Restoration is one of the most complicated, misunderstood aspects of grading comic books. CGC’s new Restoration Grading Scale is a transparent system that is much more descriptive and accurate than before. Every type of restoration found on each book will be individually graded for quantity and quality, with a cumulative score determining the final restoration grade assigned.
Conservation Repairs • Tear seals • Some cover or interior • Spine split seals cleaning (water or solvent) • Reinforcement • Staples cleaned or replaced • Piece reattachment • Some leaf casting Materials Used for Conservation Repairs: • Rice paper • Vintage staples • Wheat glue • Archival tape
Restoration Repairs • Color touch • Paper bleaching • Piece replacement • Married pages or cover • Re-glossing
Materials Used for Restoration Repairs: • White glue • Leaf casting • Re-glossing agent • Cadaver piece fill • Acrylic or watercolor paint • White bleaching • Pencil, crayon, chalk • Pen, marker, correction fluid The New CGC Restoration Grading Scale
Quality Scale (Aesthetic) (Determined by materials used and visual quality of work) A (Excellent) B (Fine) C (Poor) • Materials used: rice paper, • Materials used: pencil, crayon, chalk, • Materials used: glue, pen, marker, wheat paste, acrylic or re-glossing agent, piece fill from correction fluid, white paper to fill watercolor paint, leaf casting cadavers missing pieces • Color match near perfect, • Piece fill obvious upon close • Piece fill obvious at arm’s length no bleed through inspection, obvious to the touch • Bad color matching, use of pen or • Piece fill seamless and correct • Color touch obvious upon close marker; bleed through evident thickness inspection, or done with materials • Cover cleaning resulting in washed- • No fading, excessive whiteness, listed above out / speckled colors, moderate ripples, cockling, or ink • Cover cleaning resulting in slight cockling and / or ripples smudges from cover or color fading or excessively white • New staple holes created upon interior cleaning • Interior cleaning resulting in reinsertion, or non-comic book • Book feels natural slight puffiness, cockling or staples used • Near-perfect staple alignment, excessively white • Trimming of any kind or replaced exactly as they were • Enlarged staple holes, obviously • Married cover / pages poorly • Filled edges cut to look natural crooked staples or backwards attached with non-professional and even staple insertion materials • Cleaned staples or staples • Replaced staples are not vintage replaced with vintage staples • Married cover / pages do not • Married cover / pages match match in size and / or page quality; in size and page quality; professionally attached professionally attached
Quantity Scale (Determined primarily by extent of piece fill and color touch) 1 (Slight) 2 (Slight / Moderate) 4 (Moderate / Extensive) All conservation work, re-glossing, Piece fill up to the size of ½" x ½" Piece fill up to the size of 2" x 2" interior lightening, piece fill no and / or color touch covering up to and / or color touch covering up to more than size of two bindery 1" x 1". Interior piece fill up to 1" x 1". 4" x 4". Interior piece fill up to 4" x 4". chips, light color touch in small areas like spine stress, corner 3 (Moderate) 5 (Extensive) crease or bindery chip fill. Married cover or interior pages / wraps (if Piece fill up to the size of 1" x 1" Any piece fill over 2" x 2" and / or other work is present). and / or color touch covering up to color touch over 4" x 4". Recreated 2" x 2". Interior piece fill up to 2" x 2". interior pages or cover.
Conservation Label Specific repairs done to improve the structural integrity and long-term preservation of a comic book will now be classified as “conserved” and designated with a blue / purple label.
Because all conservation repairs must be professionally done and slight in nature (A-1), the label will simply say “Conserved,” with no designation of quality or quantity on the label.
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