What is restoration?

[Zanarkand]

Given that just about every conversation around here eventually degrades into a debate over what counts as restoration and what doesn't, I thought I'd offer up a working definition:

 

Restoration - A repair made to an otherwise irreversible defect.

 

Creases, staple rust, and tears for example are irreversible. You can't make a crease un-crease, you can't turn rust back into metal, you can't make a tear un-tear, etc. You can only fix them.

 

Dirt or dust on a book is often reversible - It can be be wiped off or non-invasively cleaned (Wonder bread), so removing dirt would often not be restoration. A bend or non-color breaking fold can be reversed, just press it out. Not restoration.

 

Clearly there is a line of demarcation between resto and non-resto, and I believe that refusing to recognize that line - claiming that ANY sort of effort taken to improve the appearance of a comic counts as resto - puts one in an untenable position. Similarly, being an unrelenting CGC cheerleader who thinks that restro is whatever CGC says it is just makes you sound like a drone.

 

This is a reaction to many posts I've read over the last few months, not some kind of thesis, so I invite comments.

[sterlingcomics]

This sounds good to me...but what do I know? I just slept in a Holiday Inn express last night...

[JohnBull]

I think the concept of restoration in comics is a bit OTT. If all you're doing is cleaning/scraping/tidying by removing extraneous matter from a book, then I don't see it as a problem. It should be disclosed, but I don't see it as a reason to drastically reduce the value of an issue (although I can only see the value in doing this to older/scarcer items).

 

When covers are rebuilt and pieces added in, I can understand them not selling for anything like an unrestored copy would in similar grade, but if I had a POS copy of a big book, I can understand wanting to have it restored to something that had much more visual appeal.

 

With full disclosure, restoration has to be a good thing. When I look at what's available nowadays, I'm seriously tempted to sell my whole collection and go out and buy restored GA beauties at knock-down prices.