sfcityduck

My recollection is he only said he didn't get an Action 1 in the Gilchrist books. But he had a LOT of books that didn't come from that pick-up. The guy rattled off literally four or five names of OOs for books that he's kept segregated by where he got them. Given that he was a hardcore collector starting in the very early 60s, and he was smarter than the average collector in how he was going about getting books for his collecting and to deal, I think he certainly had opportunities to buy (or more likely trade) for an Action 1. He was selling off a Superman 1, CA 1, All-Star 3 in an ad in 1967 (all big books back then), as well as lesser books like All-Winners 1, GL 1, Plastic Man 1, CM Jr. 1, Action 3 and 4, etc. If he wanted an Action 1, he certainly could have got one. I do remember seeing the D27, All-American 16, Pep run, Supes 1, etc. Somewhere there's a thread where someone saved as many pics as possible.

I will give you a story about something I think is near to his heart. I discovered this while researching Dave Wigransky of Washington D.C. as I wanted to find out where his legendary collection went and to make sure that BZ's collection wasn't originally Wigransky's. As you probably know, BZ once said that the 2,000+ lot of his most impressive books came to him after they were pulled from a garbage can by someone who sold them to him. But, BZ learned who the original owner ("OO") was because his name and address was written in some of the books. And BZ once stated the OO had the initials "WTG." In another post BZ stated he had several groups of books that came from OOs, and he rattled off some of the names including "Gilchrist." BZ also said that the OO purchased his books from Campbell's Bros. in D.C. There was a William T. Gilchrist who the 1940 census shows lived in Central DC. He was about 10 in 1940. And in 1940: William T. Gilchrist lived at 622 Massachusetts Ave. N.E., Washington D.C.; BZ said the Campbell Bros. where the comics were bought was at 8th & C, Washington D.C.; There's a mere five minute walk between the house and the drugstore if you walk down 8th and around the corner to Mass. Ave; and BZ once said: "One day, approximately 20 years after purchasing the collection, ... my wife and I made a point to drive by the spot where Campbell Bros had been in business. Not surprisingly the store was long since gone, but decals advertising various 1930s/40s items were still on the windows. I took photographs of the storefront and then we walked around the corner to where the original owner of the comics had lived." BZ said he walked over to the house of the OO (my recollection is it was a medical office) and was able to walk through it and get a sense of where the OO lived. I'm guessing, though, that the books were discovered at a different address in 1970s. BZ did not learn the OO's address from the seller who would have known where they came from. And William T. Gilchrist died in Maryland in 1963 and his wife died in Maryland in 1973 (which would be consistent with the books being sold to BZ in the early 70s). That's the back story on BZ's best books, I think. Remember you read it here first! (Recently an auctioneer borrowed from my thread on Wigransky without attribution for a lot description and so did a bookseller for a description of a HC book I was buying from him (no discount for providing the ad copy) - so I'm sensitive). P.S. What's amazing about that ad BZ took out selling books back around 1967 is that he was selling a Superman 1. At that point in time he hadn't picked up the Gilchrist collection yet. My impression is that his Supes 1 came from the Gilchrist lot, and what little I saw of it in the pic he posted (and the great copies of other early Supes) makes me think it was very nice. I get the impression he upgraded his Supes 1 several times. The big mystery is does he have have an Action 1? I would not bet that the man who owns the check paid to Shuster for his work on Action 1 does not have an Action 1. I'd love to see his biggest books. The "lesser" books I've seen pictured on this site and elsewhere are just so impressive!

Sorry, but I would not want to pierce his anonymity out of respect to him and his collection.

Anyone know how BZ is doing? I saw he did some fresh posts on FB after a few years off. Hope all is well. This was one of the best threads ever. I really appreciated his insights and, of course, his collection.

$1.8K or 16% short = "close enough"! Do you have a selling thread coming up?

158 is a pretty lame book in terms of art and story. But Miller quickly found his Krigstein (who had done GA wildcat a heavy “influence” on DD) influenced art style and that made the book explode. By DD 164 Miller, with McKenzie scripts and KJ inks, was blowing everyone away with his “Master Race” homage. At that point the fan press in articles like RC Harvey’s “The Visual Elan of Frank Miller’s Daredevil” in CJ were viewing his work as something special and we were all buying the Miller run. Personally, I think it was Byrne and Miller who (along with inflating prices) who really made “run collecting” a bigger thing than completest collecting. After all, who wanted a run of DD.

