Hero Restoration, Anyone know the latest? 27 27

[KCOComics]

On 8/17/2024 at 2:55 PM, Sauce Dog said:

That is all well and good and I'm all for a redemptive arc, especially for one of our own who has fallen on very hard times...but he was selling customer books years before he even expanded to multiple locations or anything looked to be remotely imploding with the business. Also I would take that "heart attack" claim with a large grain of salt.

I won't expand on any of this, but everything I learned about him during my investigating showed he was making questionable decisions since the inception of the company combined with copious amount of lying.

I had not heard that he was selling customers books since the beginning. That's really unsettling. 

 

[KCOComics]

On 8/17/2024 at 3:22 PM, Buzzetta said:

Yup... I said years ago when I picked up lower grade early Superman, someone publicly recommended for me to use Mike and it led to me getting submittal forms from him with a turnaround estimate of about a little less than a year if I remember.   A couple of days before I was to mail out the book, I was privately told it would be in my best interest not to submit anything to him.  That was around 2015-16? 

What's funny is,  if you rewind 3, 4 or 5 years,  Hero seemed like the most professional option.  They looked (on the surface) like a business.

Kenny and Susan looked like one person shops who did a good job and earned their reputations.  Mike had multiple locations, a big staff, an efficient website.  

Now we see it was just a front. All the big jobs I've seen him perform are really questionable. And now we are learning he may have been selling customers books since the beginning...  

I'll add, i was warned to question his claims about a heart attack. - but I won't speak to his health. All I know is, the thread shows the problems started years and years before the heart attack. 

So I have changed my assumptions about Mike. The reason some of those big Jobs like the early Actions and Flash 1, sat for years and years wasn't because of health or being to busy. I think he wasn't skilled enough to do the work he promised.  And rather than calling for help (like Kenny), he just avoided and redirected.

 

[thehumantorch]

On 8/17/2024 at 1:41 PM, KCOComics said:

What's funny is,  if you rewind 3, 4 or 5 years,  Hero seemed like the most professional option.  They looked (on the surface) like a business.

Kenny and Susan looked like one person shops who did a good job and earned their reputations.  Mike had multiple locations, a big staff, an efficient website.  

Now we see it was just a front. All the big jobs I've seen him perform are really questionable. And now we are learning he may have been selling customers books since the beginning...  

I'll add, i was warned to question his claims about a heart attack. - but I won't speak to his health. All I know is, the thread shows the problems started years and years before the heart attack. 

So I have changed my assumptions about Mike. The reason some of those big Jobs like the early Actions and Flash 1, sat for years and years wasn't because of health or being to busy. I think he wasn't skilled enough to do the work he promised.  And rather than calling for help (like Kenny), he just avoided and redirected.

 

The most logical reason to shelve projects for many years is because he just wasn't skilled or knowledgeable enough to finish the job.  I think he overestimated and oversold his abilities.  He started posting here many years ago showing his early efforts and experimentation.  I don't believe he ever worked for any of the restoration experts in the hobby and I suspect he was entirely self taught. 

[Sauce Dog]

On 8/17/2024 at 3:41 PM, KCOComics said:

Mike had multiple locations, a big staff, an efficient website. 

 

Thank you

[Sauce Dog]

On 8/17/2024 at 3:41 PM, KCOComics said:

And rather than calling for help (like Kenny), he just avoided and redirected.

 

Fun fact...he did in some respect seek help. He sent client books to other pros to do the work when he was running behind, so there are books people paid Hero Restoration to work on that were NOT worked on by them (and they are arguably better off for it as those guys were doing much better quality work)

[buttock]

On 8/17/2024 at 1:41 PM, KCOComics said:

What's funny is,  if you rewind 3, 4 or 5 years,  Hero seemed like the most professional option.  They looked (on the surface) like a business.

Kenny and Susan looked like one person shops who did a good job and earned their reputations.  Mike had multiple locations, a big staff, an efficient website.  

Now we see it was just a front. All the big jobs I've seen him perform are really questionable. And now we are learning he may have been selling customers books since the beginning...  

I'll add, i was warned to question his claims about a heart attack. - but I won't speak to his health. All I know is, the thread shows the problems started years and years before the heart attack. 

So I have changed my assumptions about Mike. The reason some of those big Jobs like the early Actions and Flash 1, sat for years and years wasn't because of health or being to busy. I think he wasn't skilled enough to do the work he promised.  And rather than calling for help (like Kenny), he just avoided and redirected.

 

From day one his quality was questionable.  I've never seen anything of his, aside from simple stuff like pressing, that was comparable to actual professionals.  

[RockMyAmadeus]

On 8/17/2024 at 11:55 AM, Sauce Dog said:

but everything I learned about him during my investigating showed he was making questionable decisions since the inception of the company combined with copious amount of lying.

