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buttock

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    The definitive Blankis-Salida thread

    in Golden Age Comic Books

    Posted

    Here's an interesting find, at least for me.  This book has the "Cookie's Place" stamp and was found in a Colorado dealer's inventory.  However, it doesn't have the typical features of a Salida book.  The paper isn't white, the colors aren't perfectly preserved, etc.  So it's most likely not from the Salida collection, but came from the same original source just via a different purchaser.  I've always assumed there have to be other similar books out there with pedigree markings, but not from the pedigree.  But I've never seen one until now. 

    strange adventures 24 salida.jpg

    Is it the grading, the pressing or just me?

    in Comic Book Grading and Restoration Issues

    Posted

    On 5/28/2024 at 11:55 AM, thehumantorch said:

    Welcome to the boards.

    First off, it's important that you understand what pressing and cleaning can do and what it can't do.  I see lots of pressable defects and this is certainly a book that can improve but there are lots of defects that a press won't address.  Defects that break color, ie break the ink that's printed on the paper, can't be addressed by humidity and pressing.  Defects that bend the paper, ie don't break the ink that's printed on the paper, can be addressed.

    Looking at your before pics I honestly have trouble getting beyond fn just based on the bottom front right corner.  Multiple color breaking creases of significant size that won't be improved by pressing.  Then there's many other areas of concern, so many it would be hard to list.  I honestly think you're lucky to get a fn out of this.

    I'd like to suggest that you start some threads in the 'can you spare a grade' forum.  Get some grading feedback from boardies who've submitted a lot of books to CGC and fine tune your grading.

    https://boards.cgccomics.com/forum/42-hey-buddy-can-you-spare-a-grade/

    This is all correct, when you want to press/clean a book you need to assess whether or not that is going to improve the grade.  In this case, there's a lot of wear along the right side of the front cover that isn't going to improve, and will thus limit the grade. 

    But that being said, it looks like a lousy press job. 

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    Silver Age pedigree thread

    in Silver Age Comic Books

    Posted

    On 5/25/2024 at 1:35 PM, DanCooper said:

    You are right about the Mohawk Valleys. That would have been THE DC Silver Age collection if the page quality was there.

    Western Penn did have the pre-1961 key DCs. Problem is, most of that sold in the 1980s and pre-CGC and probably has gotten lost over time. Linmoth/Tom H. posted in the past how he heard about the collection in the 80s through Comic Buyers Guide ads. He even mentioned a high grade WP Green Lantern 1, that he sold through Sotheby's in the 90s that wasn't noted as Western Penn. Western Penn gained traction as a pedigree in the early CGC days.

    Honorary mention, even though it isn't a recognized pedigree or noted on the CGC label as a "from the collection", but the David N. Toth DC Silver Age collection that Heritage auctioned off 15+ years yielded some incredible high grade DCs from that tough late 1950s-1960s period, but lacked some of the big Marvel keys to be considered for a pedigree.

    Would love to hear more of the back story on that collection Buttock mentioned, that yielded the Tomahawk and the 9.4 Showcase 22 and 9.6 Showcase 13!

    It was expansive and included a lot of "off" titles as well as superhero.  There were 9.0 +/- Jimmy Olsen 1, Lois Lane 1, HOM 1, B&B 28, JLA 1 and deep runs of lots of other titles including western, sci-fi, war, etc.  I don't have a full list of all the books, but kept records of everything that I could.  A few more DC examples:

    sensation 107.jpg

    superman 76.jpg

    Heritage's Next Event Auction has started posting books !

    in Golden Age Comic Books

    Posted

    On 5/15/2024 at 7:47 PM, Aman619 said:

    yes...  but Im confused why, after a decade and a half of pressing etc boosting comics slabbing, it never caught on with cards.  As you say, it was being done all along by a few -- same as comics -- so it's odd that it didnt explode for cards as it did in comics. Non restoration work is lucrative in every hobby.  What hadn't the card guys caught on till now??  Was it basically the explosive growth during Covid that awakened new avenues to boosting grades and values to a grading system that had managed to keep it under wraps for so long??

    I think comics are a couple of decades behind in terms of manipulation.  I think it caught on in cards a long time ago.  But other paper collectors aren't nearly as picky about manipulation as comic collectors so you don't hear about it.  

    Heritage's Next Event Auction has started posting books !

    in Golden Age Comic Books

    Posted

    On 5/15/2024 at 1:43 PM, Dark Knight said:

    I believe the whole cleaning, removing of stains on cards is quite recent. At least not as long as how comics have gone through the whole process. Maybe these card guys found out about restoration and such with comics and now just recently applying them to cards to see how it all works out.

    Card people have been manipulating since time immemorial.  I've read of measuring card thickness to evaluate for pressing.  

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    Golden Age War...Best Runs To Collect

    in Golden Age Comic Books

    Posted

    On 5/13/2024 at 8:58 AM, comicginger1789 said:

    So I have a smattering of Golden Age war titles but I feel like I never know which runs or series are the best to go after. I am considering chasing after a complete run of Atlas Comics War Adventures, but thought I would open up the floor to hear people's favourites for this genre. Which runs are obtainable and also great in terms of art/stories that you recommend? 

    Battlefield from Atlas is great, 11 issues and packed full of great material/covers.  There's a collected volume.  Battlefront is another that is pretty great from start to finish, but a bit longer.  It catches the early stuff and the later stuff when Sinnott, Severin, etc., were at their finest.  If you want the full spectrum, Battle starts in the early 50s and then ends with Kirby/Ditko pre-hero Marvel stuff.  It's got everything from Atlas, but the later 50s stuff isn't as high-yield. 

    Outside of Atlas the EC war stuff is pretty good, it's a little more uniform IMO, so getting a few representative issues makes more sense to me than completing a run.  The same applies to Farrell, although the shorter runs make completing them easier, but they all kinda blend together.  Exciting War from Standard is a favorite of mine, and Battlefront from Standard is only one issue that's great from cover to cover so that makes an easy run to complete.  There's one coming up on HA (https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/war/battlefront-5-standard-1952-condition-fn-/p/122421-33001.s?ic4=ListView-Thumbnail-071515).  Foxhole is 5 issues, but they're all now 4 figures in rough shape.  

    IMO, Atlas stands out above the rest in terms of quality.