The New Pressing Project Results Thread

[Aman619]

if you are planning a test for Matt, why are you talking about it in a thread Matt reads?

[tth2]

if you are planning a test for Matt, why are you talking about it in a thread Matt reads?

How would he know what book it's going to be, or who the customer is? Anyways, we've sidetracked this thread enough already, so let's drop this line of discussion in this thread.

[Red Hook]

I'm also not willing to set Matt up that way in an attempted "sting" operation.

[Ze-man]

Wow Matt, stop barraging us with your comments about each person books before and after pictures. We can only absorb so much info before exploding.

 

 

This post was entirely sarcastic.. I was not sure what graemlin to use.

 

or or

 

 

[Comicdey]

Wow Matt, stop barraging us with your comments about each person books before and after pictures. We can only absorb so much info before exploding.

 

 

I'm still waiting on my (3). Should be pretty soon.

[drbanner]

Wow Matt, stop barraging us with your comments about each person books before and after pictures. We can only absorb so much info before exploding.

After the azz-raping he was subjected to in the other thread, I'm afraid the posse has run him off. A real shame if he doesn't come back, but before the flogging commenced he was providing comments on the books he worked on.

 

Hopefully he'll return when we get some new posts from other participants. Unfortunately, since this thread was started, there haven't been any.

[awe4one]

After the azz-raping he was subjected to in the other thread,

 

Come-on...don't you think that's a little over the top? He wasn't answering questions and became purposely vague when he did. He's the one who started this "education" exercise but decided "trade secrets" outweighed actually answering questions....

 

Jim

[drbanner]

After the azz-raping he was subjected to in the other thread,

 

Come-on...don't you think that's a little over the top? He wasn't answering questions and became purposely vague when he did. He's the one who started this "education" exercise but decided "trade secrets" outweighed actually answering questions....

 

Jim

 

On that thread, most of us would have preferred the discussion remain on topic (the experiment), and not all the ancilliary stuff where people were piling up on Matt concerning his definition of cons/rest, etc.,. Fortunately, some of the piler-oners realized that it didn't belong there as well and started the "Legitimate Questions" thread...better late than never. There are like fifty other threads to discuss whether or not pressing is restoration, whether or not pressing reverts, whether or not it's detectable, etc.,. ad nauseum.

 

If you want to ask Matt how he plies his trade that's fine, but if he doesn't want to reveal his "trade secrets" (I wouldn't), then people should respect that.

[awe4one]

If you want to ask Matt how he plies his trade that's fine, but if he doesn't want to reveal his "trade secrets" (I wouldn't), then people should respect that.

 

Mike...he's the one that offered to "teach" us and remove the stigma. He posted on these threads...not the others...or at least with any frequency. He shouldn't have made the offer if he wasn't able to back them up with concrete facts. All he did was ply his trade in secret and expect everyone to accept the results. That's not educating...it's advertising...

 

Jim

[drbanner]

If you want to ask Matt how he plies his trade that's fine, but if he doesn't want to reveal his "trade secrets" (I wouldn't), then people should respect that.

 

Mike...he's the one that offered to "teach" us and remove the stigma. He posted on these threads...not the others...or at least with any frequency. He shouldn't have made the offer if he wasn't able to back them up with concrete facts. All he did was ply his trade in secret and expect everyone to accept the results. That's not educating...it's advertising...

 

Jim

Again, asking him "how" he did it is a valid question, just as "I prefer not to reveal my trade secrets" is a valid answer. From that project (and yes, I should have participated), I was curious to see what kind of defects are amenable to improvement, what kind of defects can't be removed, if the work could be detected, if the books looked pancaked, if there was any loss of gloss on the covers, etc.,. I have an interest in learning how to detect pressing, which is why I started this thread a year and a half ago (which you posted in indicating you were "very interested in seeing examples of pressed comics" yourself).

 

It would have been much more productive/informative if the project, and subsequent discussion, focused on the physical aspects of pressing (of which "how" to do it is only a part), and not on the philosophical aspects ("is it/isn't it", etc.,.). There are plenty of threads discussing the morals/ethics/definition of pressing such that those topics have been beaten like a dead horse, only now there is no horse left, just tiny chunks of horse flesh being ground into dust!

 

No answer Matt would ever give would be sufficient for some posters with an a priori opinion of Matt (and pressing in general), and his posts (like Steve's) are overly scrutinized to the t, which is why they are probably discouraged from posting.

 

Anyhow, that's all...hopefully we'll see some more results soon!

[tth2]

If you want to ask Matt how he plies his trade that's fine, but if he doesn't want to reveal his "trade secrets" (I wouldn't), then people should respect that.

 

Mike...he's the one that offered to "teach" us and remove the stigma. He posted on these threads...not the others...or at least with any frequency. He shouldn't have made the offer if he wasn't able to back them up with concrete facts. All he did was ply his trade in secret and expect everyone to accept the results. That's not educating...it's advertising...

 

Jim

Guys, stop turning this thread into another flame war thread. That`s why I started this thread, right? If you want to debate Matt and pressing, as opposed to the results of the pressing project, please go do it in the other thread. Thanks.

[awe4one]

If you want to ask Matt how he plies his trade that's fine, but if he doesn't want to reveal his "trade secrets" (I wouldn't), then people should respect that.

