oldrover

Well, if you're right... I still have one option left...

Pressed the button... ...it is done.

Bought almost 20 years ago... and totally forgot about the sticker. How much does that affect the grade? Can it be removed? Should it? (I want to CGC this, obviously)

First, what grade would you give it? Second, what about that sticker? I'm not pulling it off. But how does it affect the grade? Third, what about the spine roll? Would pressing solve that? And should this be cleaned? ...why can't these things be simple? LOL

Two sales for 2.5’s with purple labels (C) this year for $9500 each time.

Actually, no... you won't.

Ugh... that sounds very plausible. The timeline of purchase would be 2002. Oh, well... chalk it up to my emptor not doing enough caveating.

They were accurate.

I’ve seen a few of those auctions. If your goal is maximizing your return on investment, you’ll get more with a facsimile cover than without, again, from what I’ve seen.

They can’t give me both, right? That would be like...

Yeah, my fault on the photos. I should have taken more before I shipped it... as it was, I had to extricate it out of two inner hermetically sealed bubble wrappers to get THESE shots.

I bought it almost 20 years ago... really haven't looked at it since until today. I was told it was restored... my guess is one of these three: 1. Completely new cover. After looking at it today, I don't think that's the case, but then again, what I don't know can fill volumes. LOL If that's the case, I'll get an NR rating... it'll still sell though. One just went for over $5000 on eBay... coverless book with a cover reproduction. That would be the worst. 2. Cover taken from another book, restored, and placed on this one. That means a Qualified label, correct? 3. Original cover restored. That's what I'm hoping for. My son said, "What if it comes back unrestored?" After I stopped laughing... Here are some last minute photos before I shipped it... what's your (far more educated) guess as to the outcome? I'm good with whatever... hey, it will look FABULOUS in a CGC holder.

Epilogue: due to someone asking me about selling this book, I looked back on GPA and on eBay. I'd thought (guessed) this book would be in the $2500 range. Turns out a CGC 5.0 PLOD just sold for $2300. So it might be a win-win after all that... great looking book, and mo' money.

And the CCS verdict is in: —— The Tales to Astonish #27 was rejected for CCS services. CCS determined that the book has too much color touch along the spine to safely remove. This book will be returned to you as is. —— Hey, still a heckuva book. Kind of amazing (to me) that they can do that analysis without opening the case.

Well, I should be getting an e-mail from CCS any time about this.

Yes. In fact, I have a restored AF15 that I'm a little afraid to get CGC'd, because God knows the extent of the restoration. I mean, I WILL, because it's the right thing to do... but that's gonna be a little scary. Fortunately, I'd didn't pay TOO much for it.

You are not alone, particularly in this forum. BUT there are those who WILL pay for it. As I've said before, I'm selling these off, so it's really about the ROI for me. If removal takes this to a 6.5 or 7, I gotta consider it. If it's a 4.0 or a 3.5, no.

Just sent it in this week... it will be interesting to see what they say. However, I'm not opposed to keeping it the way it is. It's a great looking book, and pretty rare in that condition.

No bump in page quality. But I held serve on the comic's condition while going from Restored to Conserved. To me, that's a win.

Okay... just got the email that they've shipped this back to me... so I checked the notes on CGC's website. The final verdict... Conserved label... Nicholas Cage collection designation... and it remains a 9.4. All in all, I think it's a win. Removed the PLOD while maintaining the grade AND the Cage notation. Thanks to all for your advice and good counsel! (I can't promise this will be the last time I'll seek it )

LOL... d'oh! just spoke to them. They contact you with your options before they do anything.

Perhaps. That notwithstanding, if the color removal would drop the grade, say, to 6.0, I'm still better off removing it. Again, I don't know the procedure with CCS... I assume they contact me with info about the extent of the work/damage, rather than juts "Yes we'll do it", "no we won't". But no one here seems to know.

LOL... well, yes, you do have a point on that. I was making a general point about ROI... but in this specific case, it's certainly possible if not probable that the color touch removal involved here would take the book's grade down to where it makes no sense. I'm assuming that CCS would let me know this ahead of time, right? That was the specific question I asked in my first post that no one has addressed... have I not mentioned that enough? If not, I'll mention it again.