 

[Mr. Zipper]

On 8/16/2024 at 10:30 PM, sd2416 said:

 

On 8/16/2024 at 10:30 PM, sd2416 said:

Useless video that adds nothing. Like I need some guy in a video to read me an online article.  I wonder if that one goofball has finally taken down the videos where he was promoting and interviewing, Mike. 

[Mr. Zipper]

On 8/17/2024 at 9:51 AM, joeypost said:

Given the recent events, it would be a Herculean effort for Mike to make a rebound, even in his personal life let alone his professional one. 
 

I know all of you who were financially impacted by Mike are happy with his incarceration and I hope you are made as whole as possible, but it is a sad day when a member of a community falls, especially one who was respected at one time. Mike fell, and he fell hard. 

I had a great deal of empathy for Mike and so wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Over and over and over again. I chatted with him last year when things first started perking to the surface, and I believed it was all just due to health problems and him making some poor business decisions.

However, as things continued to unfold and it became evident that he had been taking books for years for work for which he was unable to professionally perform and he was stringing people along… That was the final straw. It was much more than having some health problems and things falling apart after that. This was going on way before he had any health issues. It was malicious and it was intentional.

Whats stunning to me is the fact that he was doing this for so long and there weren’t more public alarm bells ringing. As connected as the online communities are… How is it that even people who were paying close attention didn’t know that he had peoples books for years and years? Not to blame the victims… But were they remaining silent out of fear of crossing Mike and not getting their books back? (which is what ended up happening anyway)

I believe everyone is worthy of redemption. I hope he’s held accountable for his crimes and he’s able to salvage his life after that. 

[Neo "The One"]

On 8/16/2024 at 10:30 PM, sd2416 said:

 

How do I dislike this?! “Drama face”

[Neo "The One"]

On 8/17/2024 at 12:31 AM, DougC said:

We should all collectively celebrate! Like with a private zoom call or something...

Funny 

[Neo "The One"]

On 8/17/2024 at 9:51 AM, joeypost said:

Given the recent events, it would be a Herculean effort for Mike to make a rebound, even in his personal life let alone his professional one. 
 

I know all of you who were financially impacted by Mike are happy with his incarceration and I hope you are made as whole as possible, but it is a sad day when a member of a community falls, especially one who was respected at one time. Mike fell, and he fell hard. 

So to be honest. I’m not happy either. I corresponded with Mike many years ago when he was still just in the practicing phase and still had an email address referring to his computer business. I’d even email him from time to time about books. (Is it possible to take ink - color rub - off a cover without restoration?). At the time the answer was no, but I know techniques have advanced since then. All I really wanted was my book back. After numerous unanswered calls and emails to him and his company and following the old thread about his personal issues (heart attack, covid, rabbid Chicken eating dogs) I still cut him slack. I loosely followed the old thread and then this new one until someone posted books that customers sent him were being sold on eBay without their knowledge or permission. And lo and behold I found my book. Completed sale, positive feedback left. Before going on this journey, I DMd Mike one last time and again - No response. Am I happy, no. Are other people - maybe(?). Bottom line is you should treat people fairly. And he did not. And now seeing all the shi++y work he did that Kenny is fixing. I doubt he had as much talent as he and others claimed. One of the guys that hit me up on the website stated that CGC determined   the book he sent Mike to restore and then was sent by Mike to be graded for the customer was in fact, a fuoking PHOTO COPY. So yeah. FxxK Mike. I have spoken! ;)

Edited August 17 by Neo "The One"
My grammar sux!

[shadroch]

On 8/17/2024 at 3:27 PM, Mr. Zipper said:

I had a great deal of empathy for Mike and so wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Over and over and over again. I chatted with him last year when things first started perking to the surface, and I believed it was all just due to health problems and him making some poor business decisions.

However, as things continued to unfold and it became evident that he had been taking books for years for work for which he was unable to professionally perform and he was stringing people along… That was the final straw. It was much more than having some health problems and things falling apart after that. This was going on way before he had any health issues. It was malicious and it was intentional.

Whats stunning to me is the fact that he was doing this for so long and there weren’t more public alarm bells ringing. As connected as the online communities are… How is it that even people who were paying close attention didn’t know that he had peoples books for years and years? Not to blame the victims… But were they remaining silent out of fear of crossing Mike and not getting their books back? (which is what ended up happening anyway)

I believe everyone is worthy of redemption. I hope he’s held accountable for his crimes and he’s able to salvage his life after that. 

I hope his victims get justice and that he finds redemption, but he is done in the hobby.

