So, what do you think these weird marks are?

[The Amazing Chump]

 

I'm guessing these 80's books were bought from small town bookstores (some of the later ones have barcode stickers added directly to the books ). They're not consistent throughout boxes (which leads me to think the OO didn't do it herself) and I recall seeing these at cons in the Chicago area when I was a kid. I'm wondering if the marker on the tops of the books might be distributors marks or remainder marks, or if you've seen them before?

 

Also, how much of a grade impact might these have? Most of the books are decidedly mid to low-grade, but a few are still fairly nice.

[Ares]

If your talking about the colored ares on top I think those are printer markings to tell the printing press where to cut.

 

Or according to CGC glossary guide

http://www.cgccomics.com/resources/glossary.asp

Distributor Painted Stripes (Distro Ink). Color ink painted or sprayed onto the edges of comic book stacks as a special coding used by distributors.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Yup.

[The Amazing Chump]

Thanks, that's what I was hoping, but I haven't been exposed to masses of unbagged 80's books since I was really young. I couldn't tell if it was distributor marks or just someone being a jackwagon. These boards rock for learning the stuff.

 

(thumbs u

[the blob]

I think he's talking about the thinner magic marker looking marks. my guess is that whatever retail place these were sold at (or secondhand shop) marked them accordingly so that they'd know this was their material. the fat/wide marks are distributor marks, but the thin ones look to have been added later in the process.

 

i just bought a stack of dollar books at a show and it looks like the seller marked all of his cheap books like that (probably to fend off shoplifters)

[Point Five]

That's a fun box to go through! Looks like the majority is late 70s, not 80s, from what I can see.

 

The Batman #227 I've got in the grading forum has pretty much identical marker marks on top. I'd like to know more about the rationale for them too.

 

 

[Point Five]

I think he's talking about the thinner magic marker looking marks. my guess is that whatever retail place these were sold at (or secondhand shop) marked them accordingly so that they'd know this was their material.

Sure, that could be. I wonder if the various colored markers meant anything (some kind of coding system representing # of weeks on the shelf, etc), or were they just random?

 

 

[Junkdrawer]

CMYK = Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (black)

The marks on the books are actually registration marksused to help the pressman line up the plates so all 4 colors of the book lay down in order and in position, black prints last trapping the other colors.

[DiceX]

CMYK = Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (black)

The marks on the books are actually registration marksused to help the pressman line up the plates so all 4 colors of the book lay down in order and in position, black prints last trapping the other colors.

 

Those are not registration marks. They were not printed on the books. They were put there by the distributor.

 

But nice try.

 

 

[aardvark88]

Used book shop employees like myself used to spraypaint (color price code) a stripe on the top or bottom of all our junk 70s comics for the 3 for a $1 outside bin. Blame paint overspray on me.

[BlowUpTheMoon]

CMYK = Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (black)

The marks on the books are actually registration marksused to help the pressman line up the plates so all 4 colors of the book lay down in order and in position, black prints last trapping the other colors.

 

See the three circles in the upper right corner? Those are registration marks.

 

 

[nearmint]

I used to work at a bookstore. We received comics from a local wholesaler(who hand-delivered shipments) and a distributor from another state who shipped the comics to us. When doing returns, the local wholesaler wanted the whole book back, but the out-of-state distributor just wanted the front cover. To differentiate between the local wholesaler and the out-of-state distributor, we marked the bottom of the books from the out-of-state distributor with a felt-tip marker. The markings looked exactly like what you see here. In our case, the different colors had no meaning, it was just whatever felt-tip marker you grabbed that day.

[Junkdrawer]

CMYK = Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (black)

The marks on the books are actually registration marksused to help the pressman line up the plates so all 4 colors of the book lay down in order and in position, black prints last trapping the other colors.

 

See the three circles in the upper right corner? Those are registration marks.

 

This is the first time in my life I have ever been wrong

[DiceX]

CMYK = Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (black)

The marks on the books are actually registration marksused to help the pressman line up the plates so all 4 colors of the book lay down in order and in position, black prints last trapping the other colors.

 

See the three circles in the upper right corner? Those are registration marks.

 

 

That is correct, sir. The target crosshair looking things. (thumbs u

 

 

[Toz]

The different colored marks on the tops were distributor marks to tell at a glance which books to pull of the shelf.I've checked in and out thousands of comics & mags when I worked retail.It's kinda like the different colored ties on loaves of bread.

 

Check out all your Bronze & Copper books that were bought off retail racks.Sometimes it's narrow like in the OP,other times it's about an inch or so wide.

[whisp]

CMYK = Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (black)

The marks on the books are actually registration marksused to help the pressman line up the plates so all 4 colors of the book lay down in order and in position, black prints last trapping the other colors.

 

See the three circles in the upper right corner? Those are registration marks.

 

 

That is a pretty interesting book.

[cheech_wizard-migration]

I used to work at a bookstore. We received comics from a local wholesaler(who hand-delivered shipments) and a distributor from another state who shipped the comics to us. When doing returns, the local wholesaler wanted the whole book back, but the out-of-state distributor just wanted the front cover. To differentiate between the local wholesaler and the out-of-state distributor, we marked the bottom of the books from the out-of-state distributor with a felt-tip marker. The markings looked exactly like what you see here. In our case, the different colors had no meaning, it was just whatever felt-tip marker you grabbed that day.

 

 

Barnes and Noble does (did?) this to their Bargain Books too, they just take a marker and mark the tops. The reason is because people would buy a previously $25 book for $5, then return it to a different store with no receipt, and try to get $25 credit. One quick look and it's obvious. I've seen dealers who have lots of $10/$5/$1 show boxes do the same (color coded), so no one tries to say a $10 book is $1.

[The Amazing Chump]

I used to work at a bookstore. We received comics from a local wholesaler(who hand-delivered shipments) and a distributor from another state who shipped the comics to us. When doing returns, the local wholesaler wanted the whole book back, but the out-of-state distributor just wanted the front cover. To differentiate between the local wholesaler and the out-of-state distributor, we marked the bottom of the books from the out-of-state distributor with a felt-tip marker. The markings looked exactly like what you see here. In our case, the different colors had no meaning, it was just whatever felt-tip marker you grabbed that day.

 

 

Barnes and Noble does (did?) this to their Bargain Books too, they just take a marker and mark the tops. The reason is because people would buy a previously $25 book for $5, then return it to a different store with no receipt, and try to get $25 credit. One quick look and it's obvious. I've seen dealers who have lots of $10/$5/$1 show boxes do the same (color coded), so no one tries to say a $10 book is $1.

 

Remainder marks was my original guess as well. But I imagine a remainder mark would negatively impact the grade, but distributor overspray would not. So, can anyone think of a way to distinguish the two? Or is the point moot because they're treated the same by CGC (or collectors).

[TheShadowKnows]

I think he's talking about the thinner magic marker looking marks. my guess is that whatever retail place these were sold at (or secondhand shop) marked them accordingly so that they'd know this was their material. the fat/wide marks are distributor marks, but the thin ones look to have been added later in the process.

 

i just bought a stack of dollar books at a show and it looks like the seller marked all of his cheap books like that (probably to fend off shoplifters)

It is color codeing for returns.Back in the old days 20 cents books cost you 14 cents.You could return them for full credit.

The mark on the top is spray paint the distrubtors sprayed on to determine what books were returnable when.