Hero Restoration, Anyone know the latest? 24 24

[thehumantorch]

On 11/8/2023 at 6:13 PM, altair43 said:

I sent ( mike dechellis- hero restoration) him a very expensive book and money.  I tried to call and the number was disconnected.  I emailed him and got an automatic reply that said "To busy to reply to emails right now, if you are waiting on me, it should not be too much longer.

I spoke with this guy before I sent the books and he sounded very knowledgeable and legit.  This is a real nightmare.  If anyone received their books, please let us all know.

So sorry to hear this.  Can you tell us when you sent him the books and money?

[altair43]

I sent him money and the book in august 2023  and spoke with him also.  The number is now disconnected .  This is horrible.

[mattn792]

On 11/8/2023 at 8:31 PM, altair43 said:

I sent him money and the book in august 2023  and spoke with him also.  The number is now disconnected .  This is horrible.

So Hero self destructed in July, and he was still taking submissions in August.  I’m not a lawyeroligist, but with the totality of everything that has gone down since June, this may very well qualify as both federal mail and wire fraud at a minimum (assuming @altair43 lives in a different state than Hero’s Mike).

Edited November 9, 2023 by mattn792

[altair43]

I spoke with dechellis in august 2023 and he was very convincing.  Little did I realize he filed for dissolution.  This guy willingly and knowingly took my money and my expensive book. I always wonder how someone can live with themselves knowingly ripping them off. This was the first time that I had considered restoration and was always skeptical.  I thought I did my due diligence but it was not enough.  I feel sick.

[mattn792]

@DougC - any advice?

[CAHokie]

This is why I didn’t like the original thread being locked. After all of that he was still taking new submissions?? 

[DougC]

On 11/8/2023 at 8:31 PM, altair43 said:

I sent him money and the book in august 2023  and spoke with him also.  The number is now disconnected .  This is horrible.

 

ing AUGUST!!!!

I really don't want this to be true after everything that happened prior; please be satire or a fake account...

 

If not;

Your money is gone; you might still be able to do a charge back if you payed via CC though. Hopefully your book will be returned but he was not supposed to be accepting any work.

 

Edit:

Unfortunately I don't have any useful advice; I am not connected with the current goings on or in the loop with what is happening. All of my information after the fact was second hand and what the desired resolution was supposed to be.

Edited November 9, 2023 by DougC

[unclezebo]

I thought after the last thread everything was settled or on the road to being settled. But accepting an order after that makes it almost nefarious.

[F For Fake]

Yes, it's difficult to maintain any shred of sympathy that may have remained now that it's apparent that he was STILL taking in business after everything had been brought to light. Beforehand, I couldn't endorse his behavior, but I could at least feasibly understand how a person could get so far in over their head, and was hopeful that he was genuine in trying to make progress towards folks being made whole. But this revelation is the very last of several final straws. What I once hoped to ascribe to incompetence, I would now have to call criminal malfeasance. 

Edit: as for my personal bonafides, I used Mike once many years ago, when I was shopping around and learning the ropes of pressers and pressing. I didn't have any problems, and I got my book back from CGC, but I wasn't impressed with the work so I didn't use him again. I'd gotten better results with Joey and Matt Nelson (when he was still doing the books himself) so I ended up going with those guys, back when I was still having books pressed.

Edited November 9, 2023 by F For Fake

[Number 6]

While it’s disheartening and frustrating to hear this, I honestly can’t say I’m at all surprised to hear he’s been taking new work. 
 

My memory is that in the previous thread HR came in all hot and bothered because he felt the discussion was impeding his ability to keep his business afloat and complete the backlog of work he had been paid for. 
 

And he was very adamant that he thought the way to do that was to take on more work to keep things running. And he dug in on that despite having it explained to him numerous times and ways by several people that that was a bad idea and would only dig the hole deeper. 
 

And I also remember him making veiled threats:  do a charge-back, you don’t get your book back; push him too hard and he has a heart attack and nobody gets nothin’.  Complete with legalese that supposedly gave him carte blanche once he gets ahold of the book. So his mentality was always very much ‘my way or the highway’. 
 

I’m sorry to hear there now at least two more books being held hostage 

 

I guess there’s nothing in the “agreement’ that precludes him from soliciting more business.  How is he still getting his name out there as a going restoration business?  He certainly can’t afford to pay for advertising in any meaningful way I would think. 

Edited November 9, 2023 by Number 6

[Dick Pontoon]

The original thread was locked, but Mike didn't obliterate it so that a record would remain:

 

[MatterEaterLad]

Side note:

Can we talk about the fact that Mike was able to remove trimming from books by using dry grafting? That there's a Batman 1 that he took from Purple to Blue?

I'm curious if people knew that he could do that? Wondering if this is happening all the time now or was Mike just the madman who figured it out?

 

EDITED -- I misunderstood. He didn't take that Bat 1 from Purple to Blue. It stayed Purple, but he was able to remove the trimming. 

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by MatterEaterLad

[Dick Pontoon]

On 11/9/2023 at 9:31 AM, MatterEaterLad said:

Side note:

Can we talk about the fact that Mike was able to remove trimming from books by using dry grafting? That there's a Batman 1 that he took from Purple to Blue?

I'm curious if people knew that he could do that? Wondering if this is happening all the time now or was Mike just the madman who figured it out?

 

You mean leaf casting? That's a technique of paper conservation that's been around for decades. Kenny Sanderson was the first person I'm aware of  to develop it as a technique to use for comic restoration, and that was probably a good 20 years ago at this point, maybe longer. Leaf casting will not garner a blue label and I don't recall a Batman 1 that went from purple to blue.

