MARVEL MYSTERY ANNUAL-TO SELL OR NOT TO SELL???

[PovertyRow]

POV already posted the link, but here it is again for your lazy arse! MARVEL MYSTERY ANNUAL

 

Yah! You lazy butt!

[PovertyRow]

Keep it. Dont restore it. If the day ever arrives when restoration is fully acceptable to everyone, get it done then. The book wont deteriorate in that time so much that restoration will be out of the question. Keep your options open. Im not a Timely collector and not all that familiar with the comic, but It seems that it is SO RARE that your copy is still a VERY collectable copy with so few in existence. You will always find a buyer fot it. Can you say that about all that many of your other comics???

 

Darn I hate when someone makes more sense than I do. Yes, have to agree with Aman, the rascal. Don't restore it if you can maintain it - except, as I intimated before, this is part of your collecting thing and, should you decide to keep it for your collection, then restoration would make sense. But do make sure you keep it in conditions that will not further detiorate the book. It is a gem, eben in the current condition.

 

But I WILL say one thing about restoration: Aman said If the day ever arrives when restoration is fully acceptable to everyone . Well, that day already has been. And, in my opinion, it is the GA folks who understand restoration better than anyone else. So also keep that in mind!

[Aman619]

thanx for the kind words, POV. You have always been a rare voice of calm and reason on these boards....once I decipher what you have tried t say through all your mispellings!!! (kidding)

 

But do you really think we are there yet? Or in non-keys mostly, and to fill holes where unrestored books are just not going to be found any time soon? Because I still see GA restore dkeys not selling....even MHs with tiny bits of unnecessary work.

[PovertyRow]

But do you really think we are there yet?

 

Not anymore. We WERE there but no longer. But I honestly feel when the GCG stabilization takes place, restoration will follow and be more accepted, especially in the GA area. CGC already allows restoration in GA Blue Label they would not allow in later ages.

 

But right now? I see, especially minor CGC Purple PRO labels like "staples reinforced" or "slight color touch" etc. as the buys of the decade. Folks still see the purple label more than the black lettering. I only wish more CGC purple label books were around for pre-code horror. I'd be scooping them up!

 

Amd thancks four yor keyend wurds as well! My typong es gitting beter!

[eccomic]

Thank you everyone on the forum for giving me your feedback. After MUCH deliberation, I have decided to keep the book and will be having Tracey Heft of Eclipse Paper Conservation Co. breath life back in to the cover, rendering the book an apparent FINE or better.

[aardvark88]

Think u should have sold the book for $6k US & set a world record for a fair copy. Take the money & buy /invest in 1 of a kind orig. comic art. e.g. Schombourg or Simon/Kirby Speed cover from Heritage.

I am totally against the chunk replacement /color match to the front cover. Just wait for Cgc to start slabbing mags & have them line up the detached covers as best they can inside the slab. Cgc probably doesn't have wedges designed that thick to help align the comic though.

[Shield]

I am totally against the chunk replacement /color match to the front cover.

Care to expand on this? Why are you totally against the chunk replacement?

 

 

Just wait for Cgc to start slabbing mags & have them line up the detached covers as best they can inside the slab.

 

Is the entire goal to have every comic book entombed in a CGC holder, even the low grade stuff? I don't follow. You know what the fees would be for a book that expensive to send to CGC, which I highly doubt would increase the value at all of it...? I apologize, but I don't recall ECCOMIC ever mentioned having this book slabbed.

[eccomic]

I agree with Shawn, why is everyone so fixated with CGC and the Universal Blue Label. I am no slave to fashion and I was never one to follow the flock. That is why I have the collection I have today. GCG is a shot in the arm for the industry and the objective is impartial grading so that people can purchase books with confidence and I support that. However, I could care less if I set a record for not for the sale of a Fairy Copy of the MM Annual. There are only 2 copies of my variant in existance and the cover will be restored to its full glory with a focus on maintaing is structural integrity. This book is for me, NOT to be resold to fussy CGC anti-restorationists

[eccomic]

I will submit my VF UNRESTORED copy Shock Illustrated # 3 to CGC for slabbing because THAT makes sense vs submitting a MM Annual that has the cover deteriorating and falling apart.

