You should see what he did with my Iron Man & Sub-Mariner #1. He’s the Dumbledore of cleaning and pressing. Jeff at ComicSpa is a delight to work with, incredibly affordable, and a paper whisperer. Excellent video. Before and After pictures are definitely the way to go.
Was shocked at the idea of bathing and washing a comic with water. Amazing what can be done to make the book look better. ComicSpa is going to get some more business from this video.
I can only say that l have enjoyed the friendship and collaboration that began in our LCS. You have made me enthusiastic about being around comics again since the beginning when l began collecting books like the Avengers, Ghost Rider, Conan, Justice Society, Nova, ManThing, X-Men, New Teen Titans, and yes of course Batman. In 1974 l wanted to collect everything off the rack. I only had money from my newspaper route so l bought only half the rack😂 Thank you my friend!
Aw, thank you so much Jeff, I really appreciate that and feel the same. You deserve all the attention and praise you get and I’m happy to share your work with the internet and comic book community.
@@comicspa I have seen some other comic pressers do videos using a peroxide solution along with blacklight to brighten pages and better help with stains that also pass through CGC without getting a Purple Label. Is that a process you are aware of and / or don't want to expand into? Great work btw!!
So l have seen what Rick does over at Immaculate Comics. He does have a passion and the knowledge to do what he does. I would say that for myself, the book has a history that has taken it to where it is know. It’s like us with dealing with aging issues like wrinkles and gray hair if we are lucky😂. I only like to take away what can be done without putting anything else in but clean or distilled water. I won’t attempt that procedure myself.
Good stuff! I'm especially interested in the buffing process that retains or enhances the gloss of the covers, as you can really tell the difference there. The aqueous bath reminds me of Immaculate Comics, a scientist who also worked in the paper field (another magician w/fascinating videos). I'll be in touch w/Jeff to take a look at my Swamp Thing 37, Green Lantern 76, Marvel Premiere 47, and (oddly) - X-Men 95! Thanks for sharing LCS - terrific content and good to know there's a local cleaning/pressing professional around to trust!
Howwwww well you just told me how😂it’s just incredible that you can repair a comic book and it’s like these are not regular books. They’re literally paper getting dipped in water and getting clean knowing how fragile they are🧐👏👏
Amazing work. It's like night & day. I admire Spa's patience and skill in this time-consuming process. Three years ago, after seeing other vids, I thought I could do this and even bought a used press machine. Never found the time and real motivation to do it, and the press sits in my attic. The most I've ever done on a book was dry cleaning. Wet would be ideal for several of my keys then pressing, but as video showed, it can take at least 24 hours for a book. Because I'm very inpatient, I'd rather let a highly patient professional like Spa handle all of it. I'm in VA Beach and unfortunately don't know of any local reputable pressers. Very informative. 😄👍
Couple of points, as I have been cleaning and pressing my own books for over a year now. Pressing is one thing. - but doing a very thorough process of cleaning can be very dangerous to a book. Unless you have extensive experience with this, if the book is valuable or rare, I would not attempt this. You are invariably going to do more damage to the book than you realize. Before doing this, practice a TON on a bunch of junk books. (Like the 20 for $1.00 kind.) Also, it is very time consuming. This type of process can take days and days, when done right - to get marginal results. I'm not saying don't do this - but if you are even slightly nervous, just spend the $8-15 and let a professional do it.
So much thanks for your Channel I appreciate all you do and all the stuff that you point out about the collection process and the cleaning and pressing knowledge is also awesome to thank you thank you thank you
Wow this just opens up a whole new world for us collectors. Those Bronze Age books that you’ve been stuck at mid grades with for years can now be completely brought back to life and achieve some higher grades. Just amazing
The presser identifying and reporting back to the owner before proceeding is key; should be de rigueur for all pressing services if the submission is not in-person.
