AZ News, "unrestored" Hulk#1 bought from LCS was actually restored, buyer angry 1 1

[valiantman]

1 minute ago, kav said:

3 minutes ago, valiantman said:

You even used the same letters... ASM, SAM. 

 

[kav]

1 minute ago, valiantman said:

[01TheDude]

the Spectacular Arse, man

[thehumantorch]

On 8/17/2018 at 2:17 AM, kav said:

I'll send you the drawing if you so desire:
 

Very nice Kav

[kav]

5 minutes ago, thehumantorch said:

Very nice Kav

you can have it if you want.

[JollyComics]

$5500 is pretty low. If I were him, I will check with Matt Nelson to see if he can remove CT.  If not, I will accept the purple label and wait for few years to see how the market for Hulk #1 goes. If it goes higher than I paid, sell it right away.

Hulk #1 is pretty scarce right now - restoration or not.

[RockMyAmadeus]

34 minutes ago, JollyComics said:

$5500 is pretty low. If I were him, I will check with Matt Nelson to see if he can remove CT.  If not, I will accept the purple label and wait for few years to see how the market for Hulk #1 goes. If it goes higher than I paid, sell it right away.

Hulk #1 is pretty scarce right now - restoration or not.

That's the beauty of Hulk #1 and books like it. Eventually, the market is going to wake up (it already has, to an extent) and realize that restored books aren't toxic, and the slighter the resto, the closer to "universal" value the book should be. Apparently, this particular copy is pretty rough, but if the market will comes to its senses, it will realize that a couple of dots on the spine shouldnt mean a 90% reduction in value.

I saw a GORGEOUS Hulk #1 that was perhaps a 6.0....but had dot dot dot along the spine. Nothing horrifying, just a little depressing. But it was otherwise a beautiful copy. I would be thrilled to own a copy like that. It will require CGC to become a bit more descriptive still, but it should be well worth it. A couple of dots of CT shouldn't cost more than perhaps 25%, whereas frankenbooks, where you can't tell what's original and what's recreation, ok...now we're in the 90-95% discount range.

[01TheDude]

good points regarding the level of restoration. Perhaps a little more refinement is needed to take the sting off of the PLOD designation. At that point though-- I suppose it is really in the hands of the buyer how much is tolerable.

[mattn792]

I had a TOS 39 restored several years ago (by Matt Nelson) and would do it all over again in hindsight.  The unrestored version was a rusty, torn, water logged mess.  Much rather have the SS 6.0 (mod-p) that is now.

[bluehorseshoe]

On 8/13/2018 at 9:41 AM, jcjames said:

 

From AZCentral: Hulk fan 'sees green' over vintage comic book

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"That Hulk was $5,500, 5,500 cash dollars," Masse said.

Masse says that's how much cash he plunked down to buy the very first comic book featuring Hulk, referred to as The Hulk #1.

He bought it last November as an investment from a Phoenix business called All About Books and Comics.

"I was told it was unrestored," he said.

Unrestored. That's important because Masse says when comic books are restored or cosmetically enhanced to look better, they're not just not worth as much.

So, believing the comic book was unrestored, Masse says he didn't have a problem handing over $5,500.

"There are lots of flaws that are already there, flaws that are acceptable because of wear and tear, the age of the comic, and a little bit of time that has affected it," Masse said.

However, when Masse got the comic book home, a friend noticed something that caught his eye.

"That's been touched up, a different color from the rest," the friend said.

After a closer look, Masse says he suspected the comic he had purchased had been touched up in areas, meaning its value would be a lot less than the $5,500 he paid.

Following his discovery, Masse says he complained to All About Books and Comics.

However, in emails to Masse, the business owners claimed they were unaware of any restoration on The Hulk #1 and added: "we are not restoration experts."

So, Masse had the book inspected and appraised by an expert who later wrote: "the book did have significant purple touch-ups."

After taking this information to the bookstore, Masse says they tried to compromise.

"They tried to offer me in-store credit on future purchases," he said.

However, Masse said no, and demanded a full refund.

He also contacted 3 On Your Side. The company refused to speak to us on-camera. Instead, they sent a statement saying, "We were sorry to hear he was disappointed because we had not intended to misrepresent the book."

