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Yet Another Pressing Question

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I don't know if this has ever been disscussed on the boards before (can't imagine it hasn't been) but why don't people just press comics themselves? I for one would love to get a large number of my books pressed. I've submitted far to many books to CGC that have came back at 8.5's, and it just kills me to think that I may have been able to press them out to at least a 9.0. But, at $55 and up per book, not to mention the extended waiting times, I guess the thought has crossed my mind more than once to just learn and press the books myself. Am I missing something? Is the pressing machine that the pro's use like $10,000 dollars or something? Is it some kind of fine art that few of us would be able to learn? I went out and purchased a nice scanning machine so that I could scan my books. Why would'nt I go out and purchase a nice pressing machine, if it economically made sense, and learn how to press my books. I guess I could understand if the machine was horribly expensive, but how much money would it cost to have 50 mildly expensive books pressed? at least $5,000 that's how much. This is not a knock against the businesses that press books. I have used their services many times and have had nothing but great experience's. But jeezz. Thoughts? Am I crazy? or missing something?

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It's bad enough that there are lots of books already being pressed without disclosure, the last thing we need is more amateurs making pancakes out of books while they experiment.

 

Maybe someone has a link to the thread where Hooks was experimenting with pressing to demonstrate how "easy" it is?

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I would post the pictures of the presser jihad from youtube but last time I was told it was offensive

 

oh what the heck..here

 

 

 

 

of course it has caused a lot of outrage

 

this MAY could get you a purple label and look what happened when this guy got it back with a purple label

 

 

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I don't know if this has ever been disscussed on the boards before (can't imagine it hasn't been) but why don't people just press comics themselves? I for one would love to get a large number of my books pressed. I've submitted far to many books to CGC that have came back at 8.5's, and it just kills me to think that I may have been able to press them out to at least a 9.0. But, at $55 and up per book, not to mention the extended waiting times, I guess the thought has crossed my mind more than once to just learn and press the books myself. Am I missing something? Is the pressing machine that the pro's use like $10,000 dollars or something? Is it some kind of fine art that few of us would be able to learn? I went out and purchased a nice scanning machine so that I could scan my books. Why would'nt I go out and purchase a nice pressing machine, if it economically made sense, and learn how to press my books. I guess I could understand if the machine was horribly expensive, but how much money would it cost to have 50 mildly expensive books pressed? at least $5,000 that's how much. This is not a knock against the businesses that press books. I have used their services many times and have had nothing but great experience's. But jeezz. Thoughts? Am I crazy? or missing something?

 

If you dont know if this has ever been discussef...why call it "Yet another pressing question"?

 

I smell troll...and pressing is not restoration.

 

 

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I don't know if this has ever been disscussed on the boards before (can't imagine it hasn't been) but why don't people just press comics themselves? I for one would love to get a large number of my books pressed. I've submitted far to many books to CGC that have came back at 8.5's, and it just kills me to think that I may have been able to press them out to at least a 9.0. But, at $55 and up per book, not to mention the extended waiting times, I guess the thought has crossed my mind more than once to just learn and press the books myself. Am I missing something? Is the pressing machine that the pro's use like $10,000 dollars or something? Is it some kind of fine art that few of us would be able to learn? I went out and purchased a nice scanning machine so that I could scan my books. Why would'nt I go out and purchase a nice pressing machine, if it economically made sense, and learn how to press my books. I guess I could understand if the machine was horribly expensive, but how much money would it cost to have 50 mildly expensive books pressed? at least $5,000 that's how much. This is not a knock against the businesses that press books. I have used their services many times and have had nothing but great experience's. But jeezz. Thoughts? Am I crazy? or missing something?

 

If you dont know if this has ever been discussef...why call it "Yet another pressing question"?

 

I smell troll...and pressing is not restoration.

 

 

Yes it is. :sumo:

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There is more to pressing a book than just inserting it in a press and counting the money afterwards. While pressing can increase the grade of the book there can be a downside as well.

 

There are risks...books can get damaged in shipping (the book has to be shipped to and from the presser which counts as two additional shippings), during the press process (moisture damage, handling, spine splits on weak spines, unnoticed glue, colour touch and tape reacting to heat, etc). Some people are not willing to assume those risks.

 

Pressing a book does not always increase the grade. I've had many books go down in grade on a resub. Just had an Avengers #4 CGC 9.2 go down in grade to 9.0 this past weekend after having it pressed. I've also had plenty of books stay the same grade even after pressing out pressable defects. :tonofbricks:

 

There are additional costs involved which some people may not want to invest...for example, additional shipping, pressing costs and the additional cost to hang on to the book for an additional period of time (pressing turn around time).

 

 

Pressing can be and is beneficial for the right candidates and if the work is done properly but those are just a few of the possible scenarios with pressing to weigh when making a decision.

 

And yes, there are many books being ruined using incorrect procedures unfortunately.