[Mushroom]

My vote is to keep it. I would also restore it. A book this rare needs to be loved and cared for.

[eccomic]

Thank you Mushroom. whoever you are. You are old school just like me.

[Rip]

When it comes to these ultra rare gems, restoration is not as big of a problem in terms of re-sale. There are so FEW copies (TWO KNOWN in this case) that buyers will take whatever they copies they can get. This looks like a perfect book for restoration.

[supapimp]

HELL YEAH i would restore that book! i'd like to appreciate it in all it's glory.

[Aman619]

I'm warning ya, pilgrim - - leave it alone. You'll be glad you did. And you can always change your mind and do it later. But once its done, its a restored book forever. Dont make any rash decisions. Heres another angle: you restore your copy and you just made all the other unrestoreds worth more without adding a thing to the value of your copy. And its not going to fall apart so quick. Just enjoy it for the survivor it is. Its earned its bruises.

[supapimp]

I'm warning ya, pilgrim - - leave it alone. You'll be glad you did. And you can always change your mind and do it later. But once its done, its a restored book forever. Dont make any rash decisions. Heres another angle: you restore your copy and you just made all the other unrestoreds worth more without adding a thing to the value of your copy. And its not going to fall apart so quick. Just enjoy it for the survivor it is. Its earned its bruises.

 

hmmmm....i didn't see it from that POV

[fantastic_four]

It looks hard to even read that book without breaking a chip off or worsening a tear. I'd vote to restore that one so you actually could enjoy it a little more, both functionally and aesthetically.

[Aman619]

Read it? Who said anything about reading it??? Its a fragile 60 year-old comic that's worth $6000 because its extremely rare. Leave it alone. And isnt it reprinted somewhere, or as an annual, is IT a reprint itself? Not to be flip. but would you play catch with a Babe Ruth signed ball? You could, and you're supposed to play with it just as youre supposed to READ a comic, but this is no longer JUST a comic book.

 

I just feel strongly that the kind of extensive restoration this book requires will make it "look" nicer, but not extend its life appreciably. Actually, you are only the caretaker of it. By "putting it back together", recreating the pieces that are missing, you are altering it irrevocably. You "own" it now....but is it within your "rights" to do this? You cant own it forever.

 

 

[PovertyRow]

I'm warning ya, pilgrim - - leave it alone. You'll be glad you did. And you can always change your mind and do it later. But once its done, its a restored book forever. Dont make any rash decisions. Heres another angle: you restore your copy and you just made all the other unrestoreds worth more without adding a thing to the value of your copy. And its not going to fall apart so quick. Just enjoy it for the survivor it is. Its earned its bruises.

 

It is my understanding there are like two of this specific variant. If true - how many other unrestored copies are there going to be?

 

Also, the books as it stands has almost no structural stability as far as the cover goes - not sure of the interior. I say stabilize the book while the satbilizing is good. Consider this - the restoration perception cannot get ANY worse than it is now. But in future I will stake my word it WILL get better. But by then,. the number of truly skilled restorers will be lessend due to the current drought. Apparantly even Susan isn't taking on big jobs anymore.

[Aman619]

I havent spoken to her in a while, but when I read her comments I interpreted it as meaning that she no longer agreed with massive resto jobs. I may be totally off base on this, but she was one of the primary restorers during the heyday when Sothebys was championing the cause, so she may have felt the "heat" personally as a rebuke of her work as opinions tilted strongly in the other direction since.

 

I know my argument rules out preservation aspects that might prolong the books life. But I dont see how it will get much worse all that fast. Sure if you mishandled it now, pieces would fly off. But that wot be happening. Will its paper age any faster than any other comic book if it isnt quicky restored? I cant see how. And if thats true, why the rush? Maybe we should ALL get ALL our GA books deacidified right away cause they are falling apart as we speak...

