I think I'm going to have to start learning to press books because...217 working days ~10.5 months is too long to wait for books to be pressed with uncertain results 7 7

[darkstar]

On 2/18/2022 at 9:37 AM, The Meta said:

No, doing the type of menial work, most likely warehouse type shipping/recieving, sorting, filing, data entry.....thats all minimum wage stuff 

Its the CULTURE that is fostered by upper management that makes or breaks employees. 

If you are able to make an employee enjoy what they do, they are happy and productive. 

Money isn't the be all, end all to happiness.

You sound like an HR shill

[MetalPSI]

On 2/18/2022 at 9:56 AM, darkstar said:

You sound like an HR shill

You sound like a dbag

[Randall Dowling]

On 2/17/2022 at 11:12 PM, Poekaymon said:

Still not sure how I feel about pressing.  It seems a bit dirty, if I'm being honest.  I've read that some pressers roll the spine to mess with staples, or maybe to hide ticks on the back, thereby making the wrap worse but since those other things affect grades and wrap does not, it can drastically improve the grade.  So visually the book gets much worse (imo) but the grade goes up.  That seems all kinds of wrong.

Yes, these things have and do happen.   But I've come to understand and respect the work that a very small number of individuals do as quality work and isn't the garbage manipulation some have embraced.  Unfortunately, some of the people engaged in this are pretty big names in the hobby.

In fact, there's only one person that I would send my books to if I was going to have them pressed, whose work I've seen and been impressed by.  His name rhymes with Chloe Most.  

[justafan]

 

On 2/18/2022 at 9:49 PM, Randall Dowling said:

Yes, these things have and do happen.   But I've come to understand and respect the work that a very small number of individuals do as quality work and isn't the garbage manipulation some have embraced.  Unfortunately, some of the people engaged in this are pretty big names in the hobby.

In fact, there's only one person that I would send my books to if I was going to have them pressed, whose work I've seen and been impressed by.  His name rhymes with Chloe Most.  

I would too but thats also why hes so backed up. 

[Randall Dowling]

On 2/18/2022 at 11:07 PM, justafan said:

 

I would too but thats also why hes so backed up. 

Accept no substitutes.

[FoggyNelson]

On 1/20/2022 at 1:56 AM, justafan said:

TLDR: professional pressing services are taking too damned long and may have quality control issues to where I could probably learn and do it myself in the time it would take for the current TATs.  Offered up free labor and legal agreement not to disclose the secret sauce if allowed to use knowledge learned to work on personal collection books only in my home.

I'm not even sure this is a business CGC wants to be in as its just insane to have to wait that long or even 2/3 of that time with fast track.  CGC is almost begging customers to go elsewhere to have their modern comics pressed.  It's not that I don't want to pay the fees or shipping or use an existing service, but to have to wait more than a month for a book to be pressed is not really a turn around time, it's now a free storage company.  A collector/dealer with limited storage space could ship their entire backstock of books and schedule them for a pre-screen and press and have the books sit for 6 months to 1 year before any service is performed and then still be able to cancel all orders and have them returned back to them for just the price of shipping.

All the really well known pressing pros are backed up.  Even such that I feel quality control is beginning to suffer as they balance rushing to meet TATs and providing a good service.  I received a book back from CGC post press last year on one of the quicker TATs that still had some easily pressable non-color break bends on the back cover.   Honestly I feel like I just need to go apprentice and work for free as a sweat shop laborer at one of the pressing masters for 6 months to learn the trade, buy the gear, and then set up my own personal pressing studio just for my own comics.  I'd even be willing to sign a non-compete agreement and NDA just to be able to press my own books.  I've been hired for my ability to keep secrets so there's that.  Any pressing masters in the DC VA area looking for an extra helper? 

If I had started doing that last year when I shipped my books to CGC, I'd probably have already learned how to clean and press my books and had them done by now.  I know there's a bunch of resources on the web which I may have to resort to making do with.  I also can't stand a rushed job.  I'm at the point where I've lost faith in the quality of the press that one can expect when a service is not personalized.  Some pressers will do due diligence but at the end of the day, they don't always have the time to troubleshoot your press job on a random low value modern comic that you paid the modern tier for when they have thousands of higher value books waiting for a press.  I get that there's some defects that revert and paper has memory sometimes with some bends and continuing to work the page may lead to damage but at least I can identify that for myself in a timely fashion and make a decision on whether or not it should be submitted for grading and not have to wait a year to find out.

Hence, why I feel we've hit the point where the demand for the typical service has exceeded the cost/value ratio.  As such, I feel even if I have to venture these murky and cryptic waters of pressing on my own using the internet and what help I find along the way and reinvent the wheel in terms of technique and art through trial and error, at least I will be further along to getting my books pressed than where my submission is currently.  Don't worry, I will still plan on using the pros for the rare, really delicate, and super high dollar books in my collection.  It's just the typical $10-$100 modern that could become a 9.8 book if its defects press out are what I'm mainly focusing on.

dang, I wrote a wall of text.

