A Vickers indenter, as an efficient mechanical microprobe, was applied to carbon materials heat-treated at temperatures in the range 880degrees-2600degreesC. The plasticity of the carbon materials, which was enhanced by increasing the heat-treatment temperature (HTT), was assessed from the relation between the indentation load, P, and the penetration depth, h. Using the concept of the true hardness, H, as a measure of plasticity and the experimental estimate of the H-value, the plasticity of the carbon materials was examined as a function of their crystallographic parameters. The residual impression of the carbons at HTT > 1800degreesC was hardly visible on the indented surface after unloading, because of the nearly complete elastic recovery of the indented surface, yielding a very unique indentation P-h hysteresis in the loading/unloading cycle. The microscopic processes associated with this unique elastic recovery during unloading are discussed here in relation to the reversible slip of the dislocation-network structures on the graphitic basal planes.