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This has to be the lowest rung on the journalism degree employment ladder of all time.  Its unfathomable how many call in for their nonsense.

[Shadow Images]

If you know the store you will find the idea of store credit hilarious. He would have to spend another $5500 minimum to just use the store credit.   You have to love someone offering a solution that only benefits them.

[valiantman]

13 hours ago, mattn792 said:

I had a TOS 39 restored several years ago (by Matt Nelson) and would do it all over again in hindsight.  The unrestored version was a rusty, torn, water logged mess.  Much rather have the SS 6.0 (mod-p) that is now.

Rusty, torn, water logged... resulted in Moderate Professional restoration?

That could be a reason that buyers don't know what is reasonable to pay for restored books, since collectors probably aren't excited about "formerly rusty, torn, water logged" messes... and that's not even considered Extensive Restoration. 

[mattn792]

5 minutes ago, valiantman said:

Rusty, torn, water logged... resulted in Moderate Professional restoration?

That could be a reason that buyers don't know what is reasonable to pay for restored books, since collectors probably aren't excited about "formerly rusty, torn, water logged" messes... and that's not even considered Extensive Restoration. 

I'll post before and after photos if I remember, the before version of the book didn't look quite as bad as my description would suggest.

[RockMyAmadeus]

4 hours ago, valiantman said:

Rusty, torn, water logged... resulted in Moderate Professional restoration?

That could be a reason that buyers don't know what is reasonable to pay for restored books, since collectors probably aren't excited about "formerly rusty, torn, water logged" messes... and that's not even considered Extensive Restoration. 

I had restoration work done on this poor book:

...and it came back like this:

It was amazing!

 

[Chip Cataldo]

Byrne. 

[valiantman]

16 minutes ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

I had restoration work done on this poor book:

...and it came back like this:

It was amazing!

 

Gah!  You downgraded!  The result isn't a newsstand! 

[ciorac]

On 8/16/2018 at 10:08 AM, 01TheDude said:

I think some well known boardies own that store -- @ciorac and one other guy whose name escapes me at the moment. I've been in there when it was first starting out but haven't had a chance to come back when they are open otherwise. Haven't seen or heard from them since I gave them a hand setting up for the 2016 Phoenix Con.

It's just me at the shop. It's called Fantastic Worlds Comics in Scottsdale, AZ. Stop back in when you can

[ciorac]

On 8/16/2018 at 9:54 AM, slg343 said:

I shop here sometimes.  Mostly for collected edition books as they have the best inventory in town.  Their store set up is also one any new shop should study.  Clean, organized and well stocked.  With that said all of their keys are over priced and over graded waiting on a sucker.  I didn't get the impression they were purposely dishonest, I just get the feeling they want to run things like they used to be when they started 25 years ago.  It is like the internet doesn't exist to them, very strange. 

Anybody in phoenix area I would recommend newer shop in Scottsdale ( Fantastic worlds)  Also a large selection of back issues and keys, many graded books with fair prices and the owner is more of a passionate hobbyist then a cut throat penny squeezer. 

Why thank you kind sir 

[thunsicker]

19 hours ago, ciorac said:

On 8/16/2018 at 9:54 AM, slg343 said:

I shop here sometimes.  Mostly for collected edition books as they have the best inventory in town.  Their store set up is also one any new shop should study.  Clean, organized and well stocked.  With that said all of their keys are over priced and over graded waiting on a sucker.  I didn't get the impression they were purposely dishonest, I just get the feeling they want to run things like they used to be when they started 25 years ago.  It is like the internet doesn't exist to them, very strange. 

Anybody in phoenix area I would recommend newer shop in Scottsdale ( Fantastic worlds)  Also a large selection of back issues and keys, many graded books with fair prices and the owner is more of a passionate hobbyist then a cut throat penny squeezer. 

 Why thank you kind sir 

  It took me a second to realize it was the second paragraph that was about you.  I was trying to figure out if you were being sarcastic.

[telerites]

19 hours ago, ciorac said:

Why thank you kind sir 

How long has it been since your move from New Orleans, Bill?