Silver age conundrum 4 4

[shadroch]

When the herd goes one way, the smart money goes the other.  That's a bit of advice Jack Penrod gave me almost forty years ago, and it generally works.

[Muno42]

You already voiced why I would go Blue. 

[James J Johnson]

9 hours ago, Mr bla bla said:

Im probably pissinghh against the wind here, but I say you might go purple. I own some plods that i really like. Especially slight P is great value for your money imho.

Not whizzing into the wind at all. Slight (P), say a dot of color touch of low visibility is completely different than a laundry list of moderate to extensive multiple fixes. A dot of color that covers fractions in the thousandths percent of the total surface area of the comic is different altogether, and IMO of much higher collectability than Frankenbooks. I think you're correct. If you pay an adjusted price for a minimally worked on book, that takes into consideration that it will not grade blue, then by all means, consider it as a viable alternative to blue label, the keyword being "price" as the motivating factor. 

Edited March 18, 2021 by James J Johnson

[Qalyar]

2 hours ago, James J Johnson said:

Not whizzing into the wind at all. Slight (P), say a dot of color touch of low visibility is completely different than a laundry list of moderate to extensive multiple fixes. A dot of color that covers fractions in the thousandths percent of the total surface area of the comic is different altogether, and IMO of much higher collectability than Frankenbooks. I think you're correct. If you pay an adjusted price for a minimally worked on book, that takes into consideration that it will not grade blue, then by all means, consider it as a viable alternative to blue label, the keyword being "price" as the motivating factor. 

Exactly. I'm fairly tolerant of minor color touch, especially on books that have been popular for a long time, because that sort of thing was socially acceptable for a long time, and, well, that craze (color) touched a lot of books. Situationally, stuff like page and cover reinforcement is even okayish. At its best, that's sort of a call back to the "collector condition" vs "archivist condition" conflict. Regardless, any purple book of course needs it's valuation moderated because of the restoration (or, if you'd prefer, because unrestored books command a premium).

But some forms of restoration aren't... restoration. Instead, they're gross, irreversible manipulations of the book solely in an effort to inflate the apparent grade and appearance. They trade the physical integrity of the book for perceived profit. Foremost among those are trimming and reglossing. But non-conservation leaf casting is a hard no for me as well. And frankly, I'm not real fond of books assembled from several dead bodies, like Frankenstein's monster, with married covers and married CFs and so on.

[F For Fake]

9 hours ago, piper said:

I’m curious if folks are more accepting of low grade/resto books than previous just so they can own a copy?

The Instagram generation (in my opinion) seems to be more interested in chasing Modern 9.8’a.

I’m a big fan of low and mid grade, “beat but complete.” If it’s all there, I can touch it without it falling apart, and I can afford it, that’s the sweet spot!

As for purples, as others have said, it depends on the nature and amount of restoration, and the price. I’m not a snob about amateur color touch as long as I know about it beforehand. 

[jcjames]

19 hours ago, JazzMan said:

Looking for the board's opinion on a situation I've been pondering regarding a key SA comic.  I'm weighing a couple of options - 

a) A solid Universal 4.0 OWW for $13K

b) A restored 7.0 Moderate (B-3) OWW for $9.7K - color touch, pieces added, tear seals, cleaned, reinforced, re-glossed. Top edge of cover trimmed.

It's not a trivial difference (one is 30% more than the other) and the restored book looks nice.  However, I can't get past the top trim, it bothers me and I suspect that if I ever want to dump the book it would be challenging.  

If you had a choice, which option would you choose and why?

It already bothers you now and you don't even own it -  just wait until $10,000 later and you keep looking at.

It will always gnaw at you, you'll see it every time you look at that trimmed fake edge.

For an extra $3,000 you will have piece of mind, for as long as you own it - and you know you'll get your money back and more with a higher value-appreciation of authentic blue over trimmed purple.

 

 

Edited March 19, 2021 by jcjames

[CJ Design]

"The special love I have for you, my baby BLUE"