The New Pressing Project Results Thread

[maxstuf]

I have all my press books back from Matt. I will post the pictures over a few posts. Trying to keep the before and after pics in order.

 

The first up is an Giant-Size X-Men # 1

 

Front Before

 

Rear Before

[maxstuf]

These are the after scans of the Giant-Size X-Men # 1

 

Front After

 

Rear After

[maxstuf]

These pics show the book a little better than those scans

 

 

Spine up Before

 

Spine Down Before

 

Spine up After

 

Spine Down After

[drbanner]

Thanks for the posts, but it's hard to tell what the heck changed?

 

Also, might help if you crop your scans a bit so the images don't scroll off the page...they're huge!

[maxstuf]

Now on to Book 2 Classics Illustrated 64 Hrn 146

 

Front scan before

 

Front scan after

[maxstuf]

Thanks, I sometimes forget to do that....

[maxstuf]

Now some pics of Book 2 Classics Illustrated 64 Hrn 146

 

Spine up before

 

Spine down before

 

Spine up After

 

Spine down After

[maxstuf]

Scans of Book 3 WDC&S 21

 

Front Scan Before

 

Front Scan After

[maxstuf]

Once again the pics show a little better WDC&S 21

 

Spine Bottom up Before

 

Spine up Before

 

Spine Bottom up After

 

Spine up After

[maxstuf]

Clearly the most dramatic change occurred with the Classics Illustrated. The severe nature of the Spine Roll had left that book almost useless. The roll was forcing pressure on the staples and soon without pressing it would have most likely been unreadable as an intact book. Pressing this book has again returned it to a very decent reading copy.

 

The WDC&S 21 was a favorite of mine that need a little attention before further deterioration overtook this book. I selfishly will now frame that one and hang it in my office. Pressing has helped preserve a nice old book again in this case.

 

Now to the Giant-Size, a nice enough book to begin with. But one that suffered from the same fate as many Squarebounds. Severe spine warpage. Pressing this book has again made this book a very nice one to own.

 

Is it possible to detect the process? It is my opinion that it is not, with the naked eye in regards to these 3 books. I have looked at all three of these books under a magnifier and cannot detect any evidence of the process. Will they ever revert back? I doubt it, but will continue over the next few years to check for any changes and will report if there are changes. However it must be noted that they will of course be stored properly this time and therefore would not be expected to substantively change.

 

What will this prove or disprove. First I think it adds little to the previous discussions. As most seem to revolve around disclosure, these books have been disclosed and clearly the change in their condition is evident.

 

Does this process work to change anyone else’s mind about the process? I doubt it.

 

It hopefully will assist in framing the debate somewhat.

 

The issues as I see them are;

 

Does Pressing have long term negative physical implications in regards to the books? Does it damage the book?

 

What are the financial implications to pressing the books? Clearly there are financial implications and those should be discussed.

 

Lastly and most importantly in my opinion is disclosure.

 

It seems it has been difficult to discuss these issues separately. However it might be most helpful if we could discuss them each individually.

 

If there are other considerations I have not listed then please let me know.

[tth2]

Thanks for posting the results. As you said, pressing improved the Classics Illustrated significantly, improved the WDC&S somewhat and got rid of the warping on the GSX. I'm not sure it's accurate to say that pressing "preserved" the books, as I'm not sure why they were in danger of deteriorating further absent being pressed. To me, it still seems to be an aesthetic process rather than a preservation process.

 

But a good illustration that pressing can lead to dramatic improvements and that the kind of book that has benefited is a mid-grade book.

[FFB]

Thanks for posting the results. As you said, pressing improved the Classics Illustrated significantly, improved the WDC&S somewhat and got rid of the warping on the GSX. I'm not sure it's accurate to say that pressing "preserved" the books, as I'm not sure why they were in danger of deteriorating further absent being pressed. To me, it still seems to be an aesthetic process rather than a preservation process.

