Series book format collectors look for variants to collect. I fall into that group, and my attention is drawn to listings for books that have unusual bindings. I have spotted a number of AI photos that could easily trick an unwitting collector.
Click or tap the images to view them at a higher resolution.
The above photo is alluring, since the spines look like a new format. Closer examination reveals AI hallmarks throughout the image (wrong titles, distorted cover art, and other oddities).
When I first spotted the above listing photo, I thought that the books were library editions. Enlargement of the photo revealed that AI was used to enhance the edges of the books. Book buyers just want an accurate depiction of the offered books. We don't need special effects!
Recently, this image was posted on Facebook.
The book had been purchased, and it had not arrived. The buyer asked about the cover art.
The image is quite convincing, especially with the wear patterns seen along the bottom and right edges. It looks like a real book. I didn't think it could be, but it still took me a few minutes to home in on the telltale signs of AI output.
Nancy's left hand has six fingers altogether. The marionette has extra strings that are just dangling. Nancy's head has an outline along the top, as if it were cut out of another image. This is definitely AI. I am mystified by the seller's actions. My best guess is that they used AI to create an image, unaware that AI hallucinated a new cover art for the book.
From now on, we must all be very careful, especially because the online marketplaces are encouraging the use of AI to create listings. Yes, eBay has no problem with it. They are just happy to collect the listing fees from sellers.
eBay's listing form now defaults to AI, and sellers have to toggle the option off so that their listings aren't automatically created by AI. That is where we are at now.
Since photos can no longer be trusted like they once were, I am very wary of listings that are for truly rare books or collectibles. I am especially wary of listings that feature never-before-seen cover art. I have come close to missing out on neat purchases because I took time to make sure that the listings weren't some kind of trick. Here are some examples from recent years.
I saw this Hardy Boys book on eBay in early 2020.
I spent around 10 minutes trying to figure out what the book was before I finally purchased it. I still wasn't sure when I purchased the book, but I was curious. It turned out not to be a library binding but most likely a one-of-a-kind binding assembled at Kingsport Press during a bookbinding class. Read more here:
The Library Edition That Wasn't
Earlier this summer, I saw a listing for a bulk lot of Grosset & Dunlap bookmarks featuring Nancy Drew on one side and Hardy Boys on the other. The seller estimated that around 50 bookmarks were in the shrink-wrap.
I considered the listing for a while. I was pretty sure that the bookmarks were actual Grosset & Dunlap bookmarks, but I still hesitated. With the bookmarks shrink-wrapped, they most likely were real. I ended up purchasing the lot, because I wanted to have at least one bookmark.
I still haven't removed the shrink-wrap, because I have had other concerns during the last couple months. I have examined the stack of bookmarks as best I can, and I believe that I have 100 bookmarks. Not too bad.
I also want to point out the age of the bookmarks. The Hardy Boys bookmark says that the Hardy Boys have been "America's favorite detecting duo for over sixty years!" Since the bookmark doesn't say "over seventy years," then we can assume that these bookmarks were produced between 1987 and 1997.
I was a bit skeptical when I saw this photo of a bulk lot offered by an eBay seller.
Devil's Paw had the Mickey Mouse Club promo wrapper. That wrapper is extremely scarce and has been reproduced by collectors. The price for the listing was too low, considering that the wrapper was present. Also, the wrapper was on the wrong book. The main reason I hesitated is that the listing had already been up longer than I would have expected it to last without being purchased. Since I am not a Hardy Boys expert, I worried that the wrapper had an obvious telltale sign that it was a copy.
Please read this post for information about reproduction dust jackets and the Nancy Drew promotional wrapper: Identifying Whether a Dust Jacket is a Reproduction.
I tried to figure out if the wrapper was real but couldn't even find photos online. I've read past discussions about the wrapper, but those discussions likely occurred in the defunct Yahoo! Groups. I went ahead and purchased the lot, figuring that I could sell the books for enough to cover my cost even if the wrapper was a reproduction.
I am now fairly certain that it is real, since it doesn't glow under a black light. Modern paper glows, so the wrapper is printed on vintage paper. If the wrapper is a copy, then it is a vintage copy of an original. More likely, it's the original.
The below photo shows a black light at the bottom. A piece of modern white paper is underneath the jacket and wrapper. The paper is glowing while the jacket and wrapper are not.
Collectors can easily purchase reproductions unwittingly, and not due to any fraud by the seller. Unfortunately, reproductions created or purchased by collectors years ago are now appearing in the marketplace. The sellers might have purchased the reproductions at an estate sale and have no idea that they are selling cheap copies. All of us must remain vigilant in order to avoid purchasing reproductions.
I could give other examples, but these are sufficient. I crave variants and scarce items, but I also try to avoid being tricked.
No comments:
Post a Comment