Pressing project results--post here

[divad]

Matt's evaluation upon receipt:

 

Witching Hour #13

press to 8.5 - 9.0

notes: flaring, 1/8" crease bottom corner front cover, bend mid front cover, spine wear, impact bottom edge front cover

 

My notes before sending:

 

TWH #13

4" bend down center of front cover through logo; 10-12 NCB spine bends; small crescent crease BEFC; light bending along REFC; VF 8.0 White

 

Analysis: Center bend still visible, although lessened (thought this would have disappeared entirely); 7-8 NCB spine bends still present; crescent crease unaffected; bend along REFC still visible, but lessened to same extent as center bend.

 

Notes: book is definitely flatter, but not a "pancake" by any means; there appears to be no effect to the shape of the spine or additional flaring of the pages; perhaps grade increased to 8.5

 

However, there is now a 3" "scratch" (or cut), dead center below the (our) left eye of the man extending from the spine to the center bend, which was not present before pressing / handling. It's very light, but quite disturbing once you focus on it.

 

Summary: Should have left well enough alone.

[divad]

Book #2 - Ghost Rider #1

 

before pressing:

 

 

after pressing:

 

 

There appears to be a slight increase in the amount of white band along the spine above the top staple No other surprises.

[divad]

Matt's evaluation:

 

Ghost Rider #1

press to 6.5 - 7.0

notes: many dents cover, many spine stresses, wear bottom edge

 

My notes before pressing:

 

Universal minor surface "wrinkling" to both covers; 7 NCB bends along spine; edge rippling TEFC and BEFC; FN/VF 7.0 White

 

Analysis: Edge rippling and wrinkling somewhat lessened, but not appreciably; no effect on NCB spine bends; again perhaps an increase of .5 to 7.5

 

Summary: Not sure I would pay to have this done . . .

[dm226]

So I guess no other participants are "coming out" with their books and observations?

 

I guess it's time to wade in here - I sent five books to Matt, and he ended up pressing all of them. I decided to lose my virginity twice in this project - one in having books pressed, and the other in submitting to CGC for the first time. Here are Matt's assessments of my books:

 

"Hi Dan, here are the press evaluations for your notes:

 

 

Fantastic Four #1 record reprint

 

press to 9.2 - 9.4

 

notes: slight curved indentions bottom back cover, impact top lbc with tiny 1/8" tear

 

 

Captain America #101

 

press to 9.4

 

notes: 4 spine stresses, slight flair front cover

 

 

Spidey #300

 

press to 9.4 - 9.6

 

notes: handful of tiny spine dents break color

 

 

Atom #33

 

press to 8.5 - 9.0

 

notes: sticky dirt back cover, two hole punches in back cover on "e", ding bottom spine

 

 

Green Lantern #64

 

press to ?

 

notes: crunch top and bottom spine, few spine stresses, wear corners front cover"

 

 

As you can see, I decided on a hodgepodge of different books, just to see what results could come of things. You can also see that I am losing money by sending some to CGC (as the books aren't even worth the grading fee), but I am interested in seeing where my grading fits into things, too. I will let you know the results of the grading, and the results of the pressing (by comparing more specific defects) when I get them back.

 

For those of you who are concerned with disclosure issues, all five books will go back into my personal collection. If I decide to sell them at anytime in the future, I will disclose that I had them professionally pressed. Regards,

 

Dan

[worldsbestcomics]

I received my three books back today. I've posted Matt's notes along with my assessment. The results were mixed, as you will see below. This is my first experience with pressing so I didn't know what to expect. In general, I will say that the appearance of the books was not "crushed" as some had told me to expect. I have compared the thickness of these books to books from the same era that have been kept in bags, boards, and boxes and I can't tell any difference. I also see no change in staple coloration or any staple pulls on any of the books.

 

I will say that Matt's customer service was top-notch. He kept me informed at every step in the process and followed through on every promise. Say what you will about what he does, his professionalism is unimpeachable in my book.

 

All three books will now go into long-term storage with labels that read:

These books have been professionally pressed by:

Matt Nelson, Classics Incorporated

1440 Halsey Way #114

Carrollton, TX 75007

www.classicsincorporated.com

 

So that in the event of my untimely demise my heirs cannot be accused of unfairly profiting from failing to disclose that the books were pressed But, if I'm still kicking then I will post any discoloration or unusual staple rust that might be associated with the pressing process.

 

Spec Spidey #25

Matt's notes:

press to 7.5 - 8.0

notes: dirt back cover, light gloss loss spine back cover, crunch bottom spine, wear top/bottom corners fc

 

My assessment:

I picked this book because it was bronze-age and because I was trying to make lemonade out of a lemon. I bought this book from eBay seller cgc*comics who advertised it as mint 10.0. He was a jerk and the book was clearly not mint but that made it a great candidate for this experiment.

 

The book had non-color-breaking impact on top left and bottom left corners. The top and right edges of the front cover had noncolor-breaking bends. After pressing, the top-left and bottom-left corners are flat but still show visual signs of previous impact. The noncolor-breaking bends on the top and right edges are no longer visible. I believe that this book would grade 0.5 grade higher after pressing.

