Timely

On 3/5/2022 at 6:29 PM, Xatari said:

Also a great point. It is critical to be able to reach out and begin relationships with artists, reps, and other collectors. This is not a easy hobby to navigate as a lone wolf. 

I attribute much of the success I’ve been able to experience to the group of which I’m part. 

The cabal?

On 2/26/2022 at 12:00 AM, Moondog said:

What really put my ashcans, and all ashcans for that matter, on the map was when Gary Carter asked me to contribute a complete feature for Comic Book Marketplace 71 in 1999.  It was a 12-page article that included a complete (up to then) census of every known DC ashcan.  It also featured every image of every ashcan in my collection.  I highly recommend this issue to any serious Golden Age collector. 

When I sell my last 4 ashcans it will be the end of a nearly 4-decade quest to accomplish something no other comic book collector has ever done.  In fact Sol Harrison himself didn't have the Supergirl ashcan!   I've said this before but it demands repeating - owning something no one else on the planet has is pretty cool. 

 

Kind of like owning original art, all one of a kind, 1 of 1.

On 2/25/2022 at 2:51 AM, lou_fine said:

I would certainly not expect any deductions to be taken off for either the Mile High codes or for the Larson name or numeric recall codes as they are generally not only unobtrusive, but books with these codes are actually preferred by most collectors as they serve to verify the pedigree authenticity of the book in question.    

But based upon both your extensive prior and current working experience with the 2 biggest grading companies, would this also apply for other pedigree books such as the Recil Macon's and the Cosmic Aeroplane's due to the much more extensive and rather obtrusive writing or notation done throughout these particular pedigree books?  Just wondering since you do not see the books from these 2 pedigrees ever grade into the 9's and I was wondering if the writing/notation was once of the reasons for this, besides just the technical defects thst might be showing up on these books here.  After all, like you just said, at some point you have to deduct for the writing.  

I guess the same thing with the so-called "camp copies" of the Okajima pedigree books because although these copies have so much more large and quite obtrusive writing on the covers as compared to just the regular non-camp Okajima books, yet they always sell for a lot more money than the regular Okajima books due to their much greater desirability.  Just wondering how the writing on these "camp copies" would be treated from a certified grading point of view.  

Generally, those pedigrees are low enough grade on their own due to physical flaws that the writing is a consideration. I do recall the Recil Macon copy of Phantom Lady #17 taking a hit on grade due to writing. I think Recil filled in the coupon on the back cover and that dropped the grade a point or so.

Distro ink starts to become uncommon in the early to mid 80’s as a colored stripe was now printed on the top edge. I saw a newsstand book from 2008 just last week that had distro ink on it! That book was down graded quite a bit. A book from the 70’s with distro ink would not be down graded unless it had excessive distro ink. 

On 2/24/2022 at 6:22 PM, sfcityduck said:

If you are going to deduct for writing, which I agree is one principled option, it really should start with any writing whatsoever.  A comic book with post-production writing on it cannot be mint if other post-production copies don't have writing on them. So if one geographic area has a distributor that writes on the books and another does not, that is still a defect.

Which is is not to say a comic with writing on it cannot be desirable.  The writing may increase its desirability.

But aren't grade and desirability two different things? 

What I hate in the post-CGC world is the notion that a book with a higher numerical rating by CGC is more desirable than a book with a lower numerical rating.  But, I think file copy stamps, court exhibit stamps, certain names, etc., can all increase the desirability of a book.  Even though they decrease the grade.

If you're going to mark a book down for writing and marking, that's great, but let's not say some writing is good, other writing is bad, and pretend this is a science that allows you to know which books are more desirable.

Not every thing is that black and white. Writing was widely done on covers from 1930’s-1970’s.  An arrival date is perfectly acceptable on a book from 1950, but unheard of on a book from 2010. 

On 2/24/2022 at 5:58 PM, VintageComics said:

Why would you treat the writing differently on the Pay copy than on a Ped copy?

Because the amount of writing is quite extensive, probably 10 times the amount that’s on a Mile High. At some point, you have to deduct for writing.

On 2/24/2022 at 9:08 AM, batman_fan said:

I was watching thinking the same thing but boy did I get a heavy dose of reality.

