Susan Ciccioni's The Restoration Lab's Website Back Online!

[esquirecomics]

Susan Ciccioni of The Restoration Lab unveiled her new website today.

 

Susan Ciccioni's The Restoration Lab

www.therestorationlab.com

 

I especially encourage everyone to view her Photo section which features some amazing graphics of before and after pictures of her work.

[arexcrooke]

Mark, i though she said she denounced pressing? Or am i misunderstanding her statement here?

 

A simple cleaning and pressing of a comic book will cost $150.00 and upwards depending on the type of book and to what extent the cleaning and pressing entails.

[Ze-man]

As I understand it.. she will still clean, and press books. If it is done as a form of restoring the book.

I will no longer provide intact pressing of books (unless it is part of a larger, complete restoration process).

 

But she will no longer just press out a small bend in a book to try and turn a 9.4 book into a 9.6 book.

 

And cleaning a book can be detected by CGC .. correct?

 

 

I think that is why anyhow......

 

 

Ze-

[arexcrooke]

I just glanced at the first statement and posted about it here. I didnt read the rest and that explanation Kenny makes a lot of sense. Sounds like what Mark has been saying is her stance. Also jives with the vibe i got from her Comic Zone interview.

[FFB]

Susan Ciccioni of The Restoration Lab unveiled her new website today.

 

Susan Ciccioni's The Restoration Lab

www.therestorationlab.com

 

I especially encourage everyone to view her Photo section which features some amazing graphics of before and after pictures of her work.

 

She needs more samples of uber-high-dollar books. When I compare her samples to the examples that Matt Nelson and Tracey Heft show on their websites, if I didn't know better, I'd think that people were afraid to send "big books" (like Action 1, Marvel 1) to Susan.

 

Matt has a Detective 27 (a damned good looking copy, too), Marvel Comics 1, Superman 1, Batman 1, Batman 3, AF#15, Showcase 4, Cap 1, and Suspense 3. Tracey has even more books listed, including Batman 1-3, All Flash 1, AF#15, FF#1, Flash #105, Four Color 16, Green Lantern #1, Showcase 4 and 8, TOS 39, and a dozen more.

 

What does Susan have listed in her example photos? Archie 1, Showcase 4, Showcase 8, JLA 1, Detective 29? She has worked on more uber books than anyone, but she doesn't show any of them. She needs more examples.

[Ze-man]

Maybe they were the best examples to illustrate what can be done when restoring a book?

And while the books might not be the most expensive uber books you spoke of.

The work done on them is as good as you could hope. And they still do a really good job of showing off her work.

 

Ze-

[FFB]

Maybe they were the best examples to illustrate what can be done when restoring a book?

And while the books might not be the most expensive uber books you spoke of.

The work done on them is as good as you could hope. And they do a really good job of showing off her work.

 

Ze-

 

I'm not sure I agree there either. Many of the creases are still visible on the covers of the Showcase 4 and 8 and the JLA 1, and I can still see the tape stains on the interior pages of the Archie 1 (near Archie's elbow) even though the scans are small.

 

Hell of a job on the covers of the Archie 1 and Detective 29 though.

[Ze-man]

Fair enough... dont get me wrong, I too would love to see other books as well.

But I assume these were chosen for a reason for the site launch.

 

I dunno.. it is all magic to me how they make beaters look like that.

 

Ze-

[Rip]

Thanks, its great to read her take on everything.

[esquirecomics]

I just glanced at the first statement and posted about it here. I didnt read the rest and that explanation Kenny makes a lot of sense. Sounds like what Mark has been saying is her stance. Also jives with the vibe i got from her Comic Zone interview.

 

Exactly.

 

As for the images on the site, I think part of the problem may be that she apparently neglected to save before/after pictures of her work.

[burntboy]

Mark, i though she said she denounced pressing? Or am i misunderstanding her statement here?

 

A simple cleaning and pressing of a comic book will cost $150.00 and upwards depending on the type of book and to what extent the cleaning and pressing entails.

 

well, despite numerous opinions to the contrary, i find this confusing as well.

 

(probably just in the manner/order in which it is presented..........)

[FFB]

Mark, i though she said she denounced pressing? Or am i misunderstanding her statement here?

 

A simple cleaning and pressing of a comic book will cost $150.00 and upwards depending on the type of book and to what extent the cleaning and pressing entails.

 

well, despite numerous opinions to the contrary, i find this confusing as well.

 

(probably just in the manner/order in which it is presented..........)

 

She is talking about wet cleaning followed by a pressing, which involves disassembly. Her "no more pressing" statement referred to intact pressing (NDP).

[esquirecomics]

She is talking about wet cleaning followed by a pressing, which involves disassembly. Her "no more pressing" statement referred to intact pressing (NDP).

 

Correct. The simpliest way, in my opinion, to view Susan's position is that pressing will be done as part of a larger restoration/conservation/preservation process to "beautify" the book. Susan is opposed to the pressing of books solely for the purposes of enhancing the grade for resale purposes.

 

Finally, regardless of the format, and this is of course most important to me, the existence of pressing must be disclosed. The lack of disclosure appropriately concerned her. IMO.

[Darthdiesel]

The simpliest way, in my opinion, to view Susan's position is that pressing will be done as part of a larger restoration/conservation/preservation process to "beautify" the book.

