buttock

For me, these, along with Two Gun 58, are must have books. Don't forget Kid Colt 100.

Where do you find these things?!?

Midget comics 1 was Baker as well.

To answer your original question, 5 seems to be far and away the most difficult to find in any type of reasonable shape. I'm not aware of a copy better than FN+ or so, and miswraps seem to be very common. Highest CGC graded is 5.5. I imagine there may be a pedigreed copy or two out there, but they haven't popped up in the usual places. Every other issue from 1-10 shows a copy in 8.5 or better, with the exception of 9 (7.5 and only 2 above FN) and 6 (7.5, but 7 in 6.0 or better). Given the demand for 5, it's pretty remarkable to not see at least one semi-decent copy pop up.

It is a beaut. What's amazing is I probably only paid $75.00 or so for it back in 1987. I sold off a large portion of my Atlas collection around 2000, but glad I held on to that one!!! It's been 15 years, time to let it go. To me.

Marvel Tales 130,Spellbound 14, Mystic 18, Spellbound 2, Suspense 26, Astonishing 30, and Menace 1 (...and several others) will also achieve significant premiums at 6.5 and above. GOD BLESS.... -jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u I assume you mean Spellbound 3, not 2, correct Jim? Also, you can't have an Atlas cover discussion without Astonishing 4 IMO.

I'll dig it out when I get back in town. Somewhere around a 6.0.

Just checked... It was $2390, but for a CGC 6.0, not 6.5. Though as Jim notes, it's quite a nice one for the grade. Wow! Agreed. Goodness! I've got a spare raw if anyone wants it.

Ingels was the first to come to mind.

Dang!

Spectacular!

Well there's no way you'll fit in here!

Fantastic! Never owned one of those, but always wanted to.

Love this issue. The 'G' code is one I've seen quite a bit.

I'd guess 1996.

I remember that book! You got it from Chris Pedrin, no?

.....that really is kind of cool...... only known copy, eh ? GOD BLESS... -jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u That's awesome. I have a similar book where a kid cut out a bunch of Russ Heath stories from Atlas war & stapled them back under one cover. That kid had great taste!

Smooth as could be on a purchase.

Smooth as could be on a purchase.

I believe it absolutely is more desirable in most every case but I never seen a consistent % value increase. It also depends on the pedigree. And the comic. Some of the less collected comics can get a bigger bump just so someone can say they have a Church or Okajima comic. That's a good point. Some of the easier to find pedigrees -- Bethlehem, say -- don't seem to bring much of a premium on more common or less desirable books. I've bought copies of such books where the seller didn't even note (or maybe didn't notice) the pedigree. There was someone a while ago arguing that pedigrees don't matter except for the top three or four (Church, Okajima, SF), but I would disagree with that. Other than on these boards, I don't really hear much about Okajima copies. But for the ones I collect and have experience with (Larson, Church, SF, Recil Macon, Rockford), the Church books are the creme de la creme. Even though they no longer fetch 5X guide regularly, they do sell briskly at 2-3X guide depending on guide value. Very expensive books in guide don't command multiples though because they are already so high. The others I've mentioned typically sell for 2X Please point me to where these Church books are selling for 2-3X guide. For most of the ones I'm interested in 4-5X would be a bargain. For books very low in guide, sure, you can get 4-5X. Check out recent sales at the auction houses for information on the lower multiples. I know first hand, sadly, how the sales have gone of late. But, certainly for the right stuff, Church books still command high premiums I don't think you can put any consistent range on Church books. My sweet spot is books in the $500-1500 range according to guide. For books I've had interest in over the past year (generally average to above average demand WWII era GA) I'm seeing results from 2-11X without much predictability to what will or won't go absolutely nuts. If you're buying post-'1945 drek you can find stuff for even below guide at times. My point is that to peg them all in a 2-3X window misses the mark completely. The variance isn't predictable at all.

Depends on the pedigree. Do you really see people choosing Rockfords, Crippens, and stamped Crowleys over non-peds?

I believe it absolutely is more desirable in most every case but I never seen a consistent % value increase. It also depends on the pedigree. And the comic. Some of the less collected comics can get a bigger bump just so someone can say they have a Church or Okajima comic. That's a good point. Some of the easier to find pedigrees -- Bethlehem, say -- don't seem to bring much of a premium on more common or less desirable books. I've bought copies of such books where the seller didn't even note (or maybe didn't notice) the pedigree. There was someone a while ago arguing that pedigrees don't matter except for the top three or four (Church, Okajima, SF), but I would disagree with that. Other than on these boards, I don't really hear much about Okajima copies. But for the ones I collect and have experience with (Larson, Church, SF, Recil Macon, Rockford), the Church books are the creme de la creme. Even though they no longer fetch 5X guide regularly, they do sell briskly at 2-3X guide depending on guide value. Very expensive books in guide don't command multiples though because they are already so high. The others I've mentioned typically sell for 2X Please point me to where these Church books are selling for 2-3X guide. For most of the ones I'm interested in 4-5X would be a bargain.

Love it! Added to my want list.

Thought you might be gunning for that one.