Cover cleaned......What exactly does that mean?

[Hero Restoration]

Actually Scotts teasing was based in reality. Recently we had been discussing CT application, and how one can now effectively paint large areas of a cover to mimic the original color as opposed to just CT'ing an isolated stain, piecefill or sealed tear.

 

This of course is only done on lower grade restored books that would already be pegged as Extensive, not to mention be cost effective to take the time to do this.

 

Because unlike restored antique cars that get totally repainted after major structural work. Comic CT has almost always been limited to just CT'ing the repaired area and trying to blend it in. And this I believe was mainly due to massive CT application standing out, even if matched well.

 

I have typically preffered minimal work done to a book, but when one is trying for as high an apparent grade as possible one must set aside personal preference and try and make the book look as nice, and as natural as possible.

 

For example, here is the BC of a Bat 1, the infilled and stained areas could have been CT'ed, matched to the discolored white border. But in this case the entire BC white border was CT'ed making it appear seamless and closer to the day it was printed. Is it highly extensive?, yes. Is it more appealing? I think so.

 

 

But I wonder how others feel about extensive work like this. Does the term "extensive" turn you off because typically the book never looks, or feels right afterwards? And if so, would you feel diferently if the work done was more seamless and harder to detect? Or would it not matter how well the work was done, the fact that it is extensive is the main turn off?

 

Because raising the apparent grade is the name of the game with Extensive Resto, but at what point does the apparent grade not matter because the book is soo far past original it is no longer appealing to you as a collector?

 

I guess it depends on if you knew what the previous condition was when looking to buy a Ext. book. But even if you did, hopefully the amount of work done would not matter, just the results.

 

 

Looks nice Kenny but it's hard to imaging what you accomplished without a before picture. Also curious how the inside looks too.

 

I got my air brush this week so I think I will give this a try on my sad looking x-men # 4. Wish me luck.

[FFB]

Im probably in the minority, but if a book is to be restored i say do as much as possible to take it back to mint.

 

That Batman1 back cover looks absolutely stunning.

 

As someone on the outside looking in (meaning i dont collect books that are rare enough to restore) I hardly differentiate between slight/moderate/extensive. Im more focused on pro vs amateur and how the book looks.

 

In a weird way, I agree with you. I think that once you start color touching anything beyond tiny bits of the book at the periphery, the degrees don't matter all that much.

 

I like the restraint that is shown when restoring important books that were missing big chunks and have been leafcasted and left unpainted (it does a great job of showing where the original material differs from the later material).

 

But I also like extensively restored books where the restored material is made to look seamless with the original material.

 

Also, badly stained covers present a special case. With a badly stained cover, you can spend a lot of time fixing structural damage only to wind up with a book that still looks like it was pulled from the bottom of a refuse heap. In that case, I would rather eliminate as much of the staining as possible using conservation techniques, and after the staining is minimized that way, I don't have a problem with hitting the remaining stained area with color touch to make it more aesthetically pleasing, as long as the work is fully disclosed. Most people who buy Extensive (P) restored books want rare books that look as nice as possible, but can't afford or don't want to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for unrestored copies.

 

Since the high-grade, unrestored chasers generally eschew restored books, you're really dealing with two different buying pools. There are a few people in the hobby who could drop the $300,000 or so that it would cost to buy a NM Batman #1, and whether the prices of comics rise or fall in the next 10-20 years, that book in unrestored NM will be prohibitively expensive for 99.999% of the collectors out there. For the vast majority of people who have always wanted a superb-looking copy of Batman #1, buying an extensively restored copy (or buying a beater copy and getting it fully restored) might be the only option that they'll ever have in their lifetimes to own a gorgeous copy. Yes, people will realize that it's not as rare as a true, unrestored NM, but it's still impressive and is still a lot of fun to look at, at a small fraction of the price.

[namisgr]

A concern I'd have with extensive re-coloring (doesn't seem right at that point to call it "touch") is the potential instability over time. If it doesn't age the same way as the original inks, it may eventually change to a color different from the original.

 

I've seen this happen with old color touches - is that just from when low-quality ink is used to perform the touch, or is it a concern with the longevity of any re-coloring?

[Green]

Im probably in the minority, but if a book is to be restored i say do as much as possible to take it back to mint.

 

That Batman1 back cover looks absolutely stunning.

 

As someone on the outside looking in (meaning i dont collect books that are rare enough to restore) I hardly differentiate between slight/moderate/extensive. Im more focused on pro vs amateur and how the book looks.

 

In a weird way, I agree with you.

[jimjum12]

A book that has only had the cover cleaned will be one of the better values in comics today. I've owned several and they can usually be had for 50 % to 70% of guide. I always pop them out of the slab and the ones I've decided to get rid of pose no problem. I keep the label with them out of honesty and can usually get guide in trade.....although I only get extremely cool ones. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

 

P.S. A trimmed and color touched JIM 85 just sold for over 5000 dollars in the last Clink auction.

[Mr. 10%]

Im probably in the minority, but if a book is to be restored i say do as much as possible to take it back to mint.

 

That Batman1 back cover looks absolutely stunning.

 

As someone on the outside looking in (meaning i dont collect books that are rare enough to restore) I hardly differentiate between slight/moderate/extensive. Im more focused on pro vs amateur and how the book looks.

 

 

You ought to differentiate cause there is a huge difference between a book with perhaps just 2 or 3 dots of CT / glue (in the very slight extreme) and then a book completely reconstructed with remade art work, etc. (i.e. franken-Ext.).There are how ever also extensive PLODS that do look more moderate in hand ...

There actually seem to be two kinds of Extensive: (i) Franken-ext. and (ii) "moderate"-extensive.

Option (ii) is especially attractive in connection with GA books I think.