 

Looks like the spine roll was causing undue stress on the staples. Removal of the spine roll can prevent that stress from further tearing the paper at the staples or from any other damage a spine-rolled book might suffer from being stuffed into a plastic bag that isn't wide enough to compensate for the size of a golden age book with a rolled spine. It's certainly not "preservation" in the way we all talk about it, but I guess in a sense he is "preserving" the book by having it restored to a more natural state that will result in less stress on the staple area and an easier fit into the storage medium.

[bobpfef]

Here are my books from Matt

 

FC 120 - Before press with a corner ding.

 

 

After - Pretty happy with the removal, the corner is still damaged due to color breaks and blunting but pressing wouldn't help those problems. I probably wouldn't pay to get this type of thing done but it is nice to see exactly what pressing can do.

 

 

Fairy Tale Parade 4 - Before with more corner dings

 

 

After - Dings gone, but still damaged corner ala the FC 120. The books does display nicer as it isn't all crinkled on the corner there anymore.

 

 

I have one more book, and earlyish Whiz with spin roll that was handled VERY nicely. This is something I would pay for, as the roll is totally gone and the book looks wonderful. However I can't seem to find my "before" scan on my harddrive. I'll dig around more for that when I have some some so I can post the before and after together.

[Ze-man]

Now on to Book 2 Classics Illustrated 64 Hrn 146

 

 

Front scan after

 

A few things.

 

I think pressing books like this is why pressing is not a bad thing entirely. As FFB said, the spine roll was stressing the book in such a way that removing the spine roll, if nothing more will help the book retain its original shape.And hopefully prevent further staple stress.

 

Question I have about this book is the top edge. It looks to still have all the SCS type dings, and foldovers as the before scan does. Was this not addressed in the pressing because it was more about removing the spine roll?

 

I will not harp to much on asking what EXACTLY was done to the book. I did that already. But I WOULD like to hear what methods were employed to achieve the end result. I understand, and respect not wanting to air out trade secrets. But simply relating what process was used on a paticular book does not seem to be an out of line question. Especially since this was meant to be an educational exercise.

 

To me it all comes down to invasivness. How much did the book go through to get to where it is now? Be it a combination of heat, moisture, or pressure. Is one aplication worse for the book then the other?.. If so, why? And knowing this how might it affect my decision to perhaps buy the book? Hearing things like this from Matt was what first drew me to this experiment. Aside from seeing before and after scans in this thread we still know pretty much what we did before.

 

Diddly.

 

 

I emplore you Matt, come back and ring the school bell. I will sit quietly, and not raise my hand the entire class. Scouts honor.

 

Ze-

[FFB]

Now on to Book 2 Classics Illustrated 64 Hrn 146

 

 

Front scan after

 

A few things.

 

I think pressing books like this is why pressing is not a bad thing entirely. As FFB said, the spine roll was stressing the book in such a way that removing the spine roll, if nothing more will help the book retain its original shape.And hopefully prevent further staple stress.

 

Question I have about this book is the top edge. It looks to still have all the SCS type dings, and foldovers as the before scan does. Was this not addressed in the pressing because it was more about removing the spine roll?

 

I will not harp to much on asking what EXACTLY was done to the book. I did that already. But I WOULD like to hear what methods were employed to achieve the end result. I understand, and respect not wanting to air out trade secrets. But simply relating what process was used on a paticular book does not seem to be an out of line question. Especially since this was meant to be an educational exercise.

 

To me it all comes down to invasivness. How much did the book go through to get to where it is now? Be it a combination of heat, moisture, or pressure. Is one aplication worse for the book then the other?.. If so, why? And knowing this how might it affect my decision to perhaps buy the book? Hearing things like this from Matt was what first drew me to this experiment. Aside from seeing before and after scans in this thread we still know pretty much what we did before.

 

Diddly.

 

 

I emplore you Matt, come back and ring the school bell. I will sit quietly, and not raise my hand the entire class. Scouts honor.

 

Ze-

 

Weren't you one of the main people who questioned Matt's ethics, accused him (wrongfully, I might add) of dodging a ton of questions in the first thread, and who basically badmouthed him? And now you expect him to come do you the favor of educating you, out of the goodness of his heart?

