sfcityduck

The copy was held by an OO for 42 years until 1980, then auctioned by Collectors Showcase as a VF in a sealed bid format to my old LCS owner who has held it for 40 years. He had a tear sealed (removable) and a spot of grease cleaned (not immersion cleaned, spot cleaned) and that's it I think. The PQ is White. The VF grade from back then seems a bit low, but then again I think the Cage copy was graded as a VF when sold by Sotheby's and later as a CGC 9.0.

It's not quite that good. Conserved. But, I know he has gotten serious offers for it in the high six figures, at least one from someone who has posted on this board.

Yes. His Action 1 and select copies from his collection have been posted on this board. His collection is vast. Examples:

If your wealth comprises comic books, than you don't have "insane funds." And you might not want to sell. My old LCS owner has well over $1M in GA comics no doubt. But, he loves his comics more than he loves green pieces of paper. He would rather show off comics than a fancy new car. And he's not alone. There's a lot of folks sitting on GA keys who could never afford to buy them now. Yet, they don't sell. Because the money is not that important to those folks. For them, the price appreciation was a validation that their comic book collecting was not entirely geeky as it was financially smart. But at heart they are far more comic geeks more than comic investors. And, those folks, like my old LCS owner, may well already have the GA keys that could sell over $1M.

I know of only 8 public comic book transactions where the price exceeded $1M and those were not to 8 different buyers. Those involved four different Actions 1s (8.0, same 8.5 twice, 9.0 Cage and 9.0 white) with the top two of those to the same buyer. It also involved an AF 15 (9.6) back in 2011 that seems like it may be overly high now. The remaining books were the MC 1 (9.4) and D27 (8.0). While there probably have been "secret" sales I don't know about, the pool of people who have paid over $1M (ignoring pass through dealers buying on behalf of a client like Metro) is likely less than 8 active collectors since I believe that the 8.5 Action was sold the second time after the original buyer died and Hariri is now reportedly on the sidelines. There could be no more than 6 or less active collectors who have paid $1M+ for a comic (again excluding dealers who bought on behalf of a client).

Hard to talk about high end comics in the abstract without considering the tiny pool of buyers. The top two Action 1 prices, which inflated the Action 1 market, were to the exact same buyer, who had a very emotional attachment to Superman, and he's now reportedly on the sidelines (he also has a D27). So who's going to drive the demand for this D27? I personally think it is telling that Metro put the D27 6.0 Rockford up for sale without having a buyer ready to make the purchase. That's counter to what they did for the Cage Action 1. So folks here "in the know" may realize that there is no obvious buyer for D27s at the price points we saw Hariri willing to pay for Action 1s.

Is your friend dgillock? Because he's the guy who found a copy in 2006.

As a result of posts on this thread, I checked out the Instagram GA comic posts. Easy to navigate, just scrolling up and down, but mainly lots of pictures of "rare on census" comics that are not really rare. I found the experience to be a lot like scrolling through eBay, except many of the comics were not for sale. Seems the purpose was just to show off, but not a lot of knowledge being shared. I don't think its siphoning away the high quality posters that have been norm for the GA Boards here. There is a different explanation for the decrease in traffic here - it is not Instragram.

Me, I'd blame t.v. for the initial decline of comic reading (and later direct marketing, paper shortages, video games, the internet, and poor publisher choices). But, I'd blame the anti-comics crusade of the 1940s for the demise of EC and lurid PCH that collectors so love to collect today.

Both. Because Wertham was a witness at the Senate Hearings. However, the impression I get from this book is that the Senators were less interested in relying upon social science research than they were in relying upon what they viewed as common sense and logic. Interestingly, the chapter ends with a strong condemnation of the notion that comics should be censored and a healthy skepticism of whether the CCA could adequately self police, and instead suggests that the real solution is a people-powered "it takes a village" style of parents and community authorities/role models (like teachers) offering kids protection and guidance.

If anyone's interested, later I can post the discussion about Gaines' testimony at the hearing. Some folks view Gaines' testimony as a high point for the defense of comics. That's why it is really interesting to see Senator Hendricks different take (albeit he does praise Gaines as "eloquent"). Truth is, Senator Hendricks view of Gaines' testimony is more convincing to me than the notion that the Gaines' testimony helped his cause. [Ducks tomatoes!]

There are not very many SOTI related items that even SOTIcollector has never seen, but this is one of them. Does anyone own a copy? Anyone ever seen one? "Youth in Danger: A Forthright Report to the American People - the Findings of the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Deliquency" by Sen. Robert C. Hendrickson and Fred. J. Cook. (1956) is from a chapter of comics history that sometimes gets overlooked - the post-SOTI criticism and condemnation of comic books in the United States. That's the author on the left: This book is notable for its extensive Chapter on horror comics and the Senate Hearings at which Wertham, Gaines, and others testified. But, the real value of the book is that it (1) lets you know what the Senators who questioned Gaines were thinking, including whether they supported censorship or not, and (2) details the continuing condemnation of comics after SOTI, after the adoption of the CCA, and the skepticism that comic critics had of the CCA itself. Really interesting stuff. And, I think, perhaps really rare. Much rarer than SOTI, and even rarer than POP in my opinion. I looked, and could only find this copy. Another copy was mentioned once before on these boards 14 years ago. But, it sure doesn't look like its caught much attention, despite the super cool back cover. So I look forward to learning if anyone knows about this book.

