Thoughts on this Hulk 181? NM 0

[J-KComics]

Hi everyone I am just wondering what your thoughts are on this book. It is in gorgeous shape, Here are some pics. I am thinking about buying this. The owner said it has had light color restoration on the front, and it has been trimmed? Worth the couple grand? Or not? Can anyone find the color touch up? 

I cant.. hmmm 

[faster friends]

Stay far away from this book

[J-KComics]

2 minutes ago, faster friends said:

Stay far away from this book

Why? Just curious? 

[Get Marwood & I]

It does look nice. A few raw  copies described as VFN/NM have sold on eBay for around $4K so with restoration usually at least halving the price you can see where the $2K has come from. Trimming is fairly loathed in the industry however so your resale opportunities - raw or graded - would be severely impacted if you were looking to make money or sell in the future. Don't let the apparent eye appeal take you in - restored books are only for those who want to own a copy with no thought for resale and who don't care either way as long as it looks nice - they just want a copy for their collection and restored ones are that much cheaper.

It has a dodgy cut though. Personally, I wouldn't go near it at that price. 

[J-KComics]

3 minutes ago, Get Marwood & I said:

It does look nice. A few raw  copies described as VFN/NM have sold on eBay for around $4K so with restoration usually at least halving the price you can see where the $2K has come from. Trimming is fairly loathed in the industry however so your resale opportunities - raw or graded - would be severely impacted if you were looking to make money or sell in the future. Don't let the apparent eye appeal take you in - restored books are only for those who want to own a copy with no thought for resale and who don't care either way as long as it looks nice - they just want a copy for their collection and restored ones are that much cheaper.

It has a dodgy cut though. Personally, I wouldn't go near it at that price. 

Wow Thanks for the info... I may be in too deep at $2100.00 Wow you can tell the cut from just looking at it?

[Get Marwood & I]

5 minutes ago, J-KComics said:

Wow Thanks for the info... I may be in too deep at $2100.00

I think so, yes. Take a look at eBay sold copies - always a good indicator of what people are currently prepared to risk for raw copies advertised as unrestored

Quote

Wow you can tell the cut from just looking at it?

The back cover picture looks slanted top and bottom - it might be the photo but it looks off to me:

 

[J-KComics]

Just now, Get Marwood & I said:

I think so, yes. Take a look at eBay sold copies - always a good indicator of what people are currently prepared to risk for raw copies

The back cover picture looks slanted top and bottom - it might be the photo but it looks off to me:

 

Ah now I see it... looks bad.. oofff

 

[Get Marwood & I]

Just now, J-KComics said:

Ah now I see it... looks bad.. oofff

 

That kind of slanted cut can actually manifest at the point of manufacture and may not actually be the trimming to which the seller is referring. The fact that they've called out both trimming and colour touch is good - some unscrupulous sellers don't - but the combination is lethal regardless to the vast majority of collectors. Only you can decide how you feel about owning restored books though J-K.  I don't mind them on low grade books, but wouldn't touch one on a high value one like this - it would make no sense to me. 

[J-KComics]

I hear you. Well from what I can see on the back left of the book the edge seems to be cut down into an angle? Did you see that.

[Get Marwood & I]

8 minutes ago, J-KComics said:

I hear you. Well from what I can see on the back left of the book the edge seems to be cut down into an angle? Did you see that.

Yup. The book has a slight miswrap (evidenced by the cover stating to appear at the bottom on the back cover), a bad cut which may or may not be production related, disclosed trimming and colour touch. And if someone has gone to the trouble of trimming and colour touching, what else has been done we should ask ourselves? Has it been bleached, full blown restoration etc etc. 

To conclude, and as they said in that film once: "Leave. The book. Alone"

I think they said kid though, not book. In the film I mean 

[Qalyar]

Off-square slanted books at top and bottom are frequently factory miscuts. I'm more concerned about the right side of the book, which seems wider at top than at bottom, and is likely where damage has been trimmed away. This book looks pretty, but keep in mind that it has been manipulated in order to appear that way. General acceptance of color touch has waxed and waned over the hobby's decades, and that sort of restoration bothers some people more than others (although it's certainly a huge mark against resale value). On the other hand, I would never knowingly own a trimmed book, and I'm far from alone in that respect. And all that assumes that the disclosed work is all the work.

In my mind, Hulk 181 is a particularly bad book to invest into a "restored" (and I struggle to use that word in regard to trimming) copy. It's a high dollar book, but at the same time, it is one that is generally available in some quantities on the market. When or if the time comes to resell this, you have to consider that the universe of people willing to spend significant amounts of money on the issue in general, and not just on a low-grade or reader copy... but not willing to spend the money for an unrestored copy... is a very small target audience.

Only you can make your collecting decisions for you. But I would run, not walk, from this.

[J-KComics]

I really appreciate the feedback. You are right there are quite a few copies on the market right now. Ya... It would be dangerous to buy this book, I mean I am sure I could get the resale value back for it... but who knows... Personally when I see restored labels on a graded book it makes me cringe. 

[J-KComics]

36 minutes ago, Get Marwood & I said:

Yup. The book has a slight miswrap (evidenced by the cover stating to appear at the bottom on the back cover), a bad cut which may or may not be production related, disclosed trimming and colour touch. And if someone has gone to the trouble of trimming and colour touching, what else has been done we should ask ourselves? Has it been bleached, full blown restoration etc etc. 

To conclude, and as they said in that film once: "Leave. The book. Alone"

I think they said kid though, not book. In the film I mean 

 well I am in too deep...  Maybe if someone comes along and bids higher...

[1950's war comics]

it is one of if not the most graded book on the planet,... buy one already graded .....

[Doctor Dositheus]

Maybe instead of calling trimmed books restored we can shut down the non-additive argument and just call them mutilated.

[DT0428]

2 hours ago, J-KComics said:

 well I am in too deep...  Maybe if someone comes along and bids higher...

If you are bidding on Ebay you can retract your bid with more than 12 hours left for bidding.  Not sure about other auction sites

[joeypost]

It ends in 25 hours and the seller is...all_things_comics

A trimmed comic is never, ever in slightly restored condition.

[theCapraAegagrus]

Trimming cannot be undone, so, yeah...

[Get Marwood & I]

10 hours ago, joeypost said:

It ends in 25 hours and the seller is...all_things_comics

A trimmed comic is never, ever in slightly restored condition.

Now that I've seen the actual listing, and the failure to give reasonable prominence to the trimming / CT, @J-KComics, I would retract my bid as DTO428 suggested. 

[Keys_Collector]

Thats a terrible miscut job.  As others have already said, i'd stay far away from that book.  I'd recommend to keep learning and doing your research BEFORE bidding on expensive books.