 

Zeman posted: It smacks of decipt to me. Call it a song and dance,spin city,rationalizing, tapdancing, whatever. If you ask me this stance while true in theory seems to be more self serving so he can sleep at night.

 

Pretty ballsy!

[Ze-man]

Why does it not surprise me you felt the need to answer for Matt? Or that you felt the need to point out the err of my mortal ways.

 

Pressing and Disclosure. I thought we all decided to try and keep these two issues, and all the arguments that go with them seperate(at least in this thread.) Asking Matt to follow through and elaborate on the results of the pressing thread is of course something I am interested in, not to mention something he said he would do. But this aint about me, or how I feel. Take me out the equation.

 

How about he does it for everyone else here?

 

 

Ballsy?..Scott the only one being ballsy here is you by assuming you are right all the time. Just because YOU say it was wrong to call most of Matts answers spin, does not make it fact to anyone but you. So you feel differently, that's fine. But please dont forget there was an equal amount of people that felt as I did, and told Matt as much. In the end it is just alot of opinions. I realize Matt doesn't really care what we say or think here. He runs his biz as he feels is best. And it is left to each person to decide how they feel about that. There is no point in belaboring that fact anymore. I was simply trying to move this discussion foward and asked Matt to return in the hopes he would just talk shop, to me, or to whoever would listen. I even said I would keep my big yap shut.

 

Stir the pot if you wanna.

 

Ze-

[Red Hook]

Why does it not surprise me you felt the need to answer for Matt? Or that you felt the need to point out the err of my mortal ways.

 

Ze-

 

 

Because Scott has morphed into the Bill O'Reilly of the boards! It took a while, but he's all there!

 

[Ze-man]

Careful Brad, people might start calling you MY lapdog.

 

I have 5,000 posts now.. It's official, I am legit.

 

Ze-

[FFB]

Why does it not surprise me you felt the need to answer for Matt? Or that you felt the need to point out the err of my mortal ways.

 

Pressing and Disclosure. I thought we all decided to try and keep these two issues, and all the arguments that go with them seperate(at least in this thread.) Asking Matt to follow through and elaborate on the results of the pressing thread is of course something I am interested in, not to mention something he said he would do. But this aint about me, or how I feel. Take me out the equation.

 

How about he does it for everyone else here?

 

 

Ballsy?..Scott the only one being ballsy here is you by assuming you are right all the time. Just because YOU say it was wrong to call most of Matts answers spin, does not make it fact to anyone but you. So you feel differently, that's fine. But please dont forget there was an equal amount of people that felt as I did, and told Matt as much. In the end it is just alot of opinions. I realize Matt doesn't really care what we say or think here. He runs his biz as he feels is best. And it is left to each person to decide how they feel about that. There is no point in belaboring that fact anymore. I was simply trying to move this discussion foward and asked Matt to return in the hopes he would just talk shop, to me, or to whoever would listen. I even said I would keep my big yap shut.

 

Stir the pot if you wanna.

 

Ze-

 

Now now, Kenny, it's not about me being right -- it's about me being really amazed that you have the chutzpah to expect that Matt will come share knowledge with you after how you and the photoshop-bozo-who-doesn't-have-enough-real-work-to-do took advantage of his offer and then tried to pillory him on the boards.

[Red Hook]

See....he's trying to make fun of me. Refer to the talking point above.

 

Scott seems to think that because I took Matt up on his offer, I was going to be an instant convert, and that I was obliged to lob softball questions at him. Sorry, I'm not the professional suckup that Scott is.

 

Matt may be one of Scott's current worship-objects, but it doesn't take much to see that Matt was being less than honest with us. Of course he takes books apart and replaces staples in order to remove spine stress. If he had any real balls he would have owned up to it.

 

Matt was extremely careful not to do anything invasive. I wanted to see what he could do. Should I swoon because he flattened a couple of books for me? I liked the work he did. His abilities have never been in question. I don't care if he comes back or not. I don't expect him to. It was a pretty empty exercise when you come right down to it.