 

The number of known comic restores may shrink...but if it ever becomes truly accepted, there will plenty of paper conservators getting into the field to pick up the slack. POV youre the voice of reason...whats the rush to restoration for this book? If there are only two, I can imagine how the other guy is salivating reading this thread! Its exactly like the other one recently about owning the only 5 copies of a book and destroying 4 of them.

[PovertyRow]

I havent spoken to her in a while, but when I read her comments I interpreted it as meaning that she no longer agreed with massive resto jobs. I may be totally off base on this, but she was one of the primary restorers during the heyday when Sothebys was championing the cause, so she may have felt the "heat" personally as a rebuke of her work as opinions tilted strongly in the other direction since.

 

I know my argument rules out preservation aspects that might prolong the books life. But I dont see how it will get much worse all that fast. Sure if you mishandled it now, pieces would fly off. But that wot be happening. Will its paper age any faster than any other comic book if it isnt quicky restored? I cant see how. And if thats true, why the rush? Maybe we should ALL get ALL our GA books deacidified right away cause they are falling apart as we speak...

 

The number of known comic restores may shrink...but if it ever becomes truly accepted, there will plenty of paper conservators getting into the field to pick up the slack. POV youre the voice of reason...whats the rush to restoration for this book? If there are only two, I can imagine how the other guy is salivating reading this thread! Its exactly like the other one recently about owning the only 5 copies of a book and destroying 4 of them.

 

Hmmm - you DO pose questions and I shall try my best to answer them.

 

As far as Susan goes, well, I can understand her position but it isn't, in my opinion, related to negative impact of restoration perception. I mean, if folks were willing to offer her large restoration jobs then it meant those folks still had faith.

 

OK - as far as the book goes. In its present state, there is nothing actually IMPROVING it either. The book is in a very frail state and should be treated with the kiddest of kid gloves. So to what end? To keep it most carefully encased in mylar and alkaline backing board, never to be enjoyed, shared or read for fear of more damage (and from what I see of the book - any real reading of it is going to cause a bit more damage to at least the covers.) Of what real enjoyment is someting that is so frail it has to be kept locked away?

 

But beyond that - who is left in the restoration business that has been around since the old OS days? Check out your old Overstreets and see the number of restoration companies that would "regloss and trim for that 'Near Mint Look'!" Now look for them. Not in sight!

 

My feeling is that some of the classic restorers still around may not be in the years to come - they may decide to pursue other areas.

 

As far as there being plenty of paper conservators - I have to disagree with that. Most paper being restored is not newsprint (course the cover isn't newsprint but the cover has its own properties). It is like when I have took my movie posters to be professionally framed. I had a true MINT - not NM but a real 10.0 window card of Marilyn Monroe's SOME LIKE IT HOT and a real 10.0 window card of Steve McQueen's THE BLOB. A window card is 14x22 inches. It has a space on the top about 5 inches high that is dead white, intended for the theater to write their name and the show dates. The window cards were then put up in drugstore, laundromat etc windows to advertise the film. They were usually 4-color and to the collector of some value. Well, every profesional framer I took it too wanted to use a large matte board to block out that 5 inch unwritten-on white top. Why? Because they has no idea that an unwritten upon window card is more valued and is more highly prized and to their eye, it was unsightly. I ended up framing them myself - along with ALL of my movie paper - and literally for about 80% cheaper than the specialists - and all archival material.

 

THAT is my fear for just a plain "paper restorer". They do not know the fine ponts of comic books, what makes them desireable, what are the do's and don'ts. Some may never have dismantled a comic book before. Some may not be familiar with the varying types of cover stock and calendering that went into the various ages' covers. I am sure the materials they use would be, in the case of the good ones, truly archival. But without an intrinsic knowledge and understanding of what comic books really are and are about, I wouldn't trust one in their hands. Nor would I trust a comic book restorer to work on a rare first edition or a historical document. Each area has it specialists.

 

Hope this makes sense!