Tape or Tape Removal-- Restoration or Grading consideration

[Comixlawboy]

Just trying to see if I can sucessfully Post something. If this works more to follow.

[Comixlawboy]

It worked.

 

I am a Golden and Silver Age collector -- DC mainstream superheros. Collected Siver Age when I was a kid because I lived through the last half of that magical time. Now that my interest in comics and income are equally matched, I am adding to my collection and need guidance. Specifically, how to treat tape/tape removal on covers.

 

1. Tape carefully removed: Four pieces of scotch tape that had been placed over the staples of a Golden Age Book were removed. The tape did not appear to serve any purpose. No tears, stapes firmly in book. The removed tape has left some residual discolration. On the back of the book, the tape has left tan ghosts. On the front, there are faint ghosts left by the removed tape. Does the tape removal mean the book is a restored book? Or, do you simply take the removed tape and residual ghosting into account when assigning a grade to the book?

 

2. Tape on cover not appearing to repair anything: Consider the same as above, only this time the tape has not been removed. Not used to hold cover onto book or repair a tear. Restored book? Or just an item used to determine the non-restored grade?

 

Oh might minds of this forum, please share your wisdom.

[BrianR]

You have to be very careful if you plan on removing tape most people just leave well enough alone to prevent further damage. It is very easy to remove bits of paper when removing tape. Most people probably would consider it a form of restoration. I just bought a X-men 56 a beautiful copy looks about a 8.5-9.0 however on the lower back edge there was about a 1/4" piece of tape if that big. I used a blow drier and tweazers to carefully remove the tape luckily there was no gunk just a very small stain and some transparency from the acids in the tape. It was a cheap book so I experimented a little. Book looks a lot better now and if you didn't look for it you might not know there was tape.

[Comicdey]

It worked.

 

I am a Golden and Silver Age collector -- DC mainstream superheros. Collected Siver Age when I was a kid because I lived through the last half of that magical time. Now that my interest in comics and income are equally matched, I am adding to my collection and need guidance. Specifically, how to treat tape/tape removal on covers.

 

1. Tape carefully removed: Four pieces of scotch tape that had been placed over the staples of a Golden Age Book were removed. The tape did not appear to serve any purpose. No tears, stapes firmly in book. The removed tape has left some residual discolration. On the back of the book, the tape has left tan ghosts. On the front, there are faint ghosts left by the removed tape. Does the tape removal mean the book is a restored book? Or, do you simply take the removed tape and residual ghosting into account when assigning a grade to the book?

 

2. Tape on cover not appearing to repair anything: Consider the same as above, only this time the tape has not been removed. Not used to hold cover onto book or repair a tear. Restored book? Or just an item used to determine the non-restored grade?

 

Oh might minds of this forum, please share your wisdom.

 

Personally just removing the tape by hand either damages the book worse or just leaves a goo spot. I don't believe that constitutes restoration. If you clean the goo off with some form of chemical, then that's restoration, but likely a smart one as the goo will continue to damage the book over time.

 

ps...I hate tape.

[lizards2]

Since we've got the tape attention, I've got a FF 20 that would be NM except that someone put scotch tape on the two FC corners. You can see the tape discoloration on the front cover through the tip of the LRC because of the white area there, but you can't see it on the top of the book..., until you open the cover. Given the otherwise NM condition of this expensive book - any suggestions?

[herald2galactus]

Since we've got the tape attention, I've got a FF 20 that would be NM except that someone put scotch tape on the two FC corners. You can see the tape discoloration on the front cover through the tip of the LRC because of the white area there, but you can't see it on the top of the book..., until you open the cover. Given the otherwise NM condition of this expensive book - any suggestions?

green id geuss

[Aces]

Since we've got the tape attention, I've got a FF 20 that would be NM except that someone put scotch tape on the two FC corners. You can see the tape discoloration on the front cover through the tip of the LRC because of the white area there, but you can't see it on the top of the book..., until you open the cover. Given the otherwise NM condition of this expensive book - any suggestions?

 

I got an FF 21 that must be it's twin.

 

9.0/9.2 except for unneeded tape at the corners and the staples.

[FFB]

Here is how CGC will treat each of these:

 

1) Tape stains but no tape carrier present. If the book does not appear to have been disassembled and if there are no solvent tidelines, CGC will not give the book a purple label. This is because the tape carrier can fall off on its own without help, just due to the adhesive degrading over time. If there are solvent tidelines that show that solvent was used to remove the tape carrier or adhesive, then the book will get the purple label.

 

2) Tape on cover. Non-archival tape is considered damage, not restoration by CGC. This is true whether it is holding tears together or not. Archival tape used to seal a tear is considered amateur restoration.

 

It worked.

 

I am a Golden and Silver Age collector -- DC mainstream superheros. Collected Siver Age when I was a kid because I lived through the last half of that magical time. Now that my interest in comics and income are equally matched, I am adding to my collection and need guidance. Specifically, how to treat tape/tape removal on covers.

