When does restoration start?

[disneyteddies]

So if you have a comic with a felt pen mark through the price tag (12 cents) is that restoration or is it only considered restoration if it is trying to improve the actual artwork? What about if it is in an unobtrusive area not affecting the artwork? I say no but I'd like a couple more opinions on this please.

I would consider these marks to be a defect and not restoration.

[jaydeebee]

I would say in this case that it's restoration if you attempt to remove the felt pen ink from the cover.

[jordanscott]

Restoration begins when you do work to the book to bring it from its current 'used/flawed' state closer to its original, pristine state.

From your example, attempting to remove that felt marker mark.

Location of the resto doesn't really impact whether it's resto or not. Whether you're colour touching a page in the book or maybe just using glue to get the spine back together or whatnot, it's all resto.

[Red Hook]

The felt pen mark isn't restoration in and of itself. Attempted removal of it would be. There are some good examples of attempts like that in the NOD Gallery of Disclosure....
might be fun to just check through some of those examples Mitch Jordan pulled together:

http://www.networkofdisclosure.com/book_review_list.php

[disneyteddies]

Okay so these four are not considered restored then....correct?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v633/Hank27/scan0007-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v633/Hank27/scan0006-3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v633/Hank27/scan0004-4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v633/Hank27/scan0008-1.jpg

But this one should be considered restored....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v633/Hank27/scan0005-2.jpg

[dhennen]

Is unbending a dog eared corner restoration?

[The Charlton Guy]

Is unbending a dog eared corner restoration?

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a240/the-charlton-guy/09ec6a1e.jpg

[The Charlton Guy]

I would say yes re the dog-ears.

But that's just obsessive ol' me.

Granted, doing so is probably in the best interest of the book and will make it more appealing and likely more collectible, especially down the road (after a couple of decades in a longbox). But doing so does meet the more strict definitions of restoration.

Doing so with even slightly brittle or dry pages could inflict more damage than "repair" and even doing so with supple pages will not eliminate the crease marks unless they are professionally or expertly pressed/repaired. Either way, some might look upon this as restoration. A lot probably wouldn't.

[SolitaireOne]

I would consider these marks to be a defect and not restoration.
Yep, that's it alright... I don't know how felt-tip marker usage in that manner would "restore" anything. :mrgreen:



I would say yes re the dog-ears. Really, C.G.? That's by the books, eh? Yikes... #poke#

[disneyteddies]

Thanx everyone for the input....arf!

[Red Hook]

Okay so these four are not considered restored then....correct?.......


But this one should be considered restored....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v633/Hank27/scan0005-2.jpg




I think you have to use common sense when pushing definitions like that. Technically, (if I'm reading that last scan correctly - and there was a marking on it that was scratched off) this last example would be considered restoration. But that's like saying that a triple bypass and a tooth extraction are both "surgery".

When you get to higher end books (and by the way, I love these books you've posted - they're obviously well read and well loved, if not well preserved) you need to tighten up the definition and be more specific about what you are talking about. Then you get into a whole range of treatments ... many of them not so obvious.

[pasnat54]

Speaking as someone who knows absolutely nothing about the official process of restoration...

My impression is that anything done artificially to try to reverse or hide a flaw would be restoration. That would include pressing, filling in holes, tightening or replacing staples, etc.

But other, more organic measures, such as unbending a dog-ear or using an art eraser to gently remove dirty spots would not bother me. If you unbend a dog-ear, the crease will still be there. If you try to remove the crease, that would be restoration in my mind.

[disneyteddies]

Well thanx for the compliments RH, yes they're well read but they're also in the condition I bought them in (which was a few decades ago). The Batman 23 is one of my most treasured comics because my parents gave it to me for Christmas..they had picked it up at a yard sale for 7 dollars but to me it's priceless.

I understand about your comparison to the different types of surgery references, but I wanted to see if others would pick up on the rather obvious amateur resto on the Superman comic. It has green color touch in the "Superman" logo. I know this because it is pretty obvious but more importantly there is green bleed through on the first interior page.

I'm not selling these so I didn't give a detailed description on them and I only wanted a quick answer to my question about the marking rather then the resto. Maybe I wasn't that clear but I found out what I wanted (and was pretty sure of in the first place).

I'm working hard on my restoration skills because I'm going to be selling many future comic books and I'm great at spotting resto, I'm just working on the grading part of restoration which is tougher.

And Hey Pas. Hope u had a great B-Day!

[The Charlton Guy]

Really, C.G.? That's by the books, eh? Yikes... #poke#

I don't really know if it's "by the books", but I do consider it restoration. Ever try and flatten multiple dog-ears on a book? Or even a single one? You risk substantial damage (i.e. a lost chunk torn off at the fold) or at the very least, you are taking a book that is in one condition and trying to alter it in a way that it appears to be in another condition (i.e....flat).

I have had enough chunks fly trying to do this with dog-eared GA or dry/brittle SA books that I now avoid it altogether.

And at the end of the day, dog-ears are the kind of flaw that needs to be noted when selling a book, whether they have been flattened or not. And yes, that's the hard-core NOD in me speaking.

[disneyteddies]

Can't fault a guy for disclosing everything he feels is deserving of disclosing.

You Go Boy...(thumps chest)!

[The Charlton Guy]

Thanks Hank...

And hey...it is after Christmas isn't it? #creep#

I have had your books ready to go but lost your address and your PayPal receipt doesn't have it.

PM me and I'll shoot off that SA DC lot for you this weekend.

[disneyteddies]

Sure thing.

[Red Hook]

Hi DT,

Sorry, didn't catch the color touch on the logo... I guess I just assume that there are so many pixel anomolies in most scans that an area of color uneveness is just a mid quality scan.

Red

[disneyteddies]

Yeah, I know what you mean RH. Take care.

[illuminated]

On Daredevil 11 and Batman 23, I can't even see what might be considered restoration.

But, then, I haven't been taking my Tramodol.

[illuminated]

This thread brings up an issue that must pester many folks in the hobby. That is, you have two comics, each with an equal amount of felt marking. On one comic, the felt pen marking consists of a word scribbled on the cover. On the other, it consists of color touch on an area where the cover ink/gloss was disturbed. The one with color touch takes a far greater hit in value, as it has been restored.

[Hepcat]

You're right. That is incomprehensible.

What's perfectly understandable is that in the case of otherwise identical comics, the one that never had the felt pen mark would sell at a higher price than the one that had a felt pen mark removed. What's silly though is that the comic with the felt pen mark removed would likely sell at a lower price than the one with the felt pen mark still there in all its gory. This irrationality has come about as a direct result of the increase in number of the CGC label collecting crowd.

:roll:

[malaprop]

I agree with others that the felt pen on the Daredevil is a defect not restoration, but add that considering the condition otherwise, it wouldn't affect the value. If it were VF or higher, it certainly would.