bellrules

Another hit today at an antique mall. Given that WDCS 481 came with Daisy 46, I’m going to assume the other two came packaged together. 

On 12/15/2023 at 6:01 AM, Brock said:

Go west, young man… I find that places like antique malls are better than LCSes for these kind of books. Think of Waterloo, Stratford, Woodstock, London…

Given they were bagged in Cambridge, that makes sense

On 12/14/2023 at 9:56 PM, MAR1979 said:

A scan to go along with what @Brock mentioned:

 

From June 1980 Comic Reader a follow up:

In July 1980 Comic Reader, simply a list. Some (all?) of the books noted are now known to only have been in Pre-Pack's

Aug 1980 same situation as July:

Here’s a few more. Posted these previously but a good idea to keep them all together.

On 12/14/2023 at 10:59 PM, stormflora said:

Where do you even find these? Do you stalk Facebook Marketplace or something :)?

Actually found these in two separate shops today. Black hole in one and the other two in another (which makes sense given Scrooge and Huey came in the same pack in Canada. 

On 12/1/2023 at 10:55 AM, stormflora said:

I don't like how Doug Sulipa's site is so poorly written and designed. It hurts to look at, lol.

Also, the prices he charges are arguably just as bad or worse than Mile High Comics.

Those are market prices. Just because I found a clone wars 1 for a dollar,  that does not mean the book isn’t worth what people are paying. Look at the last sold on Huey 65 for example. 

On 12/1/2023 at 10:46 AM, stormflora said:

Got it, thanks. Specifically those, and not any others.

Super Goof #60 isn't on my rare list. Maybe you had some misinformation from a source.

Battle of the Planets #7-9
Beep Beep Road Runner #91-93
Black Hole #4
Buck Rogers #8-9
Bugs Bunny #221-223
Chip 'n' Dale #67-69 
Daffy Duck #129-131
Daisy and Donald #45-47
Donald Duck #221-225
Huey, Dewey and Louie #65-67
Little Lulu #260-262
Looney Tunes #33-35
Mickey Mouse #207-209
Pink Panther #75-78
Popeye #158-159
Porky Pig #97-98
Super Goof #61-63
Tom and Jerry #330-332
Tweety and Sylvester #105-107
Uncle Scrooge #179-182
Walt Disney's Comics & Stories #479-484
Winnie the Pooh #20-22
Woody Woodpecker #190-191
Yosemite Sam #68-70

You might want to check out Doug Sulipa's Site:

http://www.dougcomicworld.com/inventory/INVENTORY-WhitmanComicsSite.html

On 12/1/2023 at 10:48 AM, stormflora said:

According to Mike's, Super Goof #60 isn't considered rare.

Mike's Amazing World of Comics (archive.org)

it's just some sellers try to sell it as such. Most Whitman collectors are aware that it isn't. 

On 12/1/2023 at 10:45 AM, OtherEric said:

I know the Super Goof #60 is on the rare list, but I'm not quite sure why... the code ends in 007, which makes it a July book, not part of the August-December rare zone, if I understand it?

Yeah, that's an odd one that I never understood. 

On 12/1/2023 at 10:38 AM, stormflora said:

IIRC, you said that all of the rare Whitmans priced as 50c/60c are reprints and not worth collecting, right? Or are they just not as valuable as their 40c originals, but still uncommon?

Never said any of them were reprints (some used the same covers and stories I believe) By the time the 50 cent books came out, they figured out their distribution issues. The exception being the 40 cent price variants from 1/81. There are two price versions of the following: Donald Duck 225, Huey Dewey and Louie 67, Uncle Scrooge 182, Little Lulu 262, WDCS 484, Bugs Bunny 223, Super Goof 63 and Pink Panther 78. The 40 cent versions of those books are the tougher ones to find. 

On 12/1/2023 at 10:28 AM, stormflora said:

What is the highest and lowest price you've paid for one of the three-packs? Do you own all of them now?

And it's understandable that CGC won't bother. Hard to tell whether or not it's been repackaged and the contents are not totally legitimate.

No idea what the highest price would have been. Too many to keep track of

Here are some rare ones still sealed 

On 12/1/2023 at 10:18 AM, stormflora said:

Weird... Definitely confusing.

When you bought all of the three-packs sealed (from Facebook and otherwise), did they cost a fortune? I couldn't fathom them being cheap. But definitely cool to collect. I wonder if CGC could even slab them with their bags intact, or if that isn't part of their services.

I've been buying them for years, many were at a good price, some not so much. CGC will not grade a book that they cannot leaf through. No one will. 

On 12/1/2023 at 10:08 AM, stormflora said:

I guess it boils back to this whole rarity chart:

Whitman variants in the 80's were direct to store in three-packs. So I guess it's kind of a competition between whether high grade GK or Whitman is more valuable.

But the GK imprint died at April '80 as you said, so it became rare for the low quantity published in general.

Thanks for the clarification

Don't put too much stock in those charts. Western was a weird duck as they also sold newsstand books in sealed bagged sets but not the other way around. 

On 12/1/2023 at 10:03 AM, stormflora said:

Oh, I think I get what you mean now. So for BotP #1-5, although there are both GK and Whitman variants, the latter is harder to find? Shouldn't GK (newsstand) in high grade be harder to find, though?

