lou_fine

+1 Obviously a man with impeccable taste. Absolutely love the detailed artwork on this classic cover and have always thought it was undervalued as compared to some of his other noted classic covers such as Wonderworld 8 and Mystery Men 3. Speaking of detailed artwork, another Fine cover which I feel is underappreciated is the cover for Hit Comics #1. Nobody ever seems to point this one out, but I think it is an absolutely gorgeous rendering and Fine once again at his best.

You wouldn't even have to give me money. You have a book I want desperately. Even if I go as far away as Allentown, it would still be a complete mystery to men like me to figure out exactly what book you are talking about, even if I spend 10 years thinking about it.

Hardly ever see this book,let alone in such stunning condition! i had to talk him into grabbing it! Well, to ease the uncertainty and doubt that must still be swirling around in his head, I would be more than happy to sacrifice myself and take that load off his mind. But only at the price that he had paid you since I am going out of my way to help him out of his dilemma so that he can finally sleep peacefully at night.

I would assume that it is not just the #1 that has not yet been graded, but probably the entire run has not been yet been graded. No real point in grading something from my point of view, unless you are planning to sell it. Also not sure why you believe the Planet #1 might be restored simply because the Fight #1 had been restored. Especially since the entire Planet run, including issue #1, was pre-sold as a complete set and has basically stayed that way over the very few owners it has had. The Fight #1 most likely did not follow this same path into the marketplace.

I was just looking at the Church list rob_react posted, which is based mostly, I think, off Chuck's initial catalog. Only one low-grade Planet is listed. I assume that means they were sold off pre-catalog. Burrel Rowe bought the run from Chuck in the very first purchase out of the collection. Burrel then blended those into his existing collection. There were a handful of his books that he felt were better than the Churches. He sold that complete run to Geppi in 1982 or so. Fischler acquired it from Geppi. It's amazing what you can learn from some of these old-time dealers such as Richard. I must say that Burrel had quite the eye for the best covers when he took his initial share of the collection from Chuck. Since he blended some of his own copies into the complete run sold off to Geppi, does this mean that there are possibly some untraceable Church Planet books sitting in collections unbeknownst to their owners?

Have always loved that GGA cover for Wings #94. Only one that I like better is the GGA cover for Wings #90. Don't really care for how the printers cropped off the top edge of some of these covers for the later Wings during this time period though.

Hardly ever see this book,let alone in such stunning condition! +1 Yes, a definite keeper here! Absolutely love the use of the red and yellows on this cover and the details on the animals! Have always personally considered this to be a classic cover long before it was broken out in the guide and designated as such by Overstreet. Was always hoping to find a HG copy of this book for my collection, but was unsuccessful before the book moved out of my price range.

Probably sitting next to the Larson copy of Action 1 since nobody seems to know where that copy is either. Is it true that this original Larson list provides details on most of the books in terms of estimated condition, minor flaws or major flaws such as coupon out, no back cover, etc.?

There is a Larson Mystery Men #1 (on the original list as a "NM"), but I don't know where it is and I've never seen it. FYI, I have Larson copies of Mystery Men 2, 4, 5, 6, and 10 (and would love to find any others). Do all 5 of your Larson MM books have the Larson name on them or instead, do some of them have the appropriate Larson numeric indicator for the MM run of books? Just wondering if some of the early Larson books might not have any markings at all on them? Congrats on having 5 out of the first 10 as Larson copies.

Well, for me it would be the Fiction House books with those full color beautifully rendered covers. And in particular, some of the more classic GGA covers such as Rangers 26, Wings #90 and #94, etc.

Yes, just checked and that was back in the '96 edition of the price guide when Overstreet jacked up the price from $2,100 all the way up to $8,500 and into his Top 100 list. Prior to that, all of the very early Mystery Men were selling for multiples of guide. No longer after that huge increase in guide. Twenty years ago, how time flies - good research, Dean. Steve; No research necessary at all as I clearly remember that was the time when I was basically priced out of the market for the early Fox books. Never did managed to finished my run of the early Wonderworld books before the door closed on me. BTW: Since you are a well known Larson collector, would you happen to know if there is a Larson copy of Mystery Men #1 out there somewhere?

Good question. I may have to consult my crystal ball. Yes, it will be very interesting to see where this book finishes up at since it is the highest graded copy to date and with the prestigious and highly sought after Allentown pedigree designation to boot. From the HA archives, it would appear that the last copy to sell close to this type of condition was the 9.0 graded Carson City copy which went for almost $20K back in 2008. So, it's apparently been awhile since a relatively HG copy of this book has made its way into the marketplace. Any preliminary guesses as to where this book will end up at by the time it's all said and done? Yes, I'll make one prediction with confidence. This book will land in the collection of someone of substantial means. Oh, you mean one of the new generation collectors such as Ayman Hariri or are you referring to one of the old-timers such as you yourself? If it's the former, I believe they are really into more recognizable characters from much easier to find books such as DC's or Timelys for their Not So Impossible collection. If it's the latter, this Allentown copy of Mystery Men 1 would be a perfect fit for your own personal collection.

