Spot of bad luck with my AF15

[chromium]

A few months ago I bought an unrestored copy of AF 15.

It had a 3" spine split? and was generally given a 3.0 by the forum graders.

I was pretty happy with it, read it and put it away.

 

Today it took it out again and to my horror the top part of the spine had split as well and the book is now detached from the cover

 

Front cover and back cover are still attached to each other, but there is more loose than there is contact.

 

Reason I bought this book is because the FC still looks terrific for a low grader, almost no Marvel chipping which is quite rare for this book in low grade.

 

I read the book carefully, but maybe even the tiniest of stress was enough to push it over the edge. I'm loving the book a lot less now than I did and don't really know what to do.

 

Should I get it restored ? Only thing book really needs is spine reinforcing ? And if I do what is the ballpark figure I'm looking at ? And which grade would I possibly get, once restored ?

 

Oh and come to think of it , what's the grade now (with the cover loose)

 

here's the book

 

 

 

Not a good day...

[Rob]

I call all detached covers an automatic 2.0, but I think someone proved to me that CGC has assigned higher grades, if it looks better overall.

[Mr. Zipper]

Sorry to hear that. I'm presuming the spine must be brittle?

 

Obviously it's a personal decision, but I would rather have a restored copy than one with a detached spine.

 

However, if the paper is brittle, it may be beyond restoration.

[Ze-man]

Allan, first of all I am really sorry to hear about the added damage to the book. But don't hate the book!, it is a fantastic book. Treasure it.

 

In my experience in dealing with the spines on low/mid grade grade SA books, they are so fragile that if you breath on them wrong they will split. In your case the book already had a lower spine split and that tells me the rest of the spine was probably in pretty similar condition, unless the original lower split was from a handling error. But it sounds like the spine itself is threadbare(for lack of a better term)

 

Once the spine is worn to such an extent just the act of opening the book(even carefully) finally bends the fibers one too many times, and the result is either a complete separation of front and back covers. Or a partial tear(normally to the staples)

 

And to answer your question,

Should I get it restored ? Only thing book really needs is spine reinforcing ? And if I do what is the ballpark figure I'm looking at ? And which grade would I possibly get, once restored ?

 

 

Of course I would say YES have that puppy worked on, if only to halt the process of the spine falling apart. If it were my book I would solvent and wet clean both the cover and interior pages(they look really brown, are they brittle too?) I would fix that tear on the top edge and do whatever work needed to be done to reattach the spine and reinforce the staple areas as needed.

 

Once the work is done I do not see why this book could not grade around a 5.0(perhaps higher is you went with piece fill and CT)

 

But to keep the book in the vein of conso rather then resto I would just do minimal work to get the book as solid as possible and feel as nice as possible in hand. You would be surprised at how solid it can feel again once reinforced. Regarding cost, I dont want to venture a real guess. Since it is minimal work that needs done and depending on how much you want done.. I cannot see it being more then a few hundred $ tops. Much less if you choose to not dissasemble the book and apply tape locally. Just a guess though.

 

I hope the book is not brittle because that would dictate how much work should be done to it.

 

Hope this helps, and as I said earlier.

 

It is still a terrific book , you will get past that ill feeling in the pit of your stomach. All is not lost. It can be repaired if you choose to go that route.

 

Either way keep us posted ok?

 

Kenny

 

 

 

[garthgantu]

I call all detached covers an automatic 2.0, but I think someone proved to me that CGC has assigned higher grades, if it looks better overall.

 

This is my take as well...

 

The book looks a bit better than a 3.0 in the scans provided (and of course assuming no spine split)... I would think that having the spine reinforced with archival tape would probably bring it up to a 4.0 or so...?

 

Sorry to hear about the additional damage; that truly sux... you're right, tho - for a low-grade copy it's very presentable.

[Aces]

2.0/2.5

 

Up to you. Might be hard to find a good restro guy over there though.

