Comic Book Restoration lawsuit. Cards Next?
 

Hi Guys An article in Todays Philadelphia Inquirer

https://www.inquirer.com/news/philad...=comic%20books

PHILADELPHIA

A Paoli couple won $10 million in their lawsuit against an international comic book grading giant
The Meyerses' work and reputation were so tarnished that at one point they felt like "criminals." The recent verdict, however, helped them defend their reputation.

Matthew and Emily Meyers won a defamation suit against Certified Guaranty Company, CGC had alleged that the comics the Meyers owned and sold were recreations of originals.
Matthew and Emily Meyers won a defamation suit against Certified Guaranty Company, CGC had alleged that the comics the Meyers owned and sold were recreations of originals.

Matt and Emily Meyers had become so good at restoring old comic books that they were accused by the world’s largest and most influential comic book company of falsifying their results. It led to such a sharp decrease in their business that the married Paoli couple decided to sue the company, Certified Guaranty Co., for defamation.

Amid accusations from the comic company that the Meyerses’ valuable rare comic books were fake — untrue rumors that they said were spread through their industry — the couple was in “survival mode,” said their attorney Lane Jubb Jr., putting their livelihoods at stake as they were forced to sell their restored comics below value and issue refunds to other comic book collectors.

But after an eight-year legal battle, a Philadelphia jury last month sided with the Meyerses, ordering the comic book appraisal giant to pay the couple $10 million, and rendering a verdict likely to reverberate throughout the hobby industry, comic aficionados say.

Comic books are appraised — in the industry it’s called “graded” — by companies such as CGC, a leader in its industry, as a way to insure and value them. And criteria can vary depending on who does the evaluation.

“It’s really an educated opinion,” said Tate Ottati, owner of Tate’s Comics — a renowned 31-year-old comic and pop culture superstore in Florida.

But in the Meyerses’ case — tried in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas before Judge Abbe Fletman — the couple said the opinion devaluing their comics was just plain wrong, and cost them business as the head of CGC maligned their work to others in the close-knit comics community.

“The practice of grading comic books has become an integral part of our hobby since the early aughts, but when CGC, the company that spearheaded grading in the first place, is found [liable] in a lawsuit of this magnitude, it sends shock waves through the hobby,” said Kevin Polidano, owner of the Comic Doctor Inc., an authorized CGC dealer based out of Ontario, Canada. “The $10 million win is a real wake-up call to all companies, really. Keeping client information private is sacrosanct. Unfortunately, CGC had to learn this lesson the hard way.”

Neither the CGC nor its attorneys responded to request for comment.

What is comic book restoration?
In the comic book space, there’s an entire world of collectors, resellers, conservation specialists, and restorers.

Restoring comic books can be a fickle practice, experts say, because too much cosmetic work can sometimes depreciate a comic’s value instead of increasing it. But sometimes — depending on the extent of a comic’s age and damage — it’s necessary, particularly for rare, valuable books.


Depending on their grade, often issued by the CGC, restored comics can sell for hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars. Occasionally, extremely rare comic books can be priced in the millions.

“Comic book restoration usually refers to permanent changes made to the comic book that will enhance its appearance,” Polidano of the Comic Book Doctor said. “But unlike most other collectibles and fine art, ‘restoration’ is considered a bad word when it comes to comic book collecting.”

For that reason, it’s a difficult practice that requires a high level of skill.

“Comic book restoration is hard to do right,” Ottati said. “The restorer can be fixing damage from all sorts of things, such as rips, pieces or pages missing, and water damage.”

What did the Meyerses say happened?
Matt Meyers first began restoring comics in 2013, and through research of different techniques, created a new way to restore comics by individually painting each dot on the comic book page, giving the art a “more precise” look.

How are restored comic books graded?
Graders check for page quality, the quality of restorations, correct page count, cover for the issue, and hidden defects.
Different grades are assigned for overall quality, how extensive restorations were, and the quality of the restoration.
Grades of the overall quality range from 0.1 to 10, 10 being the best preserved.
There are five degrees of restoration, 1 being slightly restored, and 5 being extensively restored.
Quality of restoration is given a letter grade: A's are "professional," B's are "average," and C's are "amateur."

