Can you tell if a slabbed book has been pressed from pics?

[Greekboy]

I just picked up a few slabbed books and was wondering if it possible to tell if the book has been pressed from pics alone. The sellers had no idea but just to play it safe they assumed they were pressed. I'm not looking to crack, press and resubmit. I just prefer non pressed books as the long term effects of pressing concern me. Would any of you experts have an opinion?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[grebal]

I think it's easier to view in 3 dimensions for the dimples or folds that would typically be pressed out, so not sure if a front cover pic of book inside case will reveal the signs that it wasn't pressed.

 

When I sold a slabbed book that I was pretty sure was unpressed I had to hunt for the pressable dink and take close-up with glare/held to light to show it off. Which means you must find it first in real life where it is easier/possible to discern.

 

Anyway, I couldn't find any such indicators from the pics. Except maybe the Hulk 2 top right front, maybe that corner fold can be a 'tell.' But I'm far from pro.

[redgar-red]

I might be making a gross exaggeration, but I assume a vast majority of the books that are slabbed to be pressed.

 

I have seen an attempt to scientifically quantify the long term effects of pressing. The sample size was too small to be statistically valid, but the authors concluded the effects were nominal.

[Jeffro.]

I just picked up a few slabbed books and was wondering if it possible to tell if the book has been pressed from pics alone.

 

I would say no.

 

Unless it was a slabbed book cracked out, pressed and then resubbed. However, you would need the before and after pics, obviously. However, even then you likely would not be able to see the effects in a pic.

 

Then there is the whole spine realignment debacle. There are very dramatic before and after pics floating around of some of those unfortunate comics.

[joeypost]

In most cases no, but there are some telltale signs it has not been pressed or pressed poorly.

 

If large amounts of dirt are present. Again, it could have been pressed but not dry cleaned.

 

You can see bends or creases through the slab. Again, not an absolute but chances are the books was not properly pressed.

 

Waves or ripples. These could be from moisture or a bad press job.

 

Things you won't really see through the slab that would only show up in the notes that a book was poorly pressed are:

 

Flaring

Loss of gloss

Crushed spine

Cockling

 

Most of these issues are flattened by the inner well and are hard to spot.

 

[Greekboy]

Thanks for all of the info guys. Regardless, I'm just ecstatic to be able to own these in any form.