serling1978

I was thinking the same thing. Which is why I was confused about part of a cover being replaced by a photo copy piece not being considered restored. It had to be stuck on there with tape or glue I would think.

Oops. I replied twice by mistake just now

Thanks for the info. In this case the ad page is fully attached, there's just one small coupon cut out of the page. Lining up a coupon in the middle of the page would be pretty difficult though I imagine. I don't think I've ever seen a married coupon on a graded book before.

I saw something recently that made me scratch my head. Saw a blue label CGC Hulk 1 that had a large photo copy piece added to the cover. Not sure how this wasn't considered restored or maybe qualified. It was 1.5 and looked pretty worn in general. I happen to have a Hulk 1 that looks to be a 2.0 or so that has a neatly cut out coupon from an ad page that doesn't affect the story. Just curious if I were to track down the exact coupon (seems difficult) and marry it, would it be a green label, a blue label, or purple? I like the book as is and feel 90% sure that I'll leave it as is since it's such a huge book. But I'm just curious. Any info would be appreciated.

Good to hear. I'm just going off the vibe I've seen/heard from other collectors online or at shows, but maybe I've been listening to the wrong people.

Unfortunately I have no dollars and cents data to confirm this, but I've been getting the feeling for a while that collectors aren't as hot on TOS 39 as they used to be. Could just be things going in cycles, but it seems like amongst the Marvel "Grails" it has fallen somewhat in desirability. I've always loved the book and I'm proud to have one in my collection. Just curious where it falls on the list of desirable keys for other collectors. Personally I would rank it only below AF15, Hulk 1 and FF1.

I've done amateur restoration on non valuable books. Like with anything, if you practice enough and figure out what works and what doesn't then you can become pretty good at it. Even the pro's had to learn how to do it at some point.

I have a large run of ASM, from #2-#400 and I would still take the AF15 even though it meant not yet completing the ASM run. Just a more iconic book to me. And numbering/title aside, I personally consider it part of the overall run...in spirit.

I woke up one morning last week and quickly realized that CGC had broken into my house and restored my face while I was sleeping. I now have C-2 color touch by my eyebrows.

I didn't realize WW was a good show in Chicago. I've gone to WW in Columbus twice and the first time (about 7 years ago) it was pretty decent, but the 2nd time (3 years later) I was really disappointed. They had basically squeezed out the dealer tables to make room for toys, shirts, clothes, and all kinds of other merchandise. It definitely wasn't my idea of a comic con. It was more like a general pop culture event that had some comics available.

Thanks for the info. I hadn't considered Chrarlotte. I agree about the same 10 guys at all the shows around here. Whether it be in Akron or Cincinnati I feel like I'm always seeing the same dealers over and over.

Trying to plan ahead to either go to the Baltimore Comic Con later this year or C2E2 next year. I probably won't be able to save up enough to do both so just wanted to get some opinions on which is better. To help clarify on what I would consider "better"..... I'm not interested in cosplay, meetings artists, getting sigs, or anything I would consider "extra". Personally the only thing I care about is buying back issues, primarily Silver and Bronze Age Marvel. I normally only go to shows within the state of Ohio and I've noticed lately the prices on books are becoming pretty ridiculous with very little deals to be had and also the dealer tables are limited to about 10-15 total dealers anymore. So from a pure collecting standpoint, can anyone say if they have a preference of C2E2 or Baltimore? I'm sure both are great shows, but I do wonder with C2E2 being in a city with a higher cost of living like Chicago if that also means higher price of collecting To be clear I'm not expecting to get AF15 for $500 or anything, I just want fair prices (not ebay hype prices) and a large selection. I appreciate any info that anyone can provide. Thanks!

I just started buying on here after lurking for a while and I look forward to future transactions. If you've worked with me feel free to leave some feedback.

Bought a lot of 18 Silver Age X-Men from Jim last week. Was great to work with and the books were as described and very well packed. Wouldn't hesitate to do business with him again. Thanks!

