50YrsCollctngCmcs

On 9/2/2023 at 6:02 AM, Earthshaker01 said:

Fc #4

There is something funny about this cover.Jack is paying way too much attention to that propeller and ignoring those well dressed ladies! I think the cover artist had a pretty subtle sense of humor!

On 9/8/2023 at 1:42 AM, Robot Man said:

Back in the day before many comic shops in LA, this was the place to go. David T told me one day that collections of old “valuble” comics came in so fast they didn’t have time enough to process them all. A trip to the back room verified this. There were stacks and unsorted boxes all over the place. In the upper left window from left to right, Carl Macek, Terry Stroud, Bill Stout (who took comics in leu of payment for these ads), unknown guy and David T Alexander. These were VERY savvy guys and nothing was cheap but they had the goods. 

I used to love looking at that ad in the Buyer's Guide or maybe Price Guide and wishing we had such a cool store in the Central Jersey area. Oddly, one of the better known comic stores is there now in Red Bank NJ; Kevin Smith's, "The Stash". But it's more of a promotional gimmick for him than an LCS based on my few visits there.

On 9/1/2023 at 8:16 AM, ttecwaf said:

19

Great cover perspective!

Oh I am thinking of Isis who actually started as a television feature on the Shazam show; clearly they ripped off Ibis!!

On 8/29/2023 at 11:17 PM, Robot Man said:

And I love this under appreciated Ibis. A fat 68 page issue from 1943. I think this ran me about $60. A couple years ago.

With exceptions of course, a lot of the “men in tights” Fawcetts are at best kind of dopey. Some of the other off titles are much better cover to cover and still dirt cheap.

Cool book and didn't he end up appearing in Super Friends or was that some woman Fawcett sorceress I am thinking about. There was something like that from DC in the seventies.

On 8/28/2023 at 9:43 PM, AJD said:

I got this Australian reprint with a classic Kelly cover in last week.

That's an awesome book; can you imagine finding that under the Christmas tree with that great Barks tale leading off the book?! You would read the pages off of it! How big is an Australian jumbo book?

On 8/8/2023 at 5:36 AM, Earthshaker01 said:

Took me a long time to find a high grade copy from this great movie. 

Love those movie books; this one while not a Four Color was supposedly found behind the wall of an old store where many comics fell over the years.

Beautiful copy!

DC may have had the big three but All American certainly had a very interesting group of heroes. Spectre, Dr. Fate and Hawkman are in my book much more interesting than the others with the exception of Wonder Woman. It was great to see Dr. Fate and Hawkman in the Black Adam movie; a really interesting move and I would hope they could make more of that.

On 8/26/2023 at 9:02 AM, OtherEric said:

A happy 110th birthday to Walt Kelly!

A few books I got recently, they were all just posted on the Digital Comic Museum today:

Yes indeed this thread has been too quiet. I have not picked up a good Kelly read in some time! I need to remedy that.

On 8/23/2023 at 4:56 PM, Tri-ColorBrian said:

It's a good one...I'm going to look at the rest and see if I can upgrade more.

Depending on the price I would probably pick up a bunch of those.

On 8/23/2023 at 4:31 PM, Tri-ColorBrian said:

Thanks.  The OO took good care of them.  All I did was buy them...

I wish I had an LCS that got books in like that!!

On 8/21/2023 at 12:40 PM, BOOT said:

You snagged a rare one. Out of all the other experienced collectors I've known, yours is the only other copy I've seen.

Welcome to the club - more people have Action #1s than have HELME'S SNUFF-MAN.

Was lucky enough to get one with the original mailing envelope.

Perfect it was sent to North Carolina where they grow the tobacco for snuff!

On 8/20/2023 at 11:37 AM, mlansdown said:

I miss Rich and I think of him often.

Rich and I often e-mailed about how there were always collecting opportunities out there. The book above is a great example of an off the radar gem. It isn't one of the great MMM covers but the interior ad for the BLB's and the back cover ad for the kid's wrist watch sold me. And how often does a nice copy of a Disney book from 1938 show up on here?

Wish my old friend Yellow Kid was still with us to comment on this auction!

On 8/20/2023 at 6:56 AM, mlansdown said:

First, I am offering a very nice raw copy of Mickey Mouse Magazine Vol. 3 No. 8 from May 1938.  Dust shadows on front and back covers.  Book is tight and staples are firmly attached.  Not one color-breaking fold or crease on the cover! Very minor edge wear along spine.  There is an edge bump on the top right of front cover.  1/8" tear on middle of left back cover.  Interior pages are cream to off-white and very supple.  No puzzle has been worked in the book, which is very unusual for books like this.  Cool ad for Mickey Mouse wrist watch on back cover.  Another ad for Big Little Books on the interior back cover.  Gorgeous example of an 85-year-old comic magazine!  Fine condition.  $180.00.