Love "Green Girl" of space! The first I remember seeing a "Green Girl" was as a kid watching a repeat of the Star Trek episode with Yvonne Craig (of Batman fame) as a Green Girl. There was also a Green Girl dancer in the re-work of the original pilot episode. Later, when I started collecting in the late 70s and my Dad gave me his comics, it turned out he had Man O' Mars! Make me wonder what was the first "Green Girl" cover. Could easily be this book, which beats out Blue Bolt 105 by a few months! Anyone know? We need a "Green Girl" thread somewhere on the boards!

The Boards are slower and I'd say a few reasons may include: * Long-time posters with a lot of intellectual curiosity who loved to share their knowledge aren't around much (if any) now - a couple names spring to mind (Bangzoom, Esquirecomices, Moondog, Berk, we could all probably add more) - and other posters have just slowed down. * Perhaps as a result, it seems like there's less threads about sharing knowledge of old comics (sort of like CBM articles) and discussions seems to focus more on auctions. * Maybe that's because there hasn't been any huge new developments on the GA front for a while (e.g. no major new pedigrees coming to market or unknown collections being posted), so a lot of the discussion seems to focus on a narrower range of topics. There's still good discussion. Still a lot to learn here. Still discoveries made every once in a while. So I would never say this Board sucks (some of the others on the other hand ...), and I still try to share any stories or research I have that I think others might benefit from.

Dude, you didn't even know basic info about the Mile High Action 1 - the best book in the hobby - and you're calling other folks here "amateurs"? Not the best way to gain a deeper understanding of the hobby.

Do you insure any collectibles or art? I do. And, no, cgc encapsulation is not required for obtaining insurance. If an appraisal is required, the only thing that needs to be certified is the appraiser. And there are lots of certified appraisers (CGC is a grader not an appraiser). However, there are collectible insurers which do not require an appraisal for most items - like this one: https://collectinsure.com/comics

I hate to break this to you, but you are just wrong. You don't need to CGC a comic to insure it. MANY high end collectors see no need to CGC books they are putting in a bank vault. The proof is the testimony of the many high end collectors on this site who show their incredibly beautiful unencapsulated comics. For example, to lead into this gently, here's some pictures of comics that are just sitting around in my old LCS owner's bank vault without CGC encapsulation in a small college town: And this is just a small tip of a huge iceberg - just a small portion of the tiny portion of his books that have been posted on this site. And then there's the most famous thread ever put up on these boards - BangZoom's "Golden Age Collection" thread full of unencapsulated high grade GA beauties, most of the best from a 2,000+ book original owner collection that would be given pedigree status if ever encapsulated, like these: If you want to see minds being blown, read this thread: Some broken link images are here:

If you don't listen to the folks on these boards, you are going to miss out on a lot of important information. I suggest you recognize that these boards are a fount of truthful information that is of enormous value to collectors. For example, the guy who paid the $3.2M+ record price for the Action 1 (CGC 9.0 white) sold by Pristine Comics was Stephen Fishler (Founder of Metro Comics). He bought it on behalf of Ayman Hariri who is the current owner. Fishler is also the guy who earlier sold the Action 1 (Nic Cage copy - CGC 9.0 cream to off-white) to Hariri for $2.1+M. Oh, and Fischler invented the 10.0 grading scale. Fishler has held Dave "the Dentist" Anderson's Action 1 (Mile High/Edgar Church Pedigree) in his hands and has opined on these very boards that it would be a CGC 9.2-9.4. He says the Dentist's is the best copy. That's a fact. In addition, the guy who graded for Sotheby's famous comic auctions, who was the first primary grader and restoration expert for CGC, who was the consignment director for Heritage, and who has founded the other grading company is Steve Borock. Borock has also held the Mile HIgh Action 1 in his hands and opined back when he was still with CGC that it would be a CGC 9.2-9.4. That too is a fact. Fishler and Borock are not aliens. They are pillars of the comic collecting community. The Dentist is a very well known very high end collector. While the Dentist doesn't post on these boards, his son does. There is no reason to believe that the stories told by Fishler, Borock, and others about the Mile High Action 1 being the "best copy" are not true. That also is a fact.

That's a very unique counter rack. Yes, the pole goes through the middle square. You just need a base for it to be complete:

I don't understand what you are trying to say. Perhaps you could rephrase your comment. My point: Collector's don't CGC a comic unless they want to sell it or, and this is a lesser consideration, they feel they need to do so to protect the comic (small number) or to boast about it (smaller number). To use Action 1 as an example, the best copy of that comic is not graded. IT has been held by the same collector since 1986, at least (and he also owns the best D27). As I said, my local LCS owner in a small college town in a small population state owns a really nice Action 1 (not CGC'd) that he bought in 1980 (to much fanfare). The major GA collectors and dealers are aware of many other Action 1s that are not slabbed. There's a well-known SoCal collector with 3 unslabbed Action 1s. The GA guys with most knowledge generally say that fewer than 1/3rd of Action 1s are slabbed. And that's Action 1. The comic that most folks would probably believe is most likely to be slabbed. No one would expect Albedo 2 to be slabbed at near the same rate as Action 1. A 10% slab rate for Albedo seems very reasonable. I suspect that would be much much higher than for most comics of that time period. So what's the take away? Census numbers are not the universe of copies. They are a small percentage of the universe of copies. And that percentage varies from book to book.

