sfcityduck

Except I am the one who found it and submitted it. Other books from the same OO came back with much higher grades, such as this one I set free: To Heritage's credit, they recognized the worth of a really nice subscription copy in their description of the book: Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #137 (Dell, 1952) CGC NM 9.4 White pages. A subscription copy in Near Mint is a remarkable find indeed! This has an address printed on the back and a different ad from the one that appeared on newsstand editions. Yet it has no subscription crease! Tied with one other copy (which only has off-white pages) for CGC's highest-grade for the issue, this is just the fourth certified copy that we have ever encountered, and is quite possibly the nicest copy of #137 in existence. Carl Barks provided the cover art, and a Donald Duck story and art for this impressive duck-filled issue. Huey, Dewey, and Louie appear. Overstreet 2018 NM- 9.2 value = $215. CGC census 11/18: 2 in 9.4, none higher.

Only my second best 7.0 (white) duck book. Here's no. 1 (and, no, I don't know why CGC hates beautiful duck subscription copies - I think they may write them down for the subscription address stamp):

Until a few years ago, I'd have put "The Nightingale" on that list. But, SOTIcollector now owns the one I found. The remaining Big Foots that I can think of might be limited to the publications the U.S. government destroyed because the publishers were violating the paper conservation laws back in the 1940s. They existed, they were likely destroyed, unless the LoC or some other government agency or former employee has them tucked away somewhere. Read this thread (and I'm glad you didn't say Sasquatches because the very cool Canadian editions up above are sort of a cheat, as my guess is that there are lots of very rare or lost foreign editions of U.S. comics) :

Rob, Always loved your site, which is why I have on occasion shared info with you so you could in turn share it with the world - like my info on the chronology of the world record comic sales. I appreciated that you acknowledged that contribution, and that was more than enough "fame" for me as the real gratification is getting the info out for people to know. While it didn't bother me when you updated your site and dropped your acknowledgment ( ), I can see why you're pissed that folks tend to forget to give the thanks you deserve for the free info on your site. I know that I am a not infrequent quoter of info from your site on these boards. So, again, thanks!

A cool WDC&S 143 (subscription variant). This is the transitional issue. They went from putting the address stamp in a designated white area in the back cover house ad in WDC&S 142 (and before), to being just stamped on the front cover over color for 143 (just one issue), to then being stamped in a designated white area of the cover for 144 (and after for a time). I assume the reason for the transition is that they wanted to start selling advertising on the back cover, initially a Wheaties ad, instead of running the house ad and the subscription stamp box:

The Reilly story has never been confirmed - no one can figure out who "Riley" or "Reilly" is. And, frankly, the Promise Collection story about an alleged "promise" by one brother to hold the other brother's collection has not been confirmed to my knowledge either even by those who know who the two brothers are - the only story I can confirm, frankly, concerns a more significant "promise" which Heritage has shied away (maybe even run away) from. It is the backstory that is untold by Heritage which impresses me. To their credit, when Matt Nelson (CGC) and Brian Wiedman (Heritage) went on Youtube to promote the Promise Collection, they both said the Promise books were not as high quality as the Mile High / Church pedigree books.

In terms of quality, the MH/Church books are far and away the best -- something Heritage and CGC both emphasized in rolling out the Promise Collection. In terms of historical import to comic collecting's business trajectory, Chuck's marketing of the MH/Church books was a watershed event that changed everything (for good or ill). In terms of the backstory, the MH/Church Collection is not all that interesting, and the story is actually pretty depressing both as to the story of the OO and the story of how the books entered the market. The backstory on the Okajima and Promise OOs are far more uplifting, inspiring, and important than the backstory on Edgar Church and his not great family relationships.

My guess is they finally realized that the stories for most pedigrees are better left untold. Plenty of unsavory stories in comic dealer history. Only a few of the known pedigree stories qualify as "feel good." And I always wonder about the stories where dealer bends over backwards to NOT name the OO or provide any real backstory. Makes me wonder what they are hiding.

Best 7.0 White you'll ever see.

