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

[Ride the Tiger]

There's some people that think a coverless book would benefit from a press. Just sayin.

[badback83]

On 2/17/2022 at 6:32 PM, Ride the Tiger said:

There's some people that think a coverless book would benefit from a press. Just sayin.

This made me LOL.

[joeypost]

On 2/17/2022 at 6:32 PM, Ride the Tiger said:

There's some people that think a coverless book would benefit from a press. Just sayin.

Oddly enough I have pressed dozens of cover less key books over the last few years. They present much nicer in the slab. 
 

Just sayin. 

[Sigur Ros]

On 2/17/2022 at 3:46 PM, DocHoppus182 said:

An “old timer” dealer that I have a ton of respect for, that many here know, told me something years ago about pressing.  What is the one thing you’re taught early on about your paper collectibles?  Not to get them wet.  I’m assuming he’s referring to humidity.

Discuss……

Really is an old timer if he doesn't see the benefits.

[Sigur Ros]

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

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.

I sent in a TMNT 1 for press/grade.  Came back looking like they might not have pressed it.   Sent it right back in for the Eastman signing that was announced while my books sat at CGC, and another press since the first one didn't do anything.

Now it's in a SS slab... with pressable defects.

Will never use CCS again, or recommend them to anyone.

Assuming they even touched it... they blow.

[MetalPSI]

On 2/17/2022 at 5:53 PM, Sigur Ros said:

I sent in a TMNT 1 for press/grade.  Came back looking like they might not have pressed it.   Sent it right back in for the Eastman signing that was announced while my books sat at CGC, and another press since the first one didn't do anything.

Now it's in a SS slab... with pressable defects.

Will never use CCS again, or recommend them to anyone.

Assuming they even touched it... they blow.

I want to send in a Spiderman 1 bagged UPC but holding off because CCS looks like a total clusterfluck at the moment 

[badback83]

On 2/17/2022 at 7:48 PM, Sigur Ros said:

Really is an old timer if he doesn't see the benefits.

He knows the “benefits”.  He just isn’t into it.  

[justafan]

On 2/17/2022 at 11:10 AM, F For Fake said:

About 15 years or so ago, I bought an old, beat up Seal press. Paid about $150. Was going to try my hand at pressing. At that time, there wasn't much info around, because the pros weren't sharing secrets (and I didn't/don't blame them), so, lots of trial and error. Turned many books into shriveled up bricks. Determined that I was doing a lot more harm than good to the hobby overall, and put the press in storage. A few years ago I pulled it out of the garage, dusted it off...and put it out on the curb for junk day. It lasted a few minutes before the Jawas scooped it up. I guess I could have sold it, but it was enormous and heavy as hell, and I didn't feel like dealing with it. Utinni!

People should do what they want with their books. I can certainly understand the short term positives of pressing, as I definitely benefited many times, financially speaking. (Not books I pressed myself. I used Matt, Joey, Mike, and others). But in the long term, for my own books, I just don't care anymore. No offense to anyone else, but I get a sick little kick out of imagining a future where suddenly everyone's slabbed books have turned to ashes in little plastic coffins. "Oh, if only we knew then what we know now about pressing!"  But I kid the pressers, I kid!

We'll all be long dead before that happens, thanks to plague/pestilence/famine/volcanoes/aliens/etc

I dont blame those jawas. I would have too. Those machines last forever and are pricey if buying new. I got lucky finding mine for ehat i paid.

[justafan]

On 2/17/2022 at 8:02 PM, The Meta said:

I want to send in a Spiderman 1 bagged UPC but holding off because CCS looks like a total clusterfluck at the moment 

Ugh i would have sent them so many books by now but their TATs are 7 months for fast track!

[MetalPSI]

On 2/17/2022 at 6:59 PM, justafan said:

Ugh i would have sent them so many books by now but their TATs are 7 months for fast track!

I have no issues with their TAT

There has been a huge influx of submissions 

I have issue with employees who don't respect the industry they are in and treat the job like they're working at McDonald's 

Its a corporate culture issue, and needs to be addressed before I sub more books

[Westy Steve]

On 2/17/2022 at 7:53 PM, Sigur Ros said:

I sent in a TMNT 1 for press/grade.  Came back looking like they might not have pressed it.   Sent it right back in for the Eastman signing that was announced while my books sat at CGC, and another press since the first one didn't do anything.

Now it's in a SS slab... with pressable defects.

Will never use CCS again, or recommend them to anyone.

Assuming they even touched it... they blow.

This happened to me. I pressed one book with a Enormous success.  Then several months later I sent in an X-Men 94 in a slab graded CGC 6.0. The spine on it was nearly perfect and it was obvious that a press would take it up to a VF at least. Waited several months for the book to be cracked, pressed and graded. It came back as a 6.5, and there was a visible non-Color breaking crease on the front of the book that looked easily pressable. Spent all that money for almost nothing. Sold the book in disgust for a loss.

