Silver age conundrum 4 4

[JazzMan]

Looking for the board's opinion on a situation I've been pondering regarding a key SA comic.  I'm weighing a couple of options - 

a) A solid Universal 4.0 OWW for $13K

b) A restored 7.0 Moderate (B-3) OWW for $9.7K - color touch, pieces added, tear seals, cleaned, reinforced, re-glossed. Top edge of cover trimmed.

It's not a trivial difference (one is 30% more than the other) and the restored book looks nice.  However, I can't get past the top trim, it bothers me and I suspect that if I ever want to dump the book it would be challenging.  

If you had a choice, which option would you choose and why?

[JTD]

Go big Blue...no contest in my opinion...not a fan of purple with the possible exception of a few GA books...of course, again, this is just my opinion...I had a purple label GL 76 8.5 W in my collection for years and it triggered what little OCD I do have...

Edited March 18, 2021 by JTD

[nmtg9]

Purple will be much harder to sell on if and when you need our want to. 

If the price is right go blue. 

[silverseeker]

I agree on going with blue...the trimming on the restored book would also bother me.

[James J Johnson]

4 hours ago, JazzMan said:

A restored 7.0 Moderate (B-3) OWW for $9.7K - color touch, pieces added, tear seals, cleaned, reinforced, re-glossed. Top edge of cover trimmed.

Trimmed is not restored. It's butchery. Trimmed is to restoration as ground beef is to cattle. 

IMO, as soon as you spot the keywords "moderate", "re-glossed", and "pieces added", let alone "trimmed", unless the book is so rare that it could take years for one to be offered for sale, like the Timely Captain America Comics and Marvel Mystery Comics Annuals, pass, and opt for the blue label. Especially in Silver age, where very little, if any, can be considered rare. 

Edited March 18, 2021 by James J Johnson

[KCOComics]

If it's within your means, I would also go Blue. 

I bought a Hulk 1 that was trimmed because I didn't want to pay for a presentable blue label. It's the only trimmed book I've knowingly bought and I'm happy to own it.  I also have no intentions of selling the book for a long long time. 

That said, if you ever do need to sell it, the blue one will be easier to sell.  I would rather own a blue 4.0 than purple 7.0 as long as the extra $4k is within your budget. 

[KPR Comics]

Because of the trim ...

[badback83]

I’ve always preferred a lower grade blue than a higher grade purple.  Trimming sucks.  Go for the blue.  As others have said, I think the blue copy would be easier to sell/trade down the road if you decided you wanted to upgrade or needed the cash.

Edited March 18, 2021 by DocHoppus182
Spelling

[Readcomix]

Same here; blue 4.0 beats purple 7.0, especially with trimming in the mix.

[ThothAmon]

For potential gains go blue, purple is fool’s gold. 

[goldust40]

With Silver Age, a purple label is a scarlet letter. With GA, it's more accepted, especially if the resto is light.

But the trimming would immediately make me think twice. Been collecting for decades, and always avoid trimmed books, even if they look great. Trimming is mutilation in my book.

[Hollywood1892]

TRUE bLuE

[Mr bla bla]

Im probably pissinghh against the wind here, but I say you might go purple. I own some plods that i really like. Especially slight P is great value for your money imho.

[piper]

Go Blue!

[F For Fake]

Since trimming is involved, I'd go with the blue. I think purples are sometimes ok, for instance if it's something like light amateur color touch (i.e. some kid took a marker to the cover 50 years ago.) But I'm not a fan of professional resto on books, and I definitely don't want anything that's trimmed. PLOD isn't necessarily a kiss of death, but trimming pretty much is. I'd save up and get the blue. The fact that you made this post suggest that you'd probably always have misgivings about owning the purple, even if it is quite a bit cheaper. As has been said, most SA aren't rare at all, so chances are if you hang on, you may find an even lower grade copy that may fit both your blue label desires and your budget.

[JazzMan]

All great opinions.  Thanks!

[Qalyar]

Trimming is a terrible thing to do to a comic.

I'm also extremely leery about "re-glossed" covers. The vast majority of reglossers basically just spray the cover with a thin coat of a clear acrylic. Beyond the basic fact that this isn't why GA/SA covers were glossy in the first place, not all acrylic sprays are created equal from an archival standpoint. In principle, clear acrylic shouldn't discolor or fog over time, but that doesn't take into account the solvents and propellants used, nor overall manufacturing quality and purity; in reality, some clear acrylics do degrade. Now, there absolutely are archival-grade acrylics, some of which are even used for encasement of paper material that cannot be otherwise conserved. But archival acrylics are like 15 bucks a can, and cheapo sprays are a third of that. Do you want to gamble the long-term stability of your expensive comic's artificially-restored cover on whether or not a guy -- one who was already okay trimming a book -- decided to buy the cheap stuff?

[piper]

I’m curious if folks are more accepting of low grade/resto books than previous just so they can own a copy?

The Instagram generation (in my opinion) seems to be more interested in chasing Modern 9.8’a.

Edited March 18, 2021 by piper

[James J Johnson]

1 hour ago, Qalyar said:

Trimming is a terrible thing to do to a comic.

I'm also extremely leery about "re-glossed" covers. 

Yes. The re-glossing, that is what is typically, the spraying of some kind of aerosol shellac over usually the entire surface of the cover(s) is just as insidious to restoration/conservation as the trimming, in many ways, the pseudo-laminating of the surface with spray shellac affecting it to even a greater extent than trimming. Re-Gloss + trimming + pieces + re-inforced spine for a moderate to extensive degree = Frankenbook, by any other name regardless of how "surgical" the butchery looks to have been executed. 

[Motor City Rob]

Go Blue!