The method was so successful that Emily Meyers quit her 9-to-5 job as a cosmetic dermatology technician and learned how to restore comics.

The Meyerses’ relationship with CGC began with comic book submissions and a phone call with its president and primary grader, Matt Nelson.

Initially, the Meyerses’ relationship with CGC was “great,” according to court documents, but that changed after a 2015 meeting about “Batman #1.”

The Meyerses met with Nelson for advice on how to best restore the comic, which Nelson said was one of the best restorations of “Batman #1″ he’d seen, according to court documents.

Nelson told the Meyerses that the Batman comic would receive the highest grade ever for a book of its rarity, so long as they took Nelson’s advice, according to court documents. The Meyerses followed the advice, but when their copy of “Batman 1″ was sent back to the Meyerses, the grade didn’t change and the value of the book stayed the same, according to court documents.

In the same meeting, a different comic submitted by the Meyerses, “Amazing Fantasy 15,” experienced a similar fate: A higher grade was promised post-restoration, but the final score was worse than promised, according to court filings.

The Meyerses questioned the grades they had received, but Nelson discouraged the two from trying to attain a second opinion on the score, according to court documents.

One of the comics owned by Matthew and Emily Meyers who won a defamation suit against Certified Guaranty Company, CGC had alleged that the comics the Meyers owned and sold were recreations of originals, shown here in their lawyers office, in Philadelphia, July 31 2024.
One of the comics owned by Matthew and Emily Meyers who won a defamation suit against Certified Guaranty Company, CGC had alleged that the comics the Meyers owned and sold were recreations of originals, shown here in their lawyers office, in Philadelphia, July 31 2024.Read more
Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
The Meyerses’ work with CGC effectively ended two years later, when Nelson cast doubt on their work restoring “Detective Comics 29.”

In June 2015, the Meyerses submitted the book to CGC to grade after they restored it under Nelson’s direction, but it had received a much lower grade than anticipated because of Nelson’s suspicions it had been “re-glossed,” according to court filings.

Re-glossing is a process that restores a comic book cover’s shine using a spray treatment to make it look newer or retouch color breaks from wear, Ottati explained. It’s considered a permanent change to a comic, and can come with negative connotations among the comic book restoration and collector community.

The Meyerses said this was the first instance in which they believed CGC was “seeking to destroy their business,” according to court documents.

“We were getting frustrated because we’ve been honest with [him] every step of the way,” Emily Meyers said. “He wouldn’t believe us.”

To prove he was telling the truth, Matt Meyers sent the comic to a metallurgical laboratory to test the book for gloss, where findings indicated there was no gloss on the comic, according to court documents.

After that, the couple stopped submitting comics to CGC and switched to Comic Book Certification Service (CBCS), whose head grader, Steve Borock, was the former head grader for CGC, according to court documents.

Spreading ‘false rumors’ across the comic world
CBCS graded the “Detective Comics 29″ high, and the Meyerses sold it for $24,000. The buyer was happy with the purchase — that is, until the broker for the sale went to Nelson, who told them the book was not worth the money, according to court documents.

The buyer felt “defrauded and overcharged,” and the Meyerses ended up returning $3,000 to the buyer, according to court documents.

At the 2015 San Diego Comic Con, Nelson told James Allen, managing director at Heritage Auctions, the world’s largest collectible auctioneer, that the Meyerses’ books “felt like ‘recreations,’” according to court documents.

Allen then told the couple that because the Meyerses and CGC were no longer working together, it would be “difficult” for Heritage to sell their work, according to court documents.

The defamation continued on CGC’s online forum, where Nelson broadcasted “false rumors,” which CGC’s customers consequently spread to other collectors, and the Meyerses were largely blacklisted by their industry, according to court documents.

By then, the couple said they knew they needed to take the matter to court to clear their names.

“It was so pervasive in the community that we knew at that point, unless we change the message at the source, we were done for,” Emily Meyers said.

Eight years and a $10 million payout
When the couple filed their complaint in December 2016, Jubb, the Meyerses’ attorney, said he didn’t fully understand the gravity of the lawsuit, lacking understanding of the comics business.

But as Jubb learned more about the industry, the collectors’ preferences, and the overall impact CGC had on them, he understood how aspersions from the comic grading giant could tank the couples’ restoration reputation, and thusly, their career.

