Spraying from Distribuitors for return books.

[Barbarian]

Until last week I encountered something I couldn´t explain. In some books, there was this ink spot 1-2 inches, just at the face of pages, either at the top or the bottom of the books. Usually red or blue.

 

The ink would not go to the inside or the covers, and if it did it was minimal. My comic dealer explained that in older books, the distribuitor would spray them with ink so they could return them. It beats clipping the corners, as some also did.

 

How does this affect the grade of a book?

[JazzMan]

Does not affect it.

[Tony S]

I believe it will affect the grade if it is very noticeable on the front and/or back covers.

 

Your dealer explained it wrong. If the book was spray painted before it was returned, how would it end up sold?

 

Comic books publishers have always wanted their books to sit on the newstand for as long as possible in order to sell. So the cover dates were 3 months out of when they arrived for sale.

 

Newstand owners didn't want books sitting around forever, so they would write in arrival dates and then decide when long enough was themselves. . Or just send half back without even putting them on the racks.

 

Distributors - to try to make some sense of all this and have a common approach - started spray painting the top edge of the books. They would make a stack four feet or so tall and ideally put a stripe of spray paint along the top edge.

 

Deal is, some "painters" seemed to get paid by the cans of paint they emptied rather than by the hour. Even with the efficient ones, the top and bottom copies get "distributor overspray" Take the kid that loves his work and a lot more books than that get soaked and it would leach into the interior pages as well as drip onto the front, back and sides. And of course sometimes they didn't notice they were spraying the bottom instead of the top.

 

So anyway, the distributors painted the top edge of the books. Once a week drug/grocery stores and newstands would get new books. Once a month there would be instructions with the new books to "pull all red (blue, green) coded unsold comics and return for credit"

 

The comic book publisher only got paid for comics sold. And rather than pay the shipping to have unsold copies returned to them, distributors either mailed back the covers only or took a razor and cut off the top 1/3 of the cover to return to the publisher. The books that were sold without covers or missing 1/3 of the cover were not supposed to be sold - it was against the contracts they had with publishers. But some distributors did so occasionally, typically putting 3 books in a bag and selling them for 10-15 cents.

 

Sometime in the 80's the publishers started printing color bars themselves on the top edge of the book so that distributors would quit hosing them down with spray paint.

 

 

 

[slym2none]

I worked at a newsstand for years, and covers for returnable books, magazines, and comics got ripped off and returned.

 

I saw literally thousands of ripped up books at our warehouse once. I can only imagine how many UXM266s or NM98s or other books were destroyed that way.

 

 

 

 

-slym

[Barbarian]

Thanks for the detailed explanation here is one example I just found.

 

See the very top right corner. You can hardly notice it, until you look at the face of the pages and then there it is, in red.

 

 

Better than this for sure

[Marty Mann]

Here's a little overkill...both spray and cutting.

 

 

mm

[JazzMan]

Unless it's grossly dripping down the front and back cover and the pages are starting to ripple, it'll be fine. A little on the top is not going to keep it from being high grade.

 

 

But these will not cut the mustard:

 

[Barbarian]

Wow! It can get a 9.8?

So it´s pretty much ignored by CGC unless it´s really bad.

[joe_collector]

I believe it will affect the grade if it is very noticeable on the front and/or back covers.

 

Nope, I once saw a CGC 9.6 ASM 129 that look like the bottom cover was dipped in blue ink.

 

Your dealer explained it wrong. If the book was spray painted before it was returned, how would it end up sold?

 

You're right, but please see "Mile High II" for how returned/remainder books find their way back to dealers and collectors.

[joe_collector]

Wow! It can get a 9.8?

So it´s pretty much ignored by CGC unless it´s really bad.

 

I think it's totally ignored as a visual defect and there is no way that distributor ink can get "worse" than some of the CGC 9.6 copies I've seen.

 

The only reason inked books get lower grades is due to other damage and defects.

[divad]

My comic dealer explained that in older books, the distribuitor would spray them with ink so they could return them.

 

This is so wrong, it makes me want to vomit

[Barbarian]

Wow! It can get a 9.8?

So it´s pretty much ignored by CGC unless it´s really bad.

 

I think it's totally ignored as a visual defect and there is no way that distributor ink can get "worse" than some of the CGC 9.6 copies I've seen.

 

The only reason inked books get lower grades is due to other damage and defects.

 

What exactly is the logic for this? It´s not part of the production process. They are ink stains that were added weeks/months after the book was printed. I don´t get it.