One of the benefits of being an older collector is I can reach into a box and pull out something helpful, such as this: As you can see, even without the internet, Albedo was being promoted as a "hot title" long before anyone cared about Albedo 2. Still, I guarantee you that Albedo 2 was being snapped up and held back then. This was a world where drek like Fish Police 1 and Trolllords 1 were worth more then they are now. To add some more perspective, this was a world where a Grendel 1 was being sold for $60 at the same Con where a NM JIM 83 sold for $380. NO ONE was throwing away low print run b&w comics back then. And Usagi quickly became one of the few b&w characters to garner a large fan following (thanks, in part, I think to the popularity of Lone Wolf and Groo - Usagi was the middle ground).

So much wrong with this post. First, my collecting heyday was mid-70s to the end of the 80s. As an anecdote: ALL of the comics I collected then are safely and securely stored away and largely have not been read since 1991. (I have many of my most favorite runs in collected editions now). I'm not unique. Most collectors who bought in the 80s and held simply don't see a need to CGC unless you want to sell. CGC numbers don't reflect the collections of folks like me who rarely CGC. And we are the vast majority of collectors. Second, yes, many of my comics are as fresh today as they were back then. I have runs bought in the later 80s which are so "newsstand fresh" that the spines still have not been flattened. They are exactly as they were the day I bought them because by late 80s they went straight into bags and boards without being read. I gave up buying new titles up by 1991. Third, NO ONE BOUGHT AN ALBEDO 2 OTHER THAN A COMIC COLLECTOR. And comic collectors either held the book or sold it to a store or another collector. While some copies undoubtedly were destroyed in fires, floods, accidents or, in a miniscule number of cases tossed by collectors, my guess that number is well below 10%. Any comic collector who bought Albedo 2, when the title was hot and b&w comics generally were the subject of speculation, would have held it. There was no internet, but word got around fast in various speculator publications. The immediate price inflation of Comico Primer (Grendel) and subsequent b&w books like TMNT had a huge impact on us back then. That's why the collections of guys my age are littered with a ton of b&w drek that we bought and held hoping some day it would be worth a fortune. In the case of Albedo, that was a good bet and the number of people who won that bet but don't want to cash in yet is probably still very large. Fourth, there's another thing . The collectors I know who were older than me, the ones in their late 20s and 30s when Albedo came out, those guys are sitting on a huge stash of incredible comics. I know a guy with a collection that includes not a single CGC certified book. It includes an Action 1 he bought in 1980 for what might have then been a record price, D27, Batman 1, Superman 1, the complete Marvel SA, Centaurs, Barks DD, maybe the best Reform School Girl and best Archie 1, lots of PCH, GGA, and Atlas runs - really a dream collection. He owned my LCS in a small college town. NOTHING IS CGC'd. NOT A SINGLE BOOK. Because he is not selling off the core of his collection yet. And I'm confident my old LCS owner also has an Albedo 2 tucked away. CGC is not a good tool to predict how many books of a given title survived. It is a good tool to figure out which books are relatively more likely to be sold. As someone who lived through that time period, I'm confident my opinion is far closer to reality than yours. Edited to add: Man I sound crotchety! "Get off of my lawn, youngster!" But, in all seriousness, I think you might want to listen to other collectors who have different experiences than you with a more open mind. I'm not the only person telling you that Albedo 2 is not as "rare" as you think.

Why? Netflix's description of the show sounds terrible and Netflix specializes in ignoring the input of creators (and the charm of the original). Look at what has happened with Airbender! It's creators have bailed because Netflix won't listen to them (which is shocking given their success and the failure of the movie).

I'd bet almost all of them survived. Albedo was a "hot book" almost from Day 1 - not for Usagi, but for the rareness of Albedo. It was the speculator thing for "rare" small print run books back then. It's why a lot of us who were collecting 80s comics back in the day have long boxes filled with mostly forgettable b&w comics. Albedo 0 ended up going out to something like 5 prints, with the 3rd print even worth something back then. Albedo was only sold in comic stores, so it's not like kids were tearing it up and throwing it away. I had 0 (later blue print) and 2 up to a point. Used to see 2 in stores throughout the 80s. I'm sure they all found homes buried in the collections of Usagi fans, of which their must be more than 2,000 now. It's one of those books which is not really "rare" - it's just well loved by its owners.

That is GREAT information! That rack is a publisher specific - Store Publishing - rack from 1953. Never heard of the publisher, the comics, or the concept that there were six cent comics. This is why I love these boards!