I'm with Robotman, the EC War stories, especially by Kurtzman, are head and shoulders above anything else. Mainly because they aren't as drowned in words. EC had great artists, but the writers chewed with their mouths full, including Kurtzman (but he was a bit better on his own stories). There are Frazetta pages where the art to word ratio is 1:1 and that's just wrong. Only Krigstein found a way to get entirely out from under the weight of the writers' words. For me (and for Gaines) the horror books are the worst of the lot, but its a matter of opinion and there are no wrong answers.

You need to fix that quickly. Fortunately, there are great books collecting Wolverton's output to let you sample his work. Greg Sadowski's Creeping Death from Neptune and Brain Bats of Venus are excellent bios/compilations out from Fantagraphics which cannot be beat. But, if you just want comic reprints, the Fantagraphics SC of his Spacehawk series is worth the search.

If you do want to stick with series, I'd suggest checking out some of the Archive HCs of the series to test the water - PS Publishing has a lot of books (low quality, but cheap when bought remaindered/overstock) that can get you a great sample of a wide array of titles. DC published a SC sampler called Mystery in Space that is worth chasing down. And the Atlas Masterworks are great HC with quality reproduction if you want to check out their SF content.

Personally, I've always greatly enjoyed the early issues of Mystery in Space and Strange Adventures from D.C., the Avons include some classic GGA (as does Man 'O Mars), and I agree that there are lots of great opportunities to pick and choose classic stories by guys like Wolverton if you aren't tied by OCD to completing titles.

Yep. It's called laddering. It's not necessarily a good thing, but it is a real thing. Until it's not.

The Promise books set records, except that SS 65 was a little lower than I thought.

You would trade the Mile High MC 1 or Allentown CA 1 for an AF 15 9.6 and then you would immediately sell the AF 15? Am I reading you right? I'm hoping not. If that's the emotional investment in owning those books, sounds far more like trading little green rectangles for larger multicolored rectangles representing ownership of a fictional person might be more satisfying. I say that knowing you are emotionally invested in the hobby because I've read and enjoyed your site for many years.

There's actually 20+ years separating AF 15 from Action 1 (23 years) and D27 (22 years), plus WWII and its attendant paper drives, and the beginning of comic fandom (with untold guys saving new comics and buying up and saving their neighbors comics from before AF 15 onward). AF 15 is a post comic collecting book. Lots of collectors still alive today bought it when it came out or shortly thereafter in the 1960s. There are 24 copies (and counting) in 9.0 or better of AF 15, with only three MC 1s, two Action 1s, and one D27.

By the time the Mile High MC 1 or Allentown CA 1 come up for sale, there will probably be 10+ 9.6 AF 15s. Would you trade a Mile High MC 1 or Allentown CA 1 for one of the four (so far) 9.6 AF 15s?

Once upon a time there was a lot of "canon" Star Wars stories that were later thrown out the window when they continued the movies.

Filmed in San Francisco! Lots of recognizable locales in that trailer. I saw some of the filming and have a slim hope I'm in a framing shot. Coincidentally, SF just named the top city in the world on Time Out's annual list (started in London as a travel and entertainment guide). https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/2021/09/09/san-francisco-named-worlds-best-city/5782491001/ https://www.timeout.com/things-to-do/best-cities-in-the-world

I think Page's telegraph was louder on this: And Plant had his own telegraph: And I still think that Hurdy Gurdy Man was the first proto-Zep song no matter what Page says about who played lead guitar.

C'mon, with a name like that I'm sure you know that at the time of that movie the only "god of guitar" in the minds of the audience on that stage was Beck. Page's Yardbird's output was below his talent level both with and without Beck.

I bid mostly in fine art auctions and Liveauctioneers. I find myself having to do the mental math. When I bid on Heritage, it is a great relief. Love their interface, many auction houses are not as good.

If you bid in a real auction you need to read the terms. Not unusual at all for bid amounts to NOT include the buyers premium. It is normally tacked on st the end. So I would assume the actual amount to be paid is 20 percent higher than the bid amount (and that the premium will end up with the seller of B1, not the auction house).

I would not expect them not to collect the fee, I would expect them to pass it through to the seller.