How much is this worth?

[tb]

What do you think is a fair market value for this? I've been thinking about collecting complete Adventure & More Fun runs for a while - this would be my first issue. In particular, I like the idea of collecting high grade runs with slight restoration - the low prices now seem ridiculous compared with the percentage that restored books brought before CGC. Would you prefer blue 6.0 to an SP 9.2?

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=67&item=2153155539&rd=1

 

[Joanna]

I think that's rather smart, myself. Simply because the prices on restored books are SO low right now. I think they're going to bounce back. And GA collectors aren't as prejudiced as others, because age does take such a great toll on the paper and inks.

 

On a side note, I bought one of those black lights, to check my own GA books. When I bought them, there was never any mention of restoration from any of the dealers. I looked at 4 books and 1 of them has definite signs of color touch. I can't see a thing under normal light, but there are glowing spots in several places. The invisibility under normal circumstances makes me think it was a pro who did it, but nonetheless, I now know that I really overpaid. I thought I was buying original condition.

 

I haven't had the heart to check any others, but I will eventually. I don't mind restoration, but I don't like that I paid unrestored prices for it. That's what bugs me, not the color touch.

 

-- Joanna

[tb]

I bought the UV light to check a couple GA books but I could not see anything on them. I don't know if it was because the light was too cheap or whether my books are clean; am going to submit them to CGC in my next batch. Good to know that the light worked for someone else.

 

[ArAich]

NM 9.4 OSPG price is $2k right now the book is at $465.00. I think this book is incredible and would be a steal if it does not go much higher. There is only (according to CGC) a slight amount of proffesional color touch which I take as meaning the book is structurally a 9.2.

As a collector I would grab this book at that price. As an investor you are taking a chance but the investment may be sound in the long run but not at this time.

[fantastic_four]

Since the only restoration is a small amount of professional color touch, you could always have it removed. It likely wouldn't drop below 8.0 if you were to do this. To be safe, you could always pay no more than the price an unrestored 7.0 would garner.

[fantastic_four]

Are you sure the stuff that glowed under your black light wasn't dust or dirt? There are a lot of foreign substances that could fluoresce under a black light. The first thing I usually have to do when I use a black light is brush all the dust off; most books have ten to twenty glowy spots until the dust is removed.

[PovertyRow]

Are you sure the stuff that glowed under your black light wasn't dust or dirt? There are a lot of foreign substances that could fluoresce under a black light. The first thing I usually have to do when I use a black light is brush all the dust off; most books have ten to twenty glowy spots until the dust is removed.

 

As my 6th grade gym teacher said "A word to the wise should be sufficient." And you just got a word to the wise. Brush off those books before you BL them!

[tb]

How would you remove color touch and still have an 8.0??

 

[fantastic_four]

The label says it's a "small amount" of professional color touch. That can be scraped off. Matt Nelson does this kind of restoration removal...he told me once about how much CGC means by "a small amount" of color touch. He told me the average amount he sees books like this fall after scraping the CT off is 1/2 a grade, although I would expect that you'd want to presume an even lower grade and factor in how much it's worth if it falls a full 1.5 grades. If you send him a link to the auction, he could probably give you an estimate for what to expect as far as how far the grade would lower. You could also call CGC and get a more exact indication of how much CT is there.

 

I had Matt do this for me once. If you've got specific questions, PM me. If you're buying the book to keep, I wouldn't remove the CT until you're ready to sell it. It'll look better as a 9.2 with the CT than possibly a 7.0 without it!

[mlovest]

I think the restoration you're talking about here is so minimal. A slight color touch may not be a big deal, but a trim is another thing. I can't imagine why someone would trim a great looking comic book. There's an ASM 33 NM+ 9.8 with thrimmed top and bottom on eBay now. Ouch! I wouldn't buy a trimmed comic, but a light color touch, sure thing!

[FlyingDonut]

I wonder where somebody bought that COMIC. It is one of the minor KEYS that show up trimmed everynow and then. Too bad!

[fantastic_four]

I e-mailed the guy. He said he bought it 20 years ago, I think from a dealer in Nevada if I remember correctly. Tough luck there if it's true!

[hammer-migration]

web page

[hammer-migration]

Is THIS the book (in the above post...hit the link) that we're talking about that YOU can determine SIZE and TRIM from a scan of?

Let's pull the old ruler out and a comparable CGC Blue top slabbed book to ponder the claim of trim from THIS genius, in case it is the book he's spouting about that he really doesn't know his @$$ from his elbow on.

 

Hmmmm: Spiderman 33 from my auction... let's line up this ruler...and...OK, that's 10 and 1/4 inches EXACTLY from the midpoint of the comic, the top edge to the bottom edge.

Now, let's take a Spiderman 22 slabbed BLUE and measure it along it's median, top to bottom, and .....WHAT? 10 and 3/16ths inches!!!! You mean the #33 that this insufficiently_thoughtful_person says is trimmed from looking ata SCAN is BIGGER than a CGCed Blue top OLDER issue. No way. Let me measure again (to be fair to this insufficiently_thoughtful_person). Yep! Sorry guys...especially YOU Rudd! Looks like the #33 ISN'T trimmed. Should I bother loading up the Forum with images of the ruler across about 100 different CGC BLUE topped slabbed books for a size comparison to the #33??

[fantastic_four]

You've argued yourself that Silver Age Marvels varied slightly in width. So how does using a ruler to measure width prove or disprove trimming?

 

Besides, mlovest is talking about this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=32739&item=2152700702 . Rather odd that even YOU thought he was talking about YOU!

[Bronty]

I was just about to post that link too but Rudd beat me to it.

 

Seriously, hammer, this is why you shouldn't fly off the handle. mlovest wasn't even talking about you.

[Illiterati-migration]

Seriously, hammer, this is why you shouldn't fly off the handle. mlovest wasn't even talking about you.

 

But seriously guys, there's an interesting question that is being overlooked here. We've covered what kind of gloves we use when grading books, what kinds of storage materials we use, but ... the real question is:

 

What kind of scissors do you use when you're trimming your comics?

 

(And yes, we all know that Greggy and Bug use safety scissors. Ha-ha. Very funny. Those poor guys........)

[hammer-migration]

Am I BLIND??? FLY-ING DO-NUT specifically, encryptically capitalized the letters

C O M I C ....... K E Y S in his quaint little message. Nobody noticed? Why did I think it was referring to me? How many other #33s are there up on Ebay presently in NM+ or better. How did I know it was me? Give me a break. And YOU..RUDD..Mr. Anti-Comic-Keys with every breath you take (yes, I've SEEN your emails to others about "my joining the darkside"...what world do YOU and your Magneto live in?)..IF the book is 10 and 1/4 inches, the UPPER extreme of comic length, what do YOU think the chances are of its being trimmed? Less than if it were 10 and 1/16th? Or do you only think in reverse when I'M involved?

[Illiterati-migration]

FLY-ING DO-NUT specifically, encryptically capitalized the letters C O M I C ....... K E Y S in his quaint little message. Nobody noticed?

 

Whoa... I never even THOUGHT about that.......... I hate subliminal messages. CURSE YOU DONUT!!!!! CURSE YOU AND YOUR GLAZEY GOOEY GOODNESS!!!!!!! But back to the question about the scissors...

[hammer-migration]

Bronty, I didn't say Mlovest was referring to me. I hit the reply to the last post I read. At least ONE person here made a reference to me and that is what I was answering to.