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removing a tear seal

Started by Crimebuster,

13 posts in this topic

Crimebuster

Crimebuster

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Hola.

 

I recently purchased a low grade copy of Action Comics #252. Maybe a 2.5. Before I bought it, I looked over it to see if there was any resto. Now, I'm not a resto expert, but I didn't find anything.

 

Except! There is what appears to be a single small tear seal on the bottom of the front cover. I was actually kind of stoked to find this as it's the first time I've managed to actually detect resto on a book in the wild. So, thanks for all the help from this forum to get me to this point.

 

But anyway, my question is: How difficult or expensive is it to remove something like this? At some point I may want to have this CGC'd and if I do, I want a blue label. Plus, there's no real need for a tear seal if it's inside a case anyway.

 

The sealing isn't really visible from the outside, it's only noticeable from the inside, mainly because the tear doesn't open like you would expect it to.

 

Any info you can give would be great. Here's a photo of the comic and the tear seal, which I have deftly circled using my amazing photoshop skills:

 

SAM_0892-1.jpg

 

 

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Crimebuster

Crimebuster

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Can you show us the tear seal inside the front cover?

 

 

Sure.

 

 

One more thing....does it have the color touch on the tear?

 

 

Doesn't appear to, no.

 

 

I'm not really familiar with how tear seals are supposed to look, but it's odd to me that there's really nothing visible on the inside either. The tear looks like it should open like any other tear, but it totally doesn't. From the front, you can see that the tear almost looks darker - like a shadow in the tear - and I am wondering if that is some kind of spray or adhesive used to close the seal?

 

Here's the outside and inside of the tear:

 

 

SAM_0899.jpg

 

SAM_0901.jpg

 

 

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Crimebuster

Crimebuster

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Interesting that the book is signed by Denis Kitchen...

 

Yeah. Based on the handwriting, I am assuming he was the original owner, as it looks like a kid's writing. Plus, I can't think of any other reason he would have signed this. I could send him a pic on facebook or something, but I don't want him to come back with, like, "a neighborhood bully named Chuck stole this from me in 1966! Give it back!"

 

hm

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BlowUpTheMoon

BlowUpTheMoon

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Interesting that the book is signed by Denis Kitchen...

 

Yeah. Based on the handwriting, I am assuming he was the original owner, as it looks like a kid's writing. Plus, I can't think of any other reason he would have signed this. I could send him a pic on facebook or something, but I don't want him to come back with, like, "a neighborhood bully named Chuck stole this from me in 1966! Give it back!"

 

hm

 

I may have another Dennis Kitchen book from that time frame in my collection.

 

The name/hand writing looks familiar.

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Crimebuster

Crimebuster

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If the tear was repaired with adhesive that would stick with dust. Don't be surprised if it was glued with Elmer's. I hope Elmer's glue would be removable.

 

Oh, that wouldn't surprise me. There's no telling what kind of weird fixes kids will try on their comics. For instance, my Avengers #4 has rubber cement gluing the bottom half of the spine to the book.

 

Which I know because I put it there myself when I was 13. (tsk)

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divad

divad

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If the tear was repaired with adhesive that would stick with dust. Don't be surprised if it was glued with Elmer's. I hope Elmer's glue would be removable.

 

Oh, that wouldn't surprise me. There's no telling what kind of weird fixes kids will try on their comics. For instance, my Avengers #4 has rubber cement gluing the bottom half of the spine to the book.

 

Which I know because I put it there myself when I was 13. (tsk)

 

I've seen quite a few books in the wild with rubber cement - it was particularly a favorite with some would-be amateur restorers on the square-bounds.

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JollyComics

JollyComics

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If the tear was repaired with adhesive that would stick with dust. Don't be surprised if it was glued with Elmer's. I hope Elmer's glue would be removable.

 

Oh, that wouldn't surprise me. There's no telling what kind of weird fixes kids will try on their comics. For instance, my Avengers #4 has rubber cement gluing the bottom half of the spine to the book.

 

Which I know because I put it there myself when I was 13. (tsk)

 

I've seen quite a few books in the wild with rubber cement - it was particularly a favorite with some would-be amateur restorers on the square-bounds.

 

If the tear was repaired with the rubber cement, it is easily removed by rubbing it off gently with your fingertip.

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