That is a super long time to wait , I think they hope we die or something😔

And then they get to keep the books , just like when you die on social security😫😰

Edited February 19, 2022 by FoggyNelson

[shadroch]

On 2/19/2022 at 7:36 AM, FoggyNelson said:

That is a super long time to wait , I think they hope we die or something😔

And then they get to keep the books , just like when you die on social security😫😰

Wait. When I die, Social Security is going to keep my books? 

[Joshua33]

On 2/18/2022 at 6:49 PM, Randall Dowling said:

Yes, these things have and do happen.   But I've come to understand and respect the work that a very small number of individuals do as quality work and isn't the garbage manipulation some have embraced.  Unfortunately, some of the people engaged in this are pretty big names in the hobby.

In fact, there's only one person that I would send my books to if I was going to have them pressed, whose work I've seen and been impressed by.  His name rhymes with Chloe Most.  

No question. No substitute. Period.

[joeypost]

On 2/19/2022 at 12:07 AM, justafan said:

 

I would too but thats also why hes so backed up. 

I’m backed up because I don’t rush the process or take short cuts. I could pump out twice as many books as I currently work on if I had the mentality of every Facebook wannabe. 

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

On 2/19/2022 at 3:21 PM, joeypost said:

I’m backed up because I don’t rush the process or take short cuts. I could pump out twice as many books as I currently work on if I had the mentality of every Facebook wannabe. 

Some things are worth the wait.  

Edited February 19, 2022 by onlyweaknesskryptonite
" Deep Thoughts " by Jack Handy

[joeypost]

Waiting is still an occupation. It is having nothing to wait for that is terrible.

—  Cesare Pavese, 1908-1950, Italian write

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

On 2/19/2022 at 3:46 PM, joeypost said:

Waiting is still an occupation. It is having nothing to wait for that is terrible.

—  Cesare Pavese, 1908-1950, Italian write

New sig line to add to the bottom of every email. 

[500Club]

On 2/18/2022 at 10:07 PM, justafan said:

 

I would too but thats also why hes so backed up. 

He goes regularly when he visits us for shows in Alberta. 

[FlyJ]

@cd4ever have you had any issues with damaging books by accident. Im new to this whole concept of pressing myself but I have the urge to buy one myself and learn as I cat see why making any book look better isnt worth it especially If i don't have to wait for ages and eventually it would cost less. I assume the level of pressing done by a professional is so much better that's why people don't do it themselves? , let me know your thoughts any feedback is really appreciated!

[Axe Elf]

I am very, very new to this, so it's interesting to hear the pros and cons of pressing.

I tend to be kind of a purist--I preferred the days when you had to buy the whole album instead of cherry-picking the songs you want to download--so my initial reaction is to side with those who feel like pressing is kind of a "cheat."

But then, what I have learned about grading in the past couple of weeks is that something else I think is an eyesore myself--tape on a cover--is essentially ignored by CGC grading (as long as the tape serves a purpose in preserving the structural integrity of the book), and the defects are graded as if the tape wasn't there at all.

So for the sake of consistency, it seems like pressing should be accepted as well--but then I suppose the tape debate has two sides to it as well.

What are we going to do in the future when we can repair tears with a page-welder so that a 2" tear just looks like a crease?

Maybe an orange label for a book that has been page-welded to a higher grade?

[Galen130]

Good luck with this.  It's both an art form and science...from what I've read and heard.  I don't blame you though.  Before I stopped sending comics to my presser, THEN on to CGC, this is all I did pretty much all of last year, wondering where my last 20 slabs were.....

[Sillydiabetic]

I have found that cleaning and pressing is probably one of my favorite things to do.  It’s therapeutic for me, I love the aspect of bringing life back to old books.  It takes a fair amount of learning and practice, but it also allows me to study the artwork more, appreciate the goofy ads, and finding patterns.  It’s a real hoot, and if anyone is on the fence about starting off, I’d give a slight push to jumping in.  

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 2/25/2022 at 11:50 AM, Sillydiabetic said:

I have found that cleaning and pressing is probably one of my favorite things to do.  It’s therapeutic for me, I love the aspect of bringing life back to old books.  It takes a fair amount of learning and practice, but it also allows me to study the artwork more, appreciate the goofy ads, and finding patterns.  It’s a real hoot, and if anyone is on the fence about starting off, I’d give a slight push to jumping in.  

I have found that finding books that don’t need pressing and cleaning is probably one of my favourite things to do.

[Sillydiabetic]

In my neck of the woods and the books I find, they ALL need some attention.  I guess it’s a lame correlation, but kinda like a hunter that would rather hunt his own food than going to the supermarket.  To each his own, and I do hate the taste of game meat, so don’t get me wrong. 

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 2/25/2022 at 12:48 PM, Sillydiabetic said:

In my neck of the woods and the books I find, they ALL need some attention.  I guess it’s a lame correlation, but kinda like a hunter that would rather hunt his own food than going to the supermarket.  To each his own, and I do hate the taste of game meat, so don’t get me wrong. 

Sometimes you have to sell roadkill....as roadkill.  You can’t polish every turd.