[Dr. Balls]

On 11/8/2023 at 8:18 PM, CAHokie said:

This is why I didn’t like the original thread being locked. After all of that he was still taking new submissions?? 

I believe that when the thread is locked, you can't edit posts - which is probably a good thing at this point. I'm sure some people would take issue with that, though.

[Dr. Balls]

On 11/9/2023 at 7:31 AM, MatterEaterLad said:

Side note:

Can we talk about the fact that Mike was able to remove trimming from books by using dry grafting? That there's a Batman 1 that he took from Purple to Blue?

I'm curious if people knew that he could do that? Wondering if this is happening all the time now or was Mike just the madman who figured it out?

 

I'm intrigued.

[MattTheDuck]

If you weren't in the thread the Pontoonster linked above or haven't read it, you should at least skim through it.  The only "funny" part is that one of the first posts is a link to an even older thread on the same subject.  I didn't check, but the threads may go back to infinity.  The rest of it is a tragedy.

[MatterEaterLad]

On 11/9/2023 at 8:08 AM, Pontoon said:

You mean leaf casting? That's a technique of paper conservation that's been around for decades. Kenny Sanderson was the first person I'm aware of  to develop it as a technique to use for comic restoration, and that was probably a good 20 years ago at this point, maybe longer. Leaf casting will not garner a blue label and I don't recall a Batman 1 that went from purple to blue.

I think Susan Ciccone was doing leaf-casting on comics before Kenny, but who knows? Dry grafting is something else entirely. 

And I misread Mike's post. It didn't go from Purple to Blue, it stayed Purple, but he was able to get trimming removed from the label.

So if a book was Purple for trimming and nothing else, conceivably it could be turned into a book that CGC would grade Blue. 

Seems like a game-changer. But maybe others do it as well?

Is this like the early days of pressing when people were doing it and not talking about it? Has this ever been discussed over in Comic Book Grading and Restoration Issues?

I talked to Mike about the process and was about to send him a book for similar treatment, but then Hero imploded and he went dark. So glad I didn't send him that book.

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by MatterEaterLad

[Superman2006]

On 11/9/2023 at 1:13 PM, MatterEaterLad said:

On 11/9/2023 at 10:08 AM, Pontoon said:

You mean leaf casting? That's a technique of paper conservation that's been around for decades. Kenny Sanderson was the first person I'm aware of  to develop it as a technique to use for comic restoration, and that was probably a good 20 years ago at this point, maybe longer. Leaf casting will not garner a blue label and I don't recall a Batman 1 that went from purple to blue.

I think Susan Ciccone was doing leaf-casting on comics before Kenny, but who knows? Dry grafting is something else entirely. 

And I misread Mike's post. It didn't go from Purple to Blue, it stayed Purple, but he was able to get trimming removed from the label.

So if a book was Purple for trimming and nothing else, conceivably it could be turned into a book that CGC would grade Blue. 

Seems like a game-changer. But maybe others do it as well?

Is this like the early days of pressing when people were doing it and not talking about it? Has this ever been discussed over in Comic Book Grading and Restoration Issues?

I talked to Mike about the process and was about to send him a book for similar treatment, but then Hero imploded and he went dark. So glad I didn't send him that book.

If a book was purple for trimming and nothing else and it had leaf casting done to add back what the trimming took off, then I would think it would still state "pieces added" on the label, and therefore still get a purple label.

[manetteska]

On 11/9/2023 at 1:00 PM, Superman2006 said:

On 11/9/2023 at 12:13 PM, MatterEaterLad said:

On 11/9/2023 at 9:08 AM, Pontoon said:

You mean leaf casting? That's a technique of paper conservation that's been around for decades. Kenny Sanderson was the first person I'm aware of  to develop it as a technique to use for comic restoration, and that was probably a good 20 years ago at this point, maybe longer. Leaf casting will not garner a blue label and I don't recall a Batman 1 that went from purple to blue.

I think Susan Ciccone was doing leaf-casting on comics before Kenny, but who knows? Dry grafting is something else entirely. 

And I misread Mike's post. It didn't go from Purple to Blue, it stayed Purple, but he was able to get trimming removed from the label.

So if a book was Purple for trimming and nothing else, conceivably it could be turned into a book that CGC would grade Blue. 

Seems like a game-changer. But maybe others do it as well?

Is this like the early days of pressing when people were doing it and not talking about it? Has this ever been discussed over in Comic Book Grading and Restoration Issues?

I talked to Mike about the process and was about to send him a book for similar treatment, but then Hero imploded and he went dark. So glad I didn't send him that book.

Expand  

If a book was purple for trimming and nothing else and it had leaf casting done to add back what the trimming took off, then I would think it would still state "pieces added" on the label, and therefore still get a purple label.

I have no idea the notes on the original Batman #1, the the worked-on slab has these notes.

The bold may indicate trimming is no longer an issue but now there are pieces added; unsure as I don't have original notes and outside of trimming there is a lot going on with this book.

 

Label Text

Restoration includes: color touch, pieces added, reinforced, cleaned, interior lightened.

rader Notes

cleaned
color touch on cover
color touch on interior
interior lightened
interior reinforced
pieces added cover A-5
pieces added interior A-3
small stain right center of front cover
soiling cover

[MatterEaterLad]

On 11/9/2023 at 12:00 PM, Superman2006 said:

If a book was purple for trimming and nothing else and it had leaf casting done to add back what the trimming took off, then I would think it would still state "pieces added" on the label, and therefore still get a purple label.

Again, the trimming was not removed via leaf-casting. It was done with dry grafting.