Why do Anti-Pressers HATE pressing?

[THE_BEYONDER]

Like some of the previous posters, I was also one of those people who was just blown away at the thought of decades old comics that had somehow survived to the present day in high grade. To see those kinds of books was really something and the idea of owning some of them seemed like the ultimate experience in comic collecting to me.

 

As I learnt more and more of these books weren't actually the amazing examples of preservation that I thought they were and more and more high graded copies were being produced from lower grades, it just destroyed the sense of excitement that I got from them before. Furthermore, since it was dificult to tell the genuine article from those that had been manipulated and CGC wouldn't distinguish between them, it made trying to collect the genuine unmanipulated high grade books a minefield.

 

The reason I always disliked pressing had absolutely nothing to do with what anyone else collected, it was because it killed the way I (and others) wanted to collect permanently.

 

I completely respect your right to collect the way you want.

 

It bothered me a bit when I first learned of the process, kind of like how it bothered me that so many good books were sold at conventions before the doors ever opened to the public.

 

Neither bothers me now and if a book looks great, it personally doesn't bother me if it had help getting there.

 

 

Do you now press books for profit & get access to the convention floor before the general public?

 

 

 

 

If it makes you feel better I flip books so I can buy the books I want for myself.

 

 

Flip way.

 

 

Just think its funny that pressing & pre-show privilege no longer bother you because you benefit from both.

 

[Logan510]

Like some of the previous posters, I was also one of those people who was just blown away at the thought of decades old comics that had somehow survived to the present day in high grade. To see those kinds of books was really something and the idea of owning some of them seemed like the ultimate experience in comic collecting to me.

 

As I learnt more and more of these books weren't actually the amazing examples of preservation that I thought they were and more and more high graded copies were being produced from lower grades, it just destroyed the sense of excitement that I got from them before. Furthermore, since it was dificult to tell the genuine article from those that had been manipulated and CGC wouldn't distinguish between them, it made trying to collect the genuine unmanipulated high grade books a minefield.

 

The reason I always disliked pressing had absolutely nothing to do with what anyone else collected, it was because it killed the way I (and others) wanted to collect permanently.

 

I completely respect your right to collect the way you want.

 

It bothered me a bit when I first learned of the process, kind of like how it bothered me that so many good books were sold at conventions before the doors ever opened to the public.

 

Neither bothers me now and if a book looks great, it personally doesn't bother me if it had help getting there.

 

 

Do you now press books for profit & get access to the convention floor before the general public?

 

 

 

 

If it makes you feel better I flip books so I can buy the books I want for myself.

 

 

Flip way.

 

 

Just think its funny that pressing & pre-show privilege no longer bother you because you benefit from both.

 

That's just a coincidence

[kav]

Is stacking your books restoration?

[MustEatBrains]

Can someone tell me what exactly dry cleaning and pressing adds to or removes from a comic that can be detected upon inspection? If the answer is no I don't see it as resto.

[jcjames]

 

I look at it this way:

 

Did pressing remove the crease? Did removing the crease "restore" the book to a previous state?

 

The answer to both questions is "yes".

 

The "nothing added/nothing taken away" argument never held water for me.

 

But, if you must use it.....

 

Heat, moisture & pressure were added

 

The crease/bend/whatever was taken away

 

Pressing is restoration

Pressing doesn't remove cbc's, only the "bend" in the paper is flattened.

 

And so the exact same thing you said could be said for simply folding a bent corner-flap back over and pushing it down with your finger or putting a heavy book on it.

 

It "restored" the book back to a previous state.

 

Also... the pressure of your fingers or a heavy book were also added to "restore" the bent flap back to its previous position. The paper of the folded cornerflap was moved (altered in its position) and all that was left was a cbc - just like pressing.

 

So folding a bent cornerflap back over is restoration!

 

It is a gray area! And that's... okay!

 

 

If whatever was done to the book cannot be detected and nothing was added or removed, then how would you ever know if it was pressed or dry-cleaned or not anyway?

 

(btw, heat and pressure do not stay with the comic and so they aren't really "added", not like tape or CT or chemical-cleaning).

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sqeggs]

I've been told by people I trust in the hobby that pressing was taking place long before encapsulation. How are we to know that books we bought off of eBay in the late 90's weren't already pressed?

 

We bought from the original owners, or the dealers who bought from the original owners.

 

Not 100% certainty, but also nothing like the poor likelihood of avoiding pressing today.

 

Well, of course, as we both know, with GA books some of the dealers who bought from the original owners did stuff to the books that is way more objectionable than pressing: undisclosed ct, undisclosed closure of spine splits with glue, other undisclosed resto, and even adding bogus markings to pass non-pedigreed books off as pedigreed books.

 

I know you know all this, but for younger collectors the view that pressing was the snake entering an unsullied Garden of Collecting Eden is way off the mark.

 

 

[kav]

If you read a book then close it, is that restoration?

[kav]

If you remove a jacked up outer double cover is that restoration?

[kav]

If you pull a sticky note off a book is that restoration?

If you erase light pencil mark from interior?

If there are paper shavings on page from printing and you wipe them away is that restoration?

If you wipe off a tiny drop of blood from a staple before it dries is that restoration?

[BarryAllen]

Why do your staples have blood on them...?