Thank you for turning me on to Jeff, he’s done fantastic work to a few of my books. I loved seeing the whole process in the video and I’m fortunate that I got to see that hellcat in person and it looks so much better than it does in the video. Jeff’s a magician
What amazing results! I have a first appearance of the Punisher that I got graded and it came way lower than I expected. I would love to get it taken care of and see how much of a difference that made in grading.
Hey Lunch Money Comics! Recently came back from being overseas and looking to find some solid shops with some dollar bins in New England. I am in central MA area, but will to check out anything in New England! Will also have to look into Comic Spa’s services. What a great resource to the community!
Great, welcome back! I definitely mention a ton of places in Nee England and especially central Mass so check out my other videos for good hunting grounds!
I've always wanted to know more about the cleaning and pressing process. I would be terrified of having a highly collectable comic taken apart and placed in water....but after seeing the it .... hard to argue with results.
That gloss looks great. I did a DIY clean and press without a press on a few books including Batman 251 and ASM 300 which both had terrible spine rolls, they turned out pretty good with the roll gone.
Man, that was awesome Mike. Really appreciate this. I have a GS X-Men 1 that accidentally got stained way-way back in the day (we had a leak during a rainstorm). It's good to know about this process in this video. Appreciate you much! Love my LMC! 😁
So Kevin the cover on the thicker books can’t be taken off unfortunately. If the stain is on the edge of the book but not near the spine then you might have a shot. I shouldn’t say that the cover can’t be taken off but the book looses value if you remove the adhesive in the spine and replace the adhesive with methyl cellulose to reglue cover back on.
@@comicspa Thanks for that, CS! 😃 I was thinking about sending some out to you. I am *really* afraid I'll do worse damage. I am sort of like Tim the Tool Man (Tim Allen from Home Improvement back in the day)... I tend to *break* things instead of fixing them. 😜 Really appreciate your kind reply! Thanks, in kind.
GREAT VIDEI!!! Thank you soooo much for the amazing before/after pics. I’m from MA too and have a bunch of old books that I’d like to press then preserve. But I’m nervous to send them out to a stranger. Where did you go to get reviews of ComicSpa? I couldn’t find any kind of a web presence. How did you find/hear of them initially?
Heard of him through a local comic shop. He has an IG account now so you can contact him there or via email in my description. He’s excellent and can absolutely be trusted.
I do have one. I don’t use peroxide like some people do. Again l worry on the aging process of the book and will it effect the book down the road. I will have to watch more of Rick at Immaculate Comics or Charles at Hobby Hero to hear more info on that subject.
Cool stuff. What I don't like about cleaning, pressing and such is many resellers do these things but don't mention it when they are selling it. Should they? I dunno.
Does your cleaner and presser accept books? I know this an older video but your guy does great work. I’m not local I’m in Kentucky but I would trust this guy to work on my books.
Hey brother!! So i know you probably already know but in case you don't.. cgc is having an in house signing with Chris Claremont. I know you're a big fan of his books so just thought I'd let you know
Unfortunately whether the stain is dark or light it’s still graded by size. It’s not often worth taking the time and money to fix them unless the book is super valuable or free of pretty much all other defects. Occasionally you might see a modern book in 6.5 that looks NM though. That’s usually because of a minor stain. Books like that can take huge jumps in grade after a stain removal. But the stain really has to be small and light in color. Water stains are the easiest to remove because it’s usually just surface dirt and minerals that were embedded into the paper when it got wet. But it’s something to look out for when buying graded books. It can pay to check out those graders notes
You are correct. A stain is a stain and it might not improve the grade. It would not be cost effective to do this to a book unless it was a key. Like Mike said l normally don’t put every page into an aqueous bath but it showed what the process does to improve at least the book’s presentation and maybe the grade. I can’t say it wasn’t fun though!
Of the restoration and cleaning guys I've seen hes up there with hero restoration. If you wanna not sleep at night and cringe y I u should check some of that dudes videos out he does stuff that makes you wanna black out watching but the results are incredible.
