Is this book trimmed? 1 1

[Motor City Rob]

Avengers #38. Seller stated this was VF/NM and unrestored. I am NOT good at detecting trimming, but is it normal for edges to look this rough?

[theCapraAegagrus]

Looks like awful trimming to me.

[James J Johnson]

4 hours ago, theCapraAegagrus said:

Looks like awful trimming to me.

Not trimmed. Looks like one would expect but it's a dull blade factory cut. Avengers in the 35-40 range seem to suffer a lot from an edge or two being like this. On this one, it's all 3, but only trimmed once; in production, when manufactured.. Ironically, most trimming does not look like this. Trimming usually results in a smoother edge than when manufactured! Most trimmed books start out with edges like this. Rough, or with chips/pre-chips.

Edited August 11, 2019 by James J Johnson

[Motor City Rob]

Thank you for the response. Can't believe how bad factory cuts can look. Still not sure this is a VF/NM grade, but I will keep it. 

[James J Johnson]

On ‎8‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 9:03 PM, Motor City Rob said:

Thank you for the response. Can't believe how bad factory cuts can look. Still not sure this is a VF/NM grade, but I will keep it. 

VF/NM?!?  

No. It's not even in the ballpark of VF/NM. More like out in the parking lot of VF/NM. For reasons other than the rough cut.

[The Lions Den]

On 8/11/2019 at 12:03 AM, Motor City Rob said:

Thank you for the response. Can't believe how bad factory cuts can look. Still not sure this is a VF/NM grade, but I will keep it. 

Note the way minute flaws on the cover line up with more noticeable flaws on the page edges; from a trimming standpoint, it's exactly what you want to see on an untrimmed book. But I'm not convinced it's a VF/NM either...there's quite a bit of color-breaking edge and spine wear for a 9.0. Still, a bright, tight copy... 

[James J Johnson]

41 minutes ago, The Lions Den said:

Note the way minute flaws on the cover line up with more noticeable flaws on the page edges; from a trimming standpoint, it's exactly what you want to see on an untrimmed book. But I'm not convinced it's a VF/NM either...there's quite a bit of color-breaking edge and spine wear for a 9.0. Still, a bright, tight copy... 

As a very wise forum member once posited; "it is what it is", and "that's all that it is", I might add!

[tlconan]

The stock on most comic books from the 1960’s are covers with coated gloss text and the guts (inside pages) newsprint.  Coated stock absorbs less water than newsprint. Over a period of time the cover and text expands and retracts depending on moisture in the given area. Eventually the cover or text hangs over  and thus gives the appearance that  the comic pages were married/restored. Only a pro with a magnifying loop can determine that they are the originally bind pages. That book has what’s  known as marvel chipping. The correct technical term is that the saddle stitch machine had a dull blade.  Most of the comics from that period were saddle stitch and trim inline off a web press.

[RockMyAmadeus]

On 8/13/2019 at 6:02 AM, The Lions Den said:

Note the way minute flaws on the cover line up with more noticeable flaws on the page edges; from a trimming standpoint, it's exactly what you want to see on an untrimmed book. 

This ought to be overstated: match the cuts on the edge of the cover to the interior pages. This is the way to tell if trimming has occurred: if the edges match up, the book hasn't been trimmed (post-production.) It's one of the reasons the "ragged cuts" of the 60s are so useful: you get a much easier "fingerprint" to tell.

[The Lions Den]

7 hours ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

This ought to be overstated: match the cuts on the edge of the cover to the interior pages. This is the way to tell if trimming has occurred: if the edges match up, the book hasn't been trimmed (post-production.) It's one of the reasons the "ragged cuts" of the 60s are so useful: you get a much easier "fingerprint" to tell.

[Motor City Rob]

Does this mean that trimming almost always happens with the covers only, and not the interior pages?

[James J Johnson]

54 minutes ago, Motor City Rob said:

Does this mean that trimming almost always happens with the covers only, and not the interior pages?

There are trimmed books with only the overhang of the cover trimmed back, and then there are those that are far more aggressively and invasively hacked, where an entire side is cut off, the cover and pages. I'd estimate that I've seen about an equal proportion, 50/50, of both types.

[Motor City Rob]

So, if the edges match and/or line up, this is not a good indicator of whether or not a book has been trimmed?