• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

What I gained from the pressing thread

437 posts in this topic

OK, I'm not posting this just to start up the same old arguments yet again. We just had another pressing thread and it was very similar to all the others. Nobody ever changes there opinions so there is nowhere for the argument to go.

However this time I came away with a positive realisation of just how much the few books that I own that I am certain aren't pressed, mean to me. I'm not a zealot, I've knowingly bought pressed books and probably unknowingly too. I just much prefer to have unpressed books or at least would like to know if they've been pressed.

Probably the only books I have that I can be certain of being unmanipulated are the USAF Mildenhall books that I got from Nick as they were straight from the collection and because Nick is trustworthy.

This latest thread made me realise that I would much rather aim for slabbed books in the 9.0, 9.2, 9.4 range as there is a good chance that a ,lot of the 9.6.s and higher are just books that have been pressed into that grade which kinda causes them to lose their"specialness" for me.

This isn't something that has just hit me all of a sudden, it's been dawning on me for a while. I very recently traded my highest graded books from my Avengers collection (9.6's which were top of the census though they may not be by now) for lower graded copies (9.2 & 9.4) because they don't mean as much to me as they used to. It's not like there is ahuge difference to the look of the book when you get to those grades so I'll be just as happy with the lower ones.

Also with my new appreciation of my unmanipulated books, I've realised that such things are hard to come by and will probably stay with for as long as I collect and it's made me think twice about selling my Mildenhall Marvel Spotlight # 5 that I upgraded from.

 

Who says that a positive experience can't come from a pressing thread? :o

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ahh so pressers aren't trustworthy, here we go again

 

Huh? At what point did I say or infer that? (shrug)

You didn't.

 

It's the ol' IF/THEN tactic. You know, IF "Nick is trustworthy" THEN...

 

You posted an honest sentiment. Get ready. Your sentiment will be twisted into anti-pressing, anti-dealer, anti-profit, anti-cgc...and probably pro-barbecued puppies, just for good measure. :eek:

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ahh so pressers aren't trustworthy, here we go again

 

Huh? At what point did I say or infer that? (shrug)

 

I think you would have "implied" that. He would have "inferred" it.

 

The English language is a bit beyond me. :sorry:

 

But there was no reply to the question so I'm still baffled at when I said pressers are untrustworthy. (shrug)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ahh so pressers aren't trustworthy, here we go again

 

Huh? At what point did I say or infer that? (shrug)

You didn't.

 

It's the ol' IF/THEN tactic. You know, IF "Nick is trustworthy" THEN...

 

You posted an honest sentiment. Get ready. Your sentiment will be twisted into anti-pressing, anti-dealer, anti-profit, anti-cgc...and probably pro-barbecued puppies, just for good measure. :eek:

 

You're probably right. :(

 

Just to clarify. My comment about Nick being trustworthy was just to highlight the fact he was the person to split the Mildenhall collection and is trustworthy enough to believe that they have been unmanipulated to that point. It wasn't a comment about anyone elses trustworthiness, period.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whatever books you enjoy collecting is fine.

 

I just don't see how a 9.2 is anymore "special" than a 9.6 or 9.8. Is it diminishing marginal returns of specialness? From what I can see, you traded 9.6 and 9.8 books due to the idea that you believe there is a higher probability that they have been pressed. So, even if you have no idea that a given 9.6 book is or is not pressed, you don't want it. If it brings you more enjoyment out of the hobby, that's great.

 

I just don't see eye to eye with that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whatever books you enjoy collecting is fine.

 

I just don't see how a 9.2 is anymore "special" than a 9.6 or 9.8. Is it diminishing marginal returns of specialness? From what I can see, you traded 9.6 and 9.8 books due to the idea that you believe there is a higher probability that they have been pressed. So, even if you have no idea that a given 9.6 book is or is not pressed, you don't want it. If it brings you more enjoyment out of the hobby, that's great.

 

I just don't see eye to eye with that.

 

That's not quite what I meant.

It just doesn't seem worth paying a large amount of money to have a 9.8 or 9.6 rather than a 9.2 or 9.4 for example especially when the higher graded books may have just been 9.2 or 9.4 and just preesed into the higher grades. The specialness of finding a 9.8 that is in that condition naturally without being manipulated is really something and maybe deserving of the prices that they fetch but a pressed book just doesn't have the wow factor for me.

I'm not knocking what others collect, it's just my opinion.

Of course there is also the subjectivity of CGC's grading of high grade books but that's another thing altogether.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just don't see how a 9.2 is anymore "special" than a 9.6 or 9.8. Is it diminishing marginal returns of specialness?

Here's a restoration professional on that weird concept of specialness:

 

"The concept of "artifact integrity" governs the actions of the conservator and prevents the conservator from improving the aesthetic appearance of the object through needless or excessive treatment(s)."

 

Needless treatments?? Prevents from improving?? WTF? :o

 

"Used interchangeably with "historic integrity", the term indicates that the item in question has a value that extends beyond the original and alludes to any changes or incidents that have occurred to an artifact since it's creation."

 

Value for being original?? hm

 

How...alien. :screwy: These days, anyway. meh

 

link:Bag, Board and Box #5, 1994

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just don't see how a 9.2 is anymore "special" than a 9.6 or 9.8. Is it diminishing marginal returns of specialness?

Here's a restoration professional on that weird concept of specialness:

 

"The concept of "artifact integrity" governs the actions of the conservator and prevents the conservator from improving the aesthetic appearance of the object through needless or excessive treatment(s)."

 

Needless treatments?? Prevents from improving?? WTF? :o

 

"Used interchangeably with "historic integrity", the term indicates that the item in question has a value that extends beyond the original and alludes to any changes or incidents that have occurred to an artifact since it's creation."

