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How do you feel about restored SA Keys?
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18 posts in this topic

I’ve never knowingly bought a restored SA Book, but have always been more than happy to buy pricey restored Golden Age ones. Maybe because of scarcity?

This recent run up in the overall market has me changing my perspective. I saw a great looking restored Hulk 1 in yesterday’s Clink Auction. I ultimately passed but I wonder if I should have bid on it. I recently sold a bunch of books thinking I could buy an unrestored 3.0 to 3.5. That’s not going to happen without me adding to the pot.

What do others think?

(Yes, @Artboy99, I should have bought your copy five years ago...)

 

 

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now that SA keys and first appearances have sky rocketed in value I don't think I would have an issue buying as an example a Hulk #1 restored at a fraction of the price. It depends on your price range.

The book you viewed on Comiclink presented very nicely, and a blue label of the book in that grade would be estimated $25000?

For books of less value I would still stick to blue labels.

The final price for the 5.0 last night doesn't get you a CGC 1.5 today. You either buy a restored or you buy the best looking 1.0-1.5 you can find and accept what the books visual appeal is like.

 

Hulk 1 5.0 restored.jpg

Hulk 1 1.5.jpg

Hulk 1 cgc 1.5.jpg

Edited by Artboy99
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 are you asking what people think about the investment potential of restored sa keys, or just if people will consider them more now that unrestored are out of reach for more folks?

i suppose they must be related since, if more people start considering them, they should move up in value. but i personally feel that there are too many unrestored copies out there for it to be a great investment for most keys. maybe a sweet restored af15 will do alright. but i think the most appealing restored books will be the ones with minimal resto that some buyers think can be removed.

i personally would just sell some other books or investments in order to fund the purchase of a non restored sa key if i could manage to do so. restored copies just dont appeal to me, and without a proven record investment-wise, i'd be concerned that it's not a smart buy either. maybe that will change. 

 

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1 hour ago, Bluemedgroup said:

What % do y'all think SA key purple labels go for compared to their universal counterparts?  

I would think 25-35%?

The diff. Between Slight P books and Extensive plods are so huge, that its like comparing apples to oranges.

Heck, I suspect most of the major slight P books have allready been converted to blue.

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I've bought 3 SA restored books in the last 2 years. Prior to that I had never knowingly bought one. 

Each situation was unique, but for my Hulk 1 I was in the same boat as you.  I saved and sold books to get about $6k together 2 years ago. Then I started shopping to realize $6k put me in the .5 - 1.5 range. I wasn't happy with anything out there and I decided to jump on a great opportunity to buy a raw trimmed one. The book presented much better.  I'll always have my eyes open to upgrade to blue, but I'm really content, especially for what I paid.

 

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3 minutes ago, KCOComics said:

I've bought 3 SA restored books in the last 2 years. Prior to that I had never knowingly bought one. 

Each situation was unique, but for my Hulk 1 I was in the same boat as you.  I saved and sold books to get about $6k together 2 years ago. Then I started shopping to realize $6k put me in the .5 - 1.5 range. I wasn't happy with anything out there and I decided to jump on a great opportunity to buy a raw trimmed one. The book presented much better.  I'll always have my eyes open to upgrade to blue, but I'm really content, especially for what I paid.

 

My experience is that slight P gets you a nice bang for your buck.

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22 minutes ago, Mr bla bla said:

My experience is that slight P gets you a nice bang for your buck.

Yeah,  I got an amazing price on a TOS39 that has pretty extensive amatuer resto. It's with a conversationist right now to clean it up, but it will always be resto. 

Then I bought a FF1 that had amateur CT, but someone had removed 90% of it.  That's with a pro who is removing the rest.  So if everything goes as planned I'll have a VGish blue label. 

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While I've never knowingly bought a restored Silver Age book, I don't have the issue with it that I would have had 10 years ago.

Hell - I wouldn't turn up my nose at slightly restored / color touch copies of Cerebus 1 or TMNT 1 these days either.

That said, I'd chew glass before buying a restored version of a super common book like ASM 40 or 129.

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Buying a restored comic with photos of the comic before the restoration would be sweet. 

Whenever I see a comic with extensive restoration (pieces added, tear seals, reglossed, etc.) all I can think about is "What the heck did it look like before the restoration ?" .

 

 

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Just wanted to add that although I prefer slabs for big books, my experience with buying raws on these boards has been great.  So as others said, for raws, the first step is finding a seller (or in this case, a community of sellers) you trust, and it well all work out just fine.  

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No (known) restored SA for me. I'm still looking for a restored Superman #1. CGC 1.0-1.8 is my budget.

Amateur and older professional resto (maybe 15-20 years ago) isn't too difficult to learn to spot. I used to spend time at conventions at a dealers booth who would disclose resto. I would ask to see the book and ask him to show me where and how the resto was done on the book. Newer restoration by professionals I would seek help. 

One time I went to SDCC with a friend. On Thursday he would go to Richie M's booth, ask to see a bunch of books and find one with resto done. Then, he would give me three books to check out and see if I could spot the one that was restored. The loser paid for dinner. We switched roles on Saturday. That was fun.

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I usually avoid Purple myself, But I need FF4 and did bid on the restored 5.0 copy on CL last night. I thought for sure it could be had for 2k or less but went for $2362. GPA 90 day is only $2881 and granted that is a low sample size since a 4.5 is clicking at $3180. But regardless that gap is not what it used to be.

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I purchased a restored FF 1 several years ago when one could be had for $1800.00. Insofar as investment potential goes, it's going to cost someone in and around $11,000.00 to $12000.00 to get it now; based on what I see these sell for an e-bay. Even though they are restored, they do go up with the rest of them. I'm okay with it, because it looks nicer. I'm thinking people will come around. 

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I loved buying them years ago due to the insane price differences that made them pretty much shunned by the community (X-Men #14 CGC 7.0 for $20 due to minor CT? Yes, please! Near Mint ASM #13 for $150 that had cleaned staples and CT? Take my money!) and will happily do so again, as having an amazing looking book that displays well is my main priority. I do limit this to keys though (I have a ToS39 out being extensively restored as well) so can't see the point behind any other SA issues due to supply/demand.

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