sfcityduck

This is the response I was expecting. Thanks!

Just curious. I have the opportunity to buy high grade (raw, but look 9.8) Gold Key Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comics from the first half of the 1970s. Does anyone collect these comics? I would only be buying them to get them slabbed and then sell as these are not my collecting goal. Waste of time? Thanks.

Gary and Mark did an article on ashcans for one of the Price Guides. The below low quality image is from the Grand Comic Database, which has this to say about it:

Oh ... I agree it's a better looking and better reading book. But, the first appearance of Scrooge is probably the most important Duck book in my opinion. He's the only major Disney character that I know, one that has headlined two animated series, to be created in a comic book.

So far this week, I have two new books. FC 328 9.6 (top rated), and looking really nice for a 67 year old: FC 379 8.5 (2nd rated), first time Scrooge was featured (not cameo or crowd shot) on a comic book cover:

COMPLETED status on books submitted at San Francisco Con: FAST TRACK VALUE Stated turnaround times when submit.: CCS = 20 b days; CGC = 32 b days (Total 52 b days or 10+ weeks or ETA of 8/24/2018) Date of Con Drop Off - 6/10/2018 CGC Received Date ("Rec-CCS Required") - 6/14/2018 (Bus. days since Con submission = 4) "At CCS" - 6/18/2018 (Bus. days since "Rec-CCS Required" = 2) "Received" - 7/3/2018 (Bus. days since "At CCS" = 11) "Scheduled for Grading" and "Graded" - 8/2/2018 (Bus. days since "Received" = 21) "Grading Quality Control" - 8/6/2018 (Bus. days since "Graded" = 2) "Shipped Safe" - 8/7/2018 (Bus. Day since "Grading Quality Control" = 1). CGC's Report Card: I give them a "A+" meaning they really beat their estimate (B for hitting estimate, Less than B for missing estimate by significant portion) . Total Bus. Days since SF Con dropoff to Shipped Safe: 41 Total Bus. Days since "Rec-CCS Required: 37 (15 less than stated TAT) Total Bus. Days at CCS: 11 (grade "A+" for beating TAT by 9 days) Total Bus. Days at CGC: 24 (grade A+ for beating TAT by 8 days) AND I'm really really happy with the grades! So thanks CGC! Again I'm a happy customer!

Once again, I'm aghast at the misinformation auctioneers say to puff a book. For the Superman 1, CC writes: If you want to know why I'm aghast, read this great article on the Superman logo: https://www.supermanhomepage.com/comics/comics.php?topic=articles/Superman-Word-Logo The most obvious reason is that the logo on the ashcan was not the logo used on Superman 1 or the logo subsequently designed by Ira Schnapp that became the iconic logo in use for 50+ years. So why is the auctioneer trying to sell this comic based on the logo?

Vincent of Metro bought the FF 215 (which may arguably be the best looking in b&w, IMHO), and I recall hearing the six figure price, but can't remember what it was - I'm thinking mid-six figures. WSF 29 sold for $380K in 2010.

Fair enough. Poor writing does turn readers away.

People pay for Millie the Model?

That's how I felt about Captain America in the late 1970s. Totally awful! No one read it until the Byrne run, and even that was not that well-received. I gotta disagree about Iceman. Kids are fine with gays. To paraphrase South Pacific: "You gotta be taught ..." These days, most aren't. They're fine with the Avatar: Legend of Korra, they're fine knowing the actors who play Flash, Frodo, Harry Potter, etc. are gay. What does make kids uncomfortable is the excessive sexuality on comic covers that are now aimed at pervy old guys who haven't figured out there is porn on the computer. See, e.g., Grimms Fairy Tales. And no one wants to take their kids into a comic shop which looks like it caters to predators.

Close, but no cigar. FC 353 (October 1951) is the first time Carl Barks' penciled Scrooge on a cover, but it was a mere cameo (actually, the very definition of a cameo, e.g., a small portrait). The first time that Scrooge ever appeared on a comic cover was actually Walt Disney's Vacation Parade (July 1951), but that was a mere crowd shot where he straddled the fold: The chronology is this: * Vacation Parade 2 (July 1951) - 1st Cover Appearance (cameo crowd shot) * FC 353 (Oct. 1951) - 2nd Cover Appearance (cameo), 1st by Barks * FC 379 (March-April 1952) - 3rd Cover Appearance, 1st time featured on Cover * FC 386 (March 1952) - 4th Cover Appearance; 2nd by Barks, 2nd featured * WDC&S 140 (May 1952) - 5th Cover Appearance, 3rd by Barks, 3rd featured, 1st on title,1st by Barks on WDC&S Which just goes to illustrate that you should be skeptical of what the auction houses say. For example, Heritage states: "Only a Poor Old Man is the first Uncle Scrooge solo story, Scrooge's first cover appearance, and the book that counts as Uncle Scrooge #1" https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/four-color-386-uncle-scrooge-dell-1952-cgc-nm-94-off-white-to-white-pages/a/825-44210.s?ic4=OtherResults-SampleItem-071515&tab=ArchiveSearchResults-012417 The first two representations are both wrong. FC 386 is also not the first Scrooge solo story or even the first story without Donald Duck.

