To restore or not restore??

[Nefaria]

I haven't been to a comicon in over 20 years but plan on attending the Mid-Ohio Con in November. My question is are there ever any booths set up by restorers so I can quarry a couple prospective comics for restoration?

[FFB]

 

1) Remove staples.

2) Dry clean.

3) Solvent clean.

4) Aqueous clean.

5) Infilling missing pieces and adding support at spine and interiors, if need be (and probably will be needed at bottom spine corner of interiors is my guess).

6) Inpainting areas missing color.

7) Recoat inpainted areas.

8) Reassemble

9) Press.

 

Done.

 

 

 

Nice list.

But since the list is from the top down, are you saying you would do all the above to the book in question if you wanted to maximize resale value?

Or is your list simply a hypothetical step by step restoration walkthrough?

 

It is both. I think you need to do all of what I listed in order to maximize the apparent grade of the book, and indeed, to improve it beyond 3.0 -- you've got a split spine, a sizeable chunk missing from the cover, and some edge chips out of the back (and a tape stain). If you leave any of those behind, you are severely limited in the grade you can wind up with.

 

Could you elaborate further for the owner(and others) what you think he should or should not do if his main goal was to sell the book, versus just restoring the book for personal satisfaction.( or did you already with your above list?)

 

I think that if he is going to restore it, he will need to do all of the above. They are minor treatments. Just because the list is long doesn't mean it'll be a frankenbook when it's done.

 

I know what I personally prefer in a restored book, but was curious if you yourself would rather buy a fully restored book, versus a book with selective, slight restoration. Even if it meant it did not realize a higher PLOD grade that it might have otherwise recieved with a fully loaded resto job.

 

Ze-

 

I mean no disrespect when I ask this question Kenny, but do you really know what you prefer in a restored book because you've owned a lot of them raw and have looked closely at the work and have seen the before and after? Or do you just know what label notations you don't like to see on the CGC label because of some stigma attached to a specific method?

 

As for what I'd buy, there's no way to say as a general matter. It always depends on the book and the quality of the work done to it.

[FFB]

I haven't been to a comicon in over 20 years but plan on attending the Mid-Ohio Con in November. My question is are there ever any booths set up by restorers so I can quarry a couple prospective comics for restoration?

 

Not usually. If you see Matt Nelson walking the floor, you could always stop him and ask him to take a look at a book, but he usually charges for his pro screening.

[Nefaria]

I expected to pay for a screening, as I've perused a few of the restorers on the web. Who's Matt Nelson affiliated with i.e. his company? That way I could inquire as to if he'll be there.

[FFB]

I expected to pay for a screening, as I've perused a few of the restorers on the web. Who's Matt Nelson affiliated with i.e. his company? That way I could inquire as to if he'll be there.

 

www.comicrestoration.com

[Ze-man]

Disrespect?

No disrespect taken Scott, we just talkin comics here bro. Was just trying to dig around that big melon you have, to better understand your answer in regards to JKRK's initial question.

Other then buying Slabbed books with Slight Resto I have no experience in dealing with restored books.. .(that I knew of.. coff coff) . Personally I would prefer/buy/or have books restored with teal seals versus CT, or cleaned staples versus removed staples, or isolated pressing versus cover removal pressing etc.. I prefer the Slight type of restored books over moderate, to extensive.

To be sure the PLOD label does carry a stigma with it that normally keeps the book from selling at anywhere near what its unrestored brethren would sell for. A Slight labeled book to me is simply closer to the original( less overall work done), and is more desireable for that reason. I am of the belief that Slight labeled PLOD books might actually make a comeback someday, and become very desirable, if and when Restoration becomes less stigmatic, and more widely accepted as NOT a bad word. These Slight labeled book be they A, or P are still basically original , cept for a very minor amount of CT here, or a tiny tear seal there...etc

 

Your list involved many types of restoration, I assume they will add up to at least a Moderate PLOD label if it were slabbed?

