PGM Water-damaged Book That's Been Pressed 0

[jaeldubyoo]

A little background: I purchased this comic through The Buyer’s Guide back in the late 70s. It was advertised as NM, What I received was a water-damaged comic, still wet in the bag. I was so angry and disgusted that I felt like throwing it away. I ended up stashing it away with some junk comics. Flash forward to now. I rediscovered it in a box and it brought back bad memories. I decided to have it pressed. Here are the results. It actually doesn’t look too bad. There’s still a lot of gloss and surprisingly, the page quality is actually pretty good. The waviness is gone and it lays flat. The downside is the tide lines and rusty staples. What would you grade it?

Before picture

 

After pics

[comicdonna]

5.5 

[Bomber-Bob]

I really want to grade this book higher but those tide lines are just too big, extending nearly book length both horizontally and vertically. The staple rust has migrated. I'm at 4.5, maybe 5.0 tops. Sorry.

[jaeldubyoo]

39 minutes ago, Bomber-Bob said:

I really want to grade this book higher but those tide lines are just too big, extending nearly book length both horizontally and vertically. The staple rust has migrated. I'm at 4.5, maybe 5.0 tops. Sorry.

I tend to agree with your assessment. I was thinking it was in the VG range because of those glaring flaws. But damn! It is a nice book otherwise after it was pressed. I'm just wondering if I could have mitigated the severity of those flaws by airing out the book immediately instead of keeping it in the bag all those years.

 

[Bomber-Bob]

3 minutes ago, jaeldubyoo said:

I tend to agree with your assessment. I was thinking it was in the VG range because of those glaring flaws. But damn! It is a nice book otherwise after it was pressed. I'm just wondering if I could have mitigated the severity of those flaws by airing out the book immediately instead of keeping it in the bag all those years.

 

Probably, it may have hurt the staples the most. If it dried inside the bag, you are lucky it did not acquire mold. BTW, the background story you told got me mad. I can understand why you simply wanted it out of your sight.

[The Lions Den]

I have to say the CONAN logo on the front cover looks pretty cool, and it does look pretty nice except for the tide lines and rusty staples. I could see it falling into the VG range... 

[davet75]

Huge water stain on front and back cover and likely some interior pages, as well as rusty staples with minor interior rust migration.

one of the nicest 4.5's i've ever seen. 

[jaeldubyoo]

1 hour ago, davet75 said:

Huge water stain on front and back cover and likely some interior pages, as well as rusty staples with minor interior rust migration.

one of the nicest 4.5's i've ever seen. 

What's really surprising is there are no signs of water damage on the interior pages No stains or tide lines, other than the rust migration. The pages were all warped and wavy before the press. The presser did a good job of flattening each page. I would say all the pages are OW/W. For the amount of water damage that shows on the covers, I'm amazed the pages inside look so good.

[Michael Dooney]

Just curious, with all of the talk of "pressing" has anyone ever posted pics or a vid of the actual procedure? I understand the concept but I am curious to see the actual mechanics of it in action...what kind of press they use etc. thanks

[1950's war comics]

CGC 3.0 now and in ten years it will be CGC 2.0 due to rust migration

Edited September 20, 2018 by 1950's war comics

[AJD]

3.5 - 4.0 there was a book in the grading contest last year with extensive water stains but otherwise nice. CGC graded it 3.5 This one isn't as bad, so maybe it would get 4.0

[Gnasher]

I'm at 4.5. 

[comicdonna]

9 hours ago, Michael Dooney said:

Just curious, with all of the talk of "pressing" has anyone ever posted pics or a vid of the actual procedure? I understand the concept but I am curious to see the actual mechanics of it in action...what kind of press they use etc. thanks

Most professional pressers won't give up their trade secrets. 

[Bomber-Bob]

9 minutes ago, comicdonna said:

Most professional pressers won't give up their trade secrets. 

I will....................