I’ve watched that channel too. He should be a curator at a museum. That type of work has always interested me when they fix tapestries or remove and touch up old murals. It is time stakingly long process. Patience you must have…….(Yoda)
@@lunchmoneycomics got mine last year for $1 they didn't know what they had it there. But I had Savage Dragon/Spawn but in order for me to get X-men #95 I had to let the dude get that or he would tell the vendor how much they were worth unfortunately but I still came out on top
So for ComicSpa if the FMV is less than $400 then it’s $35 for a Clean, press, and buff. Aqueous bath plus CPB is $50. If the FMV is between $400 and a $1,000 is $45 for CPB and $60 for CPB plus bath. For FMV between $1,000 and $3,000 it’s $80 for CPB and $100 for bath and CPB. For anything above $3000 it’s 2% of FMV for CPB plus $25 for bath.
Last comment - if it looks like a 4.5 before cleaning and pressing, unless every single "flaw" is a non-color breaking ripple, it is probably going to stay a 4.5. Use a little common sense when doing this stuff.
Yep, that’s why he does an exhaustive inventory of the whole book beforehand so the expectations match the results. But as I said these two books were done just to show the whole process and have them present a little better, not to have them graded.
Who'd of thought using water yo clean comics not to mention pages. This guy obviously knows what he's doing. Fascinating video.
Jeff does great work, and would recommend him to anyone. A true pro and a great guy.
High value professional. One of the best I’ve seen.
You should see what he did with my Iron Man & Sub-Mariner #1. He’s the Dumbledore of cleaning and pressing. Jeff at ComicSpa is a delight to work with, incredibly affordable, and a paper whisperer. Excellent video. Before and After pictures are definitely the way to go.
Very interesting...always awesome to see a book brought back to life. Kudos
Dude -- I'm guessing it was worth it to you: Substantial differences before and after. Such an amazing and (I'm thinking) cutting edge process.
Was shocked at the idea of bathing and washing a comic with water. Amazing what can be done to make the book look better. ComicSpa is going to get some more business from this video.
I can only say that l have enjoyed the friendship and collaboration that began in our LCS. You have made me enthusiastic about being around comics again since the beginning when l began collecting books like the Avengers, Ghost Rider, Conan, Justice Society, Nova, ManThing, X-Men, New Teen Titans, and yes of course Batman. In 1974 l wanted to collect everything off the rack. I only had money from my newspaper route so l bought only half the rack😂 Thank you my friend!
Let’s get you on video Jeff! 😉
That’s me in my logo at the end of the day!😂
Aw, thank you so much Jeff, I really appreciate that and feel the same. You deserve all the attention and praise you get and I’m happy to share your work with the internet and comic book community.
@@comicspa I have seen some other comic pressers do videos using a peroxide solution along with blacklight to brighten pages and better help with stains that also pass through CGC without getting a Purple Label. Is that a process you are aware of and / or don't want to expand into? Great work btw!!
So l have seen what Rick does over at Immaculate Comics. He does have a passion and the knowledge to do what he does. I would say that for myself, the book has a history that has taken it to where it is know. It’s like us with dealing with aging issues like wrinkles and gray hair if we are lucky😂. I only like to take away what can be done without putting anything else in but clean or distilled water. I won’t attempt that procedure myself.
Good stuff! I'm especially interested in the buffing process that retains or enhances the gloss of the covers, as you can really tell the difference there. The aqueous bath reminds me of Immaculate Comics, a scientist who also worked in the paper field (another magician w/fascinating videos). I'll be in touch w/Jeff to take a look at my Swamp Thing 37, Green Lantern 76, Marvel Premiere 47, and (oddly) - X-Men 95! Thanks for sharing LCS - terrific content and good to know there's a local cleaning/pressing professional around to trust!
your guy sure knows what he's doing! great results!