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I don't know if this has ever been disscussed on the boards before (can't imagine it hasn't been) but why don't people just press comics themselves? I for one would love to get a large number of my books pressed. I've submitted far to many books to CGC that have came back at 8.5's, and it just kills me to think that I may have been able to press them out to at least a 9.0. But, at $55 and up per book, not to mention the extended waiting times, I guess the thought has crossed my mind more than once to just learn and press the books myself. Am I missing something? Is the pressing machine that the pro's use like $10,000 dollars or something? Is it some kind of fine art that few of us would be able to learn? I went out and purchased a nice scanning machine so that I could scan my books. Why would'nt I go out and purchase a nice pressing machine, if it economically made sense, and learn how to press my books. I guess I could understand if the machine was horribly expensive, but how much money would it cost to have 50 mildly expensive books pressed? at least $5,000 that's how much. This is not a knock against the businesses that press books. I have used their services many times and have had nothing but great experience's. But jeezz. Thoughts? Am I crazy? or missing something?

 

I will give you my honest opinion on your question. There are actually a lot of people on this message board that do in fact press their own books. The equipment is not that expensive.

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I don't know if this has ever been disscussed on the boards before (can't imagine it hasn't been) but why don't people just press comics themselves? I for one would love to get a large number of my books pressed. I've submitted far to many books to CGC that have came back at 8.5's, and it just kills me to think that I may have been able to press them out to at least a 9.0. But, at $55 and up per book, not to mention the extended waiting times, I guess the thought has crossed my mind more than once to just learn and press the books myself. Am I missing something? Is the pressing machine that the pro's use like $10,000 dollars or something? Is it some kind of fine art that few of us would be able to learn? I went out and purchased a nice scanning machine so that I could scan my books. Why wouldn't I go out and purchase a nice pressing machine, if it economically made sense, and learn how to press my books. I guess I could understand if the machine was horribly expensive, but how much money would it cost to have 50 mildly expensive books pressed? at least $5,000 that's how much. This is not a knock against the businesses that press books. I have used their services many times and have had nothing but great experience's. But jeezz. Thoughts? Am I crazy? or missing something?

 

I will give you my honest opinion on your question. There are actually a lot of people on this message board that do in fact press their own books. The equipment is not that expensive.

Now that pressing comics has evolved into a profession he's going to have a very rough time getting any details in the comic book community.

 

While he could learn, requesting info will be met with an attitude that he's pizzing in someone else's rice bowl. Unlike early fandom where he could've paid for classes and been taught by the best in the biz.

 

Seems like threads that contain any specifics about flattening techniques are scrubbed fairly quickly around here.

 

 

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It's a fair thought and something you should look at doing with patience if you feel the way you do. I've been pressing and dry cleaning my own comics for years. I find that it's a great way to leverage my collection as I don't pay ridiculous prices for comics and learnt how to pick out that perfect candidate that has excellent eye appeal with just the right flaws for pressing. It's my own personal preference in the way I collect. I've had comics increase from 7.0 to 9.2 by finding the right comic and it's saved me hundreds and at times thousands.

I liken it to a good baseball player. You may have the right bat but it takes practice and technique to hone the skills and knowledge over time.

I guess the moral to my post is that you really can save a lot of money if you just take the time to learn for yourself. I always asked myself, "why fill the pockets of other people when I can learn myself"?

Knowledge is power. Sounds cliche' but it's true.

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There is more to pressing a book than just inserting it in a press and counting the money afterwards. While pressing can increase the grade of the book there can be a downside as well.

 

There are risks...books can get damaged in shipping (the book has to be shipped to and from the presser which counts as two additional shippings), during the press process (moisture damage, handling, spine splits on weak spines, unnoticed glue, colour touch and tape reacting to heat, etc). Some people are not willing to assume those risks.

 

Pressing a book does not always increase the grade. I've had many books go down in grade on a resub. Just had an Avengers #4 CGC 9.2 go down in grade to 9.0 this past weekend after having it pressed. I've also had plenty of books stay the same grade even after pressing out pressable defects. :tonofbricks:

 

There are additional costs involved which some people may not want to invest...for example, additional shipping, pressing costs and the additional cost to hang on to the book for an additional period of time (pressing turn around time).

 

 

Pressing can be and is beneficial for the right candidates and if the work is done properly but those are just a few of the possible scenarios with pressing to weigh when making a decision.

 

And yes, there are many books being ruined using incorrect procedures unfortunately.

 

Thanks Vintage - I appreciate your insight

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I don't know if this has ever been disscussed on the boards before (can't imagine it hasn't been) but why don't people just press comics themselves? I for one would love to get a large number of my books pressed. I've submitted far to many books to CGC that have came back at 8.5's, and it just kills me to think that I may have been able to press them out to at least a 9.0. But, at $55 and up per book, not to mention the extended waiting times, I guess the thought has crossed my mind more than once to just learn and press the books myself. Am I missing something? Is the pressing machine that the pro's use like $10,000 dollars or something? Is it some kind of fine art that few of us would be able to learn? I went out and purchased a nice scanning machine so that I could scan my books. Why would'nt I go out and purchase a nice pressing machine, if it economically made sense, and learn how to press my books. I guess I could understand if the machine was horribly expensive, but how much money would it cost to have 50 mildly expensive books pressed? at least $5,000 that's how much. This is not a knock against the businesses that press books. I have used their services many times and have had nothing but great experience's. But jeezz. Thoughts? Am I crazy? or missing something?

 

I will give you my honest opinion on your question. There are actually a lot of people on this message board that do in fact press their own books. The equipment is not that expensive.

 

Thanks for your honesty Batman Fan. I was just curious. Thanks for being an adult.

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