evanism Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 Hello fellow crazies,I have acquired a rather nasty and especially destroyed box for a smoking spaceman.I've read over the old posts but they didn't seem definitive.... is it "worth" (in whatever sense you consider the term) to restore these art pieces?It is a bit ragged, but maybe it is worth the effort to pay a guru to fix it.... what are your thoughts?I'm esp interested in freuds who have had this done, and where as well....Evanism Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dratomic Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 Well... I can't say whether it's "worth it" (and yeah, I know what you mean by that...), but if you DO decide to get it fixed, I'd consider taking it to someone who specializes in poster/art restoration. For instance, I've had a couple vintage posters touched up/repaired by a guy who contracts with Christie's here in the states. He told me that, if I ever wanted, he could repair box art (and, to a great extent, tears), too. These guys use archival qualilties tape, ink, etc, all of which, through the magic of chemistry, can be reversed (or so I've been told...). Even if the reversal process isn't as tried and true as I've been lead to believe, these materials are acid free (where applicable) and designed to avoid causing further damage to the paper as time goes on. It's not always cheap, especially for the repair job you're looking at. However, if you're looking to do it, I think it's worth paying to do it right.You know, one other option... since the box is kinda trashed anyway, maybe it's worth considering just framing the main panel and making it into a piece of wall art... I suppose it depends on how likely you are to try putting the thing back together.Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartzenegger Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 i have never had a box pro -fixed. but it is a rare box and will bring value to your toy. i if have reinforced some boxes with vintage poodle box lids from the inside. the color in most cases match almost exact. however with the missing pieces you have the printing will show through- this will have to be accounted for.good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dratomic Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 A good restoration guy can use color to fix and touch-up small areas of missing litho (scratches, etc). However, Bart sort of brings up a good point -- to restore those missing chunks, you'll need someone who can actually paint in the graphics. Perhaps the best bet would be to do what museums do -- Restore everything that's there, and then just use some acid-free boards to fill in the missing parts. They'll be white -- no attempt to hide the fact that a section's not there. But you're being so deliberate that it might look better than trying to fake the missing bits by matching the art with some other source (either self-painted or maybe a chunk from a repro box).Though, now that I think about it, using a piece from a repro box MIGHT look okay, if the colors match (tough to do, given the way the older box aged and stuff...). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry seven Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 :) Ev', you can Google poster art restoration services and go from there. You know, what's left there is certainly colorful and rare, but not super rare. Maybe if you do something to it yourself, just place a perfect sized box inside of the lid and secure the pieces to it and stop there. That way, you haven't done anything irreversable. Without a ton of work/money spent on it, you could easily have a rough but displayable important box to go with the robot, but it's easy enough and cheaper to get a reproduction. -Larry 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 Evan,Let me say that while I don't really collect boxes (I do own a few though) I do understand your desire to preserve and maybe restore the great artwork on this box. In all honesty though, that box is pretty far gone, so if your goal is to restore it to a usable condition (make it a usable box again) I think that the cost to have this done professionally would come pretty close to the actual market value of the box, so that would be a personal decision on your part. I like dratomic's ideas - just have the box reinforced with archival materials and display it with pieces missing, after all, it's had a hard life yet still survives, no need to hide that! You wouldn't buy the Venus de Milo and have the arms restored, would you? Or, display it flat like a painting, a fifties artifact that has long outlived it's intended purpose and now falls into the catagory of art. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 And EVANISM - it is also very funny, that I bought the same box - also not in the best condition - maybe 2 years ago. I would not make a big deal out of it. You should go to a good copy shop and make a copy of the best side & top of the box ( Opposites are the same! ) Glue it with an spray glue (M3) on old thin cardboard. Then rebuilt the box from inside with adding those selfmade cardbox. To rebuilt the inner box, please have a look at the pic. GOOD LUCK!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roboz Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 These guys are the best for Box Resto I have ever used http://www.anthonyrestorations.com/& they'll give you a free estimate ...they fix lids without using laser copies & press bottoms too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry seven Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 :) Thanks for that link, Ozzie. -L7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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