Excellant work. Comic alchemy. Some great practitioners out there
Man’s a wizard. Great video breaking down the process, really makes you appreciate what a pro can do. Well done dude 🍻
Howwwww well you just told me how😂it’s just incredible that you can repair a comic book and it’s like these are not regular books. They’re literally paper getting dipped in water and getting clean knowing how fragile they are🧐👏👏
Jeff does incredible work! Definitely worth it for books you want to keep for your P.C.!
great video!!! really enjoyed this one. I love watching cleaning and pressing.
Very interesting Mike, and someone who obviously knows exactly how to deal with a whole range of faults. A real craftsman.
Great video cheers. Who knew about putting it in WATER 😵😵 Take Care
Wow ! They both look amazing !
Fantastic results. Great video. Thank you.
Loved seeing the process and even better yet... the fantastic results! This video gets a big YOWZA from me!
Very nice work
Nice job on the books. Thanks for sharing.
What holds me back is that l lack the patience to do this type of work. Much appreciated video/presser /results.
Pretty impressive Mike!
Fantastic work!!! Thanks for giving us an insight of how this is done.
Amazing work. It's like night & day. I admire Spa's patience and skill in this time-consuming process. Three years ago, after seeing other vids, I thought I could do this and even bought a used press machine. Never found the time and real motivation to do it, and the press sits in my attic. The most I've ever done on a book was dry cleaning. Wet would be ideal for several of my keys then pressing, but as video showed, it can take at least 24 hours for a book. Because I'm very inpatient, I'd rather let a highly patient professional like Spa handle all of it. I'm in VA Beach and unfortunately don't know of any local reputable pressers. Very informative. 😄👍
Wow. That’s night and day better!!
This was AWESOME! I was always curious of the pressing and cleaning process for comics. Thanks for letting us peek behind the curtain!
Couple of points, as I have been cleaning and pressing my own books for over a year now. Pressing is one thing. - but doing a very thorough process of cleaning can be very dangerous to a book. Unless you have extensive experience with this, if the book is valuable or rare, I would not attempt this. You are invariably going to do more damage to the book than you realize. Before doing this, practice a TON on a bunch of junk books. (Like the 20 for $1.00 kind.) Also, it is very time consuming. This type of process can take days and days, when done right - to get marginal results. I'm not saying don't do this - but if you are even slightly nervous, just spend the $8-15 and let a professional do it.
Honestly, I think anything beyond basic steps should be done by a professional.
WOW! Jeff did a great job. If he can do that with those books, I would have no problem sending him books that I have,
Wow, that's amazing! He does fantastic work. If and when I find an old valuable comic, I know just where to take it to get worked on!
Wow! I never knew about submerging comics in water! Very interesting video ❤
So much thanks for your Channel I appreciate all you do and all the stuff that you point out about the collection process and the cleaning and pressing knowledge is also awesome to thank you thank you thank you
Thank you for the great comment (it means a lot) and of course watching!
Great video and thanks for sharing the process. Might have to reach out and send in a book or two
Wow this just opens up a whole new world for us collectors. Those Bronze Age books that you’ve been stuck at mid grades with for years can now be completely brought back to life and achieve some higher grades. Just amazing
Man's the comic rejuvenator supreme.....
Excellent side quest.
That is amazing! Incredible. I've seen similar techniques done for saving and restoring olf Video Game boxes and manuals.
The presser identifying and reporting back to the owner before proceeding is key; should be de rigueur for all pressing services if the submission is not in-person.
Never heard of this type of cleaning but the before and after looks amazing..
Thank you for turning me on to Jeff, he’s done fantastic work to a few of my books.
I loved seeing the whole process in the video and I’m fortunate that I got to see that hellcat in person and it looks so much better than it does in the video.
Jeff’s a magician
Thank you, very informative video.
i had no idea what went into "cleaning" comics and this is super impressive. great informative video!
Those look amazing now! Definitely great editions to your collection
Awesome turn out on those books.
Very interesting to learn and a great job was done. ❤️🇺🇲
congrats on 4000 subs i have been subbed since around 400. Awesome video.
Thanks for watching from the beginning!
