The FEAR: trimming

[october]

I have noticed an interesting side-effect of these trimming threads and witch hunts. People now see trimming everywhere. Out of the last 20 or so books I have posted on the boards, 3 or 4 have been questioned as "possibly trimmed" and always by a different person. It seems to me that the fear of trimming has totally outstripped its place in hobby. I find it particularly unfortunate that people now see run of the mill factory miscuts, miswraps, and centering problems as trim jobs. This tells me that people are more familiar with the Ewert scandal than they are with basic printing errors, which is ridiculous. It also tell me that this unfortunate practice needs to be put in proper perspective.

 

Furthermore, people need to stop thinking they can see trimming from a scan. Unless the trim job was poorly done or the edge undulates, you have before and after scans, or there should be an overhang when there isn't, you CANNOT spot a trim job from a scan. Before jumping to conclusions and thinking a book has been worked on, take the time to familiarize yourself with printing errors like uneven cuts, miscuts and miswraps, and damage like spine rolls and overhang. You will be surprised how often the "trimmed" book really only suffers from a simple and easily explicable defect.

 

*end of public service announcement*

[Scrooge]

Here's a Factory Mis-cut -

 

 

and here's one I suspect might have been trimmed -

 

[Calamerica]

October

 

I hate to be the one to break this to you but SOMETIMES a trim can be seen on a scan. I got flamed royally by the eBayer scam artist over his FF # 3 about three years ago and he said the same thing - you cannot tell by the scan. But that trim job was SO BAD others on the Boards agreed with me and the Seller got NARU'd for something else( I can't recall now).

 

If the scan is a good enough one, and it can be seen about miswraps and where the front cover/back cover starts/ends, yes you can tell a side trim. Maybe a top/bottom cover trim is a different story.

 

Hope this helps.

 

CAL

[october]

and here's one I suspect might have been trimmed -

 

Guess what, you can't tell from the scan!

 

What makes you think it has been trimmed?

[october]

October

 

I hate to be the one to break this to you but SOMETIMES a trim can be seen on a scan. I got flamed royally by the eBayer scam artist over his FF # 3 about three years ago and he said the same thing - you cannot tell by the scan. But that trim job was SO BAD others on the Boards agreed with me and the Seller got NARU'd for something else( I can't recall now).

 

If the scan is a good enough one, and it can be seen about miswraps and where the front cover/back cover starts/ends, yes you can tell a side trim. Maybe a top/bottom cover trim is a different story.

 

Hope this helps.

 

CAL

 

Cal, you have to read my post before replying. Come on now...

 

Unless the trim job was poorly done or the edge undulates, you have before and after scans, or there should be an overhang when there isn't, you CANNOT spot a trim job from a scan

[Scrooge]

and here's one I suspect might have been trimmed -

 

Guess what, you can't tell from the scan!

 

What makes you think it has been trimmed?

 

3 things:

 

1) as mentioned somewhere else, evidence of a trim job would be a flat edge on the right hand-side pages of the book instead of a shape such as > coming from putting together all the 8 folds of the printed pages

 

2) the right edge, if you notice (the book was scanned flat), changes angles right about mid-height

 

and 3) the "chipping / fraying" on that same right edge.

 

I should bring the book along to the Chicago dinner for every one to look at and see you all agree.

[october]

I should bring the book along to the Chicago dinner for every one to look at and see you all agree.

 

Do it, I would really like to take a look at it.

[FFB]

Here's one where you can definitely tell. Just like Andy said, a really bad job will be obvious. I agree that on a slight, well-performed job, looking at a scan will rarely be conclusive.

 

Link because the scan is too big and I don't want to stretch the page

[october]

Here's one where you can definitely tell. Just like Andy said, a really bad job will be obvious. I agree that on a slight, well-performed job, looking at a scan will rarely be conclusive.

 

Link because the scan is too big and I don't want to stretch the page

 

Yes, that would fall into the "really bad job" category! Frayed corners don't usually end in razor sharp edges and edges don't usually change direction halfway!

 

Do you still own that? Did you get shafted out of a refund or something?

[ArAich]

ok Andy perhaps you can't spot the actual cut by a scan but sometimes you can tell by the form of the book and the juxtaposition of the artwok and general layout of the cover....

 

I'm thinking this thread is related to this book you had scanned into the "TWIYC" thread:

 

 

Upon seeing this book earlier this evening I too concluded that it may be trimmed on the right edge...