Good question. I may have to consult my crystal ball. Yes, it will be very interesting to see where this book finishes up at since it is the highest graded copy to date and with the prestigious and highly sought after Allentown pedigree designation to boot. From the HA archives, it would appear that the last copy to sell close to this type of condition was the 9.0 graded Carson City copy which went for almost $20K back in 2008. So, it's apparently been awhile since a relatively HG copy of this book has made its way into the marketplace. Any preliminary guesses as to where this book will end up at by the time it's all said and done?

Yes, just checked and that was back in the '96 edition of the price guide when Overstreet jacked up the price from $2,100 all the way up to $8,500 and into his Top 100 list. Prior to that, all of the very early Mystery Men were selling for multiples of guide. No longer after that huge increase in guide. Interesting to note that the book with the second biggest increase that year was Suspense 3 which went from $2,000 all the way up to $8,000 and also into Overstreet's Top 100 chart. Looks like both books have taken divergent paths since then with MM #1 eventually falling out of Overstreet's Top 100 listing while Suspense 3 is now poised to crack into his Top 30 Chart this year and possibly even into his Top 25 listing.

An absolutely amazing and Fine Fox collection which you have there. It looks like you have a sharp eye for snagging nice copies which presents better than their stated grades. Love the contrasting blue, yellow, and red colors on this cover here and definitely looks much nicer than a CGC 5.0 from the front cover.

There are two "S" types that I'm aware of, one is "Black S" (like this book) and the other is "Pencil S". Not just limited to Fox books, both extend across other publishers as well. You're correct, not a recognized pedigree but the books are generally very nice! If they were indeed from a single collection (either Black S or Pencil S), then such a collection would have been broken up long ago and we may never know their history. Thanks Steve; Just checked my list of early Fox books and it looks like I have the "Black S" mark on issues 4 and 6 of my Mystery Men and also on issues 8 and 10 of my Wonderworld's. If I remember correctly, all four of them were pretty nice copies.

Absolutely love the finer details on that cover of National 7. Definitely a classic cover and the cover in the entire National run, from my point of view. Steve: Any idea what that black "S" mark is on the cover of the book? Just asking since I have seen it on quite a few of the early Fox books also, and these books all seem to be in pretty nice condition like your National 7. Just wondering if they are all from the same collection or not?

I wonder if you and I are the only Golden Age collectors in Newport. Could be, I know others in Orange County, but none here in Newport Beach. Is Billy's at the Beach Restaurant still in business at Newport Beach? The original owner there used to have some GA books, but that was 25 years ago when I was down there for my first SD Convention. Pretty sure he doesn't have any more now since he had to open his restaurant.

Why is that copy of Fantastic 3 coming in only at a CGC grade of 0.5 Poor? I assume the book must be missing something that is not obvious from just a front cover scan since it presents much better than a 0.5 Poor copy. No BC - I can live with that. For a classic cover book like this, it would be much harder to live without a front cover.

Why is that copy of Fantastic 3 coming in only at a CGC grade of 0.5 Poor? I assume the book must be missing something that is not obvious from just a front cover scan since it presents much better than a 0.5 Poor copy.

Since you are the acknowledged expert when it comes to the Fox books, would the early Fox books from 1939 & early 1940 be easier to find than these later Fox books from 1941 to '42?

There were some scans and discussions but they probably 'disappeared'. No, not referring to the damaged wavy GA books which were encased in the bad new holder as we saw lots of those. I am referring to the latest new case holder with the inner well which is supposed to do away with both the Newton rings and the waviness. I have seen lots of books in these latest modified case holders, but to this point in time, not a single one from the GA with the larger and thicker books.

No scans of GA books in the modified new CGC case holders? Just asking since I have not yet seen a single scan anywhere of a GA book in the new case. I am wondering how the larger thicker books would fit into this case or would their be issues with the sizing of the book to the inner well and finally to the outer case.

I thought Adventure 283 has already moved up quite a bit in the marketplace. Even in Overstreet which is usually dead slow, the book is listed for $900 at top of guide.

Twenty years ago, I used to say that it were the early Archie books. Well, I can definitely no longer say that as the market prices on the early Archie's have gone up like a rocket over the past several years. Another one which I have mentioned before and which I still feel is undervalued are the second issues of the 2 big iconic characters from DC. From my point of view both Action 2 and especially Detective 28 are extremely undervalued given how early these issues are. Yes, I know that they do not feature the main character on their covers, but come on, they are the second appearances for both Superman and Batman. And in the case of Detective 28, probably the scarcest of all the pre-Robin Detective books.