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Manipulation and the Collector Appeal of High Grade

Started by Paul_Maul,

75 posts in this topic

jduran1

jduran1

Posted
Posted
I actually did consider this. It does raise the question of whether or not such a collector

would be pleased with a perfect reproduction, which is just the limiting case of a

restored book with pieces replaced.

 

I just wrote out a response to you, but somehow closed the window as I was trying to submit. foreheadslap.gif In short, I said:

 

A perfect reproduction should sate the absolute case we are talking about. However, this is a very slippery slope. It is hard to create bright lines because most collectors do not fit smoothly into an "eye appeal only" category.

 

I would venture to guess that most high-grade collectors, attracted primarily by the aesthetic qualites of a book, still want an original copy:

 

As for me, I want as close to a perfect example as I can find. Why? Because I am distracted by the flaws in a book. I have a hard time enjoying an otherwise perfect book with a subscription crease down the middle or even a bad spine crease. A perfect reproduction would satisfy the high-grade aspect of my collecting, but not the collecting itself.

 

In my case, it is best said like this. I collect original comic books first and foremost. Within that, I collect high-grade examples.

 

Restoration bothers me because I know that a flaw exists (or existed) and has just been fixed. If there is a spot of color touch hiding a corner flake of color that chipped off, my eye will be drawn to that dab of color. It is distracting not because it is obvious, but because I know it is present. Pressing on the other hand, does not add anything to a book so it does not bother me. I am not distracted by the knowledge that there was once a non-color breaking crease that was pressed out.

 

I think of it like this. I have no problem walking into Barney's or Bergdorf's to buy a few button downs with the knowledge that someone else may have already tried them on and the store had them ironed to hide the creases that the fella before me caused. I will still pay FULL PRICE, and I won't consider them second-hand. However, if the guy before me caused a rip that was later mended or spilt his coffee and it was later cleaned, I would not want to purchase the shirt even if there is no collateral evidence of the alterations. I hope that makes sense. 893crossfingers-thumb.gif

 

Restoration bothers me. But the HG books I collect if pressed or not does not matter to me. I several years ago stacked comic books on top of one an other the the ones in the middle were nice and tight and not because that was my intent to press them..

 

Pressing doesn't affect the white pages, cover gloss, perfect corners or any other trait of a beautiful book. Especially for my high grade books that I will never sell who cares is my motto...........

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tth2

tth2

Posted
Posted
6.0.................For any book before 1945

No way. There's a lot of post-1940 GA books in 9.0 and above, particularly mainstream titles. Look at Heritage's recent auctions as the most recent evidence.

 

After seeing issue after issue of HG Fawcetts, particularly after a lot have been offered for the past year now, I now feel about HG Captain Marvel titles the way I used to feel about HG SA Marvels. They're available in HG all the time, it's just a matter of writing a check.

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tth2

tth2

Posted
Posted
Just read a large chunk of the "Manufactured Gold" thread. Throughout the thread,

many posters suggest that a majority of collectors don't care about pressing

or other "undetectable" forms of manipulation.

 

In considering this claim, I thought about what it is that motivates collectors of high

grade books that do not intend to resell them:

 

1. A love for the aesthetic beauty of a really high grade book

2. An attraction toward the rarity of an older book that has survived in really high grade

3. The appeal of a book that, against all odds, has remained in its original condition

4. The sense of being transported back in time that a book in its original condition provides

5. The "pride of ownership" that one feels in owning one of the best examples of a given book

 

There may be other reasons I'm missing. However, in my opinion, books manipulated

into high grade offer almost none of the satisfaction (in terms of the above factors) that

books in their original, unaltered condition do.

 

In fact, to me, the greatest appeal of high grade books is being transported back to

the time of innocence in my life when they were new. Nothing ruins that feeling more

than finding out the book was manipulated into this state.

 

In short, I have a hard time understanding what the appeal of a manipulated

high grade book would be to a high grade collector with no intent to flip the book.

Can anyone offer insight?

Paul, very well stated. I certainly would say 1-3 and 5 explain my obsession with high grade.

 

As to why some collectors are willing to buy manipulated HG books, I can think of several explanations:

 

1. They don't know they're buying manipulated HG books.

 

2. Some have managed to rationalize to themselves that pressing a book isn't really manipulation.

 

3. The label has become more important to them than the book itself. This partially ties into your reason #5 too. Collectors by nature are compulsive, and often very competitive. They know their book is beautiful, but a third-party grading service has told them it's "only" a 9.6, and they know that their arch-nemesis has a copy that the same third-party grading service has judged to be a 9.8. So it bugs the hell out of their compulsive side that their copy might not be as nice and it bugs the hell out of their competitive side that the third-party grade is not as high. So human nature being what it is, steps are taken to address those perceived short comings, and the ability of the human mind to rationalize things cannot be understated! 27_laughing.gif

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tth2

tth2

Posted
Posted
Ok. So whats your opinion for high grade?

To me, structural perfection is structural perfection, regardless of age. I consider NM/9.4 to be structural perfection. There shouldn't be a curve, in my opinion.

 

If you choose to collect Fine books from the GA, because it's too hard or too expensive to find NM books from that period, that's fine. But it doesn't make you a HG collector. Which is not to say that being a mid-grade collector of GA books isn't a lot more challenging than being a mid-grade collector of SA or BA books, but it doesn't make you a HG collector.

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tth2

tth2

Posted
Posted
so since there are plenty of 9.8 bronz books around does that mean to you that 9.8 is not high grade?

Scarcity or abundance is irrelevant. 9.4 for BA or CA is still high grade. However, the "specialness" or challenge of being a HG BA or CA collector might not be that great. In which case, in order to increase the collecting challenge, a BA or CA collector might want to collect only "ultra-high grade" copies.

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