Noticed an odd thing.

Re 1e Players Handbook poster, seller sez: "The game poster is in FINE- condition. No tears whatsoever to the edges - nice and crisp! The poster has two 1/4" hole punches, one centered at the top edge and one 3/4 of the way down and centered. They are original from the printer -- perhaps they were only meant to be punched at the top for hanging the poster and this was an error or perhaps it is some sort guide hole for the printing machine that produced them. All of the TSR portrait oriented 16" x 24" posters I have sold have the same hole punches."

Yet I have one without punched holes.
And I have (vertical) Holmes & Gamma World posters with no holes.
But I also have one Holmes with punched holes.

Looks like Mr. Stormberg's theories need more research. :/


** expired/removed eBay auction **

Hey Scott and Frank,


So Frank, are you saying the my theory is full of holes?  

All of the posters from Gary's collection and another entire set of them (two of which are being sold here) had the same holes. In total I have personally handled 34 copies of these portrait oriented posters and 33 of them had the holes in the exact same place. I have had one, a PH poster, without any holes that I purchased some 10 or 11 years ago. I have also handled 5 of the DMG landscape oriented posters and none of them had holes.

So all of the portrait oriented posters from this series that I have sold, 26 of them, have had the holes.

Why are there posters with and without holes? Perhaps a new company started producing them with a different machine, perhaps the same company got a new machine, perhaps they decided to put a hole at the top for hanging them and the extra holes were mistakes, or perhaps they were some sort of returned stock punch? I dunno.


Futures Bright,

Paul

Hey Frank,


Yes, that is certainly a possibility - I just don't understand why they would put that second hole in there?

Here is my theory: Wouldn't it take a specialized tool to repeatedly and accurately drill that hole in the exact center? Lining up all of my posters with holes, the holes are in the exact same location. I think the top hole can be explained away as an after-printer hole punch but the one in the center of the poster would require a specialized machine to repeatedly and accurately drill the hole near the horizontal center. If it was a mistake, it seems characteristic of a machine error as it is a) accurately repeated and b) in a terrible location. If it were done manually it would be a pretty egregious, boneheaded mistake. Given that, I just don't think that makes sense for it to happen outside of a printing/bindery facility - thus my original contention.


Futures Bright,

Paul