Pressing

Discussion of all "slabbed comics" whether Valiant or not

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StarBrand
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Pressing

Post by StarBrand »

I have about ten comics I’d like pressed. What are my options on where to send them?
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TheeBaldMoose
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Re: Pressing

Post by TheeBaldMoose »

who do you grade through?

If you grade through CGC, there is a company, CCS that works directly with them. Simply check that portion of the paperwork when filling it out.

If you grade through any other, I have no information for you
Moose

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Re: Pressing

Post by maraxusofkeld »

You can use joeypost from the CGC boards, https://cfpcomics.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

He is a bit cheaper then the one at CGC and he personally drives to CGC once or twice a month and delivers books directly to them.

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Re: Pressing

Post by mkb28 »

TheeBaldMoose wrote:who do you grade through?

If you grade through CGC, there is a company, CCS that works directly with them. Simply check that portion of the paperwork when filling it out.

If you grade through any other, I have no information for you
If you use the Quick Press service through CCS, there is a 15 book minimum. Not sure if there is a minimum requirement on the full press service.

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Re: Pressing

Post by DirtbagSailor »

I have a guy in Michigan that handles all my pressing.

I have had decent success with him, and continue to use him as a result.

LMK if you are interested.

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Re: Pressing

Post by Aram »

I stopped pressing when things got depressing. :wink:
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StarBrand
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Re: Pressing

Post by StarBrand »

Thanks everyone for giving me these options. I’m considering them, and I appreciate it very much.
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Re: Pressing

Post by depluto »

I know this has probably been posted 15 times, but how much does something like this cost?

Also, instead of pressing my shirts I usually just toss them in the dryer.

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Re: Pressing

Post by DirtbagSailor »

depluto wrote:I know this has probably been posted 15 times, but how much does something like this cost?
So consider this;

CGC 9.6 Harbinger

Vs

CGC 9.8 Harbinger

The market price difference is HUGE, in the realm of several hundred dollars.

So, a $10 press for a multi-hundred dollar ROI makes a hell of a difference.

With silver and/or golden age keys, is can (and does) mean THOUSANDS.

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Re: Pressing

Post by depluto »

I need to sack up and get some stuff graded ... not real confident in my ability to prescreen potential 9.8s though. I feel like that’s a skill you have to nurture.

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Re: Pressing

Post by nycjadie »

depluto wrote:I need to sack up and get some stuff graded ... not real confident in my ability to prescreen potential 9.8s though. I feel like that’s a skill you have to nurture.
It's an expensive skill to nurture, and it's taken me years and years to get really good. In many cases, I'm a better judge than dealers, and have made money by having more knowledge. In one extreme example, picking of GS X-Men 1 for $1200, investing in a press and grade, and selling it for $10,500.

Usually, it's a $.50 book I grade and sell for $50-200. A better return than the GSX1, but it takes a lot of those sales to make some real meat. Plus, I just spend it all on more comics anyway.

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StarBrand
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Re: Pressing

Post by StarBrand »

I’m planning to get together some books for pressing in a couple weeks.
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Re: Pressing

Post by slym2none »

Pressing is the reason I gave up collecting old comics, and in the end, comics altogether.

I was going to fill in my Uncanny X-Men collection that I started when I started buying them in 1983, but after I learned about pressing, I didn't want to pay NM prices for a book that's really VF- but has been dolled up to a NM.

I don't have anything against people who press, who have books pressed, or pressed books anymore. Heck, after I decided to give up on comic collecting, I had a couple pressed that I sold. So who am I to say anything negative against it?

Other than I don't like the thought of owning a pressed book. And since that cat was let out of the bag long ago, I can't do anything but abstain.



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Re: Pressing

Post by StarBrand »

There was nothing to do but accept pressing or quit the hobby, since there’s no certain way to tell if a comic has been pressed or not.
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Re: Pressing

Post by StarBrand »

There was nothing to do but accept pressing or quit the hobby, since there’s no certain way to tell if a comic has been pressed or not.
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Re: Pressing

Post by DirtbagSailor »

I sure didn’t stop collecting classic cars once people started washing and waxing them.

I do prefer the original engine though. No modifications. Classic. Original.

And preferably, washed and waxed.

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Re: Pressing

Post by slym2none »

StarBrand wrote:There was nothing to do but accept pressing or quit the hobby, since there’s no certain way to tell if a comic has been pressed or not.
Exactly. So I did one and then did the other.



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Re: Pressing

Post by slym2none »

DirtbagSailor wrote:I sure didn’t stop collecting classic cars once people started washing and waxing them.

I do prefer the original engine though. No modifications. Classic. Original.

And preferably, washed and waxed.
I will disagree with your assertion that pressing is akin to a car wash, but I won't argue with you about it. I had that argument already, over on the CGC board a number of years back.

;)



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Re: Pressing

Post by IMJ »

slym2none wrote: I didn't want to pay NM prices for a book that's really VF- but has been dolled up to a NM.

-slym
After all this time you must have strong opinions about this, but the process of pressing doesn't falsely (e.g. "dolled up") improve a book. To use your analogy, when you put makeup on a doll to make it look prettier, you can cover up an ugly doll (hence, "dolling something up"). It's a synthetic improvement of sorts. But a comic book cover-up in the terms of your analogy would be color touch - that's dolling up a book.

However, pressing isn't a cover up but rather a true physical improvement - there's no sleight of hand involved. All of the paper fibers that were there before are still there, but under a microscope those fibers are now more congruent or more akin to when they were new.

And so, if a book sees a grade increase because of a press, it is because the book is factually now in that grade as opposed to "appearing to be in that grade". I don't know if that makes you feel any better about it, but it's a distinct difference, which is why pressing is not considered to be restoration.

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Re: Pressing

Post by slym2none »

I just don't like it. That's all I really need to say. I don't want pressed books. Since there is no way to tell if a book has been pressed, not to mention that pressing has been going on longer than most people imagined, & I very well might have already owned a pressed book, ergo, I gave up trying to fill in my UXM collection.

:)



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Re: Pressing

Post by IMJ »

I actually think the 10.0 Journey Into Mystery CGC was considered to be "pressed" naturally the way it was stored in a damp basement for years under a pile of books! I remember reading that it wouldn't have existed in that condition if not for the way it was stored for years before it came into CGC's hands....

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Re: Pressing

Post by StarBrand »

Didn’t Mile High get that graded? I wonder who has it now.
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Re: Pressing

Post by Phantom »

I tried pressing in my friends George Forman grill.
Don't know why you guys are even doing this.
Came out wrinkled, and smelling of bacon.
Still tasted the same as anything else he cooked on that thing.
I wish their was a Spinal Tap comic, and I had a copy CGC graded at 11.

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Re: Pressing

Post by IMJ »

Phantom wrote:I tried pressing in my friends George Forman grill.
Don't know why you guys are even doing this.
Came out wrinkled, and smelling of bacon.
Still tasted the same as anything else he cooked on that thing.
Dude, you were supposed to put the book in between two pieces of bread to diffuse the heat.

Jeeze, man.

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Re: Pressing

Post by Phantom »

Bugger.
Should of known
I wish their was a Spinal Tap comic, and I had a copy CGC graded at 11.


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