Gold age manufacturer cut grade? 1 1

[Airboy the Barbarian]

 

I just acquired a Superboy #1 with immaculate colors and supple white pages. I have a question about the book though. Exactly mid way through the spine is a very very clean straight cut which goes through every page. The rest of the comic is in incredible condition. Tight staples, not a tear or blemish.  I’ve been told by old time collectors that the cut exactly at the mid way mark is actually a manufacturer’s error done on purpose to every 100 or so books so they could number each comic stack out before they went on the truck and were delivered to newsstands.  I would like some verification on this historic detail. If it is a manufacturer’s defect what is the estimated grade. If it is not what is the estimated grade?

Ive included pictures of the book with the defect.  The interior pages clearly show that the book was cut at the spine by some type ofprinter tool

[marvelmaniac]

I have been collecting since 1979 and I never heard of this practice.

If it were done just before loading them on the truck for delivery to the newsstand then it would be the distributor that made the slice, not the manufacturer.

If this were the case and it was a common practice I am not sure how CGC would view this, would they view a 2" slice through both covers and all pages as they would with Date/Time Stamps or Distributor Spray or would they be viewed as they do a Remainder Copy and the book would be graded accordingly?

I just looked at 12 copies on eBay and none have that slice, IMO (and I cannot be 100% on this) is that it will be viewed as a defect and graded accordingly. The best I can tell from your pics you posted is that this book is in the VG/FN 5.0 to FN 6.0 range, with that slice I would assume the grade would drop by at least 2 points, however it is a Golden Age book and they do get special treatment.

Two things you can do...

1)Open a thread in the https://boards.cgccomics.com/forum/42-hey-buddy-can-you-spare-a-grade/ section with larger, clear pics of the outside front and rear covers, clear pics of the spine and staples, inside front and rear covers/splash pages and the centerfold.

2)Post this query/question in the https://boards.cgccomics.com/forum/14-golden-age-comic-books/ section.

 

[Kirby_Fan]

On 7/9/2024 at 9:10 PM, Airboy the Barbarian said:

 

 

I just acquired a Superboy #1 with immaculate colors and supple white pages. I have a question about the book though. Exactly mid way through the spine is a very very clean straight cut which goes through every page. The rest of the comic is in incredible condition. Tight staples, not a tear or blemish.  I’ve been told by old time collectors that the cut exactly at the mid way mark is actually a manufacturer’s error done on purpose to every 100 or so books so they could number each comic stack out before they went on the truck and were delivered to newsstands.  I would like some verification on this historic detail. If it is a manufacturer’s defect what is the estimated grade. If it is not what is the estimated grade?

Ive included pictures of the book with the defect.  The interior pages clearly show that the book was cut at the spine by some type ofprinter tool

 

I've never heard of that before, the purpose stated makes no sense at all, I've collected hundreds of Golden age books and paged through many more from every publisher, every genre, every decade, and have never encountered that, and going by the characteristic of the defect, it's not a deliberate cut, it's a tear going right through the book, not unlike the many low-grade copies with similar tears that sift through a hobbyist's hands over the years. 

Interesting anecdote though, but I'd be very surprised if factual, give the guy a B+ for creativity. 

[Dick Pontoon]