With some McDonald’s Coca-Cola by my side, the boob tube on some football, and me still in my pajamas...I will spend the next 4-5 hours or so trying to beef up the covers of a stack of key comics. I have a stack of about 25 books that I need to text to before the NY Comic Con for customers, and the clock is ticking. With next week sure to be preoccupied with getting the shop ready for our event on the 29th and the Con right after that, this day off is my best bet to accomplish this mission.
A few customers have dropped off some tasty books for me to press in my dry mount press. I’ve written about the process before and have shown some cool before and after photos. I’ll be doing the same once again some time this week once these are all done so I can show off just how important a good press can be on certain books.
For those who aren’t aware, pressing involves heating up a comic to attempt to get out some of the kinks holding it back from a higher grade. Things like spine roll, non color breaking creases, & waviness can often look bad but sometimes can be fixed or removed completely. That could be a very worthwhile endeavor as far as how much a book could be worth.
I also steam the book prior to the hot press, then I pop em in another press that is room temperature to get them to cool down while keeping nice and flat. It is NOT counted as restoration and can absolutely transform a book...depending on the flaws.
In this batch I have a couple of really cool books that I’m to tend to. These include Amazing Spider-Man #13 (1st Mysterio), She-Hulk #1 (1st She-Hulk), Avengers #57 (1st Vision), and a Walking Dead #1 that is already graded at a 9.4 through CGC. The owner is feeling ambitious and is hoping we can beef it up to a 9.6. I told him I didn’t believe that was going to happen as I didn’t really see any flaws that the press can fix, but he’s a tad stubborn and is rolling the dice anyway. Seems like a total waste to me but what do I know?!?
Anyway, its all heated up and ready for the first batch now so I’m going to get crackin! I’ve been bad about responding to my comments this week and fir that I’m sorry. It’s been a hellish week and I will get to them all in the next day or so. I have not forgotten and I appreciate every single reach out. Hope your Sunday is full of fun or relaxation. Looking forward to showing you the results this week!!!
Blewitt