 

Won't the pressing of any book, regardless of the intent (resale, personal enjoyment) be inherent in a process to beautify the book, enhancing the grade, thus improve its profit potential for resale purpose? won't all a prospective customer of hers have to tell her is that they'll "never" resell this book she worked on? and how long will she be enforcing that? Can the customer use the pressed book in a possible trade transaction?

 

Susan is opposed to the pressing of books solely for the purposes of enhancing the grade for resale purposes.

 

Mark - I find this selectivity confusing. How can she determine that it is for resale purposes? will she assume that if it is a HG book that the only purpose of pressing it is to squeeze out an extra .2 or so to increase its resale value? Or is this truly a way for her to say, "if the book is not a crumbling fair copy, then I won't press it. period"? What if the person waits a few years before flipping her pressed book?

 

These are serious questions and though Garth may assume that I'm just trying to take away from the topic at hand, I'm just looking for clarification on her stance and her motivations for her past statements "denouncing" pressing.

[Ze-man]

But it still keeps coming back to the person who might buy a book from the seller who had it pressed...and discloses that the book was pressed .

 

The new buyer might not be so forthcoming with that info when he resells it.

 

Any chance we can get restorers to post scans of EVERY book they work on?

 

Or is that just a foolish, wishful thinking, pipedream.

 

Ze-

[Ze-man]

Darth... I think it still comes down to her stating she will only press a book.. along with...or as part of other"known restoration" procedures.

 

I.E... if a book is cleaned and pressed.. it will get a PLOD if submitted to CGC.( I think)

Taking away the greed facter for wanting to just ONLY press a book.. in the hopes of eeking out a .2 upgrade..

 

Ze-

[FFB]

Darth,

 

I'm only guessing, but I think that the reason that she refuses to do NDP alone without other processes is because it is so hard to detect. If she does other processes, then the pressing is more readily detectable.

 

Not saying I agree with her decision to stop NDP pressing, but that is why I believe she's doing it.

 

The simpliest way, in my opinion, to view Susan's position is that pressing will be done as part of a larger restoration/conservation/preservation process to "beautify" the book.

 

Won't the pressing of any book, regardless of the intent (resale, personal enjoyment) be inherent in a process to beautify the book, enhancing the grade, thus improve its profit potential for resale purpose? won't all a prospective customer of hers have to tell her is that they'll "never" resell this book she worked on? and how long will she be enforcing that? Can the customer use the pressed book in a possible trade transaction?

 

Susan is opposed to the pressing of books solely for the purposes of enhancing the grade for resale purposes.

 

Mark - I find this selectivity confusing. How can she determine that it is for resale purposes? will she assume that if it is a HG book that the only purpose of pressing it is to squeeze out an extra .2 or so to increase its resale value? Or is this truly a way for her to say, "if the book is not a crumbling fair copy, then I won't press it. period"? What if the person waits a few years before flipping her pressed book?

 

These are serious questions and though Garth may assume that I'm just trying to take away from the topic at hand, I'm just looking for clarification on her stance and her motivations for her past statements "denouncing" pressing.

[Darthdiesel]

Darth... I think it still comes down to her stating she will only press a book.. along with...or as part of other"known restoration" procedures.

 

That's fine with me. This way, she'll be confident that her work is detectable.

 

Taking away the greed facter for wanting to just ONLY press a book.. in the hopes of eeking out a .2 upgrade..

 

Think about this last statement Ze... the greed factor is not completely eliminated - there are books whose values will improve (albeit slightly in comparison to the press and flip examples we've seen) even after a major restorative effort.

 

But seeking out a .2 upgrade may not necessarily be due to greed. Hypothetically speaking, I have some really nice HG price variants already graded out around 9.2 - 9.6 and I can see several non-color breaking creases that would/could easily be pressed out and improve the appearance of the book slightly. Being the label whore that I am, I want 9.8s and up across the board. So I send these in for spot pressing to take care of these flaws and I end up with a nice set of 9.8s - where's the greed there if I'm keeping it?

Is this type of pressing a benefit to the hobby in general - not really but now I have some sweet looking books and I'm happy with them and this option is out there for those with similar situations.

[Darthdiesel]

Not saying I agree with her decision to stop NDP pressing, but that is why I believe she's doing it.

 

Man that's cool because it is her business and I respect how she wants to run it, but I can do without the "denouncing" press releases - is she really making a comment on her fellow restorers and how they choose to conduct their business?

[Ze-man]

Darth I can understand, and respect your motivations for wanting your books as good as you can get them.

Nature of collecting something I guess.

 

But if for ANY reason down the road.. you were to sell your books.

Susan seems to not want to be part of something she views as restoration, to enhace the possible resale of your books for more money.

(Unless of course you disclosed the books were pressed?)

 

 

I think for the most part.. she has made it clear she does not like (as I called it earlier.. greed motivated) people taking books.. pressing out something small, having it graded as non restored. And selling it for that much more money. And not telling a sole the book had work done.(Whether they view it to be resto or not.. SHE does)

 

By combining isolated pressing with other forms of detectable resto work seems to be the best way to still improve the book.. while making sure EVERYONE knows the work was done if they decide they want to buy the book down the road.

 

 

Ze-