 

Spec Spidey #33

Matt's notes:

press to 7.5 - 8.0

notes: long diag bend back cover, heavy dent mid top cover, 3 spine stress, wear bottom right corner front cover

 

My assessment:

This was another bronze book from eBay scammer cgc*comics that was sold as "mint" and that I thought would be great for an experiment because it had several types of flaws common to upper-mid-grade bronze books.

 

The book had a deep non-color-breaking dent on the left arm of the letter “V” in the Marvel Comics Group banner. The book had a color-breaking stress mark about 2/3 of the way up the front spine. The book had several areas of fold on the bottom edge of the front cover and a color-breaking bend on the front bottom corner. The rear cover had a large noncolor-breaking fold of the top right corner that includes about half the interior pages. After pressing, the dent is largely, but not completely, removed. The folds along the bottom edge have been entirely removed. The color-breaking bend on the bottom-front corner has been flattened but of course, the color break remains. The large noncolor-breaking fold similar to a subscription fold has been entirely removed including all interior pages. I believe that this book would grade at least one full grade higher after pressing.

 

Spidey #129 reprint

Matt's notes:

press to 9.2

notes: 10 dents spine back cover

 

My assessment:

I picked this comic because it was a modern book with a number of noncolor-breaking stress marks on the spine. I thought that this type of flaw could be removed by pressing but there was no noticeable change. I would grade the book at 9.2 before and after pressing.

[bigfiver69]

Oh, and to all the usual flamethrowing insufficiently_thoughtful_persons - it's just comics, so lighten the [embarrassing lack of self control] up.

Shep

 

Shep.

 

What is with the flamethowing? Please don't derail this thread with the personal attacks. I am interested in seeing objective comments from those who participated in the pressing submissions.

.

 

That wasn't a personal attack... it was a request to a section of the population of these boards to keep their venom at home whenever they see something on these boards that doesn't square with their own personal vision of what comics should be.

 

I like discussion, debate and dissent as much as the next guy. What I'm sick of is all the unecessary disrespect.

 

Shep

[FFB]

Oh, and to all the usual flamethrowing insufficiently_thoughtful_persons - it's just comics, so lighten the [embarrassing lack of self control] up.

Shep

 

Shep.

 

What is with the flamethowing? Please don't derail this thread with the personal attacks. I am interested in seeing objective comments from those who participated in the pressing submissions.

.

 

That wasn't a personal attack... it was a request to a section of the population of these boards to keep their venom at home whenever they see something on these boards that doesn't square with their own personal vision of what comics should be.

 

I like discussion, debate and dissent as much as the next guy. What I'm sick of is all the unecessary disrespect.

 

Shep

 

Amen!

[Aman619]

you rang?

[FFB]

[jbud73]

Interesting that many of the participants seem to think that their books have not improved signigficantly in grade as a result of this process. Of course the caveat here is according to whom.

 

Its been established that CGC does in fact knock a book 1/2 to 1 full grade for Non-color breaking wear. Dependent on other defects present of course and the overall consistency of the grade. In order to have true idications of change in CGC grade assessment it would have been necessary to sub the book to CGC, get Matt to Press it, then resub it. I personally was hoping for more candidates that were previous submissions cracked and sent off to Matt.

 

Anyway back to

[nearmint]

Interesting that many of the participants seem to think that their books have not improved signigficantly in grade as a result of this process.

 

I think it's a good example of the fact that a large majority of books are not good pressing candidates.

[tth2]

Interesting that many of the participants seem to think that their books have not improved signigficantly in grade as a result of this process.

 

I think it's a good example of the fact that a large majority of books are not good pressing candidates.

And that pressing doesn't improve them that much. It seems like big creases, like non-color breaking subscription creases, and big ones on white back covers, make the best pressing candidates and experience the most significant improvement.

[FFB]

Interesting that many of the participants seem to think that their books have not improved signigficantly in grade as a result of this process.

 

I think it's a good example of the fact that a large majority of books are not good pressing candidates.

 

Blasphemy! ALL books are great pressing candidates!

[drbanner]

Interesting that many of the participants seem to think that their books have not improved signigficantly in grade as a result of this process.

 

I think it's a good example of the fact that a large majority of books are not good pressing candidates.

 

Blasphemy! ALL books are great pressing candidates!

 

Except the ones that have already been pressed...which is what, like 75% of the books in existing slabs?

[FFB]

Interesting that many of the participants seem to think that their books have not improved signigficantly in grade as a result of this process.

 

I think it's a good example of the fact that a large majority of books are not good pressing candidates.

 

Blasphemy! ALL books are great pressing candidates!

 

Except the ones that have already been pressed...which is what, like 75% of the books in existing slabs?

 

At least, right? I mean, Heritage has auctioned off about 137,000 books, so that's 137,000 of them right there that we can be sure are pressed.