I certainly never meant to indicate I'm perfect, that I bat 1000, or that I am a pressing God. Maybe only a pressing demi-God. Just kidding. I have had things go wrong here and there of course. Looking back at my original post in this thread I see I didn't use the best word choice in saying I've never "damaged" any comic. I was more thinking along the lines of really bad things like popping the staples, totally warping the cover, ruining the inks/gloss, smashing a square bound spine, etc. Of course I've had things happen like some wrinkles showing up in the cover, or other minor issues that sucked and were a learning lesson. My initial comment was only a quick reply with the intention of saying I've never had anything disastrous happen like a ruined comic. Most issues I've run into have been issues that could be addressed with another pressing. Of course that isn't to say I haven't potentially lowered the grade on a book via pressing either. I've never unslabbed a book, pressed it, and had it re-graded. Which is why I would never claim to be a pro or try to get someone to pay me to press their books. Like I said, it's a hobby to me that I enjoyed learning about and I like to do with my own books. I'm not trying to get into a contest or a press-off on the peak of a mountain or anything. I'm sure you're very skilled at what you do and I respect that.

Wait a second here..... Is that comic pressing smack talk? Never thought i would see the nerd equivalent of "Bro, do you even lift?" To seriously respond...I get why it's easy to just assume some random guy on a messageboard must be burning up and ruining comics in his pitiful attempt to be a glorified come pressing superstar. I will say that I am extremely careful and before even attempting to press any comic I spoke with a lot of resources/contacts who all had a long history of pressing experience. I learned of what to do, what not do to, what to look out for, mistakes they had made, etc. I didn't want to destroy comics or waste my time, so I was lucky enough to find some very generous pressers who were kind enough to share their knowledge with a fellow collector. And I'm very grateful for that.

Hoping someone can help out here, I'm wondering how the restoration scale applies to trimming. From my understanding the letters A through C and the numbers after the dash represent whether or not the restoration is a amateur or poor and then how extensive it is. The information I've seen really seems to just talk about that scale in relation to color touch, pieces added, glue, Etc. But the cgc info I have seen doesn't give an explanation of that scale in regards to trimming. So if a comic is restored and it's a c - 1 with slight color touch and all three edges trimmed I'm just wondering if that c - 1 is in regards to the color touch on it or if it also factors in with the trimming. Do they judge how well the trimming was done? Like if someone barely trims a couple millimeters versus an inch or if it's a straight cut versus incorrectly done at a slightl angle? Thanks

Agreed. I've owned more than one CGC book with a wavy label. If you don't see signs of tampering and the book itself looks to match the grade then I wouldn't worry about it

Well that's good news. Congrats. FYI I think that small dent could have been pressed out but clearly it wasn't necessary. I've gotten out dents like that by using a hard eraser to pound it out (no rubbing) from the inside cover prior to pressing. That technique also works on trace lines. Helped me to get some cartoony trace dents out of an X-men 4 once.

I take it you didn't get it pressed?

They can always be free as long as you run fast enough.

The only thing that bothers me is when the hype machine drives up the price on that one random book you're missing in a run that you didn't even realize was a "key" but is now a key because some obscure character in the issue is rumored to maybe be in a movie some day. I'm definitely a collector of runs because I want to be able to read storylines without skipping around. Also it's just satisfying to see your collection as being whole when you get the 1st 400 issues (or whichever ones are important to you. I usually stop caring by the 90s) of an old series.

Like others here I've got both, but I prefer #1. To me that cover is classic Marvel. When it comes to story though I prefer to read #4.

I agree on the FF1. prices still vary quite a bit but it's not as easy to find one way under value like it used to be. The talks of Marvel getting back the rights are a sign to get it now before the hype machine drives it up like crazy.

Good question. I press as a hobby on my own books and have never damaged one yet but I never thought about what would happen with the tattooz insert. I don't know if I want to experiment on my copy but if I come across a dup I'll give it a try and report back.