I also noticed the strip was inscribed to somebody famous, an old time movie producer. That was pretty cool!

I was high bidder going into the auction. I guess I had high hopes no one knew about the auction as it wasn’t advertised well whatsoever. I was wrong!

On 2/23/2022 at 2:58 PM, Kevin.J said:

Yeah, been there done that too 

 

My old copy. Bought it from Harley

On 2/21/2022 at 10:00 PM, rjpb said:

If you are buying it, you're buying the Pay Copy, and the history it represents, the grade given is of relatively minor importance. 

Then why not grade it a 9.4? Who cares, right?

On 2/21/2022 at 5:45 PM, MrBedrock said:

CBCS would be jumping out of their own arseholes to get a chance to grade this book...and would probably grade it a 9.2 as well.

Borock said it is not a 9.2

On 2/21/2022 at 5:48 PM, MrBedrock said:

You didn't grade it qualified when you worked for CGC.

I wasn’t at cgc when it was graded.

Borock was given a lot of grief over the years giving it a 9.0, nice to see that wasn't warranted after all!

Would you buy it as a 9.2 Tom?  I would not.

Continental Comics is close by on Devonshire and Balboa (next to Denny’s). That was my lcs from 1987 until I moved in 2004. They are still there.

On 2/20/2022 at 2:25 AM, Tim Frommelt said:

I asked this question a couple years ago and I thought I would be able to get the money then but it took a long time now I'm coming into the money and I need to find out who has Captain America Comics number one I think the guy is in a comic store that's in Wisconsin but I'm not sure can someone please help me out because I'm going to buy this sucker for a lot of money if he will sell it to me.

Been a while since I've been on here so please help me out thanks in advance guys!

I have known the Verzyl family VERY well since 1990, even vacationed with them and held John Jr as a baby. I can tell you they have literally 1,000,000 things to sell before they would sell that, literally a million. That is part of the Verzyl legacy, they have no reason to sell. They make more off of the rental homes that they own than most rich people make in a year. Money will not motivate a sale, they have more than enough!

Lois Lane would be the oldest, longest running one!

On 2/20/2022 at 10:57 AM, tiffleberry said:

Because I am not concerned about value. It is only an option to have it burned, the winning bidder may not want it burned. I didn’t get this sketch, or any sketch for that matter, in hopes of them ever being valuable. 
 

I will be cutting out the official stamp and gluing it to the bag I mail the ashes in so you know it’s official Arthur Suydam merchandise. 
 

edit: Arthur is such a jerk that he probably wouldn’t even care if I burned it in front of him. He made his money lol. 

Maybe he’ll be more upset if you burn a $20 in front of him! Lol

On 2/19/2022 at 1:23 PM, cloud cloddie said:

This is an extremely unfortunate ink choice…

 

That really needs to be re-inked correctly before it's lost forever!

On 2/19/2022 at 10:58 AM, tiffleberry said:

Thank you for your kind words! I never expected to get all of this support. The suggestion to put it on eBay was awesome and I’ve enjoyed seeing the attention it’s getting. I am just happy that the “zombie” sketch could bring smiles to other people’s faces. 

Here is the link to the auction again for anyone that didn’t see it: https://www.ebay.com/itm/234419817372?mkevt=1&mkcid=16&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0

Again, when I listed it on eBay for fun, I totally did not expect this response! You guys are awesome. Thank you for being so welcoming.

 

Is that you and your mustang or just a random pic you put up? Love those old 60's muscle!

On 2/19/2022 at 11:23 AM, Gotham Kid said:

estimates ?

Page quality kills it.

On 2/18/2022 at 9:54 PM, TheShadowKnows said:

My picks for best artists ditko.  Frazetta .lb cole .And Everett.

If you like Ditko ASM pages, I've got some!

https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerydetailsearch.asp?artist=Steve+Ditko&GCat=25394

On 2/18/2022 at 1:24 AM, O. said:

ASM #252 page is open for bidding:

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/ron-frenz-and-brett-breeding-the-amazing-spider-man-252-story-page-9-1st-appearance-of-the-black-costume-original/a/7265-51214.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

 

I can’t believe I was outbid!