The Promise Collection was pressed before grading and the grading, to me at least, seems very generous on some books. Others, especially some notable very high grade books, seem spot on. But the low resale prices and failed regrading does seem a cautionary tale. I always thought a bunch of the prices paid made no sense. Hard to believe how quickly some of these resales are occurring given the prices paid. Does not seem to be a logical business decision ... unless the purchaser had an interest in ramping up prices and viewed any resale troubles as a "loss leader."

The only thing notable about this book is the cover, right? So I suppose the question is whether anyone needing some interior pages for their copy with a cover wants to buy this off of you. Best way to find out would be an auction. Someone posted about picking up a coverless Suspense 3 a few years ago. Might be helpful discussion there.

As for the 7.0, I wonder if that checkmark in the upper left and that pencil erasure mark above the chimneys that is about the same size as the checkmark indicate this is an unidentified Cosmic Aeroplane?

I'm taking the under because I hate that graphic on the label. The offerings by Heritage: You'd think that the last sale would have been for less if in the same auction with these three.

Which is why my cheat votes were for Foster and Caniff/Sickles.

It sells them now. Back then kids cared about the interiors. Many pics of kids reading comics in stores. That’s why the most popular titles back then included series which today are not prized for their covers that much.

My top 5 would have Everett at the top. Schomburg didn’t do interiors and Everett’s genre covers are better than Alex’s (AS did blow everyone away for WWII superhero covers including Kirby by far). Krigstein makes my list as he did all genres and would have been Frank Miller three decades early. My cheat votes would be for Foster or Sickles.

It needs tear seals. The white Grimes copy has a seal on a small tear on the back cover, and frankly I think that is the superior choice for a book from the perspective of keeping it safe.

Blissard has got a cover only in a CGC holder up on ebay: $60K.

I would not aim for the Frankenbook. I would get the cover conserved and graded (and either sell or hold). For me a stand alone cover has advantages - you can more easily display it with less risk of damage to the book. I would do the same thing to the pages but since they are less stable I would unload them.

An easy call: Silver. But what about this (not mine)?: New superhero, CCA stamp, written by Gardner Fox, MR. Ayers art.

He scored 1, should have been 2 (which would have given Wrexham a late lead). A decisive moment when he missed a penalty (good goalkeeping as shot was on goal). No shame for Wrexham and I hope Mullin is not injured as he came up a bit lame a minute later. And once he exited the game, Wrexham could no longer keep SU on their heels.

Big game today is on ESPN2 and ESPN+ at 11:45 am Pacific / 2:45 pm Eastern. I have seen pundits predicting a 5-0 thrashing of Wrexham. Winner gets Tottenham.

For those of us looking to buy, it is not a shame at all!

That badge is super cool. There's a Captain America item that was a similar concept, you had to get enough kids to sign up, and I don't think anyone's ever seen one. So very rare indeed. I wish rarity was intrinsically tied to value. I have and have had comics that are far rarer than Action 1, but none are likely to ever get 1% of the price of the top Action 1s. Demand is all that matters. What surprises me is that demand for comic related items sometimes seems really disproportionately when compared to demand for comics themselves from the same timeframe. I guess they are just different markets.

That is a fantastic discovery!

Ryan Reynolds had a funny twist on that disappointment:

Admit it - like most others you love an upset. Feeling any Wrexham love at this point? Or is SU your team?

The FA Cup started with over 700 teams participating from the amateur level to Premier League teams. There are now just 17 left. Exiting the competition last round were, amongst others Arsenal (leading the EPL) and Liverpool, still alive is Wrexham! Wrexham are the last non-League (League is top four tiers) team left as they play in tier 5. If Wrexham win their next game they will play Tottenham at the Racecourse. Tottenham sit in a League four tiers above Wrexham (equivalent of MLB team playing a Rookie A development level team). Wrexham literally sit around 90 places or more below Tottenham in the standings of the Top 5 levels of leagues. The documentary makers must be loving life. Is the FA cup cool or what?