robertleegrant wrote in G2 Staple Free  Production Error?:Hi Guys,  

  I posted a few months ago about wanting to pick up the early 1978 Lizardman logo modules, but was seeing some high prices on Ebay in the $100-$120 range.  Just by happenstance, I stumbled across an Ebay auction for G2 Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl, with only one bid in the $30 range.  The item was listed in good condition, but was advertised as a "production error" with no staples.  I wonder if that scared off other bidders?  I decided to go for it (I have put a lot more on the blackjack table) and bid $40 and won it.  

I received it yesterday and it was nicely bagged and in very good condition.  No marks or writing.  1978 Lizardman Logo and all.  But, weirdly, it does, in fact, lack any staples or staple holes.  About mid-book there is an indention in the crease that looks like someone tried to press a staple there and failed, otherwise no marks at all.  

I'm happy with the purchase, but curious.  Anyone come across this phenomenon before?  Is this a "production error?"  How would it affect your evaluation of the module, if at all?

I was the other bidder on that auction. Looked legit to me and in pretty nice condition.

It happens in silver and golden age comic books rarely and those command a pretty good premium due to that rarity. I didn't think RPG collectors see that kind of production error as particularly more valuable but personally I thought it was cool.

In other areas of selling, production flaws are extensively collected. Postage stamps missing a color in the printing process or the plate being reversed (do a quick search for "inverted jenny", I think those are hitting a million dollars a piece now), quite a few of them are a big deal, but others aren't - just depends on how rare they are and how much the collecting public views them as desirable. Some errors are almost half of the total print run for the stamp so obviously they don't matter much to value. US Coins are probably even more heavily looked at for production errors, just because they  are extremely rare - the US Mint does a good job, most mistakes are caught before they get in use.
I could go on and on, I've run into a lot of sellers in things like antique glass that try to promote poorly produced items as "special" and I have none of that crap - if they get pushy about it, I just say "I don't want one that was made jacked up. I want one that was made right." To me, that's like a "lemon" car that wasn't made right and is going to immediately break down. No one is going to pay extra for that.

So, getting back to your case, I thought it had some "cool factor" to it but have you ever heard of a collector of this stuff seriously looking for production errors - I haven't. Might be some for Dice but not the paper stuff. I think if the seller would have put the price a lot higher and let it set as a Buy it Now, someone could have come along eventually and bought it. I was surprised too that there wasn't much interest in it though, maybe the starting bid should have been lower to get some more bids on it. It is a pretty decent condition 1st print, just being that isn't all that common.

Thanks Mr. Yuk,

   I appreciate the input, and sorry about the bid!  

  My uninformed guess is that it probably doesn't add much to the value.  It's not a super pricey thing to begin with.   But I am really curious about whether anyone else has seen similar "production errors."   I guess that would include staples, off-set print, color mistakes, etc.    On Ebay there is currently an old module for sale that claims two pages are unintentionally blank.  Other than that, not much info on mistakes TSR might have made in the printing process.  I wonder if there QC was really good, or their printer was just top notch.  

R

Things like the DMG with MM pages and the Orange B3 have the added benefit of being full press runs that were recalled, so there is a sense of being of special interest. Being missing staples or having a blank page here and there or not being perfed, while probably even more rare in some cases, are not likely going to be of general interest to anyone except those that like that sort of oddity. Such things just simply happen. A pressman will usually monitor stuff coming off the machine, and make corrections where necessary, but at the rate things shoot through the press, some oddballs will ultimately sneak through. Try taking a book and flipping the pages quickly with your thumb front to back. Did you notice the pen mark on page 45? Yeah, it's kinda like that.