HERO RESTORATION - BOOKS NOT BEING RETURNED 20 20

[Kamenliter]

On 6/10/2023 at 7:02 PM, CAHokie said:

It’s easy for me to say because it’s not my books but I wouldn’t be threatened by that “if an attorney contacts me back of the line” bull. Oh, if an attorney contacts him you go to the back of the line? It looks like everyone is at the back anyway. 
 

I would contact an Attorney and see what they think. Maybe a bunch of you can hire one person instead of each paying and explaining to different ones. They can decide how best to proceed whether it’s a Demand Letter, a lawsuit or whatever. (Again, this is not legal advice, but legal advice is what you should seek). 

A class action suit would be the best way to go, but aside from myself, my friend and the fellow here with the missing AF 15, I have yet to find anyone waiting on books. I’ve posted on Facebook, IG and now here. This post has gotten the most comments, by far, but from not from anyone waiting on books (AF 15  aside) or people who did business with him in the past. 
 

I still can’t understand why there aren’t more posts like mine as there have to be a bunch of people waiting on their books. It’s puzzling. 

[Nick Furious]

On 6/10/2023 at 6:02 PM, CAHokie said:

It’s easy for me to say because it’s not my books but I wouldn’t be threatened by that “if an attorney contacts me back of the line” bull

Yeah, I would agree and he kind of buried himself in trying to make that threat.  Gave indication that the situation actually is within his control and he's going to use the books as leverage.  That statement won't hold up well under scrutiny.  

[thehumantorch]

On 6/10/2023 at 5:02 PM, CAHokie said:

It’s easy for me to say because it’s not my books but I wouldn’t be threatened by that “if an attorney contacts me back of the line” bull. Oh, if an attorney contacts him you go to the back of the line? It looks like everyone is at the back anyway. 
 

I would contact an Attorney and see what they think. Maybe a bunch of you can hire one person instead of each paying and explaining to different ones. They can decide how best to proceed whether it’s a Demand Letter, a lawsuit or whatever. (Again, this is not legal advice, but legal advice is what you should seek). 

Surely we have attorneys on the board who could give some preliminary advice

[unclezebo]

On 6/10/2023 at 6:40 PM, thehumantorch said:

Surely we have attorneys on the board who could give some preliminary advice

[BlowUpTheMoon]

On 6/10/2023 at 7:17 PM, Courageous Cat said:

Thief? Possible, but I think grossly incompetent is probably the correct term. I had only heard about him when Comic Tom had him on and continuously giving him constant praise and accolades.

Jump in at 2:50

Edited June 11, 2023 by BlowUpTheMoon

[october]

Covid, and the subsequent downturn in the comic market, really exposed a lot of flippers, opportunist weekend warriors, speculators, fly by night pressers, etc.

When the tide goes out you discover who is swimming naked.

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

Since he was showing an AF 15 the question now that I am wondering is that the one mentioned earlier that has not made it back to its owner?

[CGC Mike]

Very sad to hear Mike's business has turned out this way.  I can remember 15 to 16 years ago when he started practicing pressing $1 to $5 books.  The first batch wasn't great, but he did not give up and got much better.  Then, he moved on to stain removal, cover re-enforcement  ect...   before moving to leaf casting and other professional forms of restoration.  I remember him finally getting a P restoration on the CGC label, instead of A.  I hope every one gets made whole from this ordeal.   

[Sauce Dog]

On 6/10/2023 at 9:03 PM, BlowUpTheMoon said:

Jump in at 2:50

I have never seen that video before...THAT IS MY TALES OF SUSPENSE #39 (though I know it did get colour touch done after this footage was filmed, as I got an update from him in March this year with the pictures of CT on it...unfortunately CT done by the employee who botched the job while taking way more time doing it, so he told me he wants to redo it so the quality is proper and matched perfectly)

Edited June 11, 2023 by Sauce Dog

[thehumantorch]

On 6/10/2023 at 7:21 PM, CGC Mike said:

Very sad to hear Mike's business has turned out this way.  I can remember 15 to 16 years ago when he started practicing pressing $1 to $5 books.  The first batch wasn't great, but he did not give up and got much better.  Then, he moved on to stain removal, cover re-enforcement  ect...   before moving to leaf casting and other professional forms of restoration.  I remember him finally getting a P restoration on the CGC label, instead of A.  I hope every one gets made whole from this ordeal.   

