Restored or Unrestored?

[murph0]

Major keys or very tough books have never had the "tide" turned on them. These books are hot no matter blue or purple label.

 

Brian

[sfilosa]

You have to take restoration into consideration.

 

Regardless if you collect books or invest (or both), NO ONE wants to pay a price significantly over the market value. The last thing I want to do is buy a book and pay $500, then see another copy sold a few weeks later for $300. It's not that my investment had gone down (which might or might not actually be the case), but quite simply, I wish I had bought the book for $300. Then I could have bought another $200 worth of books and had a better collection.

 

Also, if you are spending thousands of dollars, that is different than spending $50. If I buy a raw book for $50 and I find out it restored and not worth anything, I lost $50. If I buy a restored key for $3,000 and several years later restored copies are going for $1,000, well that's a pretty huge lost. And this is EXACTLY what has happened over the last 10 years. Sub-Mariner #1 in VF restored use to sell for $5,000-$6,000 in Sotherby's auctions 10 years ago. One just sold on eBay two months ago for around $2,500. Good return on an investment, heh?

 

 

 

[Bonds25]

Here's a couple of auctions worth discussion. Both books (X-Men #14) are graded CGC NM+ 9.6, but one has the top part of the cover trimmed.

 

How much do you consider the untrimmed version to be worth, and how much do you consider the trimmed version to be worth? (NM guide is $400)

 

If you wanted a high grade copy of the book, would you be willing to pay over $1,000 more for the unrestored copy?

 

X-Men #14 CGC 9.6 White pages - unrestored

 

X-Men #14 CGC 9.6 OW/White pages - restored (one part of cover trimmed)

[murph0]

If it was an ASM, yes I would pay a lot more for an unrestored copy. The sad thing about that restored 9.6 is it probably could've been a 9.2/9.4 without the trimming.

 

Brian

[sfilosa]

I consider a trimmed book to be one of the worst types of restoration. Quite simply, part of the book is remove (just like having a chunk out of the book). Most books can become NM's if you trim enough of the book away. Realize, not only is the cover trimmed, but in most cases, so are the pages. In other words, a lot more of the book is missing than it seems.

 

Also, I wouldn't buy a 9.6 trimmed simply because someone probably wants 1/3 of the price of an unrestored 9.6. In that case, I mine as well get a VF/NM or NM- unrestored copy for the same price.

 

The only restored books I would buy would be:

1) Slight Restoration (but not trimmed)

2) Restored to at least a VF

3) A Golden-Age hard to find book or Silver-Age Key

4) Unrestored price in VF over $1,000

 

On the other hand, if the book was only "cleaned and pressed" I would pay more than for any other type of restoration. I personally wish, professionally cleaning and pressing was not considered restoration, because I hate yellowing books (yet CGC will not significantly downgrade a book for this defect).

 

 

 

 

[rob_react]

I consider a trimmed book to be one of the worst types of restoration. Quite simply, part of the book is remove (just like having a chunk out of the book). Most books can become NM's if you trim enough of the book away. Realize, not only is the cover trimmed, but in most cases, so are the pages. In other words, a lot more of the book is missing than it seems.

 

Also, I wouldn't buy a 9.6 trimmed simply because someone probably wants 1/3 of the price of an unrestored 9.6. In that case, I mine as well get a VF/NM or NM- unrestored copy for the same price.

 

The only restored books I would buy would be:

1) Slight Restoration (but not trimmed)

2) Restored to at least a VF

3) A Golden-Age hard to find book or Silver-Age Key

4) Unrestored price in VF over $1,000

 

On the other hand, if the book was only "cleaned and pressed" I would pay more than for any other type of restoration. I personally wish, professionally cleaning and pressing was not considered restoration, because I hate yellowing books (yet CGC will not significantly downgrade a book for this defect).

 

That just about sums up my thoughts on the matter.

 

I would NEVER buy a trimmed book. To me trimming isn't even restoration, it's damage to the book and should be graded accordingly. In my mind they should be blue label VGs or GDs because of the paper loss.

 

I especially agree with the sentiment about professional cleaning and pressing.

[sfilosa]

Rob, you the man.

 

Wait, they were my opinions, I'm the man.

 

OK, were both the man.