So I was just asking you if that was what you would do to the book if your intent was just to sell it..( you answered that already.. I think,TY)

And as I said, I would prefer it to be less restored even if it meant it would not reach as high a grade after the resto, but had a chance to sell for more of actual value since it was only Slightly restored.. (and also less money spent on the actual restoration process has to be factored in I suppose)...But if the majority feels a higher grade on the PLOD label would bring more for the book even though it was a quasi frankenbook.. then I am in the minority I guess.

 

No biggy.. different strokes I suppose.

Not really a right or wrong here, but JKRK has a decision to make, and I was just exploring all the What if's a person must go through when trying to decide what exactly to do to an old Classic comic.

 

 

Ze-

[PovertyRow]

It is a nice looking book. The restoration should be no more than moderate. Tape stain should be ok to remove, and some piece replace/inpainting as has been said. Once concern is that large "4947" stamp. It may dissuade some from buying, if you are focussing on resell, especially when combined with a PLOD.

 

How can you tell whether the tape stain can be removed until you try to remove it? If it is cross-linked, it might not be removable.

 

I said "should be" - not will be. Naturally the restorer will be able to determine best. My assumotion it should be OK is based on the location of the tape stain being on the spine. Either it will be on top of the cover inks, which can help provide a barrier to the paper underneath, or it may have penetrated to areas underneath where the inks are gone from wear. However, since these worn areas are going to be restored anyway, any residual that cannot be removed would be at least hidden, or replaced depending on what restoration processes are decided on .

 

Your 7) Recoat inpainted areas. - not sure what you mean. The printed cover was not coated originally. Or is this basically applying a coating to approximate or match the final gloss (deep or mild) of the book?

 

See you in SD. I see the weaher has cooled off, unless I was looking at the wrong city earlier this week, where it was 97-98. Now looks to be in the 70's for the con days!

[comicdonna]

I would have to agree with you Ze-man

[verygoodplus]

The true aesthetic merit of a comic runs much deeper than the number on the slab, and this book ably demonstrates that.

 

It looks fantastic to my eyes and I would be inclined to leave it unrestored.

 

If I did have work done, I would want to take the most conservative approach possible.

 

Just my two cents.

[FFB]

It is a nice looking book. The restoration should be no more than moderate. Tape stain should be ok to remove, and some piece replace/inpainting as has been said. Once concern is that large "4947" stamp. It may dissuade some from buying, if you are focussing on resell, especially when combined with a PLOD.

 

How can you tell whether the tape stain can be removed until you try to remove it? If it is cross-linked, it might not be removable.

 

I said "should be" - not will be. Naturally the restorer will be able to determine best. My assumotion it should be OK is based on the location of the tape stain being on the spine. Either it will be on top of the cover inks, which can help provide a barrier to the paper underneath, or it may have penetrated to areas underneath where the inks are gone from wear. However, since these worn areas are going to be restored anyway, any residual that cannot be removed would be at least hidden, or replaced depending on what restoration processes are decided on .

 

Gotcha. I think I just misinterpreted your "should be" as "probably will be."

 

Your 7) Recoat inpainted areas. - not sure what you mean. The printed cover was not coated originally. Or is this basically applying a coating to approximate or match the final gloss (deep or mild) of the book?

 

It is a coating applied to inpainted areas match the surrounding original texture of the cover.

 

See you in SD. I see the weaher has cooled off, unless I was looking at the wrong city earlier this week, where it was 97-98. Now looks to be in the 70's for the con days!

 

See you tomorrow!!!

[jkrk]

Thanks for everyone's contribution to this thread. I found it very informative in helping me decide on my next course of action. I originally picked this book since it was a relatively low grade copy of a classic book. I thought that perhaps not a great deal needed to be done to get this book into a VF range.

I admit that the book has decent eye appeal for the current grade. I am now thinking that I should send a book that I really am dissatisfied with rather than restore a blue label copy that I could live with. Then again, perhaps aethetics should win out over money? I'll mull that concept for a bit longer. Thanks again, for the education.