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Trimmed?
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14 posts in this topic

Got this book recently and when comparing to some other GA books I noticed it is significantly thinner. I have set it over top of a copy of Terrifying Tales 12 for reference.

I am no pro so am wondering if it has been trimmed or if Harvey books are a bit thinner from this time. The back picture has me feeling it’s trimmed for sure though. Thanks!

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The puzzling thing is that I see a copy online for sale and it appears there is a tiny bit more artwork visible along the leading edge. Not enough to make match the size of the Terrifying Tales though.

I have also seen pics that look similar to my copy so I’m confused...

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2 hours ago, Lazyboy said:

Measuring does not work when trying to detect trimming. Ever.

While there were theoretically standard dimensions for eras and/or publishers, the reality is that printing was far from perfect and there also may have been intentional deviations.

 

True. It is the right length but the width seems almost an inch off which seemed a lot. 

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13 minutes ago, comicginger1789 said:

 

True. It is the right length but the width seems almost an inch off which seemed a lot. 

Okay, so who would trim an inch off the side in an attempt to make the book look better? Trimming is meant to be inconspicuous, not obvious.

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21 minutes ago, Lazyboy said:

Okay, so who would trim an inch off the side in an attempt to make the book look better? Trimming is meant to be inconspicuous, not obvious.

A real amateur? I was just curious is all but having read some other threads, the consistency on older books seems to vary a lot. 

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4 hours ago, Lazyboy said:

Measuring does not work when trying to detect trimming. Ever.

While there were theoretically standard dimensions for eras and/or publishers, the reality is that printing was far from perfect and there also may have been intentional deviations.

True words. Size deficiency is a tell for trim, that is, books smaller than average across either plane warrant a closer inspection of the edges than their more normally sized brethren.as they are more suspect for trim but the smaller size, in and of itself is not evidence of definite trim. The edges speak for themselves, not the size. 

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1 hour ago, comicginger1789 said:

A real amateur? I was just curious is all but having read some other threads, the consistency on older books seems to vary a lot. 

Perform this experiment. Take any 10 Silver age books and remove them from their bags. All the better if VG and well read, because these are books that the chance of being trimmed is vastly remote. Line them up, one atop the next, making a stack. Note the size differences. You won't only have 10 different sizes of comic, but 10 different quadrilateral shapes! If any one of them is perfectly square without deviation, it will be a miracle. 

The printers were manufacturing periodicals. Throwaways, like newspapers. The tolerances were lax compared to the manufacture of precision parts where strict adherence to exacting tolerances is necessary. This is why the characteristics of the edges themselves are the determining factor for trimming. Thankfully, these were manufactured in a certain way, with characteristic production cuts. We expect to see these characteristics and expected symmetry exhibited on the edges and when we don't, alarm bells go off

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29 minutes ago, James J Johnson said:

Perform this experiment. Take any 10 Silver age books and remove them from their bags. All the better if VG and well read, because these are books that the chance of being trimmed is vastly remote. Line them up, one atop the next, making a stack. Note the size differences. You won't only have 10 different sizes of comic, but 10 different quadrilateral shapes! If any one of them is perfectly square without deviation, it will be a miracle. 

The printers were manufacturing periodicals. Throwaways, like newspapers. The tolerances were lax compared to the manufacture of precision parts where strict adherence to exacting tolerances is necessary. This is why the characteristics of the edges themselves are the determining factor for trimming. Thankfully, these were manufactured in a certain way, with characteristic production cuts. We expect to see these characteristics and expected symmetry exhibited on the edges and when we don't, alarm bells go off

I appreciate your info! I usually don’t notice it but this was substantially more than most so I was curious:) 

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When comparing with front cover scans of that same issue, keep in mind how much white is showing on the left sides -- wrapped around from the backs.  Obviously a little artwork on the right edge can be lost due to the wrap.

I think your Harvey is fine - very likely not trimmed.

 

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