[Poekaymon]

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.

[justafan]

On 2/17/2022 at 9:09 PM, The Meta said:

I have no issues with their TAT

There has been a huge influx of submissions 

I have issue with employees who don't respect the industry they are in and treat the job like they're working at McDonald's 

Its a corporate culture issue, and needs to be addressed before I sub more books

The problem may be that the new graders hired at cgc are being paid like theyre working at McDonalds. 

[Ride the Tiger]

On 2/17/2022 at 6:34 PM, joeypost said:

Oddly enough I have pressed dozens of cover less key books over the last few years. They present much nicer in the slab. 
 

Just sayin. 

Still gonna get a NG until they start handing out NG+ or NG-

 

Just sayin

[Cat]

On 2/18/2022 at 1:48 AM, justafan said:

Bit of an update on this but figured I'd share my progress for anyone planning on taking on this endeavor themselves, what to prepare for.

I've been practicing pressing moderns 2000-present with both glossy and matte interior pages for the last 2 weeks with some encouraging success. I managed to find a few decent cheap candidates with a good mix of light and shallow to deep and difficult defects.  I had to add some of my own to really get some good practice which actually hurt me more than I expected.  It felt like I was like committing a crime to add a defect to an otherwise low grade modern.  Considering the true crime is what my pressing attempts might have done to the book if things went wrong, I got over it quickly.

Major accomplishments:

1. Acquired 2 types of working clamshell presses and 1 HUGE Seal Jumbo press (for those that have hunted for these, this is a major accomplishment)  This actually took the longest (3 weeks).
2. Acquired 3 pairs of steel plates this took the 2nd longest trying to locate a place that would cut and sell steel plates at a reasonable price.
3. Acquired all the basic materials needed to begin "properly" (amature) pressing moderns along with a table and space to set up my apparatus.
4. Researched hours of pressing videos and online advice and narrowed my initial approach and test plan.
5. Identified initial test subjects (or possibly victims) and documented the defects for comparison.
   1. Wolverine Old Man Logan #66 3 copies Defects include (pressable and non-pressable spine bends, finger(nail) bends with and w/o color break, light shallow edge bends, moderate corner bend, moderate indents and dimples from being stacked,. Extra credit defects (added on): sharp corner bend, grain of sand press dimple, improperly pressed staple indents )
   2. Unity Time is not Absolute #1 1 copy Defects include: large non-color break spine bends (1"+), edge crease with hint of color break, multiple large raised curvy sharp creases that don't break color, edge bends and finger(nail) bends.  Extra Credit (added on) grain of sand press dimple, interior page bends)
6. Calibrated the temperature setting on all 3 presses.  A meat contact thermometer is probably best since the different presses use different metals for the heat platen giving you wildly different temperatures with an infrared gun.  Aluminum has a lower emissivity than steel so you need an infrared thermometer gun that allows you to switch the emissivity settings but even then it can be off by several degrees.  However the gun does help you see where colder spots on the platen are and allow you to obtain a better overall average temperature.  Every press is different.  Even the press temp settings can fluctuate so before you put your books in, do several tests to isolate the setting that best matches your desired temp.  Most folks online will suggest starting at 150 degrees.  However, I found for my presses the upper limit is 175 degrees F for moderns before the pages start to stick together and potentially damage inks.  I then dialed it back to 170 to be on the safe side.  Then you also have to take into consideration the room temp.  My basement was about 63 degrees when I did this and drops to 60 over night which causes the press to cool quicker so I may have to adjust my temps in the summer when my basement is closer to 73 degrees.  I may have to dial it back to 160 degrees.  I will have to experiment with different heat times and press durations.
7. Calibrated the pressure settings on all 3. Also a major accomplishment as the clamshell presses can be uneven on one side or the other. The seal uses a different pressure adjustment calibration method than the clamshells.
8. Successfully dry pressed both test subject titles to remove the more shallow and superficial defects.  For the deeper defects it eliminated the "feel" tactile sense of the defect but only reduced the visibility of the defect by 30-50%. The deeper defects felt smooth when passing your finger over them but you could still see via glare that the defects were still there. The shallow spine ticks were completely removed.  The larger and deeper ones remained visible but appeared smaller and severity was reduced by 50%.  The non-color break fingernail bends were 90% pressed out requiring sharp glare to see a hint of their previous presence. All raised bends and light creases were smoothed out and eliminated.  The color break defects were completely smoothed out but still leaving behind flat color-break marks such as small curved color breaks from the fingernail bends and some spine ticks. Edge bends and dimples along with very deep sharp creases and corner bends remained having improved them by roughly 30-35%% (based on angle of light until you could detect them again, size comparison from their original visibility, and feel).
9. Successfully calibrated and achieved desired humidity levels/timing for the humidity chamber (very tough to do during a dry winter where indoor RH is near 30%).  You must heat up that water to a certain degree (I forgot to record it so I will have to reproduce) and seal that plastic tub tight to trap the humidity (roughly 90%RH at ~70-80 degrees F give or take 5 degrees.) I will have to play with this humidity setting to see if I can shorten the duration of the humidity chamber with higher humidity yields or chamber sizing. Helps to have a temp and humidity gauge to put in the humidity chamber.  I'm also going to try using a garment steamer.
10. Successfully pressed 2 humidified moderns eliminating all but the color breaking defects (as expected) and the sand dimple (also as expected as a tacking iron and steel ball will need to be used for that).  I was most impressed at how well the the sharp creases, corner bends, and improperly pressed staple dimples were completely eliminated.  The large spine bends also vanished. Best of all, no pulled inks, no stuck pages, no fanning or curling of pages.  The comics lie flat and are a vast improvement over their initial condition.

