ASM #1 sells for $520.4K 2 2

[VintageComics]

On 8/10/2023 at 8:16 AM, The Lions Den said:

I know some guys who would...

So do I. 

[VintageComics]

On 8/10/2023 at 9:59 AM, namisgr said:

Can you tell if a book has been pressed by looking at a two dimensional picture of it?  You can tell when it's extremely likely, when it's an early SA Marvel, comes from a collection that has very few if any issues with normal cover wraps that have the interior pages badly exposed, has a top edge with big overhang that lies perfectly flat all the way across, and has a certification number indicating it was graded in a sizable batch of early SA Marvels also sporting these features.  Like the many examples from the thread linked earlier on the Cole Schave collection. 

The only reason anyone consistently references the Schave books is because there are before and after pics (and because you owned some of the books previously). If you didn't have before and after pics, you'd have no clue if the books were pressed. 

The fact is that unless we have before and after pics, or an acknowledgement by the owner it's all just speculation and frankly, having a "cheat sheet" to spot "possibly pressed" books sounds more like superstition and less like logic and reason and really serves no purpose except for the superstitious who want to avoid possibly-pressed books. 

On 8/10/2023 at 9:59 AM, namisgr said:

Runny White Mountain pen arrival dates are a pretty good indication, too.

I assume you're talking about pen ink "running" into the paper.

This likely happens when moisture helps the ink to "creep" further into the paper the ink is written on, creating a blurry effect. 

You can create this condition without pressing.

For example, if a book is stored in a humid environment the moisture in the air will cause pen ink WILL RUN in the paper naturally.

I had a collection near pristine SA Marvel books in a collection from Hawaii that shared this phenomenon that weren't pressed. They were untouched, original owner books but because Hawaii is known to be a humid environment they shared this attribute.

Funnily enough, the books "looked pressed" as they were stacked in tall stacks in a humid environment for years.

 

[VintageComics]

I don't think most people realize HOW MANY COMICS out there with protruding pages.

Start keeping an eye open. There's literally MILLIONS of them floating out there and MOST of them will be SA and BA Marvels. 

I took these random shots as I was pouring through a longbox. They're just random books.

You'll notice the DD #3 has VERY exposed pages right across the right side but this is a low grade copy and the probability that it was pressed is close to nil.

Same for the Conan #23 (yes,. another Coan #23 with pages larger than the cover. 

The Conan #23 was particularly exposed.

The pages were actually visible FROM ALL 3 SIDES behind the cover, and yet the book was NOT TRIMMED even though some may believe it to be.

The cover simply SHRANK on all 3 sides. This is actually a VERY common trait for Marvel BA books from the mid 70s. 

This book too was of particularly low grade that it was HIGHLY unlikely it was pressed. 

Anyway, I think I've proven my point.