Poll: Should Pressing be disclosed?

[The Black Hand ®]

 

I love that!

[The Black Hand ®]

I don't own a robot so I really can't comment on them

 

[The Black Hand ®]

So with all the votes in, those who want pressing to be disclosed outnumber those who don't want to make buyers aware of pressing by about two to one. In my other poll those who consider pressing to not be restoration, outnumbered those who do consider it to be resto by a tiny fraction...three votes. So aprroximately half thinks it is and half think it's not.

[Flaming_Telepath]

So with all the votes in, those who want pressing to be disclosed outnumber those who don't want to make buyers aware of pressing by about two to one. In my other poll those who consider pressing to not be restoration, outnumbered those who do consider it to be resto by a tiny fraction...three votes. So aprroximately half thinks it is and half think it's not.

 

Ah. I'm assuming that that falls perfectly in line with the 'tiny minority who think it's resto' we've been hearing so much about.

 

That is when we're not being pounded with scenarios involving folding back corners with fingers, storing the books in a house with central air and keeping a book beneath a paper napkin for 41 seconds whilst reaching for the TV remote...

 

 

 

 

[arexcrooke]

so my books are resto'd because I keep em inside my house with heat and AC?

[Flaming_Telepath]

so my books are resto'd because I keep em inside my house with heat and AC?

 

Apparently so.

 

And you better damned well disclose when you come to sell!

[nearmint]

So with all the votes in, those who want pressing to be disclosed outnumber those who don't want to make buyers aware of pressing by about two to one. In my other poll those who consider pressing to not be restoration, outnumbered those who do consider it to be resto by a tiny fraction...three votes. So aprroximately half thinks it is and half think it's not.

 

Ah. I'm assuming that that falls perfectly in line with the 'tiny minority who think it's resto' we've been hearing so much about.

 

That is when we're not being pounded with scenarios involving folding back corners with fingers, storing the books in a house with central air and keeping a book beneath a paper napkin for 41 seconds whilst reaching for the TV remote...

 

Assuming those percentages carry over to people who are not on the boards, why aren't half of every dealer's customers asking if the book they're about to buy is pressed or not? It's one thing to vote in a poll, but what % is actually acting to effect change?

[trmoore54]

Not to distant explanation of disclosure:

(This is derived from my own experience)

 

I purchased this used Fantastic Four #1 for 50-cents in 1971...purchased via mail-order from a fanzine from an unknown seller (I have no idea of how the book was stored before this, whether or not this person observed reasonable hygiene, picked his nose, or engaged in unlawful sex-acts)...after it came into my possession, I read it a few times, tossed it around the room to my pals (perhaps that's when it began its downward grade cycle from a VG-FN-ish to a G-ish) for a read and threw it back into my box of comics...carted it around for several years from apartment/house to apartment/house in varying environments that included (back in the day) people that actually smoked cigarettes inside the house to fairly controlled closet-type situations to possibly overly-moisture-laden atmospheres such as garages to locations that included PETS and DOG-HAIR to ultimately fairly-pristine environments...along came the mid-80s or so and through research, understanding and availability, purchased a mylar bag and backing board and started to keep the dog-gone book in fairly stable storage conditions...took the book out a time or two or three since then and noticed that at times a flake or two of the Marvel chipping would come off the book and end up in the bag...as far as I know I don't ever recall sneezing while I read it...and I'm pretty sure from about '93 on the book has been stored in a quality air/heat/humidity controlled environment and aw, shucks, if ya don't like the book for any reason send it back and I'll give you a full refund...

[Flaming_Telepath]

So with all the votes in, those who want pressing to be disclosed outnumber those who don't want to make buyers aware of pressing by about two to one. In my other poll those who consider pressing to not be restoration, outnumbered those who do consider it to be resto by a tiny fraction...three votes. So aprroximately half thinks it is and half think it's not.

 

Ah. I'm assuming that that falls perfectly in line with the 'tiny minority who think it's resto' we've been hearing so much about.

 

That is when we're not being pounded with scenarios involving folding back corners with fingers, storing the books in a house with central air and keeping a book beneath a paper napkin for 41 seconds whilst reaching for the TV remote...

 

Assuming those percentages carry over to people who are not on the boards, why aren't half of every dealer's customers asking if the book they're about to buy is pressed or not? It's one thing to vote in a poll, but what % is actually acting to effect change?

 

Because the ins-and-outs of pressing...its very existence in a lot of cases...is not common knowledge. Do sections of the buying populace outside of these boards know what it is and how it is practiced? Sure they do.

