Opinions on the Evils of Trimming

[mackenzie999]

I'm curious why trimming is so high on the list of things that turn collectors off. And I am not asking this because I have a trimmed AF15.

(I don't)

 

For HG collectors, sure, it makes perfect sense and needs no justification. But at mid and lower grades? Yes, the book has been altered in an attempt to make it look better, in fact I would argue it as being restored in the sense that the edges are being restored to their original sharpness.

 

It seems to me that when a book is trimmed, it is trimmed by a tiny fraction of an inch, meaning that the cover loses a sliver of probably extraneous detail and the inner pages lose a tiny amount of margin. Nothing that affects story. Is this really that egregious? A lot of collectors cannot even spot trimming, but we can all spot chipping which can be pretty nasty and is not considered anywhere near as bad.

 

I am not advocating trimming, and I am not saying it is good. I know lots of collectors like books that present well but have defects on the back or inside, that way they can own something that is perhaps beyond their budget otherwise. That is how I would view trimming, just another flaw bringing the price down. Seems to me like it shouldn't be vilified the way it seems to be (although I do think trimmers should be).

 

Maybe my eye isn't good enough, and of all boards this is probably the last one to be sympathetic to the suggestion of not hating trimming so much. I imagine for you guys who can tell the difference between a 9.4 and a 9.6 at ten paces, maybe trimming really screams out at you like a blinking neon sign. Do you all feel this way?

 

I avoid trimmed books because I know it limits resale options and someday my books will be sold, either by me or my heirs, but if there was no stigma attached to trimming beyond simply being another form of resto, I'd pick a trimmed book over one with tape any day.

 

So there. I have laid my ignorance bare and opened myself up to scorn and abuse. Educate me.

[Gotham Kid]

Trimming = Destruction as opposed to other restorative measures ( Construction )

[mackenzie999]

Trimming = Destruction as opposed to other restorative measures ( Construction )

 

But isn't that a bit overly dramatic? When you trim your nails are you destroying them? Yes, part of the book is being removed and that is always a bad thing, but such a tiny part, I just don't see why it is such a dealbreaker for everyone.

[Illustrious]

It doesn't bother me at all, it was trimmed when it came off the printers once already.

[Artboy99]

Trimming = Destruction as opposed to other restorative measures ( Construction )

 

But isn't that a bit overly dramatic? When you trim your nails are you destroying them? Yes, part of the book is being removed and that is always a bad thing, but such a tiny part, I just don't see why it is such a dealbreaker for everyone.

 

I guess if a comic book had the ability to regrow like a finger nail I wouldn't mind the trimming.

 

[VintageComics]

Trimming = Destruction as opposed to other restorative measures ( Construction )

 

But isn't that a bit overly dramatic? When you trim your nails are you destroying them? Yes, part of the book is being removed and that is always a bad thing, but such a tiny part, I just don't see why it is such a dealbreaker for everyone.

 

I think part of it is an emotional response.

 

I count myself (and have for some time) as being in the camp of not minding owning a book with trimming if I know it's there and if I pay appropriately for it.

 

The other main reason some people might avoid trimmed books is that because many don't like trimming, it makes a book harder to sell should you need to.

 

That's not to say that I approve of trimming. I absolutely don't but it's just that on some books, if the book is either impossible to afford or impossible to find period, a trim job wouldn't make me turn away from the book.

[Artboy99]

Trimming = Destruction as opposed to other restorative measures ( Construction )

 

But isn't that a bit overly dramatic? When you trim your nails are you destroying them? Yes, part of the book is being removed and that is always a bad thing, but such a tiny part, I just don't see why it is such a dealbreaker for everyone.

 

I think part of it is an emotional response.

 

I count myself (and have for some time) as being in the camp of not minding owning a book with trimming if I know it's there and if I pay appropriately for it.

 

The other main reason some people might avoid trimmed books is that because many don't like trimming, it makes a book harder to sell should you need to.