 

Mike...he's the one that offered to "teach" us and remove the stigma. He posted on these threads...not the others...or at least with any frequency. He shouldn't have made the offer if he wasn't able to back them up with concrete facts. All he did was ply his trade in secret and expect everyone to accept the results. That's not educating...it's advertising...

 

Jim

Guys, stop turning this thread into another flame war thread. That`s why I started this thread, right? If you want to debate Matt and pressing, as opposed to the results of the pressing project, please go do it in the other thread. Thanks.

 

No flame war intended...please proceed with your regularly scheduled debate...

 

Jim

[Ze-man]

Thats the problem, there was no other discussion. I at the least am looking foward to seeing the GA books that have yet to return to the owners.

 

So,

 

Pressing participants, please prepare ponderously protracted pressing pontifications!

[Comicdey]

Captain Marvel 51 Pressing comments to follow.......

 

Before:

 

 

After:

 

Before

 

After

[deadlili-migration]

Comicdey - Did you get your Planet Comics back? I'm very interested in seeing how that turned out.. as well as hearing your comments on your other books.

[drbanner]

Big improvement, especially on the back cover!

 

Any notable signs that the book was pressed such that you'd be able to tell it had been worked on if you were seeing the book for the first time?

[Comicdey]

Big improvement, especially on the back cover!

 

Any notable signs that the book was pressed such that you'd be able to tell it had been worked on if you were seeing the book for the first time?

 

I still have two books coming back. I'm going to type up my opinions and edit my post tonight. Kids are up, so I have playing to do.

 

Power surge last night and power went down for quite a while....my internet at home is still out. It should be back up tonight, and then I'll be able to get to the commentary. I don't want to write it at work without the book in hand.

[burntboy]

WOW - looks infinitely better...........

 

kinda surprised that the BC LLC still has a visible bend in it (despite the marked improvement).

 

very curious to see what you think about all of this..................

[Jayman]

Nice improvement! The BC appears to have been cleaned also, is this the case?

[Comicdey]

Captain Marvel 51 Pressing comments to follow.......

 

Before:

 

 

After:

 

Before

 

After

 

Captain Marvel #51

 

I sent this comic off to Matt for pressing as it appeared to be a strong candidate.

I graded it as a solid VG+ 4.5 due to the right side warble/bend and the back side bends and shadowing along with the evidence of a rusted staple from a stacked issue.

 

The boards graded it anywhere between 4.5-5.5 and predictions on the final grade ranged from 7.5-9.2.

 

Once it returned, I was surprised at a few things…….

 

The comic felt light to the touch and I think that is because of the fact that I’d been grading other GA books recently and they all have thicker page stock and higher page counts. The Fawcett books from this era always seemed light to me. I once had a Marvel Family #2 that I sold as it didn’t seem like there was enough book there to warrant the value.

 

The creasing on the front has almost been eliminated, but you can still run a finger across the book and feel the light warble and you can see the minor warble from a 30 degree angle on the front. The back warbles are still present, but probably 10% of their previous apparent severity. There is still an indention along the back spine up to the staple stain and on the left edge corner. I’d say that left edge on the back is where the best results from the pressing are apparent. The edge was severely rolled towards the front.

 

The back of the book does appear to be “whiter” than when I sent it to Matt originally, and he may have performed some light dry erasure cleaning. I say “may” as the curvature of the impressions made the scan look darker in those areas from the original scan. I’m pretty sure Matt did a little cleaning on the back, but he’ll have to speak on that whether he did or not. The paper for this issue is more of a matt finish, and from a straight look at the back, nothing is evident that would suggest cleaning, but when looking at an angle, there may be some minor surface abrading where the cleaning “could” have taken place.

 

First I’ll say that I don’t believe I would be able to tell if this was a pressed book without having seen it before and after. The only areas that would even make me think that this was a “pressed” book if I bought it fresh from another collector would be along the front of the spine where there is a very slight raised edge above the top staple and just above the horses tail. Maybe the fact that the book looks too good to be true is a giveaway sign on most GA books.

 

All in all I’m extremely pleased with the “release of potential” for this copy in my collection. It is a very pleasing book to look at and appears very fresh from the newsstand with what would amount to some very minor stacking indentions that are nowhere near as apparent as the previous warbled damage prior to pressing.

 

I grade the front out as a VF+ 8.5 or better and the back grades out as around a VF- 7.5 so overall, I’d have no problem saying this is a VF 8.0 overall copy. Not the 9.0-9.2 range that was mentioned to me by Matt as a possibility, but still a significant bump from a (4.5 to an 8.0).

 

Overstreet values tell the tale of why you’d want to press out this type of defect on a valuable book. The book has almost tripled in value if you go straight by Overstreet.

VG 4.0 $68

F 6.0 $102

VF 8.0 $196

VF/NM 9.0 $291

 

Two board members graded it after pressing and the grades were 7.5 and 8.5

 

Thanks for the experience Matt. I’m going to wait and see if the major warbles come back, but truthfully, there is no way this could grade lower over time, as the minor warbles are there, but even if they got a little more apparent, they wouldn’t effect the overall grade. In a Mylar with Fullback this looks like a VF/NM 9.0 book or better. The copy has sharp edges and only light wear apparent at 3 of the 4 corners.

 

Now I’m waiting on my Planet and Whiz copy that had some restoration along with the pressing.