 

1. Tape carefully removed: Four pieces of scotch tape that had been placed over the staples of a Golden Age Book were removed. The tape did not appear to serve any purpose. No tears, stapes firmly in book. The removed tape has left some residual discolration. On the back of the book, the tape has left tan ghosts. On the front, there are faint ghosts left by the removed tape. Does the tape removal mean the book is a restored book? Or, do you simply take the removed tape and residual ghosting into account when assigning a grade to the book?

 

2. Tape on cover not appearing to repair anything: Consider the same as above, only this time the tape has not been removed. Not used to hold cover onto book or repair a tear. Restored book? Or just an item used to determine the non-restored grade?

 

Oh might minds of this forum, please share your wisdom.

[codfish]

Archival tape used to seal a tear is considered amateur restoration.

 

 

For some clarification just what is considered archival tape? I never really put much consideration into what it was because I try so very hard to not purchase any books with any tape on them whatsoever.

[FFB]

Archival tape used to seal a tear is considered amateur restoration.

 

 

For some clarification just what is considered archival tape? I never really put much consideration into what it was because I try so very hard to not purchase any books with any tape on them whatsoever.

 

There are several different kinds. Filmoplast P is one popular brand. Archival tape is tape that has adhesive and carrier made of materials that will supposedly not deteriorate over time. But professionals still do not use it to restore comic books because long-term stability is questionable and reversibility can be a problem.

[Ze-man]

Guys, where are your manners?

 

Welcome To the Boards Comixlawboy!.. another lawyer here? Arrghh....you guys are like rabbits around here.

 

Hope you enjoy the boards, ask as many questions as you want, but beware..we are known to get cranky as a bunch. So dont take anything personal.

 

Have fun

 

 

Ze-

[Comixlawboy]

Ze- Thanks for the welcome. Sorry about the lawyer thing. Had to get a law degree so I could afford the comicbook monkey on my back.

 

FFB thanks for the info. Though it seems removal of tape from the book using a solvent should be counted as damage rather than restoration, assuimng no color touch to hide the tape residue stain.

[FFB]

Ze- Thanks for the welcome. Sorry about the lawyer thing. Had to get a law degree so I could afford the comicbook monkey on my back.

 

FFB thanks for the info. Though it seems removal of tape from the book using a solvent should be counted as damage rather than restoration, assuimng no color touch to hide the tape residue stain.

 

The solvent doesn't "damage" the book though, unless it is applied in a manner so as to leave a solvent tideline (which looks like a water stain) -- and even then, what you have is not so much "damage" as it is a visible defect that doesn't really affect the structure of the book. Since you're removing a defect through the use of solvent, I consider it to be restoration. CGC does too. But that doesn't mean you still shouldn't do it. I am always in favor of tape removal and can't think of a single situation where it should not be done.

[tabcom]

I've got some very old tape holding the lower corner spine together.

Has anyone successfully removed such tape from a spine and didn't regret it?

[FFB]

You could have that tape removed professionally and the book would probably be fine, as long as the rest of the spine is intact. The tape adhesive on your book looks very old and degraded, so it is probably cross-linked -- which means that it will be difficult (and maybe even impossible) to remove the stain completely. But by having it removed, you can probably arrest any further degradation of the paper underneath the tape. On a Hulk #1, it's probably worth it.

 

I've got some very old tape holding the lower corner spine together.

Has anyone successfully removed such tape from a spine and didn't regret it?

[PovertyRow]

You could have that tape removed professionally and the book would probably be fine,

 

Fine? How can you guess a grade from such a partial scan?

[FFB]

You could have that tape removed professionally and the book would probably be fine,

 

Fine? How can you guess a grade from such a partial scan?

 

I figured that if he didn't show the rest of the book, it must be MINT. One ragged corner on an otherwise MINT book must be FINE, right?

[PovertyRow]

You could have that tape removed professionally and the book would probably be fine,

 

Fine? How can you guess a grade from such a partial scan?

 

I figured that if he didn't show the rest of the book, it must be MINT. One ragged corner on an otherwise MINT book must be FINE, right?

 

Clever boy!

[Theagenes]

Okay, I need to solicit some advice from you guys that have more experience with resto and resto removal. I just acquired this book with a good bit of tape on the spine. Aside from a few small 1/8 to 1/4" horizontal spine tears and 3/4 to 1" split at the bottom, much of it seems to have been put on for reinforcement rather than repair. I have never had any work done to a book and so know nothing about pricing, but I'd like to get at least a ballpark idea of how much it would cost to have the tape removed to see if it's even financially feasible to look into. It's obviously lower grade and has 3 or 4 hits of color touch, so I don't really want to sink too much more money into it. On the other hand it will probably be in my collection for some time and so I'd really like to have the tape removed to prevent any further deterioration. If we're talking in the range of $100-200 it might be worth it to me, but if it's closer to $500 it wouldn't be. I know each book is an individual case, but I'm just looking for ballpark figures. Any info or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Jeff

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some closeups

 

Front: .................................... Back:

 

 

 

This should give a better idea of the overall amount of tape we're talking about:

 

 

[FFB]

Send those scans to Matt Nelson and I'm sure he can tell you what it will cost.