Bar like printer ink errors atop inside pages

[Daducesir]

Hello

Has anyone seen these type of flaws and are the very common?

 

Will they also take away or affect trhe grade value of the

Comic when selling?

 

Is this also something that needs to be reported to a customer via photos

before allowing a buyer to commit to the purchase.

 

I saw nothing mentioned online or at any grading website that explains these printing flaws

 

any help will be appreciated

 

I hopefully uploaded the file correctly??

Having problems uploading a Pic, I will do it again if I receive proper information of the correct way

Thank you

Daducesir

166632.pdf

[BlowUpTheMoon]

Welcome to the Boards!

[comicparadox]

If I understand correctly, this color bar is a code that dates from the "returns" time when newsstand distributors would rotate stock. I believe it was a 4-color (weekly) cycle, so that when the new weekly stock came in, the oldest comics would be easily identified and removed from the stands. At some point, the color-coding moved from the level of the distributors (where it was added post-production, leading to variable color penetration to the top of the books) to the actual printed page for uniformity.

 

Hope this helps.

[Daducesir]

Hey

Thank you for that explaination as it makes sense

I have many with those marks

the next question if you will help me

is it common to many books out there Does this mark take away the value?

 

Thanks again

Daducesir

[Stronguy]

Starting in the early 80s, most books had these.

[Daducesir]

Thanks for chiming in here with me

I just did another investigation and I do not know how those marking got there and I am definately no where near portraying to understand the conclusion.

 

please consider these below

 

The weird thing about it is that

1,The Ink is not at the same length on each page

2,The ink seems to be consistent with at least one of the major colors of the print art fill ins

per the particular comic book issue.

3.The end result of the colored areas are perfectly squared off as if it is not a bleed

through but instead perfectly printed

4.It does not resemble die or highlighted marker ink

5.Not layered on but printed at the same time the page was printed

6.All of the pages have different size prints as if it was done before the binding

7.There is seperations of pages that were affected like pages 3,6,8,12 and after the center more inconsistent numbers

so still I am even more confused about it now

 

does anyone have a comic with this that they can upload a picture of

 

Thanks

Daducesir

 

 

 

 

[Tony S]

Stronguy and comicparadox have answered your question. The comic book was printed this way. It is common on books from the 1980's. It is color coded - the color changed each month - and it tells the retailer when to return unsold copies for credit. They would get instructions each month from the distributor. "Pull all red coded books". Or black. Or blue.

 

A really brief history.

 

For the first 50 years, comic books were sold on a returnable basis. Retailers (book stores, drug stores, grocery stores) only paid for the copies they sold. These sales outlets received their comics and magazines from local distributors. Who got them from the printer.

 

Comic books and magazines are cover dated 2-3 months later than when they actually arrive for sale. December cover dated comics arrived in September or October. The publishers did this trying to keep their books on the retailers shelves for as long as possible. To sell.

 

Retailers didn't have unlimited shelf or rack space. So they began to write the arrival date on cover. And would send unsold copies in for credit whenever they felt they had sat long enough.

 

Distributors didn't like getting books back that way. Some retailers kept them months, others just weeks. So Distributors started using spray paint (mostly) or markers (sometimes) and marked the top edge of the book with a color of the month. And then they would tell the retailer when to send in all red coded, blue coded, etc, etc.. books. This spray painting didn't always go so well. In Evansville, Indiana the joke among comic collectors in the 70's was that the guys working for the local distributor were getting paid based on the number of cans of paint they emptied, not by the hour. Some books were drenched.

 

In the late 70's the so called "direct market" started to gain some traction. Comic books were sold directly to comic shops - on a non returnable basis - at higher discounts off cover price than the normal newsstand distribution. By 1985 about one half of the comics sold were on a non returnable basis directly to comic book stores. By 1990 it was 90%.

 

I'm not certain why - I would guess in response to collectors still buying off the newstands complaining about spray painted ink on their comics - but it might have been publishers wanting more control over returns - the publishers started printing the colored tabs on the edge of the books. No need for the distributor to paint them.

 

It doesn't affect the grade. At all. It is how the book was printed.

 

Welcome to the boards

[Mef]

 

Stronguy and comicparadox have answered your question. The comic book was printed this way. It is common on books from the 1980's. It is color coded - the color changed each month - and it tells the retailer when to return unsold copies for credit. They would get instructions each month from the distributor. "Pull all red coded books". Or black. Or blue.

 

A really brief history.

 

For the first 50 years, comic books were sold on a returnable basis. Retailers (book stores, drug stores, grocery stores) only paid for the copies they sold. These sales outlets received their comics and magazines from local distributors. Who got them from the printer.

 

Comic books and magazines are cover dated 2-3 months later than when they actually arrive for sale. December cover dated comics arrived in September or October. The publishers did this trying to keep their books on the retailers shelves for as long as possible. To sell.

 

Retailers didn't have unlimited shelf or rack space. So they began to write the arrival date on cover. And would send unsold copies in for credit whenever they felt they had sat long enough.

 

Distributors didn't like getting books back that way. Some retailers kept them months, others just weeks. So Distributors started using spray paint (mostly) or markers (sometimes) and marked the top edge of the book with a color of the month. And then they would tell the retailer when to send in all red coded, blue coded, etc, etc.. books. This spray painting didn't always go so well. In Evansville, Indiana the joke among comic collectors in the 70's was that the guys working for the local distributor were getting paid based on the number of cans of paint they emptied, not by the hour. Some books were drenched.

 

In the late 70's the so called "direct market" started to gain some traction. Comic books were sold directly to comic shops - on a non returnable basis - at higher discounts off cover price than the normal newsstand distribution. By 1985 about one half of the comics sold were on a non returnable basis directly to comic book stores. By 1990 it was 90%.

 

I'm not certain why - I would guess in response to collectors still buying off the newstands complaining about spray painted ink on their comics - but it might have been publishers wanting more control over returns - the publishers started printing the colored tabs on the edge of the books. No need for the distributor to paint them.

 

It doesn't affect the grade. At all. It is how the book was printed.

 

Welcome to the boards

 

 

Wow, thank you for the education. Just one of the many reasons I love these boards.

 

Welcome OP!

[RCheli]

Stronguy and comicparadox have answered your question. The comic book was printed this way. It is common on books from the 1980's. It is color coded - the color changed each month - and it tells the retailer when to return unsold copies for credit. They would get instructions each month from the distributor. "Pull all red coded books". Or black. Or blue.

 

Your explanation is 98% correct. The colors weren't updated monthly; it was weekly. So you'd get a new shipment in that week with the red stripe at top and before you put the new issues up on the stand, you took all the red stripes that were already out for sale off the rack