After a month, I've managed to identify the types of moderns defects that can be pressed out with a dry press and those that will require humidity as well as those stubborn ones that will require manual intervention with a tacking iron and ball. I've learned how to use a clean workspace, position the backerboards, SRP paper and other paper inserts to ensure uniformity and integrity of the comic in the press. I've learned the pros and cons of different presses and how to prep them. I've learned what I need to know about humidity chambers and improving those processes. I am going to continue working on moderns and try and perfect my craft at all moderns for now.  That's the era where most of the books I want to press are at anyways.  My pressing apparatus will allow me to press 8 books at a time.  For dry presses it takes 24 hours (mostly cool down pressing) but I'm going to try and see what the shortest time I can achieve per defect that doesn't revert.  For humidity pressing it takes 32 hours but I will experiment with shortening the time in the humidity chamber and the pressing cooldown times.

I didn't do any cleaning of the comics before hand other than simply wiping them with a tissue to clear any dust and particles that may contaminate the pressing.  I will next work on building my dry cleaning skills which will be necessary for some books prior to pressing them.

At this point, I'm getting more comfortable with the process and confident in my abilities.  My goal is to press several hundred (~400) comics to get them to submission worthy if CGC TATs improve or sell them raw otherwise or possibly use Voldy's slabbing if they aren't just as backed up.  I'll post another update when I've reached more significant milestones. I might add some pictures of the victims before an after if I get time. I am terrible with taking and uploading photos..

Interesting how there's NO reactions to this post at all..... 

[joeypost]

On 2/18/2022 at 7:26 AM, Ride the Tiger said:

Still gonna get a NG until they start handing out NG+ or NG-

 

Just sayin

Some people like better looking NG’s. 
 

#justsayin

[Bookery]

On 2/18/2022 at 7:35 AM, Mecha_Fantastic said:

Interesting how there's NO reactions to this post at all..... 

I admire all the time and effort justafan has put into this (both for the detailed and informative post and the actual efforts in learning the pressing).  And if you have the time and enjoy doing it as a personal hobby, that's great.  But as a dealer juggling about 100 different jobs, I read this (and yes, it was fascinating and I read every word), and the amount of work (and work-space) involved just seems overwhelming.  All I can say is that, if I were a professional presser reading this, I'd smile and think that my job was pretty secure going forward, because there is no way most people are going to be able to do all of this (properly, anyway).  

[SeniorSurfer]

On 2/18/2022 at 9:27 AM, Bookery said:

I admire all the time and effort justafan has put into this (both for the detailed and informative post and the actual efforts in learning the pressing).  And if you have the time and enjoy doing it as a personal hobby, that's great.  But as a dealer juggling about 100 different jobs, I read this (and yes, it was fascinating and I read every word), and the amount of work (and work-space) involved just seems overwhelming.  All I can say is that, if I were a professional presser reading this, I'd smile and think that my job was pretty secure going forward, because there is no way most people are going to be able to do all of this (properly, anyway).  

 

[zzutak]

On 2/17/2022 at 3:32 PM, Ride the Tiger said:

There's some people that think a coverless book would benefit from a press. Just sayin.

I don't just think it ...... I know it!    One common "benefit" of a well done press is improved presentation or eye appeal -- which frequently has no impact on grade, but which often has a significant impact on value.  Remember the old (post-2000) admonition, "Buy the book, not the label!"  For the record, over the years, I've owned dozens of coverless comics that were far more valuable raw than 98% of these:

Whatever floats your boat, right?  For many folks, collecting is not about value but more about recapturing the wonderful feelings we experienced in our youth.  Memories of much simpler times. 

[MetalPSI]

On 2/17/2022 at 11:17 PM, justafan said:

The problem may be that the new graders hired at cgc are being paid like theyre working at McDonalds. 

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.