I too followed this auction closely. I was shocked to see it go for soo much. ($6,600 with buyers premium, plus sales tax in most states).
I would be thrilled for any boardie to own this book. However, I agree with Mike, this is butchery. I’m not sure I’ve seen such a terrible case of color touch removal before. I have no idea how this graded as a 5.5. I would prefer many books graded 3.0 or so with creases and spine spilts to this.
I don’t know if the provenance part is really possible although it would be great. At the end of the day, it just makes me sad. I think there is a place for restoration removal, but wow, this is so awful. Once again, owning a Planet 1 is better than not owing one, but which would you rather have? I know I would rather have my restored 6.0.