• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

restoration vs. conservation
1 1

27 posts in this topic

I am looking for some advice from more seasoned golden age collectors. Is there a percentage that you would typically pay for a book that is conserved? If it is cgc 4.0 and medium level of conservation would that be 50% of a blue label 4.0? Less? More? Is there any differing opinions between silver age conservation being more or less accepted than golden age. Any advice and sharing of knowledge would be appreciated. Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks,

I never really understood the disdain toward conservation as they are not making more of them, and they certainly weren't made to last 80 years, so I don't get why folks get so upset and preserving them, With Conservation it isn't like you are trying to mislead folks about the condition to make more money, just trying to keep them from getting worse.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks,

I never really understood the disdain toward conservation as they are not making more of them, and they certainly weren't made to last 80 years, so I don't get why folks get so upset and preserving them, With Conservation it isn't like you are trying to mislead folks about the condition to make more money, just trying to keep them from getting worse.

 

In the days before Conservation was separately defined by TPGs, conservation techniques were included under Restoration. I feel some of the disdain towards Conservation stems from this association with Restoration. But it does seem to be lessening.

 

There are also other collectors who want nothing to be done to the books they collect and would avoid Conserved books as much as they would avoid Restored books.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks,

I never really understood the disdain toward conservation as they are not making more of them, and they certainly weren't made to last 80 years, so I don't get why folks get so upset and preserving them, With Conservation it isn't like you are trying to mislead folks about the condition to make more money, just trying to keep them from getting worse.

 

In the days before Conservation was separately defined by TPGs, conservation techniques were included under Restoration. I feel some of the disdain towards Conservation stems from this association with Restoration. But it does seem to be lessening.

 

There are also other collectors who want nothing to be done to the books they collect and would avoid Conserved books as much as they would avoid Restored books.

 

...because they're the same thing.

 

-J.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks,

I never really understood the disdain toward conservation as they are not making more of them, and they certainly weren't made to last 80 years, so I don't get why folks get so upset and preserving them, With Conservation it isn't like you are trying to mislead folks about the condition to make more money, just trying to keep them from getting worse.

 

In the days before Conservation was separately defined by TPGs, conservation techniques were included under Restoration. I feel some of the disdain towards Conservation stems from this association with Restoration. But it does seem to be lessening.

 

There are also other collectors who want nothing to be done to the books they collect and would avoid Conserved books as much as they would avoid Restored books.

 

...because they're the same thing.

 

-J.

 

This response demonstrates my points nicely.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Really, "conservation" is just a type of restoration. It is a distinction with a negligible difference.

 

-J.

 

I agree conservation techniques can be seen as resto. But adding pieces to a cover, for example, is far from a negligible difference from sealing a tear with archival paste and japan paper.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It depends on the demand and rarity of the book, but I've paid as much as 50% of unrestored FMV for "conserved" and "slightly restored" books in the VG range with the intent to flip them.

 

They aren't as liquid as unrestored copies, but plenty of collectors are quite happy with a VG book with minor work for the price of a GD book that looks beat. For my own collection I'll take a VG with a tear seal or two over a GD unrestored for the same price. I prefer them raw anyway, so I'm not concerned with the PLOD stigma.

 

If the book is more common and/or relatively cheap in unrestored condition, I'd pay less. This is probably why the conserved and restored stigmas are stronger with SA books in general.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting that you bring up rarity as there is a More Fun 67 with slight restoration graded at a 1.0 on Ebay currently and I am not sure that it would have that much more value than an unrestored coverless, but otherwise complete copy. Would certainly be interested in other folks opinions.

Edited by ender
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great thread for discussion.  I do conservation so of course I would be a staunch supporter of it.  That being said value would depend on the extent of the conservation done, much like resto work.  De-acidification done properly is IMO the best thing you can do to a book, removes contaminants and buffers against further degradation.  A book with only that stage done should not be too far off blue label I would hope.

The other end of the spectrum is a book with a rebuilt spine, pieces reattached, staples replaced, and a bunch of tear seals and reinforcements, this book would if done well still qualifies for a conservation grade.  A book like that should be right around the same value as a restored book if I’m the buyer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/22/2020 at 10:49 AM, 427Impaler said:

Great thread for discussion.  I do conservation so of course I would be a staunch supporter of it.  That being said value would depend on the extent of the conservation done, much like resto work.  De-acidification done properly is IMO the best thing you can do to a book, removes contaminants and buffers against further degradation.  A book with only that stage done should not be too far off blue label I would hope.

The other end of the spectrum is a book with a rebuilt spine, pieces reattached, staples replaced, and a bunch of tear seals and reinforcements, this book would if done well still qualifies for a conservation grade.  A book like that should be right around the same value as a restored book if I’m the buyer.

Sorry to bump an old thread.  But this post got me to thinking, if the above qualifies for a conserved grade then if a book was in a restored holder with the above qualifications on the label would CGC slab it in a Conserved holder??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They possibly could, the only caveat would be products used and technique.  As long as they were comfortable with those two things and work quality was A-1 it should qualify.  Examples of books that let likely require some reworking to qualify are books with B-1 cover cleaned, which will stay purple unless worked over to up the quality to A-1

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, 427Impaler said:

They possibly could, the only caveat would be products used and technique.  As long as they were comfortable with those two things and work quality was A-1 it should qualify.  Examples of books that let likely require some reworking to qualify are books with B-1 cover cleaned, which will stay purple unless worked over to up the quality to A-1

The book in question is a Slight A-1 with small amount of color touch on cover, pieces added to cover, cover reinforced and cleaned.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/25/2021 at 9:04 PM, Mr.Fantastic said:

The book in question is a Slight A-1 with small amount of color touch on cover, pieces added to cover, cover reinforced and cleaned.

I cannot see that moving out of the purple label. Just the slight CT and the pieces added alone should keep it in Purple. 

Edited by PovertyRow
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, PovertyRow said:

I cannot see that moving out of the purple label. Just the slight CT and the pieces added alone should keep it in Purple. 

Here is one with color touch & pieces added that is in a conserved holder.  So, I don't know.

image.thumb.png.a639db912654a15d601cb847a75b4ecf.pngHere

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Mr.Fantastic said:

Here is one with color touch & pieces added that is in a conserved holder.  So, I don't know.

image.thumb.png.a639db912654a15d601cb847a75b4ecf.pngHere

That is a labeling error.  Above the numeric grade it says "Moderate B-3" which is Restored. The label text says "restoration includes". Someone in encapsulation grabbed the wrong label. 
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is a wrong label for sure.  Color touch is not allowed in any shape or form the n conserved.  Pieces added are ok, if not excessive, but absolutely have to be archival paper and adhesive, or leaf casting.  Interestingly married pages are ok, so nice method to escape a green label, and even solvent bath is allowed.  
 

Grading I find is not like the grading you see on restored books, at least in my experience.  Pieces added do not seem to help the grade as they would in resto, so grade improvement seems mostly driven by how well the wet/dry clean improve the overall appearance of the book, 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
1 1