Apologize for the extreme angle on this picture, trying to avoid glare. I don't why this one graded out as an 8.5, instead of higher. It is really beautiful. Still, it is tied for with another copy or so (Bedrock has one) for second highest graded. By the way, this is the first time Uncle Scrooge was featured on a comic cover (beats out FC 386):

I wish I had a good scanner, my photos suck, but I thought I'd post some Ducks just back from CGC here to bump up the thread. My apologies to whoever just bought the 9.6 sold on Heritage. Heritage advertized their 9.6 as top graded 1 of 2. But this grade came down the last day of the auction. So now this (and the Heritage copy) are top graded 1 of 3. (This one's brother was the FC 456 9.4 top graded that I sold to a fellow boardie.)

NIce book! I passed on a copy that I should have acquired. Big regrets. The most important Duck book, arguably.

Mark ("Esquirecomics") Zaid and Gary ("Moondog") Colabuono are the authorities on ashcans. The list above is a bit out of date. Strangely, the demand for ashcan's is less than you'd think. Probably because (1) they are not comic books but production/legal materials, (2) the interior contents only rarely have anything to do with the cover (notable exception is Fawcett Thrill and Flash), and (3) sometimes the cover has nothing to do with the title (many titles secured using Boy Commandos 1 cover art). Having said that, I think they are super cool! My GUESS as to the most valuable ashcans would be one of the following: * Fawcett Thrill and Flash nn (1st App. of Capt. Marvel as Capt. Thunder); * Wonder Woman 1 (1 only(?) with cover art from Sensation 1 and WW story from Sensation 2), * Double Action 1 (1 only, myth that turned out to be real); * Federal Men nn. (1 only, earliest ashcan from 1936 and S&S). My GUESS is that the value of the ashcans of Action 1 and Superman 1, at auction, would be less than Superboy, Superwoman, Supergirl and maybe even Superhombre because those are rarer than Superman ashcan.

Bummer. I would've enjoyed meeting Jpepx78 and finding out the status on the Okajima pedigree part of the 50 Objects online project he is helping out on. Do you know?

Updated status on books submitted at San Francisco Con: FAST TRACK VALUE Stated turnaround times when submit.: CCS = 20 b days; CGC = 32 b days (Total 52 b days or 10+ weeks or ETA of 8/24/2018) Date of Con Drop Off - 6/10/2018 CGC Received Date ("Rec-CCS Required") - 6/14/2018 (Bus. days since Con submission = 4) "At CCS" - 6/18/2018 (Bus. days since "Rec-CCS Required" = 2) "Received" - 7/3/2018 (Bus. days since "At CCS" = 11) "Scheduled for Grading" and "Graded" - 8/2/2018 (Bus. days since "Received" = 21) "Grading Quality Control" - 8/6/2018 (Bus. days since "Graded" = 2)

Ouch. Horrible topic. For me it a piece of original art I bought at Comics & Comix when I was 12 with Christmas money, and sold in the 1990s. I will never forget scraping the white-out off of the right hand margin to uncover Byrne's funny note to Austin; and learning about "visual jokes" when I read the computer screen. Opened up my eyes to Austin's many jokes in X-Men books. Alas, I sold it to buy some fine art, which I still have and love, but I wish I had this back for the sentimental value:

I'm kicking myself for missing this. I check out the CGC con schedule and didn't see the thread about this. Any chance you guys could get CGC to show up for drop offs for your one in November? Sure seems like it would be a synergy for them to get the drop off (like me) and you to get more traffic. Not sure why'd they'd rather be at the SF Con, when it is far less about comics.

Just noticed that WDC&S 134 (first Beagle Boys) 9.2 (1 of 2 highest) sold at Heritage for $2,640. That appears to be a big leap upward for that book (66%+ increase) from the last sale back in 2009 when Barks' books were really really hot.

My order: 214 (red moon) 215 (octopus) 211 (shooting ogres(?) while holding back aggressive girl) 212 (saving girl from space and flying saucer) 209 (shooting ogres(?) while holding fainting girl) 210 (undersea alien) 213 (bad anatomy) 216 (explosion)

For your DD totals are you counting FC 1051 and 1198 (Walt Disney's Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land), 1099 and 1140 and 1182 and 1239 (Walt Disney's Donald Duck Album), 1109 (This Is Your Life Donald Duck), and 1190 (Walt Disney's Donald Duck and the Wheel)? With apologies to BB, I think DD blows everyone else away.

I am shopping around for art insurance. What company are you using?