Trimmed?

[awe4one]

Was going through my collection when I came upon some dups I was moving into separate sale boxes and noted this comic was about an 1/8th-1/4th inch shorter than the typical Bronze DC. And shorter than the surrounding Detectives. Looks like the top edge was trimmed. Think it was deliberate or could it have been a manufacturing error?

 

Believe I bought this off eBay as a Detective lot years ago and the comics that accompanied this issue do not appear trimmed...

 

 

Jim

[Mr. Zipper]

Impossible to tell for certain from a scan, but given the wear on the corners and the spine, the top and right edge seem atypically clean.

 

[Mr. Zipper]

BTW, maybe it's just me, but if I was buying a low grade reader like this, I wouldn't lose any sleep worrying if it was trimmed. What's is it, a $3 book on ebay?

[awe4one]

Impossible to tell for certain from a scan, but given the wear on the corners and the spine, the top and right edge seem atypically clean.

 

 

If the right edge was trimmed it must have been a extreme micro-job as it's near identical width as other Bronze DCs...

 

Jim

[Mr. Zipper]

The more I look at it, I think it's okay. Note how the curvature at the top of the spine smoothly curves into the top edge? To me, this indicates the top wasn't chopped post printing... otherwise the curvature of the spine top would be chopped off abruptly as well.

 

Probably just a bad cut at the printer.

[awe4one]

BTW, maybe it's just me, but if I was buying a low grade reader like this, I wouldn't lose any sleep worrying if it was trimmed. What's is it, a $3 book on ebay?

 

Trust me...I'm not losing sleep at all. Just won't move it into the selling inventory...

 

Jim

[october]

Ummm. Nope.

 

You can't judge trimming by measurement. Variations in size, centering, and cut were common up until the 90s. DC and Marvel certainly didn't have the kind of quality control that would allow tens of thousands of cheap, newsprint comics to roll off the presses with the exact same dimensions.

 

I mean, basic common sense would dictate that.

[awe4one]

Ummm. Nope.

 

You can't judge trimming by measurement. Variations in size, centering, and cut were common up until the 90s. DC and Marvel certainly didn't have the kind of quality control that would allow tens of thousands of cheap, newsprint comics to roll off the presses with the exact same dimensions.

 

I mean, basic common sense would dictate that.

 

I know...but I've never seen a comic with as straight a miscut and as much chopped off one side. The top cover is cut completely level with the insides as well. The side and bottom have a slight overhang...

 

It could very well be a miscut vs trimming as I bought this comic a couple years before the advent of CGC and it really doesn't make sense from an appearance POV due to the other problems with the comic.

 

Unless of course someone was experimenting...

 

Jim

[october]

Ummm. Nope.

 

You can't judge trimming by measurement. Variations in size, centering, and cut were common up until the 90s. DC and Marvel certainly didn't have the kind of quality control that would allow tens of thousands of cheap, newsprint comics to roll off the presses with the exact same dimensions.

 

I mean, basic common sense would dictate that.

 

I know...but I've never seen a comic with as straight a miscut and as much chopped off one side. The top cover is cut completely level with the insides as well. The side and bottom have a slight overhang...

 

It could very well be a miscut vs trimming as I bought this comic a couple years before the advent of CGC and it really doesn't make sense from an appearance POV due to the other problems with the comic.

 

Unless of course someone was experimenting...

 

Jim

 

Experimentation is always a possibility, but I have seen books with as bizarre cuts as that one. Actually, now that I think about it, post-Adams run Detectives like that one are REALLY bad as far as printing flaws go. I just pulled a pile of them for sale and they all have problems. Tough to find those issues with perfect QP.

[rodan57]

October makes a good point. I've seen very early Daredevils with miscuts that look like they were finished with a sharpened boomerang. Some of the last Tales to Astonish seem as if someone took a dull saw to the right edges.

 

Dennis

[the blob]

why would anyone bother trimming that book given the stuff going on at the bottom? to maybe it look like a VG from a VG-? We're talking about 50 cents in added "value". Doesn't mean it wasn't done, but would be weird.

[FFB]

why would anyone bother trimming that book given the stuff going on at the bottom? to maybe it look like a VG from a VG-? We're talking about 50 cents in added "value". Doesn't mean it wasn't done, but would be weird.

 

This is definitely a WGAF book.

[EastEnd]

Look at the top edge length wise from the right edge. If you see a "v" shape then the book likely has not been trimmed. If it's perfectly flat, there's a good chance it has been. The original cutting and folding process would typically form this "v." Bottom edge should also be "v" shaped in the same direction as the top (one side being an empty "v"; the other being a full "v".

[Mr. Zipper]

Look at the top edge length wise from the right edge. If you see a "v" shape then the book likely has not been trimmed. If it's perfectly flat, there's a good chance it has been. The original cutting and folding process would typically form this "v." Bottom edge should also be "v" shaped in the same direction as the top (one side being an empty "v"; the other being a full "v".

 

This would only apply presuming the entire book (inside and cover pages) were chopped.

 

Is this really how most trim jobs are done? I always presumed most trims are done to the cover only... especially when there is a little cover overhang.