Amen Mike.  I also remember his posts and his clear desire to learn and grow into an expert.  I take no joy in his current difficulties.  

[skypinkblu]

On 6/10/2023 at 10:16 AM, Black_Adam said:

Restoration on a single comic can take several years?   

I had a book with a top restorer who I trusted. It took years. Came back looking beautiful.  I was warned before I sent it though.

[JollyComics]

On 6/10/2023 at 3:51 PM, Kamenliter said:

I bought a press around a year and a half  ago but it sat untouched for months and months until I finally said I’m going to do this; I did start by cleaning books last year but only started pressing in mid April of this year. A couple of weeks in and a I bought a second, larger press, able to accommodate two books, so I can now have three going at a time. I’ve now pressed somewhere around 200 books. It’s saved me tons of money and time.

I can’t understand why he hasn’t sent my books back yet; if still nothing this week then I’ll move to the next step.

 

btw that’s a heavy price increase on the diving   course (and supplies). I’ve gotta hand it to you, I’m terrified of the water. Went snorkeling in Turks and Caicos in 2006 in only 20-30 foot water and was not having fun looking down. 

My mother is scared of water and can’t swim. She believes my former life was fish or marine animal.

I am happy that you went ahead to press your books but oft-practiced pressing will pay it off.

[KCOComics]

On 6/10/2023 at 9:34 PM, skypinkblu said:

I had a book with a top restorer who I trusted. It took years. Came back looking beautiful.  I was warned before I sent it though.

 

I don't think it's unusual for restorers to take a long time. I know I've had "quick jobs" take a year or longer to come back with other well respected restorers.  

But they communicated with me and I never felt like I wouldn't get my books back.

4 years to get a book back, when you paid over $3k up front is absurd!  And Hero isn't communicating with his customers. 

 

[skypinkblu]

On 6/10/2023 at 9:21 PM, CGC Mike said:

Very sad to hear Mike's business has turned out this way.  I can remember 15 to 16 years ago when he started practicing pressing $1 to $5 books.  The first batch wasn't great, but he did not give up and got much better.  Then, he moved on to stain removal, cover re-enforcement  ect...   before moving to leaf casting and other professional forms of restoration.  I remember him finally getting a P restoration on the CGC label, instead of A.  I hope every one gets made whole from this ordeal.   

I remember too, he was very eager to learn restoration. He always seemed like a good guy, but it sounds like he bit off more than he could chew with the business. That stuff happens more often than we think.

I feel terrible for the people missing books. I hope you all get them back.

[skypinkblu]

On 6/10/2023 at 9:41 PM, KCOComics said:

 

I don't think it's unusual for restorers to take a long time. I know I've had "quick jobs" take a year or longer to come back with other well respected restorers.  

But they communicated with me and I never felt like I wouldn't get my books back.

4 years to get a book back, when you paid over $3k up front is absurd!  And Hero isn't communicating with his customers. 

 

I sent my book to Ze-man, he had another FT job and 2 kids...he was basically doing me a favor by taking it.  But even before, when I used to use Matt, things were much much much slower than expected. 2 weeks became months.

Susan Cicione (sp) used to take years...she was fantastic, but it was like waiting for one of the renaissance artists. 

I just stopped sending anything to be fixed. I send pressing to Joey, I know if he disappears Greggy will find him;) (just kidding, he's very very honest;) 

[B2D327]

On 6/10/2023 at 9:14 PM, october said:

When the tide goes out you discover who is swimming naked.

I for one do this on purpose 

[Gaard]

For those that were told it'd be years to do the job, I'm going to go ahead and assume that the length of time was due to an estimated TAT based on the number of customers ahead of you? If the actual work took even close to that, I'm not sure restoring comics would be a career that I'd be interested in.

[Sauce Dog]

On 6/11/2023 at 7:12 AM, Gaard said:

For those that were told it'd be years to do the job, I'm going to go ahead and assume that the length of time was due to an estimated TAT based on the number of customers ahead of you? If the actual work took even close to that, I'm not sure restoring comics would be a career that I'd be interested in.

