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Restore or not to restore?

Started by Dr. K,

14 posts in this topic

Dr. K

Dr. K

Posted
Posted

I found this Captain America #77 (Commie Smasher!! 1953) a book that I had completely forgotten about. It was in such bad shape that back in 1965 the guy that sold old comic books just gave it to me. But after lo these many years I was browsing through Overstreet and see that it could be a pretty valuable book. My copy is completely intact but is pretty rough. The cover has a tear running 3/4 of the way across and though the cover is still attached at the spine it has split from the bottom staple down. The cover is also missing fractional bits around the edges. I have been out of this comics thing for a long time. Is it worth restoring this book or just put it away as a memory from the past?

 

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PovertyRow

PovertyRow

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What is the interior page quality like? Are pages white, cream, tan, brown? Is there a darker tan or brown edging to the inner pages that lightens to the middle of each page?

 

Also, how good are the cover inks? Are they faded? Bright?

 

Any rusting at the staples? If so, any staining on the paper from the rusted staples?

 

Last thing - do a page count. Let us know hoe many pages you count (do not include the cover) in the count.

 

These are considerations not so much to grade by description but to see if there are other issues that may make restoration viable of not.

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Dr. K

Dr. K

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Thanks for getting back. Much appreciated. So here's a general description of the book:

It is, in fact almost completely intact, however the cover has a tear that runs 3/4 of the way in from the outer edge. The first three pages of the book follow the same tear though not nearly as deep. The outer edges of the cover are tattered missing bits, the largest of which are no more than perhaps a 1/16th - 1/8th of an inch. The spine is pretty beat up but surprisingly the cover remains attached except from the bottom stape down. The inner pages have yellowed somewhat but the edges are untattered. I can leaf through the book so the pages are reasonably supple. I count 16 pages of uniform slightly tan color - no variation on each page. The cover inks really aren't bad considering, there's still some gloss and brightness. The staples don't appear to be rusted and there is no staining. By the way Overstreet prices the book at 2.0 at $107.

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143ksk

143ksk

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I would think that a full resto job would run you in the $700-$1000 range. Probably not worth it for this book. If I was going to have any work done on it, I would just have the tear sealed and call it a day.

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Ze-man

Ze-man

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I would think that a full resto job would run you in the $700-$1000 range. Probably not worth it for this book. If I was going to have any work done on it, I would just have the tear sealed and call it a day.

 

I totally agree, even if it could be restored to VF/NM it's value would only top out around $400(?maybe?) , but just to hear you say that you bought it in 1965 and still own it is neat in itself.

 

Welcome to the boards btw.

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PovertyRow

PovertyRow

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Keep it unrestored this book comes up for sale very rarely. Even a very low grade copy would be attractive to many collectors.

 

I tend to agree. This is a more "mature" book (from who would buy it) but not like it was a Detective 27 or Action 1 is. Leave it as it is. If you sell let the more mature buyer decide if it should be restored. If you restore just one thing, like the tear, with an eye to sell - well it will be seen by many if not most in the same light as if it were fully restored. Tough road to travel.

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