his personal books with customer books and thus listed the wrong ones for sale. This is the same explanation he's given me for all sold customer books now (the FF above that was sold was NOT the only confirmed one sold on ebay).

NOTICE: Has anyone else recognized their books as being sold on ebay? Those of you who have not PM'd me please do so. Did anyone here submit an Amazing Spider-Man #252 specifically and never got it back (this is a fairly 'common' book to submit so I want to get an idea of numbers)? Has anyone ever submitted books to Hero Restoration years ago and never got a book back (I'm talking years before all this went down. Maybe you forgot exactly every single book you submitted to him and didn't get them all back - only to remember about it years later but never followed up about it with Mike. Maybe you personally dropped off a stack of books to him and forgot about picking em up)?

If you want to get specific; From just only those who filled out the survey it would be around $41,654usd paid by twelve customers

I greatly appreciate the gesture, but no reciprocation needed I'm just happy that I could use the unique position I was in to help push for, and streamline, the return of books to my fellow boardies.