Awesome
Great video !
Terrifying is an understatement. I can’t imagine having staples removed and then replacing them and not getting a qualified grade.
What amazing results! I have a first appearance of the Punisher that I got graded and it came way lower than I expected. I would love to get it taken care of and see how much of a difference that made in grading.
Cool… I’ve seen his work on the forums…. I don’t think I put 2 and 2 together until you mentioned it.
Hey Lunch Money Comics! Recently came back from being overseas and looking to find some solid shops with some dollar bins in New England. I am in central MA area, but will to check out anything in New England!
Will also have to look into Comic Spa’s services. What a great resource to the community!
Great, welcome back! I definitely mention a ton of places in Nee England and especially central Mass so check out my other videos for good hunting grounds!
@@lunchmoneycomics Thanks for the quick reply! Also checked out Jeffrey's Antiques in Lunenburg! Crazy that the shop was just around the corner!
I am amazed at the significant improvement in each book. Both are like night and day.
Another beauty brother
I've always wanted to know more about the cleaning and pressing process. I would be terrified of having a highly collectable comic taken apart and placed in water....but after seeing the it .... hard to argue with results.
Fascinating.
Hey Lunch, great content as always if you ever get a chance do a quick vid on other comic book you tubers you enjoy all ther best
That’s a good idea, thanks! I’ve been meaning to give a few shout outs to others.
That gloss looks great.
I did a DIY clean and press without a press on a few books including Batman 251 and ASM 300 which both had terrible spine rolls, they turned out pretty good with the roll gone.
That's why I buy comics others don't lmao
Man, that was awesome Mike. Really appreciate this. I have a GS X-Men 1 that accidentally got stained way-way back in the day (we had a leak during a rainstorm). It's good to know about this process in this video. Appreciate you much! Love my LMC! 😁
So Kevin the cover on the thicker books can’t be taken off unfortunately. If the stain is on the edge of the book but not near the spine then you might have a shot. I shouldn’t say that the cover can’t be taken off but the book looses value if you remove the adhesive in the spine and replace the adhesive with methyl cellulose to reglue cover back on.
@@comicspa Thanks for that, CS! 😃
I was thinking about sending some out to you. I am *really* afraid I'll do worse damage. I am sort of like Tim the Tool Man (Tim Allen from Home Improvement back in the day)... I tend to *break* things instead of fixing them. 😜
Really appreciate your kind reply! Thanks, in kind.
If you want send me some pictures of the books you are looking to have done. I will give you feedback on them.
@@comicspa Thanks for that offer, CS. I am not the best at doing the tech stuff, but I will see what I can do. Appreciate you.
Hello Mr Comic Spa,
Do you have an email or website so I can send some photos of books to you?
Thanks kindly,
Kevin Lents
Congratulations on 4K!
OMG I didn’t even notice! Thanks!
@@lunchmoneycomics it happened so quick
@@CallmeMrKelly tell me about it! Seems like I just started the channel yesterday
GREAT VIDEI!!! Thank you soooo much for the amazing before/after pics. I’m from MA too and have a bunch of old books that I’d like to press then preserve. But I’m nervous to send them out to a stranger. Where did you go to get reviews of ComicSpa? I couldn’t find any kind of a web presence. How did you find/hear of them initially?
Heard of him through a local comic shop. He has an IG account now so you can contact him there or via email in my description. He’s excellent and can absolutely be trusted.
If you want to improve it even further, look into HOP and BLED processes. 90% or more of the remaining staining will just vanish.
Yeah comic spa has a few other tricks like a light box for stuff like foxing and other stains, we just didn’t bother using it here
It's amazing what can be done to fix them up.
Pretty amazing
Dude is good
Amazing ! I wonder if the UV treatment would help ? CONGRATULATIONS on 4K !!🎉
Thanks! Ans I believe he has a light box as well, but I’ll let him chime in.