“If they tried to sell a restored banana, it would be accused of being a rubber one,” Jubb said.

Last month, the Meyerses had their long-awaited day in court when the case went to trial — during which a courtroom observer nearly fainted at the sight of their comic book being presented as evidence, and a closing argument referencing the Eagles-Cowboys rivalry.

In urging the Philadelphia jury to side with his clients, Jubb said he likened the Meyerses’ experience of being shunned in the comic world “after you accuse them of desecrating comics” to going to an Eagles game wearing a Cowboys jersey. “[You’d] be lucky to just get a beer in the back,” he said.

After 50 minutes of deliberations, the jury decided unanimously, awarding the Meyerses $5 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.

Experts say the verdict could have a ripple effect throughout the industry.

As for what’s next for the couple, they are still trying to finally come down and relax from this “emotional” journey’s end, according to Emily Meyers.

“We’re gonna hang out with our four Pomeranians and spend time with our supportive families and friends that have been there for us this whole time,” Matt Meyers said.

Hard to see what was in it for CGC to defame the Meyers's work. Not a big fan of restoration except in cases of otherwise high-value items with major, cringe-worthy damage, but to each his own. What's really strikes me as silly is slabbing something meant to be opened and read.

+1 on all of that. But then I feel that way about the "expert" grading of cardboard baseball cards as well. Very few people just collect anymore. It's all about protecting their investments. That's more important than actually holding the cards in their hands.

Hmmm,

Never owned a graded comic...but I'm not sure I like this outcome one bit.

Jury swayed by an underdog story and an Eagles vs. Cowboys metaphor?

Because their "restored" comics came back lower then anticipated?

This would be a good excuse for CGC to stop grading restored comics...full stop!

I don't think the claim was based on the grades, but rather what CGC said about them to others, from a quick read.

I think one goes hand in hand with the other.

Were they doing something sketchy or not?

CGC seems to think so...but apparently weren't allowed to warn others of this.

Where the "defamation" comes in I guess.

Big auction houses and consignment outfits now have another excuse (ie. huge f*#king lawsuit) to not out shillers and card doctors publicly.

When has any big auction house EVER outed a shiller or card doctor publicly?

Thus my use of the phrase "another excuse".

As far as selling altered cards and enabling card doctors, auction houses have pretty much acted with impunity, and post the failed PWCC investigation, seemingly have nothing at all to worry about.

good analogy
 

I own about three graded cards, purchased entirely on the contents. I have never had a card graded, and have only sold a handful of beaters just to get rid of them. I think I qualify as a collector primarily interested in history and research.

My three grandchildren went to the Fanatics Show at the Javits Center last week. I think my son bought them each a 60 dollar pack of 2024 nonsense, but the highlight was a freebie 1989 Topps pack a dealer gave to Poppy. She is only 12 years old, and saved it until last night to open it front of me. No recognizable names to her (and not all to me). I got the strong impression that the highlight of the entire expedition was the stick of gum.

Sometimes friends ask me how much my collection is worth. I usually answer: "which side of the decimal ?"

It's hard to understand why a grading company would make such an effort to discredit these people. I could see if they genuinely thought their alterations went against hobby standards but it doesn't seem like that was the issue. It sounds like it was more personal than that but why is hard to interpret.

Gee, I'm shocked! Shocked I tell you! I can't believe a jury would side with the people restoring collectibles and not the grading company! This is wild!!! How could anyone have ever predicted this outcome?

Collecting is very different than it used to be, for the majority today. That doesn't include a lot of us on this forum.

I always found it odd to grade comics. They're different from cards or coins in that when they're encased, you can't actually read the thing or see its pages—which is the purpose of them!

To me, it would be like having a binder of a set with a front and back page showing encased.

+1 I don't know but I've said words to this effect often. What we do on this board is different from what many people in this sports card collecting do nowadays. And that's fine. We're happy with what we do and they are happy with what they do

This.

I agree as well. I think of things like illuminated books. Imagine if you had a copy of one of William Blake's illuminated books and you slabbed it. How could anyone ever appreciate what's inside and what ultimate purpose does slabbing it achieve? There are better ways to conserve things you're meant to look at.