 

Is there a large section of the buying populace totally unaware of what it is, how it's practiced, and by whom?

 

Oh hell yes...and there's thousands of them.

 

For evidence of this, you have to look no further than the many newbies here who thank the Boards for raising their awareness...'I never knew', you'll hear them say.

[nearmint]

So with all the votes in, those who want pressing to be disclosed outnumber those who don't want to make buyers aware of pressing by about two to one. In my other poll those who consider pressing to not be restoration, outnumbered those who do consider it to be resto by a tiny fraction...three votes. So aprroximately half thinks it is and half think it's not.

 

Ah. I'm assuming that that falls perfectly in line with the 'tiny minority who think it's resto' we've been hearing so much about.

 

That is when we're not being pounded with scenarios involving folding back corners with fingers, storing the books in a house with central air and keeping a book beneath a paper napkin for 41 seconds whilst reaching for the TV remote...

 

Assuming those percentages carry over to people who are not on the boards, why aren't half of every dealer's customers asking if the book they're about to buy is pressed or not? It's one thing to vote in a poll, but what % is actually acting to effect change?

 

Because the ins-and-outs of pressing...its very existence in a lot of cases...is not common knowledge. Do sections of the buying populace outside of these boards know what it is and how it is practiced? Sure they do.

 

Is there a large section of the buying populace totally unaware of what it is, how it's practiced, and by whom?

 

Oh hell yes...and there's thousands of them.

 

For evidence of this, you have to look no further than the many newbies here who thank the Boards for raising their awareness...'I never knew', you'll hear them say.

 

I believe that argument has outlived any validity that it once had. With the existence of NOD, the multiple articles in Scoop! about the definition of restoration(which included plenty of info about pressing), the several mentions of pressing in the current Overstreet's market reports, and the constant discussion here on the boards, you really have to be unplugged from the hobby to not learn about pressing from more than one source. Heck, if you google "comic book restoration" the first site that comes up is Matt Nelson's, and the first service listed on his homepage is pressing.

 

As for those on the boards who've mentioned that they'd never heard of pressing before they arrived here, those statements always seem to be coupled with the phrase "when I got back into the hobby x number of years ago..." Most of those folks were unplugged from the hobby, and upon becoming involved again, learned about pressing.

 

Even disregarding all of that, let's just talk about the people here on the boards that are familiar with the practice of pressing and are against it. Do they actively ask dealers the question "is this book pressed?" For the most part, they can't be. Ask 5 or 10 dealers how often they get the question. It's not very often. It's easy to answer a poll, but how many are actively trying to effect change? That's all that matters, everything else is just chatter.

[The Black Hand ®]

Every time I sell a book on ebay,though not often, I get multiple emails asking if any work has been done on the book. Every time. People do care. Like in any market, there are going to be a constant flow of newcomers who don't ask the right questions at the right time. That's one place where the restoration or pressing money is made. Don't kid yourselves...this is about money. Just disclose any work done and all is right in the world. Whether pressing is resto or not, just disclose it and it's all one. All these side arguments and diversions are meaningless. Disclosure is all that I really care about since to not disclose is, I believe, dishonest. I think cgc should disclose known pressing and I think that they should ask the owner if the book has been pressed in the submision form.Detection is never going to be 100% foolproof, but we need to start somewhere.

[nearmint]

It's the very fact that it's "all about the money" that makes it unrealistic for anyone to expect the change to occur on the dealer side. As with any consumer advocacy movement, the change has to happen from the customer end. Not enough people are asking the question, and refusing to buy the book if the answer isn't given, or if the answer is "the book has been pressed", to effect any kind of change.

 

People have asked "any work done to this book" for decades, but it's almost always asked in regards to raw books. The question is not usually asked about slabbed books, and when it comes to pressing, that's what we're talking about.

 

There has to be a movement. I've been saying for over a year now, have "Ask the Question!" T-shirts made, hand out flyers at conventions, educate the noobies in a forum that they'll easily find.

 

I just don't see any of that happening.

[MrBedrock]

For evidence of this, you have to look no further than the many newbies here who thank the Boards for raising their awareness...

'I never knew how ridiculous the anti-presser's arguments could be', you'll hear them say

[FlyingDonut]

[Mark 1]

Cool! A three year old thread....

[bluechip]

Forcing disclosure of pressing by the use of words on a label will cause a small percentage of buyers to avoid those books.

 

Forcing pressed books to be encased with labels of different colors, which are described by certification company principals as denoting the book is "not an investment" will cause the majority of people to avoid those books.