Popular Post kobra65 Posted July 11, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted July 11, 2023 Had this XM1 book restored, and then graded. rlextherobot, thedude, grendelbo and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sauce Dog Posted July 14, 2023 Share Posted July 14, 2023 (edited) I swear I'm going to claw my way back into this club even if it means having to BUILD my own copy again Bought an incomplete CGC NG copy (missing the entire cover and first page - though the back page of that wrap is still there, and the second wrap has a chunk missing from the top left), and now managed to track down a loose front cover for it locally. Next up is sourcing a back cover replacement (that will be super easy) and then lastly just need to find someone who can sell me the first page only (or the entire first wrap, that would mean less work overall). Still debating what I want to do with it overall, either repair it myself to a 0.5/1.0 Universal grade OR send it to a pro for proper leaf casting and get the book structurally solid and pull in a conserved 3.5 or better grade. Edited July 14, 2023 by Sauce Dog vdevictor, rlextherobot and kobra65 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vdevictor Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 On 14/7/2023 at 23:13, Sauce Dog said: Juro que voy a abrirme camino de regreso a este club, incluso si eso significa tener que CONSTRUIR mi propia copia nuevamente. Compré una copia incompleta de CGC NG (falta la portada completa y la primera página, aunque la última página de esa envoltura todavía está allí) , y a la segunda envoltura le falta un trozo en la parte superior izquierda), y ahora logró localizar una portada suelta localmente. El siguiente paso es obtener un reemplazo de la contraportada (eso será muy fácil) y luego, por último, solo necesito encontrar a alguien que pueda venderme solo la primera página (o la primera envoltura completa, eso significaría menos trabajo en general). Todavía estoy debatiendo qué quiero hacer con él en general, repararlo yo mismo a un grado Universal 0.5/1.0 O enviarlo a un profesional para que realice una fundición de hojas adecuada y obtenga el libro estructuralmente sólido y obtenga un grado conservado de 3.5 o mejor. I love these kinds of challenges. Please report your progress here 😃 I got my copy missing page 13 which I was able to get later graded by CGC. Right now it's loose in place but I always think about attaching it because it has the holes for the staples. kobra65, Sauce Dog and gadzukes 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluemedgroup Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 On 7/11/2023 at 8:02 AM, kobra65 said: Had this XM1 book restored, and then graded. Curious, why did you restore it as opposed to just sending it in for a blue label? Did it look that bad before the restoration work? In terms of monetary value, the loss of a PLOD label + restoration cost would likely exceed the grade drop of a blue label. Dark Knight 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post kobra65 Posted July 31, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted July 31, 2023 On 7/31/2023 at 4:34 PM, Bluemedgroup said: Curious, why did you restore it as opposed to just sending it in for a blue label? Did it look that bad before the restoration work? In terms of monetary value, the loss of a PLOD label + restoration cost would likely exceed the grade drop of a blue label. was already a restored book in low grade and the back cover was the wrong one. Far more value as it sits today at a 6.5 restored with the great work done to it. gadzukes, KCOComics, silverseeker and 2 others 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluemedgroup Posted August 1, 2023 Share Posted August 1, 2023 On 7/31/2023 at 3:49 PM, kobra65 said: was already a restored book in low grade and the back cover was the wrong one. Far more value as it sits today at a 6.5 restored with the great work done to it. Make sense now for sure. Great looking book! kobra65 and gadzukes 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vdevictor Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 On 8/1/2023 at 1:49 AM, kobra65 said: was already a restored book in low grade and the back cover was the wrong one. Far more value as it sits today at a 6.5 restored with the great work done to it. Well done. It's a gorgeous copy now. Congrats!!! 