I do have one. I don’t use peroxide like some people do. Again l worry on the aging process of the book and will it effect the book down the road. I will have to watch more of Rick at Immaculate Comics or Charles at Hobby Hero to hear more info on that subject.
I leave comix the way find them especially if there early 60 or 70's I find it nostalgic reminds me of being a kid again,.
All books have 2 stories. One on the inside and one on the outside. As we all get older we all have wrinkles!
Cool stuff. What I don't like about cleaning, pressing and such is many resellers do these things but don't mention it when they are selling it. Should they? I dunno.
Does your cleaner and presser accept books? I know this an older video but your guy does great work. I’m not local I’m in Kentucky but I would trust this guy to work on my books.
He sure does! Send him an email: comicspa13@gmail.com
When is Comic Spa starting his channel?
I spend so much time on the books l wouldn’t have time . Like Mike l have a day job but l might have to go full time soon thanks to LMC!😂😂
I wish there was a presser guy where I live. Portland, OR
Hey brother!! So i know you probably already know but in case you don't.. cgc is having an in house signing with Chris Claremont. I know you're a big fan of his books so just thought I'd let you know
I found out a couple of days ago and have been wracking my brain on what to send in!
“If there is any chance of harming a book….” Enough said. That’s why I don’t attempt doing my own cleaning and pressing. 🙄
Unfortunately whether the stain is dark or light it’s still graded by size. It’s not often worth taking the time and money to fix them unless the book is super valuable or free of pretty much all other defects. Occasionally you might see a modern book in 6.5 that looks NM though. That’s usually because of a minor stain. Books like that can take huge jumps in grade after a stain removal. But the stain really has to be small and light in color. Water stains are the easiest to remove because it’s usually just surface dirt and minerals that were embedded into the paper when it got wet. But it’s something to look out for when buying graded books. It can pay to check out those graders notes
You are correct. A stain is a stain and it might not improve the grade. It would not be cost effective to do this to a book unless it was a key. Like Mike said l normally don’t put every page into an aqueous bath but it showed what the process does to improve at least the book’s presentation and maybe the grade. I can’t say it wasn’t fun though!
Of the restoration and cleaning guys I've seen hes up there with hero restoration. If you wanna not sleep at night and cringe y I u should check some of that dudes videos out he does stuff that makes you wanna black out watching but the results are incredible.
I’ve watched that channel too. He should be a curator at a museum. That type of work has always interested me when they fix tapestries or remove and touch up old murals. It is time stakingly long process. Patience you must have…….(Yoda)
@@comicspa ive been practicing with different things on cheap book getting better and braver slowly
Where did you go
What was the X-men #95 graded at?
I think the consensus was a 4.0
@@lunchmoneycomics got mine last year for $1 they didn't know what they had it there. But I had Savage Dragon/Spawn but in order for me to get X-men #95 I had to let the dude get that or he would tell the vendor how much they were worth unfortunately but I still came out on top
What is the prices?
So for ComicSpa if the FMV is less than $400 then it’s $35 for a Clean, press, and buff. Aqueous bath plus CPB is $50. If the FMV is between $400 and a $1,000 is $45 for CPB and $60 for CPB plus bath. For FMV between $1,000 and $3,000 it’s $80 for CPB and $100 for bath and CPB. For anything above $3000 it’s 2% of FMV for CPB plus $25 for bath.
What did he say the xmen would grade out to?
Oh yeah I forgot to mention that! 3.5-4.0. Personally I think it presents better than that.
@@lunchmoneycomics ultimatly it doesnt matter if its just for your pc. But cool to hear the results. Sweet book regardless
@@kristopherparker6871 thanks I agree!
Last comment - if it looks like a 4.5 before cleaning and pressing, unless every single "flaw" is a non-color breaking ripple, it is probably going to stay a 4.5. Use a little common sense when doing this stuff.
Yep, that’s why he does an exhaustive inventory of the whole book beforehand so the expectations match the results. But as I said these two books were done just to show the whole process and have them present a little better, not to have them graded.
Where did you go