Q: First of all, how are you and your family/friends doing as we approach the winter season and 2021?
Entering into 2021, we will reflect back on such a devastating time for so many friends, family, and clients that have gone through sickness and in some cases death of those they love, and we want them to know they continue to be in our thoughts and prayers. For 2020, my family and I have used this year to draw closer to each other and in our faith. We are so grateful for our health and we have been so blessed that our customers have really helped support us during this pandemic, business has been better than ever, and we very are grateful!
Q: For those of us who are not familiar with you tell us a little about yourself and what got you into comic books?
I, Gary Kendra, am the owner of Impressive Comic Books. I’m the head presser, dry cleaner, shipping dept. manager, customer service dept. and CGC paperwork clerk. I run Impressive Comic Books out of my home office here in Western New York. I’ve been pressing comic books for around 9-10 years ever since I took the plunge and left my job in late 2017. I’ve grown the hobby into a full-time business thanks to all my awesome friends, clients, and comic book shops spreading the word on how happy they were with my service.
I’ve collected comics since I was a kid and going to the local Flea Markets and comic shops was a memory I’ll never forget. I stopped collecting when I was in college and started back up after I got married in 2005. I was on a day trip with my family to a small waterfront town and my wife called me into a shop saying they had some comics for sale. Thumbing through an old box of Amazing Spider-Man books I found a #129 priced for $2 and I caught the bug all over again. I then realized being a small part in helping people in their investments or just improving and preserving their prized collections was something very rewarding to be a part of. After years of perfecting my process, I have made my clients, from all over the world, very happy.
Q: What are some of the hot comic books you are seeing every week from collectors? What are some of the Top 5 comic books you see at the shop for pressing?
As a pressing business, I see many of the same books over and over in cycles for sure. Over the last couple of months, it’s been no different, Venom #3 and all its printings and variants, Thor #5 & #6 again, all printings and variants have been coming in. A hot book right now has been Ultimate Fallout #4 and its 2nd printings, for a couple of weeks last month it seems every box I opened had at least one copy of that book. Any and all things Spider-Gwen related, including Edge of Spider-verse #2 and its multiple printings. As for the older books, X-men and Uncanny X-men series and runs seem to be pretty popular in anticipation of them joining the Marvel Universe.
Q: What was that "grail book" you received from a customer to press?
This past month, I received an order from a long-time client, and he wanted a selection of books Pre-screened for CGC Crossover Grading. It was very surprising to come across a book I had never seen in all my years of being in this business; Startling Comics #49. It was Alex Schomburg’s Classic Robot Cover. Graded by CBCS with a 7.0 grade (with a checkmark, meaning presents better than its actual grade). While I did not crack this open, I did advise the client to leave it be and forward it to CGC as is and he was thrilled to get it back as a 6.5 CGC Blue label. It was super cool to even hold one, let alone such a high-grade copy of a Golden Age mega key from 1948. Air Brushed Alex Schomburg Good Girl covers are the only books I really collect anymore so it was a joy seeing this “grail” in hand. As my teen daughter would say hashtag GOALS. What a beautiful book!
Q: Let’s end this debate once and for all. Is pressing considered restoration in your eyes?
Is pressing considered restoration? This used to be a big topic many years ago in the comic community, but nowadays I get fewer and fewer people chiming in like it’s not that big of a deal anymore. I feel most people that believe pressing to be a non-restoring method of bringing books back to life, have already deemed it that way and what it does to a book to be non-invasive. Nothing we do at Impressive Comic Books will ever take your book to that dreaded purple label level. All dry-cleaning methods are safe, and no chemicals or washes are ever used. All Pressing is done with humidification and heat pressing, never dry pressing (no moisture being used), and never Quick Press methods which can be harmful to books both short term and long term.
Q: It seems everybody wants to be a comic book presser nowadays, for someone out 
there trying to follow your footsteps and become a master of this craft, what kind of tips or suggestions can you give them as far as the skill is concerned?
To anyone looking to make a career out of this, be ready to give up all your free time. When I’m not pressing or dry-cleaning books, I’m answering emails and messages all hours of the day. Processing paperwork for grading orders, packing, unpacking, passing along grades, and tracking to clients with completed orders... there is literally always something to work on. I don’t recommend buying a press and pressing for others right away as it’s a craft of patience and practice. While I do not discuss techniques or tips I will say, the best thing you can do is practice until you feel like doing a Hulk #181 has the same comfort level as working on any other comic from the same era.
Q: Last thing, how can people get a hold of you for their pressing needs and/or check out any before/after pics of your pressing service?
Our Website www.impressivecomicbooks.com has a contact us form or you can email me at gary@impressivecomicbooks.com
Our Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/comicbookpressingservices/ and our Instagram page www.instagram.com/impressive_comicbooks has countless examples of comics books I've worked on over the years.
Bonus Question!
Q: What plans do you have for 2021 and beyond for Impressive Comic Books?
Continue to expand our customer base of private collectors, online retailers as well as physical stores, along with major auction houses. Impressive Comic Books continues to offer more and more services for our growing list of clients including Trading Cards ( Pokémon and Magic TCG ), Sports Cards, Video Game Instruction booklets along with Comic Books. We offer pressing and cleaning for just about all the hot collectibles out there. Being a CGC Dealer gives our clients options on submission as well as a discount to those services without needing an account. So yes, it’s gonna be an exciting year here at Impressive Comic Books and I greatly appreciate you and GoCollect taking the time to reach out to me about our company. Thank you and stay safe.
Thank You!
Thank you Gary, for your time in doing this interview. It was great to catch up and see from your eyes on the day-to-day operations of a presser and what you go thru each and every day. It was also interesting to see what are some of the hot comic books collectors are sending to you every day for pressing. Wait, did you say video game instruction booklets? Thank you for sharing and I (we) look forward to seeing you in the Comic-Con scene next year!
Please share your thoughts and any comments you have about pressing comic books. Do you personally press comic books? Or do you send comic books out for someone else to press? What are some of those hot comic books in your collection you have always thought about pressing them? Please share if you think pressing is considered restoration. I would love to hear from you. Until next time you comic book junkies....
GoCollect is the #1 comic book price guide for tracking sales data of all graded comic books in real-time. Fair market values are now at your fingertips. Check out all the features at www.gocollect.com