👏👏👏👏👏 kobra65 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Sauce Dog Posted August 12, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted August 12, 2023 (edited) The final piece of the puzzle has been found, thus technically making my absolute trash pile copy of X-Men #1 an official 0.5 at this point - so I guess I'm officially back in the X-club for real again! It won't remain in this state for long though; I'll be doing work on the pages myself (tape removal, restoration removal, stain removal and basic cleaning) and after they are all prepped they will be sent over to Youtube's Jerry the Jitterbug for leaf-casting. I personally usually just am to turn incomplete No Grade books into CGC 0.5 Universal grades (it is the only way I can afford to add certain grail books to my collection), but in this case I realized it was a far better idea to go the extra mile to reach out to another pro to make it structurally much better. Not sure where it will end up with the final grade, so it will be a nice surprise (I do know that if I do the work myself I would be limited to standard tear seals, and since there is a good deal of paper loss, especially now that I have the first page and what work that requires, I could not see it grading higher than a 0.5 anyways) The cover has some pieces of tape on it, but I'm well versed in removing those. Biggest work will be the restoration removal. The guy I bought the incomplete interior from actually attached a cheap reproduction front cover and reproduction first wrap to the interior using DOUBLE SIDED TAPE (which CGC missed and labeled just as glue), so removal without further damaging the interior will be slow (otherwise it might call for additional leaf-casting, adding to the overall cost). While the first page is restored with pieces added and a small bit of color touch - I settled with it as there were not many options for buying just that single page at the moment, but it should be an easy enough task to remove the poorly done infill and very obvious CT (black ink applied to the bottom of the pages panels) Goes to show you that no grail is ever really out of reach, even if you are working with a very small budget and feel priced out of ever obtaining one. Edited August 12, 2023 by Sauce Dog c_mkv, silverseeker, rlextherobot and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Sauce Dog Posted August 14, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted August 14, 2023 THE OPERATION BEGINS. All the tape has been removed from the cover (pieces holding chunks on), while this was by far the most delicate Silver Age paper I've removed tape from it went very well overall. vdevictor, kobra65, Pantodude and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet Lou 14 Posted August 15, 2023 Share Posted August 15, 2023 On 8/14/2023 at 7:49 PM, Sauce Dog said: THE OPERATION BEGINS. All the tape has been removed from the cover (pieces holding chunks on), while this was by far the most delicate Silver Age paper I've removed tape from it went very well overall. How in the world did you get the tape off without tearing away the colors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sauce Dog Posted August 15, 2023 Share Posted August 15, 2023 On 8/14/2023 at 9:08 PM, Sweet Lou 14 said: How in the world did you get the tape off without tearing away the colors? A spatula, solvent, and a steady hand combined with patience kobra65 and Sweet Lou 14 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gadzukes Posted August 15, 2023 Share Posted August 15, 2023 On 8/14/2023 at 7:49 PM, Sauce Dog said: THE OPERATION BEGINS. All the tape has been removed from the cover (pieces holding chunks on), while this was by far the most delicate Silver Age paper I've removed tape from it went very well overall. Thanos just snapped his fingers Sauce Dog 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluemedgroup Posted August 17, 2023 Share Posted August 17, 2023 Goldin Auction 9.2 27 days to go. Didn't we see this same book a while ago with the white stains in the lower right corner? X-Men #1 (1963 Marvel) – CGC 9.2 – Origin and 1st Appearance of the X-Men (Professor X, Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Beast, Marvel Girl) and Magneto on Goldin Auctions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kobra65 Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 On 8/16/2023 at 11:12 PM, Bluemedgroup said: Goldin Auction 9.2 27 days to go. Didn't we see this same book a while ago with the white stains in the lower right corner? X-Men #1 (1963 Marvel) – CGC 9.2 – Origin and 1st Appearance of the X-Men (Professor X, Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Beast, Marvel Girl) and Magneto on Goldin Auctions Sold at Heritage just over a year ago for $204k. Not sure if it is the right time to sell this book? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spreads Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 That buyer premium is insane! I refuse to pay that kind of buying commission, it should be a tiered approach or what my comic shop does with a cap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedcake Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 On 8/14/2023 at 7:49 PM, Sauce Dog said: THE OPERATION BEGINS. All the tape has been removed from the cover (pieces holding chunks on), while this was by far the most delicate Silver Age paper I've removed tape from it went very well overall. nice! what is the plan here now, though? pretty cool project; would be interested to know on just how small a budget you've been able to accomplish it so far and how long it took. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sauce Dog Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 (edited) On 8/21/2023 at 4:33 PM, speedcake said: nice! what is the plan here now, though? pretty cool project; would be interested to know on just how small a budget you've been able to accomplish it so far and how long it took. The following steps are what I'll be doing on my side: Remove tape from front cover Remove restoration from page 1 (pieces added around the borders, slight CT bottom of the page) Remove reproduction pages from interior (the incomplete interior I bought had a reproduction cover and first wrap attached using double sided tape - ugh. CGC missed the tape and thought it was glue which would have been easier to remove) Harvest the new matching donor back cover from the other comic I have (Sgt. Fury #3, the rest of the comic will be used as material by Jerry to help make paper pulp for the leaf casting process) After all that is said and done it is going to be sent to the wonderful Jerry the Jitterbug on YouTube who has agreed to take on leaf casting the book back together. My entire goal is to keep the entire process to as far below the GPA last sale for a 0.5 as possible (Last sold in July 2023 for $3000), and so far if everything stays on target it looks like I should be able to complete everything for around $2400. Having this come back as a 1.0 Conserved would be the low end outlook - I'm keeping my expectations as low as my budget. To put this budget in perceptive; the most I have ever spent on a comic was $2000, and I have done this three times after much saving/haggling ($2000 for Adventure comics #48 first Hourman after having sold a BIG grail to fund the purchase, then $2000 for New York World's Fair 1939 first Sandman, and then I did a $2000 trade for an incomplete Wonder Woman #1). I'm not a high roller like many others on the boards (but am aware I'm very fortunate to still be in a position to spend such money on comics), so when I come into any big grails it is often from either building up a book like this from scratch, or wheeling and dealing other books I have (most that I got lucky in buying years before they spiked. A large portion of my comic-play money in the last two years came from me selling my first print TMNT #1 when things started to get crazy - part of the money from this bought the first Hourman I mentioned above). So this is now TECHNICALLY the most expensive comic I have ever 'bought'. As for turn around, Jerry won't be able to start on leaf casting until the fall - so I'll be talking with him in September about when I can send him the pages (once they are done on my end, which shouldn't take too long for me - only another 3-4 nights at most of casual work). This started when I bought the incomplete interior at the beginning of the year (it was already graded as a Restored NG) as didn't consider doing all this work until I ended up finding a local selling who had the front cover for sale. At that point it just seemed like a no-brained to go all out and actually try to make it a complete book (it honestly took little time to source the other parts. I wish I could have found an unrestored page 1, but the options were very limited and since I was already going to do a full leaf casting I bit the bullet and figured I could work with it) Edited August 22, 2023 by Sauce Dog speedcake 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedcake Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 excellent, thanks! I hope it works out perfectly for you and can't wait to see the finished book. Sauce Dog 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sauce Dog Posted August 27, 2023 Share Posted August 27, 2023 (edited) URGENT: Can somebody measure the width of the panels on a REAL X-Men #1 first page for me. The page I bought was restored, and when I went to remove all the restoration (pieces added to all sides) something wasn't sitting right with me. I compared the width to the rest of the interior and the panel art width is smaller. I fear I was sold a hacked up Marvel Tales #2 reprint page (with the reprint notice sliced off exactly where it would have began from the bottom and pieces added to make it look legit - it was in a VOLDY slab). I'm pissed off, to say the least (thankfully it was purchased off eBay only a few weeks ago, so I've instigated a refund request) Edited August 27, 2023 by Sauce Dog KCOComics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sauce Dog Posted August 27, 2023 Share Posted August 27, 2023 (edited) Sigh. This is totally 100% a reprint from Marvel Tales #2. The eBay seller is even selling other loose 'heavily trimmed' original Avengers #1 pages...which were also from that very same reprint book. It would be a crazy coincidence that the eBay seller wasn't the one who had this slabbed and is scamming Anybody have a first page they want to sell me (or a first wrap) Edited August 27, 2023 by Sauce Dog 10centcomics, KCOComics and silverseeker 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