 

That's not to say that I approve of trimming. I absolutely don't but it's just that on some books, if the book is either impossible to afford or impossible to find period, a trim job wouldn't make me turn away from the book.

 

+1 stressing the bolded statements.

 

 

[JazzMan]

Trimming is evil. Those who trim are evil.

 

What I would actually do is hammer the hell out of a trimmed book rather than give it a higher apparent grade. The book has lost paper and it was not due to production.

[shadroch]

The problem is that most, if not almost all, trimming is done to deceive people into thinking a book is better than it is. Buying a raw book with undisclosed trimming sucks. I have no problem buying a slabbed book with trimming disclosed.

[Quicksilver Signs]

I'm of the opinion that a trimmed book should just get a lower grade not a restored grade. A VF downgraded to a fine because of trimming makes more sense to me, no different than having tape or a corner clipped.

[InvstmntComcSuply]

The problem is that most, if not almost all, trimming is done to deceive

 

+1, beat me to it

[mackenzie999]

These are all reasonable responses. I had assumed there was a rail I'd be run out of town on.

[NinjaSealed]

As said it's the deception/destruction aspect of it that taints these books. That being said I don't mind buying a trimmed book at all for my collection if it is priced appropriately.

[mackenzie999]

In my hypothetical all parties are aware of trimming and it is priced accordingly. Chances are the trim was originally done with dishonest intent, but that is a separate matter and I'm sure we can all agree that deceptive practices are very wrong.

[dupont2005]

I don't think it's that trimming is a turn off, just that not trimming is better.

 

If you collect toys, an original MIB figure is going to sell more than a mint figure and a box that had been mated together with fresh glue.

 

If you collect classic cars, the unrestored one with mint condition original paint and interior and low miles is going to sell for more than a rebuild of equal quality. A guy that can afford an original barn find with 15 original miles on it simply isn't in the market for a quality resto, he wants the barn find.

 

There is no magic button to make something more valuable by modifying it. That's just not how life works.

 

[VintageComics]

In my hypothetical all parties are aware of trimming and it is priced accordingly. Chances are the trim was originally done with dishonest intent, but that is a separate matter and I'm sure we can all agree that deceptive practices are very wrong.

 

That was going to be my reply to Shad's post, which missed the point ever so slightly.

 

[bluechip]

The problem is that most, if not almost all, trimming is done to deceive people into thinking a book is better than it is. Buying a raw book with undisclosed trimming sucks. I have no problem buying a slabbed book with trimming disclosed.

 

The problem is that some people want sellers to value a book with manufacturing defects (trimming) better than a book with less trimming that was "deceitful" and they want to treat slabbed book with disclosed trimming the same as if it were raw and undisclosed. There is so much emphasis on punishing the thought process behind the trimming of some books that it gets irrational and values are skewed and it actually diminishes the incentives for disclosure (because disclosure is not considered complete without acceptance of the idea that there is an assumed intent behind the defect and the book is therefore "toilet paper")

 

 

[BarryAllen]

The problem is that most, if not almost all, trimming is done to deceive people into thinking a book is better than it is. Buying a raw book with undisclosed trimming sucks. I have no problem buying a slabbed book with trimming disclosed.

 

Yep.

 

Overall personal choice, I have bought and sold trimmed books on the boards and they have gone fine because it was always disclosed.

 

Trimming does take a bunch of people out of the running though...

[bluechip]

Trimming = Destruction as opposed to other restorative measures ( Construction )

 

Agreed. And it's just odd that a book would ever get a higher grade in the first place with a piece of the book removed. It's a missing piece and should be graded as a missing piece whether it was caused by manufacturing or deliberate intent. Part of the book is effing gone. And that improves the grade??

[MatterEaterLad]

The problem is that most, if not almost all, trimming is done to deceive people into thinking a book is better than it is. Buying a raw book with undisclosed trimming sucks. I have no problem buying a slabbed book with trimming disclosed.

 

+10