[JazzMan]

Wow! It can get a 9.8?

So it´s pretty much ignored by CGC unless it´s really bad.

 

I think it's totally ignored as a visual defect and there is no way that distributor ink can get "worse" than some of the CGC 9.6 copies I've seen.

 

The only reason inked books get lower grades is due to other damage and defects.

 

What exactly is the logic for this? It´s not part of the production process. They are ink stains that were added weeks/months after the book was printed. I don´t get it.

 

It was a step in the old distribution process that was not under the control of the end collector. This was across the board and would result in zero high grade books for a twenty five year period. The same happens on some other production related issues like printer creases, staple bulges on square bounds and others that are prior to receiving the books by the end user.

[Barbarian]

Wow! It can get a 9.8?

So it´s pretty much ignored by CGC unless it´s really bad.

 

I think it's totally ignored as a visual defect and there is no way that distributor ink can get "worse" than some of the CGC 9.6 copies I've seen.

 

The only reason inked books get lower grades is due to other damage and defects.

 

What exactly is the logic for this? It´s not part of the production process. They are ink stains that were added weeks/months after the book was printed. I don´t get it.

 

It was a step in the old distribution process that was not under the control of the end collector. This was across the board and would result in zero high grade books for a twenty five year period. The same happens on some other production related issues like printer creases, staple bulges on square bounds and others that are prior to receiving the books by the end user.

 

I can understand production issues, but distribution issues are a bit harder get. Well, it is what it is! Thanks for the info.

[joe_collector]

I can understand production issues, but distribution issues are a bit harder get. Well, it is what it is! Thanks for the info.

 

I don't agree either, but you have to remember that CGC was designed to maintain the status quo, create profit for its member dealers, and not to lower the net value of existing stock or high-end collections.

 

So comic dealers (who helped create the CGC modus operandi) with lots of ink-stained books in their inventory didn't want to see their "NM comics" suddenly transformed into F or VF books overnight, and neither did some serious collectors.

[Jeffro.]

My comic dealer explained that in older books, the distribuitor would spray them with ink so they could return them.

 

This is so wrong, it makes me want to vomit

 

It makes me unhappy too. Just as slicing off the top third of the cover does.

 

Even more unhappy is CGC's decision not to figure dist ink into the grade. Quite frankly, it's ugly as hell

[JazzMan]

My comic dealer explained that in older books, the distribuitor would spray them with ink so they could return them.

 

This is so wrong, it makes me want to vomit

 

It makes me unhappy too. Just as slicing off the top third of the cover does.

 

Even more unhappy is CGC's decision not to figure dist ink into the grade. Quite frankly, it's ugly as hell

 

My pet peeve is along those same lines - they are selective in the production flaws that deduct from a book - printer's crease may not have an effect, but marvel chipping (which is also production related) will affect a book in a major way.

 

In both instances, distributor's overspray and production flaws, the end collector has no way of controlling and shouldn't be penalized.

[Lazyboy]

My comic dealer explained that in older books, the distribuitor would spray them with ink so they could return them.

 

This is so wrong, it makes me want to vomit

 

Yeah, everybody knows that any book with ink on the top (or bottom) edge is a reprint.

 

 

 

Seriously, that's what one guy said when he was at my table at a con a few years ago.

[divad]

My comic dealer explained that in older books, the distribuitor would spray them with ink so they could return them.

 

This is so wrong, it makes me want to vomit

 

Yeah, everybody knows that any book with ink on the top (or bottom) edge is a reprint.

 

 

 

Seriously, that's what one guy said when he was at my table at a con a few years ago.

 

Wow, never heard that one before.

[divad]

I can understand production issues, but distribution issues are a bit harder get. Well, it is what it is! Thanks for the info.

 

I don't agree either, but you have to remember that CGC was designed to maintain the status quo, create profit for its member dealers, and not to lower the net value of existing stock or high-end collections.

 

So comic dealers (who helped create the CGC modus operandi) with lots of ink-stained books in their inventory didn't want to see their "NM comics" suddenly transformed into F or VF books overnight, and neither did some serious collectors.

 

This, of course, is why you buy the book and not the label. I could sell a lot more books using such shenanigans, or using photos or small scans, but why? That would only put me in the return business. I sell many, many HG books raw, that people turn around and slab, or press and slab. Does it matter to me that I'm leaving money on the table? Nope, I want the buyer to be impressed every time they open a package from me.