One from the Archives. . . ASM #121

[divad]

Here's one of my pride and joys that was CGC graded about 2 years ago and is now stored somewhere deep in my closet. My apologies for the mylar scan. Perhaps you can still see it well enough to grade:

 

 

Yes, those are printer's marks along the length of the bottom edge.

[FFB]

Printer's marks or bindery tears? What kind of marks? Can you scan it out of the mylar? Also, where is the back cover?

[divad]

Printer's marks or bindery tears? What kind of marks? Can you scan it out of the mylar? Also, where is the back cover?

 

I can't today, as it is home - this is one of those "paranoia scans" I used to make before I sent a book in, so that I knew I was getting the same book back.

 

They are the tiniest of little notch marks that you often see on the interior pages - I believe it is where the printer "grabs" the sheets from the roll, just prior to printing and cutting.

[FFB]

OK then, I'll go with 9.2 then (not sure how much CGC will deduct for those tears, which are quite common on books from that era). Can you PM me the grade so that I don't have to wait for the rest of these suckas to chime in? I will keep quiet.

[Fan4Fan]

9.2, too.

[jimm94]

Definitely a tough one due to the mylar. I'll go 9.4, which includes a .2 deduction for the production defect.

[divad]

Definitely a tough one due to the mylar. I'll go 9.4, which includes a .2 deduction for the production defect.

 

I'll try to bring this one in tomorrow and post new scans from the slab!

[davidking623]

looks 9.4 to hard to tell by the scan!

 

Davidking623

[uclapeterg]

9.2 due to the slight rounding of some corners.

[Murph]

Those are VERY common on that book. They look like little triangles cut out of the cover. It's a printing defect. Not sure if CGC downgrades for it or not. I don't think they downgrade for the "tatter" edge effect on ASM 300's..

I'd guess this is a 9.2 also

 

Brian

[jbud73]

Hmm well Production defects aside and really CGC is all over the place on those - it looks like a 9.4.

[joe_collector]

I think these printer marks do limit a book's entry into the uber-high grade section (9.8 or higher) but I don't think it's a factor any lower down on the scale.

 

I've seen plenty of CGC 9.6 and 9.4 GS X-Men #1's (a common problem with this book) with holes on the edges and even up into the cover.

[DiceX]

Printer's marks or bindery tears? What kind of marks? Can you scan it out of the mylar? Also, where is the back cover?

 

I can't today, as it is home - this is one of those "paranoia scans" I used to make before I sent a book in, so that I knew I was getting the same book back.

 

They are the tiniest of little notch marks that you often see on the interior pages - I believe it is where the printer "grabs" the sheets from the roll, just prior to printing and cutting.

 

Actually the holes are created by a "Former".

Which would be the piece of equipment at the end of the Press that folds and stacks the printed book into raw untrimmed books that are ready to go to the Bindery.

It uses pins on a "Gripper" to grab the edge of the books, thus creating the little holes you see.

 

These raw books are then taken to the Bindery where they get the cover attached to the body, stapled, and trimmed.

The holes are meant to be trimmed off, but if there is any variance in the "press roll" or "bindery trim", they actually fall inside of the trimmed area.

This is a pretty common problem in some comics.

 

The reason it may be more common on a particular book, could be...

1) *Equipment* There is an equipment malfunction that may not severe enough to repair until there is downtime in the schedule. Usually as long as the press keeps printing with no major problems, they keep it running.

2) *Quality Control* That particular book could have been printed by a Pressman that had the pinholes too far out of spec. Thus a good portion of the copies were printed with the holes too far into the live area for the Bindery to trim them out without over trimming the book (Making the book shorter).

3) *Quality Control* The Binder could have the trim depth set too shallow on the edge where the pinholes are. As the problem before, it may be noticed and corrected quickly, or could go unnoticed for hours by an unattentive Bindery Operator.

 

There could be other reasons, but I'd bet the listed ones would be within 99% accuracy.

Bottom line...Common production flaw.

[joe_collector]

I've found this to be extremely common on all of the Giant-Size issues of 74-76 or so, so it may have been a long-standing QC issue.

[divad]

Damn good post Dice (and you too JC) thanks for the info. I printed this one for my notebook! Thanks!

[FFB]

Printer's marks or bindery tears? What kind of marks? Can you scan it out of the mylar? Also, where is the back cover?

 

I can't today, as it is home - this is one of those "paranoia scans" I used to make before I sent a book in, so that I knew I was getting the same book back.

 

They are the tiniest of little notch marks that you often see on the interior pages - I believe it is where the printer "grabs" the sheets from the roll, just prior to printing and cutting.

 

Actually the holes are created by a "Former".

Which would be the piece of equipment at the end of the Press that folds and stacks the printed book into raw untrimmed books that are ready to go to the Bindery.

It uses pins on a "Gripper" to grab the edge of the books, thus creating the little holes you see.

 

These raw books are then taken to the Bindery where they get the cover attached to the body, stapled, and trimmed.

The holes are meant to be trimmed off, but if there is any variance in the "press roll" or "bindery trim", they actually fall inside of the trimmed area.

This is a pretty common problem in some comics.

 

The reason it may be more common on a particular book, could be...

1) *Equipment* There is an equipment malfunction that may not severe enough to repair until there is downtime in the schedule. Usually as long as the press keeps printing with no major problems, they keep it running.

2) *Quality Control* That particular book could have been printed by a Pressman that had the pinholes too far out of spec. Thus a good portion of the copies were printed with the holes too far into the live area for the Bindery to trim them out without over trimming the book (Making the book shorter).

3) *Quality Control* The Binder could have the trim depth set too shallow on the edge where the pinholes are. As the problem before, it may be noticed and corrected quickly, or could go unnoticed for hours by an unattentive Bindery Operator.

 

There could be other reasons, but I'd bet the listed ones would be within 99% accuracy.

Bottom line...Common production flaw.

 

You know, Dice -- it would be great if you could come up with a new thread that explains (like you just did) step-by-step how each common production flaw happens. I find this fascinating and think it would be a great read to have them all in one place.

[BradleyX2]

 

 

Hmmm.... looks like a 9.0 to me.

[DiceX]

You know, Dice -- it would be great if you could come up with a new thread that explains (like you just did) step-by-step how each common production flaw happens. I find this fascinating and think it would be a great read to have them all in one place.

 

List the ones you want to know about, and I'll explain them as I have time.

Start a new thread and maybe Arch could give it a stickie.

But it will have to wait until tomorrow. I'm going

 

I've answered a lot of them already. You might try a search and copy some of them into the post to start it off.

[savagetales]

9.4

[divad]

Thanks guys! I dug the book out from the depths of my closet last night. Here are the new scans of the front and back covers:

 

 

 

 

 

Have at it! Grade will be revealed later today.