 

Value for being original?? hm

 

How...alien. :screwy: These days, anyway. meh

 

link:Bag, Board and Box #5, 1994

 

Good thing everything you find on those universal 9.6 and 9.8 pressed books is "original".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK, I'm not posting this just to start up the same old arguments yet again. We just had another pressing thread and it was very similar to all the others. Nobody ever changes there opinions so there is nowhere for the argument to go.

However this time I came away with a positive realisation of just how much the few books that I own that I am certain aren't pressed, mean to me. I'm not a zealot, I've knowingly bought pressed books and probably unknowingly too. I just much prefer to have unpressed books or at least would like to know if they've been pressed.

Probably the only books I have that I can be certain of being unmanipulated are the USAF Mildenhall books that I got from Nick as they were straight from the collection and because Nick is trustworthy.

This latest thread made me realise that I would much rather aim for slabbed books in the 9.0, 9.2, 9.4 range as there is a good chance that a ,lot of the 9.6.s and higher are just books that have been pressed into that grade which kinda causes them to lose their"specialness" for me.

This isn't something that has just hit me all of a sudden, it's been dawning on me for a while. I very recently traded my highest graded books from my Avengers collection (9.6's which were top of the census though they may not be by now) for lower graded copies (9.2 & 9.4) because they don't mean as much to me as they used to. It's not like there is ahuge difference to the look of the book when you get to those grades so I'll be just as happy with the lower ones.

Also with my new appreciation of my unmanipulated books, I've realised that such things are hard to come by and will probably stay with for as long as I collect and it's made me think twice about selling my Mildenhall Marvel Spotlight # 5 that I upgraded from.

 

Who says that a positive experience can't come from a pressing thread? :o

 

 

Well said...

 

What I also don't think the pressers realize is when a slew of 9.6-9.8s are offered, all at once like we saw the other day by multiple sellers, it just diminishes the specialness of having the HG. Who wants to pay a premium for a 9.6 or 9.8 when you know they are sprouting up like weeds lately?

 

Might as well buy a unpressed raw 9.2-9.4 with the knowledge it has the potential for 9.6-9.8.

 

Jim

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK, I'm not posting this just to start up the same old arguments yet again. We just had another pressing thread and it was very similar to all the others. Nobody ever changes there opinions so there is nowhere for the argument to go.

However this time I came away with a positive realisation of just how much the few books that I own that I am certain aren't pressed, mean to me. I'm not a zealot, I've knowingly bought pressed books and probably unknowingly too. I just much prefer to have unpressed books or at least would like to know if they've been pressed.

Probably the only books I have that I can be certain of being unmanipulated are the USAF Mildenhall books that I got from Nick as they were straight from the collection and because Nick is trustworthy.

This latest thread made me realise that I would much rather aim for slabbed books in the 9.0, 9.2, 9.4 range as there is a good chance that a ,lot of the 9.6.s and higher are just books that have been pressed into that grade which kinda causes them to lose their"specialness" for me.

This isn't something that has just hit me all of a sudden, it's been dawning on me for a while. I very recently traded my highest graded books from my Avengers collection (9.6's which were top of the census though they may not be by now) for lower graded copies (9.2 & 9.4) because they don't mean as much to me as they used to. It's not like there is ahuge difference to the look of the book when you get to those grades so I'll be just as happy with the lower ones.

Also with my new appreciation of my unmanipulated books, I've realised that such things are hard to come by and will probably stay with for as long as I collect and it's made me think twice about selling my Mildenhall Marvel Spotlight # 5 that I upgraded from.

 

Who says that a positive experience can't come from a pressing thread? :o

 

 

Well said...

 

What I also don't think the pressers realize is when a slew of 9.6-9.8s are offered, all at once like we saw the other day by multiple sellers, it just diminishes the specialness of having the HG.

I don't know if it diminishes the specialness to everyone, since most of us like high grade comics. I'm sure it diminishes the specialness to the people that feel as though they had to have the only high grade copy. Plus, a book that had the potential to be pressed in to a 9.6 or 9.8 was already pretty special. It definitely diminishes the value of the comics - supply and demand is a pretty basic concept.

Who wants to pay a premium for a 9.6 or 9.8 when you know they are sprouting up like weeds lately?
Apparently a lot of people. Go figure. :screwy:

Might as well buy a unpressed raw 9.2-9.4 with the knowledge it has the potential for 9.6-9.8.

I don't think it is quite that easy. Even if it was you should feel happy that you might be able to buy up all of the 9.2-9.4 books you want dirt cheap and be able to complete a fabulous collection. One that is just as great as slabbed 9.6-9.8 collection. Even better you could probably get full guide or better for your raw collection if you decide to sell since the pressers will be fighting to get to it and make them all 9.6s and 9.8s.

 

I think the pressers realize much more than you think. The lack of realization is from the people that thought any high grade Bronze/Copper/Modern comic would always be the only one, or one of few, that will ever exist. Even without the rise of pressing, that is a pretty unrealistic view. It is similar to the people that payed insane prices for top census books in the early days of CGC.

 

You are not giving any credit to the "pressers" or the folks that don't care about pressing. I'd say most of that group are fully aware of the consequences that come from a greater number of high grade comics. I'd say most of that group has accepted it and understands it as another evolving dynamic of the hobby. Most can handle it, and use common sense and research when making purchases or purchase what they like, not what no one else has. Some may even pay strongly, even though they are fully aware that another high grade copy can come along any day.

 

The idea that you can pick 9.2s and 9.4s off of the long box tree and turn them all in to 9.6s and 9.8s with a magic sandwich press is my favorite. :applause:

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites