Restoration Question

[number 6]

I have a comic from the mid 60's that's in nice shape, looks like it could pass for a VeryFine to VeryFine +. But there's some writing in pencil on one of the pages in the white border.

My question is: if I were to carefully erase the pencil writing, is that considered restoration? Also, erasing the pencil marks won't complete eliminate the evidence that there was writing on the page, so how much do you think an erasure would knock a book down in grade?

[Brazoo]

To the best of my knowledge that's considered restoration - yeah. I don't know how much it drops it down in terms of grade - It probably depends.

[LonnieFisher]

No, erasing pencil isn't restoration.

Certified Guaranty Company, LLC - Restoration

[Adam West]

You might want to google removing pencil marks. I think there are some ways to do it that are much better than an eraser.

[Brazoo]

No, erasing pencil isn't restoration.

Certified Guaranty Company, LLC - Restoration

I wouldn't discount the influence CGC has on grading practices, but I wouldn't call them THE authority on these things. I've spoken to collectors who consider any attempt to clean or improve the condition of a book as restoration.

Honestly - unless you're talking about something worth hundreds it's probably moot.

[kingdom warrior]

I actually like the pencil mark means some kid read it and there's a story behind it so IMO I'd leave it alone...if you don't remove it right, it'll looked jacked up and worst off.....

[wilbs518]

Restoration for sure. Who cares what CGC says.

[johnmiic]

Thing is, if you take an eraser too an old comic you might actually smudge the old ink or wear the coloring off till the paper is grey/white. Then you have a damaged comic.

[Bizarro Amy]

Agree with those who have said that the eraser will make it worse by smudging or removing ink. And a lot of those covers are fragile so you run the risk of tearing the paper. There's a seller I deal with at lot of conventions, and we talked about restoration in Pittsburgh, as I was looking into a rather large splurge. He stated that any attempt to return the book to a higher grade is considered restoration and can potentially make the book less desirable. I don't think writing on the covers is a huge influence on a comic's value, unless it's really large and/or obscures the art.

[Adam West]

This maybe one of those grey areas that is just a matter of opinion. I have a large lunchbox collection (don't actively collect anymore) but I would always hand wash, dry and put a thin coat of wax on every box I collected. It was up in the air as to whether or not the wax was considered restoration. Some say yes...any kind of alteration is restoration while others said no. I do know the supposed leading authority on lunchbox collecting (I think his name was Larry Aikens) used to spray white rustoleum on small rust spots inside the lunchboxes he sold and insisted it wasn't restoration. I told him; he might be the authority but doesn't make the rules. I think he even came up with the condition guide but constantly graded his own boxes higher than his own standards.

[number 6]

Thing is, if you take an eraser too an old comic you might actually smudge the old ink or wear the coloring off till the paper is grey/white. Then you have a damaged comic.

I appreciate all the imput.

Just to clarify: the writing is not on the cover or any artwork. If it was, I wouldn't even consider it for the reasons you mentioned.

The pencil writing is actually on one of the inside pages in the white border area, not affecting any of the artwork. It's not real heavy-handed pencil writing, but it's not feather-touch writing either. Even if carefully erased, there would still be,at the very least, an indentation from the writing if not faint lead residue.

[Adam West]

If it is one of those little things that bothers you...go for it. I honestly don't think it will affect the value positively or negatively as long as you don't mess it up. Less is always more when it comes to this type of stuff but I would erase it if it's giving you that nagging feeling.

[NewForce]

shouldn't affect the grade at all in the vf range, there or not there...

while, under the laymans' term of "restoration", it is technically restoration by trying to "restore" to a previous state....

but in a microcosmic application amongst comic book hobby, the erasure of a pencil mark is generally not considered "restoration"...

[hartley0]

Erasing techniques

If you are keeping these books for yourself and you don't like the penciling then by all means just go ahead and remove the pencil (just be sure to disclose the erasing if you sell the book in the future). As I understand it, as long as you aren't cleaning the comic with chemicals (bath, etc), or dry-cleaning the covers and interiors, then it is not restoration. But, heck, like everything opinions vary on this. In my mind you are making the book more stable by removing the pencil, so it's a good thing.

In case you are interested, here's how I do it:

1) Use ONLY an ART GUM type eraser. These work really well, but they have an upside and a downside. The upside is that they won't damage the paper. The downside is that they are not as precise as hard erasers (which is where the stencil comes in handy, below), and you need to regularly rub the dirt off them and brush it off of the paper.

DO NOT use a pink eraser, or regular vinyl gum eraser. These will erode the paper and remove more paper than pencil! You'll actually make the comic look worse, as it will brighten the area around that which you are removing (ditto if you don't use a stencil or aren't otherwise precise).

I's not sure where my eraser is at the moment, but think it is one like this:

http://www.dickblick.com/products/sa...ic-rub-eraser/


2) Use an architect's stencil to mask off all areas except that which you want to erase. Ones like those I've linked below are great at offering oodles of shapes for leaving an opening just right to erase just the pencil.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003U7R2DI/...SIN=B003U7R2DI

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003U7R2DI/...SIN=B003U7R2DI

3) While erasing make sure you take intermittent breaks to clean off the dirt/residue that the eraser is collecting. And sweep away any crumbly bits.

4) Lastly, erasing works amazingly well at cleaning years of accumulated dirt/residue off the white areas on the back-covers of silver/bronze age comics. You can also use them on covers as well (moons, large white/light areas, etc). Just make sure you hone your technique on some of your reader-copies first!

Good luck and let us know how it goes!!

[number 6]

^ Awesome!!! Thanks for the pointers!

Just one quick question:

3) While erasing make sure you take intermittent breaks to clean off the dirt/residue that the eraser is collecting. And sweep away any crumbly bits.

What's the best way clean the dirt/residue off an art gum eraser?