If you look at the graphic design then even if the book was trimmed correctly upon manufacture then there is no way that all the necessary info intended to be shown on the cover would all be present...the "N" from the word "Action" is totally gone yet the price circle is just barely making it fully onto the cover...thus it seems a good 3/32" is missing from the right edge...so I figure you have 3 theories as to the weird cut on this book:

[*]1 = The cover was horribly created by an inept graphics designer.

[*]2 = The cover was miscut at manufacture using the wrong width dimensions.

[*]3 = The book was trimmed by Jason Ewert....

 

In any case...it's a nice book whatever the circumstance...

[BassGMan]

Spotting a trim from a scan is like spotting Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster. Even a little like crying wolf. Yes, there are some trim jobs out there, but as with pressing, once that the terms like "pressing" and "trimming" start becoming fashionable, even if for negative reasons, you'll see everybody using the words and making false accusations. I think people enjoy looking for ghosts as they seem to find them everywhere. And sometimes they are even real, but usually not.

[october]

Upon seeing this book earlier this evening I too concluded that it may be trimmed on the right edge...

If you look at the graphic design then even if the book was trimmed correctly upon manufacture then there is no way that all the necessary info intended to be shown on the cover would all be present...the "N" from the word "Action" is totally gone yet the price circle is just barely making it fully onto the cover...thus it seems a good 3/32" is missing from the right edge...so I figure you have 3 theories as to the weird cut on this book:

[*]1 = The cover was horribly created by an inept graphics designer.

[*]2 = The cover was miscut at manufacture using the wrong width dimensions.

[*]3 = The book was trimmed by Jason Ewert....

 

In any case...it's a nice book whatever the circumstance...

 

 

*Sigh* I guess this one is trimmed too...

 

The mad late-50s under $30 book trimmer strikes again!

 

Seriously though, they are just printing errors. The book just wasn't cut to the proper dimensions and the right edge ended up having a weird angle. I have been collecting golden age books for only a few months and I can't tell you how many times I have seen that "defect". It's pretty common.

 

Like I said, people are WAY too paranoid about trimming.

 

[october]

you'll see everybody using the words and making false accusations.

 

People throw "pressed" and "trimmed" around way too lightly, usually without knowing exactly what they are talking about.

 

It's just sad that collectors are probably passing on books or making false assumptions when it could all be avoided by just spending an hour or so reviewing common printing defects and what they look like.

[Jayman]

Trimming is a myth!

Er... or is that Werewolfery?

[october]

Trimming is a myth!

Er... or is that Werewolvery?

 

Werewolfery.

[ArAich]

Agreed...some GA books have wacking manufacturing defects...it's just that the Indians Warrior book stands out because of the grahics layout and the ultra sharp edge...I'm not saying that it is trimmed ...just that it looks that way at first glance...

[Jayman]

Trimming is a myth!

Er... or is that Werewolvery?

 

Werewolfery.

 

[Forbush-Man]

you'll see everybody using the words and making false accusations.

 

People throw "pressed" and "trimmed" around way too lightly, usually without knowing exactly what they are talking about.

 

It's just sad that collectors are probably passing on books or making false assumptions when it could all be avoided by just spending an hour or so reviewing common printing defects and what they look like.

 

I know what you mean. Too often Strange Tales # 101 is considered trimmed, it's probably the most common/best example of a book with a bad mis-cut. Just MHO.

[october]

Agreed...some GA books have wacking manufacturing defects...it's just that the Indians Warrior book stands out because of the grahics layout and the ultra sharp edge...I'm not saying that it is trimmed ...just that it looks that way at first glance...

 

Ok, the Indian Warriors is a good example. It hasn't been trimmed. How do I know?

 

1. The interior pages have the same cutting irregularities. They are rough edged in the same spots and cut at the same angles.

 

2. The interior pages come to the proper ">" point when viewed together (as Scrooge mentioned).

 

3. Because the interior pages have not been trimmed, unless the cover had a significant right edge overhang that could have been trimmed while still leaving room to cover the interior, it hasn't been messed with either.

 

4. The angles, while odd, are consistant and straight.

 

5. The edges have a VERY slight tan that is consistant on the top and bottom edges.

 

While it LOOKS like it might have been messed with, you CANNOT TELL without the book in hand.

[ArAich]

It's just sad that collectors are probably passing on books or making false assumptions when it could all be avoided by just spending an hour or so reviewing common printing defects and what they look like.

 

Points of view are what make the world go 'round...what's to say that the trimming camp is not right upon occasion...