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Cover Lamination - Factory or After Market?
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CritStrike
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Post Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2015 6:43 pm 
 

I got a copy of the Complete Ninja's Handbook today, and while it has the textured cover, it also appears to have an odd film over it. The thing that makes me wonder if its factory or not is the air pockets (shown as white dots in the photo) that are all over the cover. I have all of the brown complete books, and this is the only one I have like this. Anyone know if this is factory or custom?

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dbartman
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Post Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 12:58 am 
 

That picture is a bit blurry, but judging from gold print sheen, I would say that is factory original.  Some of these books had a high-gloss laminate finish.  It's possible that your version has delaminated due to heat or just the underlying texture.
  

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CritStrike
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Post Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 3:08 am 
 

Thanks for the feedback! Here are a couple better photos

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dbartman
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Post Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 7:57 am 
 

Yep, that looks like it is original.  The white "spots" are fairly common in the finish, the result of the deep texture.

A basic check you can do is if there isn't any laminate over the gold stenciling, then it's original.  That appears to be the case.
  

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u2622
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Post Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 1:16 pm 
 

I've got two books that look like this: Complete Thief's Handbook, and Sages & Specialists. Interesting I also have a Complete Thief's Handbook from the same year, and it says they're both from the same printing. Some of the distribution information in the copyright section is a bit different.

I find the lamination rather ugly to be honest. Fortunately it seems to be less common than the smooth, non laminated covers.
  

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CritStrike
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Post Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 7:55 pm 
 

Thanks all! Very helpful!
  
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