But pressing isn't "new" starting today. It's been going on for a while. You don't think people have been looking at Hulk 181s for the past few years? The reality is, pressing a book into a 9.9 isn't like just turning the press to "11" and watching the magic happen. Books that can grade out at 9.9/10 are FREAKS of preservation, to find a book with a slight, pressable flaw that could turn into a 9.9 is probably just as rare as finding a true 9.9, just because it's got to be an uncanny combination of issues.
+ infinity to the part in green. What normally gets perfectly preserved books a 9.8 instead of a mint grade is almost never pressable. Tiny bindery tears, tiny flecks of white at a corner, tiny, nearly imperceptible spine tics on otherwise perfect books. I would love to hear anyone post a "press to 9.9" story, because I don't think one exists except for people that are pressing moderns.
+1, something as simple as a scratch in the gloss will keep a book from grading 9.9.
Completely different universe when compared to lower grades.