damonwad

As many of you may know, I was asking about Batman 1 recently in a thread which was derailed by a more interesting discussion about the investment potential of big books like that. Behind the scenes, though, I was offered a Batman 1 by a boardie I knew little about. He had never sold on the boards, which was a red flag, but he sent me a zillion photos and offered to let me inspect the book in person. He was in Las Vegas, which is not far from where I live, so I made arrangements to fly out for the weekend and meet up with him. I also brought along the girlfriend so we could have a great Las Vegas weekend if the Batman thing went south.

 

We flew into Vegas Friday morning. Our hotel room in Ballys was on the Paris side, so we had the Eiffel Tower right outside our window. I was supposed to meet the seller at 1 pm in the Ballys lobby, We waited. And waited. And waited. Nothing. At 2 pm, I left him a PM and we went on with our day. I was a bit upset, but figured we were going to have fun in Vegas so the weekend would be worthwhile anyway.

 

At 10:30 pm, while we were about to start sucking down some tropical drinks at Frankie's Tiki Bar, my phone rings. It's the seller. He was at Ballys, but the lobby arrangement there is strange and he couldn't find me. He had the wrong phone number for me and didn't get the correct one until he got back to his computer that night. We made plans to meet the next morning at 10 am.

 

I let the girlfriend sleep in, and shortly after 10, my phone rings. It's the seller, looking for me, standing 10 feet away. We go to the conference room area, squat in an open room, and I inspect the Batman. I knew it was a real one the moment I opened the bag and smelled 60 year old paper. (Girlfriend later: "Did you get a woody?" Me: "Almost.) The book was pretty much exactly as described and, IMO, fairly graded. I think an eBay seller would have bumped it up a grade trying to squeeze more $$$ out of it.

 

I decided to buy the book. We went to the bank and I handed over a thick stack of hundred dollar bills.

 

Back in my hotel room, the girlfriend and I leafed through the book and I pointed out the various first appearances and other cool things about Batman 1. Owning a copy of this book has been an on and off goal for most of my life. This one has extensive professional restoration, but who cares? It's a Batman 1.

 

 

Great looking book, congrats.

Awesome information jb. Very interesting and entertaining. I love those covers, but too bad The Clock's first appearance had to be that monstrosity. I could read this stuff all day, thanks.

Great choice.

 

Silver's series is by far (IMO) the best of the famous cowboy horse's books.

 

I pulled out a few of mine for this group shot. Guess I forgot to pull out a few Triggers.

 

I've never read any of the cowboy horse books. In your opinion, are the Silver's good or just good in relation to the others? Just curious.

This cover is not by Raboy but by Bud Thomson who has a more cartoonish style as can be seen in not only CMJr but also the chair attendant. By this point, Raboy had been working on Flash Gordon for a while.

 

I've seen that book on eBay here and there so it's not as hard to get by as some other later Fawcetts. I believe that late issues of Marvel Family are tougher.

 

Sweet book Mark. It's funny how editorial played with the end / demise of the title with the cover caption - "Condemned to Die".

I knew the cover wasn't by Raboy but was just saying that it was interesting to me that the Raboy CMJr's are so great but never really made me want to read the story, just look at the cover. While this CMJr cover made me want to read the story. Just to clarify.

Scarce (according to OSPG, not sure if it really is) last issue.

 

I never noticed that cover before. Not exactly one of the Raboy masterpieces but makes me want to read the story. The Raboy's just make me want to stare at the cover. Did they execute minors back then?

I know you guys are shy and were reluctant to ask which is my favorite Larson Centaur....

 

well here it is

 

I was too shy, but since you opened the door... what are your favorite Centaurs, Larson or otherwise? Feel free to completely ignore me if the door has shut.

Good grief, what`s going on with a crappy unloved title like Lone Ranger? Prices exploded in last week`s Heritage weekly auction!

 

I had to spend way more than I had expected to get this (and probably wouldn`t have gone that high if it didn`t have an old label):

 

I was going to bid on some of these Lone Rangers but went on vacation and forgot. Looking at some of those prices tells me I wouldn't have won any though as there are so many westerns I'm looking for that I won't buy any (with some exceptions) unless I can get a good deal (in relation to guide).

Won this for $155 in May Comic Link Auction (just under guide for a 4.0)

You have a great collection Honky Cat and I've enjoyed seeing all the comics you've shown so far. I hope you have a lot more. Also, I love Plastic Man (thumbs u

Here's another.

 

Gang Magazine (July 1935)

 

Wow, captured the moment well in this one. A lot of things to like about this cover.

I think she'll deflate if you poke her with a pin.

It still makes me go "Wow!"

 

This is one of those covers that just made me say "wow" when I first saw it. Never saw anything like that when I was reading X-Men as a kid.

 

would be a great addition to my "skull" cover theme

I was going to start a "skull cover" collection but I don't want anything to do with bidding against you so now this comic is the center piece of my "guys with blue fedoras" collection.

Heritage sold the original painting used for that cover.

 

Nothing says L.B. Cole like trains.

 

I didn't know that still existed, thanks.

Having to have the complete run of this title was one of the first signs that I had a problem....

that's just "nutty"

 

If you think that's nutty, then what the heck is this? "Udderly" insane?

I don't know why but these cow books fascinate me. Neat collection by the way.

One of my favorite pre-code horror covers. Love the Northford "x" stamp also.

I'm very excited to add this book to my collection. It's the only copy graded and the Edgar Church Copy to boot! I've been on the hunt for this book for awhile and it's just not out there to be found.

 

The only copy I've seen is Theagenes collection. I've asked Bangzoom if he has one; he doesn't. I asked Metro how many they have sold and they said 4 total since they have been in business with this being one of them.

 

Crazy.

 

Anyway, here it is:

 

Congrats on finally getting one. I love the colors on that book.

This is one of those covers that just made me say "wow" when I first saw it. Never saw anything like that when I was reading X-Men as a kid.

Nothing says L.B. Cole like trains.

Thanks for sharing Scrooge. Cool story.

These are about as opposite as two great books can get. I'll take the MPFW 1, but if the cases were glued shut I'd change my mind.

I am looking forward to reading some of the Frazetta westerns. I was only really aware of the Ghost Rider covers.

Thanks BB-Gun. I especially like the cover to Two-Gun Kid 9.

Another TWS for my very modest collection.

 

I noted in an earlier issue how interesting I find the letters pages in this series. They remind me of the light-hearted banter that you get from Stan and the gang in the Marvel Age, and of course Stan read pulps in his formative years. I also noted the use of the phrase "Nuff said" to conclude letters in TWS. Well, in this issue one of the lettters concludes with "Excelsior!" I find it fascinating that these quintessential Marvel phrases that Stan made famous werer already commonplace in the 40's.

 

Nuff said!

 

Interesting stuff, thanks.

Obligatory group shot?

 

ask any you shall receive. these are all the fox books thru 7/40 [green mask 1 and flame 1 are "summer," and wanting to err on the side of completeness, they are in my run].

 

Congrats on the great run.

It's hard to follow those Exciting 1's but here is one of my favorites as contribution to this thread.

 

 

In before 20,000. Woohoo!

I found one of those at the flea market but it fell apart whenver you touched it. Still looking but collecting Tip Top Comics in the mean time.

 

 

Cool!

I never had any luck at flea markets. Good for you (thumbs u

Outstanding! (thumbs u

I love it but I'll trade it and a pair of Lady Gaga tickets for your copy.