Yes, this is correct as well. There were several large restoration projects ahead of me still, and at that point Mike was the only person who could do the work in house for many of the steps required (some of these projects required leaf casting and CT on every single interior wrap. He did get more staff for key roles, but as I mentioned before some of these workers didn't pan out well and there was not time/resources to train new employees. My TOS39 above was basically a disintegrated 0.5 book that was fully split and needed a good deal of reconstruction). From what I managed to hear, it sounds like several of the projects that were taking time were very intensive and not limited to covers only (and depending on his equipment setup it might not even be possible to work on multiple books at the same time for things like leaf casting, hence this back up moving slowly and why he stopped taking on any new restoration jobs and is only focusing on pending projects)

I dabble in restoration/conservation now as a side hobby (Partially thanks to Hero Restoration sharing some of his secrets to get me on the right path) and totally think that is where I'll stop with it - a hobby; MAYBE only offering to do the most very basic of work (tape removal, split seals, dry cleans) as a service in the far future (but after my last pro-bono job I did for a fellow board member here I'm feeling very disillusioned about any comic work since it basically went all wrong and I feel horrible about the outcome)

[Black_Adam]

On 6/11/2023 at 7:51 AM, Sauce Dog said:

Yes, this is correct as well. There were several large restoration projects ahead of me still, and at that point Mike was the only person who could do the work in house for many of the steps required (some of these projects required leaf casting and CT on every single interior wrap. He did get more staff for key roles, but as I mentioned before some of these workers didn't pan out well and there was not time/resources to train new employees. My TOS39 above was basically a disintegrated 0.5 book that was fully split and needed a good deal of reconstruction). From what I managed to hear, it sounds like several of the projects that were taking time were very intensive and not limited to covers only (and depending on his equipment setup it might not even be possible to work on multiple books at the same time for things like leaf casting, hence this back up moving slowly and why he stopped taking on any new restoration jobs and is only focusing on pending projects)

I dabble in restoration/conservation now as a side hobby (Partially thanks to Hero Restoration sharing some of his secrets to get me on the right path) and totally think that is where I'll stop with it - a hobby; MAYBE only offering to do the most very basic of work (tape removal, split seals, dry cleans) as a service in the far future (but after my last pro-bono job I did for a fellow board member here I'm feeling very disillusioned about any comic work since it basically went all wrong and I feel horrible about the outcome)

Don't give up on the conservation efforts, Eddie. I'm very happy with the work you did on my two comics.   

[Hero Restoration]

On 6/9/2023 at 1:04 PM, Kamenliter said:

Is there anyone out there with books out to Hero Restoration/Mike DeChellis that have not have their books returned? 

I dropped off nine books with Brandon Daza at a local NJ con last August and was told the turn around time for a press and clean would be 11 weeks. It is now close to ten months with no books and only excuses. 

Supposedly Mike had a heart attack earlier this year and let go of his entire staff but even weeks after he said I'd have my books back, nada. A week ago he said my books were going out. Nothing. This Wednesday he said he was packing them up and would send me a tracking #. Nothing. When I inquired again today, his response was and I kid you not:

'My girlfriends dog just ate all my baby chickens. I am offline until further notice.'

Sounds like he is certainly not in his right mind. For the record he has my:  Amazing Spider-Man #6, #7, #15, #18, #70, Daredevil #7, FF #16 and #19 and Invincible #1. Somewhere in the neighborhood of $10,000 or more worth of books.

I have collectibles insurance and have been in contact with them. But, more than anything I want my books back. Most of them I've had for over forty years, since I'm a kid. This is heartbreaking.

I have one friend, who has his FF #5 out for over a year now with Mike. It was a 5.5 restored book that Mike was going to bring up to an 8.0. My friend paid him $2k for the work, which to date he has not begun and has not returned his comic or his money.

I cannot find anyone else online who has books out with Hero Restoration, which I find perplexing. I would think there would be dozens of folks with comics with him and usually people are fairly vocal about things when personal property worth a lot of money has basically been stolen.

I have tried to keep patient and respectful up until now, but at this point I'm getting pretty infuriated.

If you have books out with HR, please respond here or you can message me directly.

Maybe a class action suit needs to be opened.

 

Hi Justin,

your submission is complete, and shipped out today, UPS Tracking # 1ZX61R530390153102

Sorry for the anxiety it caused. The last book to be done is below.