How can cards be next?? In the comic book world, restoration is acceptable. But with trading cards, the opposite is true. So how can a card doctor sue a grading company when he is NOT supposed to be restoring cards in the first place??

That's why you get a reprint. Marvel has been diligent about issuing reprints on modern stock so people can enjoy them.

I thought encapsulation was stupid too, but then I read some of the Silver Age books I remembered fondly from my childhood, and I remembered why I tired of them. "Crapola" would be a charitable review. The stories are facile and silly, and with giant plot holes (villain exposition, never killing the hero straight-up when he has a chance, etc.), but that fits an item meant for a ten-year-old boy to read. The best parts of most books are the covers, so why not slab them and enjoy the cover art?

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...1%20290001.jpghttps://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...1%20290002.jpg

CGC even does some of it: pressing.

I think it is like grading packs or even a full display box (is that even a thing?). At least with graded cards you can still read everything. And they go further when you flip them. Not so good for the bicycle spokes :-(

Sorry, OP, but this is a case of being TLDR.
Can anyone do a quick bullet point summation of what the first post contains, and hence explain what is going on?
(I'm sure a heckuva lot of other members would appreciate it, too.) :)

This is what I'm picking up, but could be reading wrong (so someone please correct me if I'm wrong) but:

- Some guys got really good at comic restoration
- CGC said they were fakes / reprints, so stops accepting their submissions
- The guys really were THAT good at comic restoration
- CGC now owes those guys lots of money

I'd add to that, between 1 and 2 above:

• Guys consulted with CGC about what would be acceptable in terms of restoration, and followed their recommendations/instructions

It was. Both undergrading their ( married couple) comic by CGC and ample libel plus slander. It's mentioned in the article and court docs.

Well sort of. It's certainly acceptable when necessary, such as repairing/sealing a tear which would otherwise get larger. Or replacing a rusty staple which if left unreplaced could then start to tarnish/colour the paper with which it was in contact.

But a restored comic (if detected) gets a purple label at CGC instead of a blue one. And CGC is supposed to check submissions carefully for restoration. But a purple 9.4 label commands only a tiny portion of the price of a blue 9.4 label. That's why a purple label is often termed the "purple label of death".

:(

That's been very controversial from the start. The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide (which had served as the Bible for comic collectors since 1971) had been including a page on restoration techniques and therefore what constituted restoration since at least the late-1970's.

But CGC had its own less strict opinion of what constituted restoration - and pressing didn't qualify as restoration on its list because no extraneous substance/material was being added to the comic by the pressing process. But, CGC didn't advertise thus letting everyone know that it didn't consider pressed comics to be restored. Only a few friendly dealers who were in cahoots with CGC to bid up the prices of comics in CGC slabs (and thus their own inventories) initially knew that pressed comics could still get blue unrestored labels.

Yes, that really smelled.

:mad:

-
A slippery slope indeed, seems that an auth/alt grade would make things more simple.

I have a few graded horror comics. To me the slabbing helps preserve/protect the original and sometimes fragile books, and I have a reprint or beater copy to read.

The issue here concerns First Amendment right to free speech, and its limitations. Has nothing to do with restoration. Once the guy from CGC stopped providing opinions (which all grading companies do when they inspect, grade, and slab a card or comic book) and started to publicly slander the restoration company, he got in hot water. Should have known better.

EDIT: Here is a link to an article that explains that CGC had concerns that the comics were not being restored but were being reprinted, recreated, and or faked. In other words, the comics were counterfeits. That's not an issue of restoration. It an issue of whether fraud was committed based on allegations of fakes and recreations. Then, the restorers filed a defamation suit, which of course, involves the First Amendment.

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2019/1...slandered.html

EDIT # 2, quote from attached appeal: "It bears emphasizing here that within the industry, a comic book’s value becomes greatly diminished once any component is substituted or removed, such as 'trimming' off the damaged edges of a page or 'reprinting' covers with a Xeroxed copy. Such practices both mar the quality of the original comic book and mislead collectors about how much of the original work remains. 'Re-creation' is often synonymous with 'fake' or 'counterfeit.' See Page 5 of attached opinion.

https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opini...9280486128.pdf