I'll take it!

They really used to be a good company when they started. It makes you wonder what happened. Corporate greed most likely.

On 8/18/2023 at 12:46 AM, aardvark88 said:

Barks pic circa 1950s?

 

Makes me wonder what that picture was taken for since there was no publicity and I doubt Barks worked wearing a tie in his home studio.

On 8/19/2023 at 7:29 AM, Tri-ColorBrian said:

Just picked up a Mickey book that includes a duck...

 

Fun book Brian, I need a copy of that one!

On 8/17/2023 at 2:42 PM, adamstrange said:

In all the time I knew Jon, I never purchased a book from him, even though he had sold hundreds of comics.  When the auction was announced, I was anxious to fix that.

I doubt very many people realize that what was offered by ComicConnect was a scaled down version of his collection, reduced considerably from its peak.  In addition to Church runs of Hit and National, there were SA keys, misc GA, and quite a few 50s books.  Jon was not a wheeler dealer cyclying books in and out, but he got bit hard by the original art bug.

The first big bite of that apple occurred with the arrival at San Diego Con of the original art to the cover of Planet 1.  Alex Acevedo, a dealer in modern art but also previously a dealer in comics and comic art, gave the cover prime location in his booth.  Jon was smitten, and a deal was reached to exchange the Church copies of Pep 1 - 5 plus cash for the art.  The next day Alex had second thoughts and offered Jon $10k just to call the deal off, but the art mattered far more to Jon than the money.

Even with a nice trade value for the Peps, Jon still needed to raise the rest of the funds in time to meet the terms of their deal.  His solution was to sell the Church copies of National 1 - 5.  I was one of the people he called, but those are not my favorite issues even of that run and, at 4x Guide, it was over $40k so not pocket change.  Those did sell (and later the rest of the run) to Joe Smejkal, who eventually submitted them to Heritage.

Duly paid, Acevedo shipped the art to Jon's office while Jon was away.  He called his secretary to open the package and verify the contents, which resulted in an awkward conversation as she tried to describe to him the image of the aliens menacing the space men and women.  It was always his favorite piece of art, but, even though he could have afforded to keep it, he understood it was important to include it as one of the anchor lots of the auction.
 
As Jon continued to pursue other pieces of art or as funds were needed for family priorities, chunks of the collection were peeled off and shipped to a buyer.  His collection was extensive and de-accessioning was done thoughtfully, which is why the auction was still spectacularly stuffed with rarities and pedigrees, the favorite of which to him were the Fox comics.

My hopes for the auction were modest: one comic book and one piece of original art. Unfortunately, the ones I wanted were likely to be contested by others, who were sure to be rudely unconcerned with my interests.   

Which comic book?  It wasn't cheap, but I have the ability to recreate this picture any time I want to with a book freed from captivity, which I think would have pleased Jon.  I intend to be as careful a custodian and as generous a sharer as he was.

Such awesome memories and it’s great you were able to buy that book in the end! Jon’s articles in CBM turned me onto a lot of interesting material. I’m happy you were able to share so much with him.

On 8/16/2023 at 12:34 AM, Robot Man said:

Ah, yes… We’re these for sale or just display?

The boxed Roby Robot in the top of the second picture is exceedingly rare. Never seen that one.

I have the other ones except for the space capsule.

Still fun to see them displayed like that! 

It was a large display for a kids store selling models and toys. Lots and lots of fun stuff; part of a collection and not for sale.

Here’s a couple others I bet you’d like.

Hey Bob,

Robby the Robot says hi from Haneda Airport domestic terminal where they had a big display of vintage toys in a store. I’ll try to post a couple more; you would have loved it!

On 8/14/2023 at 10:52 AM, Pat Calhoun said:

I bought some from Barry Bauman way back in the day, and Ray Storch sold me my Dennis #1. Happy to have dealt with both of them and RIP gents.

Ray seemed to appreciate the obscure comics I also enjoy. I spent an hour or so at Wonder Con looking through runs of Star Spangled and Tomahawk. I picked up some fun issues of Star Spangled with Robin and Tomahawk stories.

Ray also turned me on the fact that Buzzy had some Scribbly stories as backups. So I got one of those from him!

I also recall him talking about how he picked up loads of back issues in Oregon and Washington. Fun times talking to him.

On 8/13/2023 at 11:37 PM, Robot Man said:

Jon may not be the first and he won’t be the last of the giants in this hobby but I for one benefitted for his zeal and passion. We need to encourage and hope more of the old guard continue to pass on their experiences while they are still with us. We recently lost Ray Storch. A legendary Bay Area collector and dealer and a good friend. Like creators, a lot of legendary collectors are sadly leaving us…

Sorry to hear about Ray. I ran into him at a few Wonder Cons and he had boxes filled with early fifties DCs that no one else ever had. I enjoyed talking to him quite a bit. RIP!