Due dilligence and start slow with any presser or restorer. Build a relationship. That being said - Hero Resto was considered a safe and trusted service, crazy to see how this has all turned out. Very sad. Very scary.
I had hundreds of books stolen from me by house movers - First appearance of Hellboy, complete run of Spawn and more. More than 25 years ago now but it still hurts every time I think about it.
😮😅i hate it I only had stack out of hundreds stolen .....but...it was quality not quantity ...silver surfer 1-4 iron man1-8...a m.s.50 ECT....and asm with white background and kraven on front ...ehhh sucks they knew what to take and to leave...my collection way better now ..but those books where ours....it 😂hurts....dirtball thief's!!!
I think the scary thing is a lot of criminals are just like this guy, you dont have a clue they are shady at all. Or maybe he wasnt always and just went down a bad path
I do recall this being promoted by Comic Tom's show. Was heavily promoted by the channel. I'm sure it wasn't known but lots of shady characters running the comic "crime" ring. There are more bad characters than good
I used Hero Restoration for pressing back in 2020 due to your past videos. It took 8 months but i was happy with the pressing and the grade of my Silver Age books.
Dang..I live in that part of Oregon and found the company when looking for a local presser for my 1st appearance of hellboy a few years back. The Website seemed kind of shady so I didn't follow through.
I developed a love of comics later in life. I was shocked and depressed by the sheer volume of disgusting hustling, cutthroat ripoffs, veterans preying on new converts, etc. In fact, it grew so out of control that it's poisoned my love of the medium. 😢
I'm with this guy. I'm getting rid of a lot of my collection and generally stepping away for similar reasons. I'm keeping a small, but valuable percentage of my collection, but I am not going out of my way for anything, Gold, Silver, or otherwise now.
one of the reasons i never trusted comic tom because he's always hyping books and flooding the market and get people to go sell or get their books restored, graded, or pressed. Comics are intended to be enjoyed and being taken care of yes, but when you got people hyping books and recommending you to get your books into 3rd hand people who are "going to take care of your comics" yeah don't trust it.
The only two pressers I use both appear at local shows regularly and has a storefront/warehouse . Not sending my books off to someone I only know from the internet and whose physical address is far away.
Thank you for sharing this story Gem - DeChellis will ultimately go to prison; it's sad that his criminal conduct will affect trust in the overall restoration, conservation, cleaning and pressing community. Lots of solid service craftspeople people in that space who did/do great work - Sanderson; Jerry the Jitterbug; Top Comics Presser to name just a few. Thanks again.
Everybody goes through troubles and rough patches but there’s no excuse in taking peoples cherished items and money. What makes it even worse is he was reselling those items. I have no sympathy for this dude.
Wow he better hope those racketeering charges dont get bumped to federal court since the victims are in multiple states or he will be in jail a long time, federal gov does not mess around when it comes to convicting financial crimes.
And this is why my comics stay at in my hands (unrated) to this day ... And I have a pretty sizeable collection including many worth some $$$$ ... But, I really don't want to get rid of them anyway ... "SENDING" them thru the mail especially these days is asking for trouble... As much time and work as I put into this I have no desire to sell them... I'm 67 now and just enjoy knowing I have a nice collection of unbelievable stories and art ...
Unless the money/settlement is equal to being able To repurchase the comics they got stolen, it would be a major loss, in my opinion. It’s disgusting either way, the stress alone. I had a toy company Megalopolis:Premium DNA take my money and not deliver. It was extremely stressful and only Got back some of it. AND the company is back. And people promote it.
