Now with pics! (page 5) So I sent 6 TMNT books to CCS to be pressed...

[greggy]

I bet Matt will be retraining one of the new cocklings at CCS shortly.

I feel like I should hit the mod button, but I'm really not sure.

 

You guys think this is so funny. It's all fun and games. moisture and pressing until someone's cockling gets hurt.

FU, Roy

[VintageComics]

I bet Matt will be retraining one of the new cocklings at CCS shortly.

I feel like I should hit the mod button, but I'm really not sure.

 

You guys think this is so funny. It's all fun and games. moisture and pressing until someone's cockling gets hurt.

FU, Roy

 

See, just mention cockling and greggy appears.

[Sqeggs]

I bet Matt will be retraining one of the new cocklings at CCS shortly.

 

When will he start on the old cocklings?

[TomG]

I bet Matt will be retraining one of the new cocklings at CCS shortly.

 

[Gsims718]

 

Pressing sometimes damages comics.

4 out of 6 though??

[retrothecollector]

cocklings and moisture

 

 

 

 

[Gsims718]

So I got the books back in hand today.

 

The books were flat for the most part before being sent to CCS.

 

The #1 3rd print got it the worst -

 

 

The Raphs -

 

 

And the 4 -

 

[Gsims718]

Ink saturation that aint...

[porcupine48]

Chills the cockles of my heart.

[Mad Titan]

[boomtown]

How the heck did that 3rd printing get a 9.2 looking like it does? Even in the case it looks terrible, can you imagine what it would look like if it didn't have the pressure of the case pushing on it.

[Broke as a Joke]

I'm hard pressed to come up with an answer...

[revat]

How the heck did that 3rd printing get a 9.2 looking like it does? Even in the case it looks terrible, can you imagine what it would look like if it didn't have the pressure of the case pushing on it.

 

depending on timing, it could have gotten WORSE after encapsulation.

[Gsims718]

How the heck did that 3rd printing get a 9.2 looking like it does? Even in the case it looks terrible, can you imagine what it would look like if it didn't have the pressure of the case pushing on it.

 

depending on timing, it could have gotten WORSE after encapsulation.

they were slow tracked so I doubt it.

[Gsims718]

I called the office to see if they would fix it all for free, but they are on site in Philly till Monday.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Yeah, that's pretty typical. How did those get graded that way, you may ask...?

 

Because in hand, a book has give and play...and the restriction that placing it in a bag/board or slab...or even on a table...provides isn't there, so it doesn't "force" the book into showing the issue.

 

Also...yes, it is possible (though not likely at all, because of the length of time involved in slow track grading) that this happened after encapsulation. Also, the inner well doesn't *necessarily* "fix" waviness, especially if it's the non-pressure type inner well.

 

Listen, folks, this is an important conversation to have, especially with the prevalence of onsite pressing and onsite grading. If I have a book that was in the press 3 hours ago, and I hand it in onsite, and it looks perfect, and it gets graded, and two days later, the flaws have come back...that's a real, genuine problem that HAS to be addressed by all of us in the market.

 

And I GUARANTEE you, there are people who are well aware of that fact, and use it to their advantage, when and if possible.

 

Don't misunderstand...I'm not saying pressing is bad. I think pressing is a very good thing, and though it is absolutely restoration, it is MARKET ACCEPTABLE restoration (just like dipping is market acceptable in the coin market.)

 

I'm also not saying that onsite pressing and onsite grading is bad...especially if you've got a 9.6 that has a 1/4" bend in the corner that could be easily fixed by one pass through the process.

 

But pressing HAS TO BE DONE PROPERLY, and that means, especially if the book has been exposed to moisture/humidity, that you have to WAIT for the book to make sure those issues are balanced out.

 

It is the nature of the beast; it is inescapable. To remove many flaws, the paper fibers have to be made pliable. To be made pliable, they have to get exposed to water on SOME level. There's no other way around it; simply smashing the book will SMASH the book (and the problems won't go away) and trying to solve the problem with heat will degrade the paper.

 

It is a balance of all three, pressure, heat, and humidity that produces the results.

 

It's not a question, as some have stated, of OVER-humidifying a book. I've had practice books that I completely immersed in a water bath that turned out just fine, because they were done properly. It's a question of BALANCE.

 

And finding and knowing that balance is what separates the boy pressers from the men pressers (with apologies to Susan Cicconi, who is the finest restorer in the business.)

 

Pressing is an artform as much as a science. Any shlub can buy a press and squash books. Only artists can produce the results.

 

(PS. Not everyone has the same page count. If you put "Post #XXXX" or the time in the title, that will be much more useful. It happens constantly on the board. Again...not everyone has the same page count, so referring to "Page X" doesn't work for many, many people.)

[jaeldubyoo]

 

Pressing sometimes damages comics.

4 out of 6 though??

 

Inexcusable. Luckily, that looks like it can be taken care of with proper pressing.

[RockMyAmadeus]

And those of you looking at those pictures: don't panic. That problem can be easily fixed. What you're looking at is simply books that were released BEFORE they were ready.

 

This is one of the reasons why a lot of you need to understand that putting time constraints on pressers is not good, and this is what results.

 

"I need the book back by X date" is almost a guarantee for a poor(er) result than is possible.

 

 

 

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

PS. Congrats on the Raph #1 9.4. That's a tough book in high grade!

 

[thirdgreenham]

So I got the books back in hand today.

 

The books were flat for the most part before being sent to CCS.

 

The #1 3rd print got it the worst -

 

 

The Raphs -

 

 

And the 4 -

 

 

Ugh!

Awful job.