[bababooey]

[kav]

Fist fight over Action #1

[jcjames]

If you read a book then close it, is that restoration?

Handling the book adds fingerprint oils to the cover and pages.

 

Restoration!

 

 

 

[kav]

yup

sorry folks pretty much every book has been restored. Like they say about a crime scene-something is always taken away and something left behind.

[Paul © ® ⚽️💙™]

Why do your staples have blood on them...?

 

Mmmm bloody staples, right up there with stuck together pages

 

From the Nerd in a basement pedigree

[Old Fashion PB and J]

Some of you are not capable of any worthwhile discussion, you come here and mock what others believe, just because you don't agree. Stop being jerks, put in some decent responses. Just unreal that people cant discuss things without the jackassery from the peanut gallery.

[kav]

Some of you are not capable of any worthwhile discussion, you come here and mock what others believe, just because you don't agree. Stop being jerks, put in some decent responses. Just unreal that people cant discuss things without the jackassery from the peanut gallery.

Yes M'am

[Paul © ® ⚽️💙™]

Some of you are not capable of any worthwhile discussion, you come here and mock what others believe, just because you don't agree. Stop being jerks, put in some decent responses. Just unreal that people cant discuss things without the jackassery from the peanut gallery.

 

Just havin' a bit of fun. I agree that worthwhile discussion is well..worthwhile. Unfortunately the pressing argument has been done to death for years and years, and then some, ad nauseum. I doubt if anything can be brought to the table on this one that hasn't already been said and re-cycled many times over. It's a bit tedious, just like the infinite ebay threads and the ever favorite, 'What scanner should I pick to walk my dog?'

[Old Fashion PB and J]

Can someone tell me what exactly dry cleaning and pressing adds to or removes from a comic that can be detected upon inspection? If the answer is no I don't see it as resto.

Dry cleaning can remove gloss from the book, depending on method used to clean, it can be detected.

 

Pressing is simple. You are indeed "restoring" the book to former condition (or better), by using a press. This is not as simple as some would have you believe and can require ALOT of effort to get desired results. I do not personally believe that it is the same as tear seals or color touch, but you are certainly spending time to manipulate the paper to get it back to its post production condition.

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

I have pressed thousands of books in the last 6 years. I am amazed...truly...at what is possible. I get a lot of heat from people when I discuss this process with others, because they think I am bragging about what *I* can do. I am not. I'm simply amazed that it's possible, and what can be done, what these fragile, old pieces of paper, paper that was made to be discarded, can do when coaxed just the right way.

 

Restoration is only frowned upon so much in the "younger hobbies" of comic collecting, sports cards, and the like. In other collector fields, restoration isn't only seen as not bad, but vital to the preservation of certain works that otherwise would be lost to time.

 

Yes, pressing can be a rough venture. And yes, I can and do appreciate the fact that a book survived 20, 30, 40, 50 years with next to no damage. But the balance is this: a worn out piece of rag is still a worn out piece of rag, and all the pressing in the world won't change that. A beautiful, untouched copy, on the other hand, that has a small indentation in the corner doesn't need to have that flaw, and I can make it not be there....and the book is a little better than it was.

 

Pressing isn't magic. It's just help. Aside from situations so rare, they defy all odds, you're not going to turn 6.5s into 9.8s. Even aside from rare situations, you're not going to turn a 9.0 into a 9.8.

 

The underlying copy has already got to be a thing of beauty in the first place. I'm not smashing a book into perfection that wasn't pretty close to it already. Pressing....proper pressing...is an art.

 

And when I'm done, I can say "look at how well this copy survived 50 years in such beautiful condition! Yes, I smoothed out the overflash a bit, and removed a small bend or finger dent, but look how beautiful the book was when it started!" Because let's face it...it's paper, and it's old, and it was never meant to last. How does anyone know that the Batman #171 that is an unpressed 9.6 didn't sustain a small impact bend in one of the corners over the years and someone put it under a stack of encyclopedias for a few years?

 

You don't. So, rather than being saddened by the fact that a book may not have survived all these years without a ding or two that has now been smoothed out, one can still take pleasure in seeing just how well it DID survive, over all. And that's pretty nifty.

 

Is it amazing to hold a coin from 1882 and see it just as the day it was minted? Of course. It's amazing. Totally. But it's also amazing to see a coin that sat on the bottom of the ocean for 150 years be gently coaxed back into its original form by skilled hands. Both situations are pretty amazing. The one who presses very well is an artist just as much as the one who restores the paining, or the 1936 Studebaker, or the one who does professional work on comics.

 

It's all in your perspective.

 

Nice circle jerk

 

 

 

I do wish the ongoing commentary from you about me would end, though. .

 

 

Done

 

 

What? I can't respond to things you post? Get the over yourself. Good grief.

 

 

I would appreciate it if you didn't. We don't agree on much of anything, so interacting only leads to "conflict." "Conflict" leads to anger (from other people.) Anger (from other people) leads to...banning.

 

 

mess happens.

 

Your post was a circle jerk IMO

 

I let you know.

 

Life goes on......

 

 

 

And yet, I put a lot of thought into that post which you dismiss...and rather derisively...as a "circle jerk."

 

You really don't understand how insulting you are, or...you don't care. Props, man!