Hey Gem..First let me say that I Love all your videos and have been following you for several years. I was one of those who watched those early videos with Mike Dechellis and I'm also one who was slightly influenced by your video and ComicTom's for the reason I sent 5 of my most valued books that I've had in my collection for over 20 years to Hero Restoration to simply be PRESSED & CLEANED.. that was in 2022... I like so many others never got the books back nor any kind or reimbursement, and the likelihood that I will is very slim. I have come to terms with that and am glad to see that he has at least been arrested. I understand that you don't want to come out bashing Mike in a video, I get it, even though I am a victim and want the justice that he and I deserve, however I STRONGLY DISAGREE with keeping those original videos up promoting the kind of work he did now KNOWING he is a thief and criminal. The evidence of BEYOND any DOUBT, regardless if you personally had any losses. You shouldn't promote him with those and instead get your views for the justice the victims deserve. Just my opinion and I know everyone has one, but I felt this time to express mine. - Still a Fan
I’m sorry to hear what happened to you. Those videos got a decent amount of views, but it’s not like they generate income now. I could remove them both and it would have zero effect on the channel. I didn’t want to take them down b/c I didn’t want it to seem like I was hiding them. I pinned a comment on them both tagging this video to let anyone who may come across them know what’s going on.
@@GemMintCollectibles Understood and I appreciate the response even though it wasn't necessary - I was never trying to take away any income from you don't get me wrong, like I wish you continued success from your ventures and will continue to follow your story! 👊👊
19 people were in the original inditement. I'm person number 20. I'm in contact with the sheriff's office now and sent them a lot of info on what happened to me in this case.
@GemMintCollectibles thanks sir. I'm working with a detective on sorting everything out. Unfortunately since it's longer than 180 days, paypal can't do anything.
This video while very sad for the victims is a big twist compared to usual videos crazy sending your expensive book to be be pressed and loose it with no reimbursement or insurance
I wish people who got in over their heads like this would be more open about it. We don't know all of the details of what he was going through but maybe if he had major money issues because of medical bills...whatever it was, be up front with your people and your community. People are more kind and understanding than you think. People may have put together a gofundme for the guy if it was something legitimate. But you can't ghost people and take their valuables with next to no communication and somehow expect to get away with it. That's just fuckin stupid and is only going to end one way.
This is sad. I followed Hero Restoration because of Tom’s videos. He had some cool restoration videos. So disappointed in Mike. That’s a terrible thing to do to collectors.
I guess you can get charged with racketeering for dealing with bubblegum if you tried hard enough. I don't think the merchandise in question really matters.
Man i just hate it for all those people, mike included. Sucks that he did what he did but he did it to himself and it sucks that all those people also have to suffer from what he did. Just sucks man
That's crazy but you never know times are tuff right now and sometimes people will do what they gotta do but that's totally not justified hope people can get there money back
Reminds me of a Robert Burke aka Snikt3342 on the RU-vid auctions. Supposedly has a doctorate degree in Education. Packed up shop one day owing people books and money after working the circuit for a couple years. What a turd.
The reason I became a presser was to do good by the community. He's not the only scum in comics, I've been burned as well. I knew I could do a better job on my own so now I do.
I have over 5500 comics..many of which are valuable and I would like to get cleaned and pressed … I find it difficult to trust someone with my books especially when I have been ripped off by some sellers on eBay..no offense to any eBay sellers or buyers, but I prefer whatnot and comictom to buy my books from…hopefully some day in the future, I’ll be able to entrust my valuables to someone I can place my trust in..
From KindaMistyish on CGC forums. Hero Restoration, Anyone know the latest? Jan 15 page 24 "Mike starts telling me how he was selling his clients comics on eBay because he didn't care and hero restoration was already closed for business, then he tells me that he's been addicted to METH for the past 2 years and he went to jail for drugging his x-girlfriend without her knowing and kicking in her door". Screenshots too, just a small taste of what was posted.
@GemMintCollectibles 'appreciate it. I found out that he sold it on eBay. The color breaks & staining were an unmistakable fingerprint of my book. It was my personal Holy Grail & he just took it from me & many others as well.
"It's a shame that this guy who had all this trust from the community..." Maaaaaan. He had that credibility because people like you created it for him. You interview people you don't know very well and promote their sketchy businesses without doing any research. That's a serious problem. If "influencers" like you didn't vouch for this guy, a whole lot of people wouldn't have gotten robbed.
I brought him on the channel over 4 years ago to talk about pressing. Way before I was an “influencer.” With that logic, I should never interview anyone just incase they do some shit 5 years later.