 

I'd consider buying a PLOD Slight (P) 3.0/4.0 one with a nice spine and then selling the one you have after getting it in a blue label.

[Comicdey]

That's a decent looking lower grade copy. If you're going to have the spine repaired, go and have the other minor items fixed as well, slab it, and make it a nice PLOD showpiece. At least when and if you do sell it, it will be the highest restored grade possible and you'll have more interest than a PLOD VG.

 

Still a great book, don't feel too bad.

[rob_allan]

You have pretty much the exact type of copy I've always wanted of this book. Low grade that presents well. (And that's wicked hard to find with AF 15. They usually chip and for some reason people seem to LOVE writing on them.)

 

That type of thing happening is always a heartbreaker, but don't be too disheartened. This is a nice book no matter the details.

 

I think you should sell it to me as-is. Then you don't have to worry about it!

 

Seriously, resto wouldn't be bad in this case, I don't think.

[TheShadowKnows]

I would have it restored.This is the coolest silver age book in my mind.Get it deacified and the spine reinforced.Get it graded just to make sure.Still a very cool book but you need to save it from crumbling.

[skypinkblu]

I have one with a cover detached...(I did it accidently years ago.....so don't feel bad) and there was a 2 inch spine split continuing to the front cover for 3 inches...I have never had a book restored...but it had nice pages and I wanted to keep it..so..I finally bit the bullet and just sent it to Matt Nelson...it was less than $200...I didn't want anything filled in, washed, etc, just the tears sealed..and the cover re-attached...and I love purple, it doesn't bother me...

 

Good luck with it:) If you have it restored you can send it to visit mine, since they will be cousins...

[bigfiver69]

To me, this book is begging for restoration.... and I agree with the sentiments above that if you're getting the spine done, get the rest taken care of too.... it's almost a perfect resto candidate!

 

Shep

[chromium]

Thanks everybody for the input so far, every and each opinion has been mentally noted down and I'm letting it all sink in.

I'll prolly make a decision before the end of the month...

 

* put in on eBay as is

or

* have it restored all the way (I agree, if you go resto, go full resto)

or

* have it slabbed and keep it (that way I can't damage it any further)

[Aces]

* put in on eBay as is

 

I think I said slab it before selling, to get max $$$.

 

Then put the $$$ towards a slightly better one.

[TheShadowKnows]

i dont know what g/vg af 15 are going for these days(I paid 150 for the last 1 i had) but if it is close then i might put it on ebay also.If the difference is huge then i would do the resto.

[chromium]

i dont know what g/vg af 15 are going for these days(I paid 150 for the last 1 i had) but if it is close then i might put it on ebay also.If the difference is huge then i would do the resto.

 

Some of this month's prices from Comiclink

 

CGC 1.5 FAIR/GOOD has a sale pending for $1,700

CGC 2.5 GD+ has an offer of $2,350 (but hasn't been accepted)

CGC 3.0 GVG has a sale pending for $2,900

 

A restored CGC 5.5 FN- has an offer of $4,100 (but hasn't been accepted)

 

A restored CGC 6.5 FN+ has an asking price of $6,999

[Aces]

i dont know what g/vg af 15 are going for these days(I paid 150 for the last 1 i had) but if it is close then i might put it on ebay also.If the difference is huge then i would do the resto.

 

Some of this month's prices from Comiclink

 

CGC 1.5 FAIR/GOOD has a sale pending for $1,700

CGC 2.5 GD+ has an offer of $2,350 (but hasn't been accepted)

CGC 3.0 GVG has a sale pending for $2,900

 

A restored CGC 5.5 FN- has an offer of $4,100 (but hasn't been accepted)

 

A restored CGC 6.5 FN+ has an asking price of $6,999

 

I'd go for a Blue 3.0 over a PLOD 5.5.

That's assuming the PLOD was something more than a drop of tear seal or something silly that shouldn't really be a PLOD like a stray pen mark that happens to be the same color as the cover and CGC thinks it's restro.