Depends on where you live I suppose. 

On 12/1/2023 at 9:37 AM, stormflora said:

Ah, so I scored a good one. Nice. Aren't the Whitman variants sort-of reprints of the Gold Key ones, though?

Is Battle of the Planets difficult to collect a run of?

No reprints, just sold exclusively in bagged sets. Gold Key was their newsstand version. Western moved to exclusively distribute their books through bagged sets in April 1980, an ceased selling books on newsstands, which is why you can only find Whitman versions of issues 6-10. Issues 7, 8, 9 all have low distribution.

On 11/29/2023 at 2:59 PM, stormflora said:

Not sure if I got it for a steal or not, but I needed a filler for a Tom & Jerry order at a Canadian comic store, and stumbled upon this rare Whitman that they had:

BATTLE OF THE PLANETS #08 VG (everythingcomics.ca)

After shipping and taxes is about $13.39 USD. Couldn't really find any available issues on eBay except for a really expensive one, at a slightly higher grade.

They also had Daisy and Donald #47, but it would have cost a higher price of $17.57 USD, which I chose not to go for.

A few factors are driving up the price. Battle of the Planets #8 came packaged with Black Hole #4. Battle of the Planets is rumoured to being developped as a live action movie by the Russo Brothers. It's more super-hero than cartoon, and of course, it is a low print run book. Whitman variants of the first five issues are also tought to find in high grade, the Gold Key Versions, are plentiful. (as are issues 6 and 10 that were only published under the Whitman banner)

On 11/24/2023 at 9:46 PM, stormflora said:

Yeah, from my personal observations, it feels like the Mickey Mouse comics are not particularly valuable. It's definitely the lowest on my list.

I might pick up Woody Woodpecker and Bugs Bunny for a low bid, but that's all. I'll skip Mickey Mouse.

Mickey Mouse 208 being the exception. That was one of the original “big books” having the higher values

On 11/24/2023 at 3:15 PM, OtherEric said:

It may just be me, but I think Mickey Mouse #207 is possibly the most common of the "rare" late 1980 Whitmans.

Yeah it is one of the more common ones (along with Donald 221) I’ve found multiple packs with those books still inside (often with books from earlier months) I think the 009 dated issues might be the toughest.

On 11/24/2023 at 2:39 PM, Brock said:

I was only in Alberta for about 12 hours, but I'll be around a fair bit in 2024... I'm in Grande Prairie in February, and in Edmonton in June and October. Maybe I can but you a drink on one of those Edmonton visits...

Would love to meet up and talk nerdy. Keep me posted !

On 11/23/2023 at 12:37 PM, stormflora said:

At the moment, asking one seller for combined shipping on three rare Whitman issues. If it works out, I'll have acquired them at about $10 USD each after shipping + taxes.

Below is what I found at prices that are either cheap or don't break the bank. If anyone wants them for their collection, you can find them on eBay or MyComicShop now. I'm not really interested in them myself.

Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #483-484. Uncle Scrooge #180-182. Super Goof #63. Mickey Mouse #207. Little Lulu #262. Huey, Dewey and Louie #67. Donald Duck #221 and #224-225. Daisy and Donald #45. Daffy Duck #129-130. Bugs Bunny #223.

That's all for now. I took a few more too; they're shown in the attachment below. They aren't super rare though, just low supply. Came out to be $12.13 USD each after fees. I originally found this seller through the Tweety issue, but since they had two more rare issues, I figured I'd pick them up as well. (The other two sellers above had no other rare issues from what I could tell.)

Nice, be aware that there are two versions of Bugs 222, and 223, WDCS 484, Scrooge 182, Super Goof 63, Lulu 262, Huey Dewey and Louie 67, Donald Duck 225. The rare versions of those books have 40 cent cover prices. The more common ones are priced at 50 cents. Great finds though! Congrats!

On 11/21/2023 at 7:28 PM, stormflora said:

So... The white W variants are cheaper direct variants and the typical yellow W variants are newsstand/comic store?

I wonder why the white variants seem rarer than the yellow ones. Could it be because not many people bothered to order them directly?

The Whitman comics with the 50 cent and 60 cent covers are the most common of the bunch. Both white logo and yellow logos are plentiful. (With perhaps a few exception) 

On 11/21/2023 at 7:20 PM, stormflora said:

Is this Whitman list of any use to anyone? Also, what's the real difference between the yellow and white W logos? Which one is rarer? I see yellow ones on eBay a lot, but rarely the white ones, so I would imagine that the latter is rarer.

Personally, I'm more of a Gold Key fan, although I pick up Whitman if there's no Gold Key "variant". But I do entire series, not just individual issues of various characters.

On a side note, I had to buy a large Chip 'n' Dale lot to fill some gaps for the series, so I'll end up with a handful of Whitman copies to have to resell, which I plan to do so at cost + shipping (I'm not looking to profit off of it). If anyone is interested in any of these issues, let me know and I'll hold onto them for you: Chip 'n' Dale #71, 74, 76, 77, 78, 82. (Grades for each of them are not yet available as I have to wait for the package to arrive in the mail first, but they are likely to be at least VG.)

This was from the Comic Buyers Guide from back in the day. They started selling Whitman books to comic shops directly on top of the bagged sets. They went to white to distinguish them from their bagged counterparts.