[Sauce Dog]

On 8/17/2024 at 6:27 PM, Mr. Zipper said:

Whats stunning to me is the fact that he was doing this for so long and there weren’t more public alarm bells ringing. As connected as the online communities are… How is it that even people who were paying close attention didn’t know that he had peoples books for years and years? Not to blame the victims… But were they remaining silent out of fear of crossing Mike and not getting their books back? (which is what ended up happening anyway)

Yeah, partially the case as many might pick up on his spiteful nature to push jobs to the back of the queue if he is irritated with you (as he threatened in the previous threads and in some emails), but for many this was their first time ever working with a restoration professional on big books so they didn't know how long these things actually take and so the expectation of time was perhaps always assumed to be a very long process (and in this case perhaps longer because we all knew how he was basically the underdog in the business and cut him more slack)

I know I cut him lots of slack on the turnaround times because I wasn't paying for his services, our trade was I develop his website and he restores a book for me, so I figured he should be prioritizing other paid client work when he had too. The first time we did this deal he restored my Adventure Comics #42 and I think that took just under 2 years for him to finish, longer than I had hoped but nothing crazy that would put me off doing another trade deal with him afterwards (that one never got done. Sent to him at the start of 2020 and in 2024 I requested he send it another pro when all this exploded, but that process took months for him to finally mail it off).

[AlterEgo2024]

On 8/16/2024 at 10:30 PM, sd2416 said:

 

Nice clickbait face there buddy.

The algorithm is proud of you.

[mmm68]

On 8/17/2024 at 6:56 PM, Neo "The One" said:

One of the guys that hit me up on the website stated that CGC determined   the book he sent Mike to restore and then was sent by Mike to be graded for the customer was in fact, a fuoking PHOTO COPY. So yeah. FxxK Mike. I have spoken! ;)

My Dad is the one who received the forgery. I told him as soon as it happened to post on the CGC forum, but he refused because he was too afraid that he would destroy Mike's business and never get his comic back. He is in his late 70s and despite what I kept telling him, at the time, trusted Mike over CGC.  

A reporter called him on Friday asking questions about Mike, he replied back with no comment.

Edited August 31 by mmm68

[Semicentennial]

On 8/17/2024 at 11:30 AM, thehumantorch said:

Pretty mature post Joey.  

If Mike hadn't tried to expand to multiple locations or hadn't had a heart attack or had made different better decisions when building his business perhaps the conversation would be much different.   And once everything started to implode I can't imagine the stress that Mike must have faced trying to save his business and pain he would feel as his reputation was trashed online.  And I'd imagine at some point it must have been pure chaos as everything collapsed and Mike had nowhere to turn and nobody to trust.  This is the story of someone we knew who loved comics and wanted to spend his life restoring them and his absolute ugly failure.  He was one of us.

 

 

Destroying his customer's books, as mentioned in the video, had nothing to do with expansion of his business.  It didn't seem like he had the ability to do that kind of restoration was needed on some of those books.  Everything started to implode because his customers connected the dots.  Everything that happened to him was his doing.  He might have been a member of the community, but based on how far back he was keeping books away from his customers, I hardly consider him "one of us".  

[Neo "The One"]

On 8/17/2024 at 3:41 PM, KCOComics said:

What's funny is,  if you rewind 3, 4 or 5 years,  Hero seemed like the most professional option.  They looked (on the surface) like a business.

Kenny and Susan looked like one person shops who did a good job and earned their reputations.  Mike had multiple locations, a big staff, an efficient website.  

Now we see it was just a front. All the big jobs I've seen him perform are really questionable. And now we are learning he may have been selling customers books since the beginning...  

I'll add, i was warned to question his claims about a heart attack. - but I won't speak to his health. All I know is, the thread shows the problems started years and years before the heart attack. 

So I have changed my assumptions about Mike. The reason some of those big Jobs like the early Actions and Flash 1, sat for years and years wasn't because of health or being to busy. I think he wasn't skilled enough to do the work he promised.  And rather than calling for help (like Kenny), he just avoided and redirected.

 

Also the multiple bankruptcies is “sus” as the youngins say. 

Edited August 18 by Neo "The One"
Still can’t spell. had some liquid courage last night!

[Neo "The One"]

On 8/17/2024 at 2:30 PM, thehumantorch said:

Pretty mature post Joey.  

If Mike hadn't tried to expand to multiple locations or hadn't had a heart attack or had made different better decisions when building his business perhaps the conversation would be much different.   And once everything started to implode I can't imagine the stress that Mike must have faced trying to save his business and pain he would feel as his reputation was trashed online.  And I'd imagine at some point it must have been pure chaos as everything collapsed and Mike had nowhere to turn and nobody to trust.  This is the story of someone we knew who loved comics and wanted to spend his life restoring them and his absolute ugly failure.  He was one of us.

 

 

Nah. He was a lying crook. Multiple bankruptcies. Questionable skills. A lot of bravado. Should run for President. 

[Neo "The One"]

On 8/17/2024 at 3:00 PM, thehumantorch said:

I don't recall reading about him selling customer's books early on.  That would be disturbing.

Sauce dog knows his *%##^^!I ! trust him implicitly. 

Edited August 18 by Neo "The One"