[SignatureSelect]

I got my books back from matt today. They all showed a drematic improvement. The Ghost Rider saw a large if not complete decrease in the non color breaking spine stress aswell as an increased flatness. The Black lighting Just had an over all better appearance ( I can't pin point one thing It just looked better over all) The defect I was looking to remove on heroes against hunger was almost entirely if not entirely removed. Over all matt did a great job. Plus his professionalism is unmatched. I will be dropping more books to him for pressing. For those people who say pressing is a for profit thing think about this it cost 25.00 plus shipping to have matt press a book. Then if it gets graded it will cost anywhere from 16.00 to 50.00 plus shipping to get it graded. Then you have to sell it so if you go ebay they get listing and final value fees (the higher the final value the higher the fee) Comiclink and heritage also charge fees to sell your item ( once again the more it sells for the more they get) If you have your own site you have to pay to keep it up. Plus there is the cost of purchasing the book. Now add all that up and see if you still feel the same way.

[The Charlton Guy-migration]

I got my books back from matt today. They all showed a drematic improvement. The Ghost Rider saw a large if not complete decrease in the non color breaking spine stress aswell as an increased flatness. The Black lighting Just had an over all better appearance ( I can't pin point one thing It just looked better over all) The defect I was looking to remove on heroes against hunger was almost entirely if not entirely removed. Over all matt did a great job. Plus his professionalism is unmatched. I will be dropping more books to him for pressing. For those people who say pressing is a for profit thing think about this it cost 25.00 plus shipping to have matt press a book. Then if it gets graded it will cost anywhere from 16.00 to 50.00 plus shipping to get it graded. Then you have to sell it so if you go ebay they get listing and final value fees (the higher the final value the higher the fee) Comiclink and heritage also charge fees to sell your item ( once again the more it sells for the more they get) If you have your own site you have to pay to keep it up. Plus there is the cost of purchasing the book. Now add all that up and see if you still feel the same way.

 

You could always hand them out on street corners...

[esquirecomics]

I got my books back from matt today. They all showed a drematic improvement. The Ghost Rider saw a large if not complete decrease in the non color breaking spine stress aswell as an increased flatness. The Black lighting Just had an over all better appearance ( I can't pin point one thing It just looked better over all) The defect I was looking to remove on heroes against hunger was almost entirely if not entirely removed. Over all matt did a great job. Plus his professionalism is unmatched. I will be dropping more books to him for pressing. For those people who say pressing is a for profit thing think about this it cost 25.00 plus shipping to have matt press a book. Then if it gets graded it will cost anywhere from 16.00 to 50.00 plus shipping to get it graded. Then you have to sell it so if you go ebay they get listing and final value fees (the higher the final value the higher the fee) Comiclink and heritage also charge fees to sell your item ( once again the more it sells for the more they get) If you have your own site you have to pay to keep it up. Plus there is the cost of purchasing the book. Now add all that up and see if you still feel the same way.

 

Uh, no one ever said that it is worth it to have books worth less than $100 pressed. But when you take a $5,000 book graded at an 8.0 and have it pressed up to a 9.0 and then sell it for $17,500, I'd say that it is significant incentive to spend the irrelevant fees you seem concerned about.

[Aman619]

I got my books back from matt today. They all showed a drematic improvement. The Ghost Rider saw a large if not complete decrease in the non color breaking spine stress aswell as an increased flatness. The Black lighting Just had an over all better appearance ( I can't pin point one thing It just looked better over all) The defect I was looking to remove on heroes against hunger was almost entirely if not entirely removed. Over all matt did a great job. Plus his professionalism is unmatched. I will be dropping more books to him for pressing. For those people who say pressing is a for profit thing think about this it cost 25.00 plus shipping to have matt press a book. Then if it gets graded it will cost anywhere from 16.00 to 50.00 plus shipping to get it graded. Then you have to sell it so if you go ebay they get listing and final value fees (the higher the final value the higher the fee) Comiclink and heritage also charge fees to sell your item ( once again the more it sells for the more they get) If you have your own site you have to pay to keep it up. Plus there is the cost of purchasing the book. Now add all that up and see if you still feel the same way.

 

your math is off a bit, or at least the columns you have placed some of your "expenses". The only ones that matter in determining the extra profits from pressing are the shipping and reslabbing fees plus the pressing fee. The rest are sales costs and would be the same regardless either way, pressed or not. But in gerneral, sure, not every book will be profitable. But certainly, outside of this free experiment, do you really think guys are getting cheap book spressed for the heck of it? Nope. their pressing candidates are the valuable books where an up-grade equals hundres and thousands, plenty more to offset the costs.

[Flipper-migration]

I had the pleasure of meeting Matt in Philly. He is a great guy to talk to. Its obvious he is very knowledgable and real good at what he does. So for those who are are against pressing hate the game not the player, just dont confuse the two. For the rest that dont care about pressing, Matt is someone to consider.

 

Yeah right. Gordon Gecko seemed like a nice enough character too. This guy presses books for no other reason than greed and you want people to like him. People liked Ewart too so should we not hold that trimming against him.