SOTIcollector

So maybe signatures aren't as generally uncommon as they have been in my experience. I've bought lots of books in the $100-$2k range, and it's been really rare that a signature has been required. At first, I didn't see the "signature required" as a red flag. I saw it as just something out of the ordinary, particularly for a sub-$200 item. In any event, the package sat and sat at the Post Office. I was eager to pick it up, but had to wait until that was feasible. So after 10 days, I there was finally a Saturday where I had a four-hour window during which I could pick up my package. I went to the counter, gave my signature, and was handed an envelope. Nothing out of the ordinary. A little more protection would have been nice, but it's not something that could ever be graded 9.8 anyway. I opened the envelope to find some flimsy cardboard, a little more flimsy than poster board, folded over to provide a little protection. Here it was. My check would be inside... And I opened it to find nothing but that piece of cardboard. I double checked. Triple checked. Nothing. I had just paid a good chunk of cash for a sliced-up piece of Priority Mail cardboard. The saga continues...

Here's aAn eBay adventure... I've been buying and selling on eBay for two decades, so I'm no newbie. I was there in the wild wild west when "anything goes" seemed to be the rule, and I've been around ever since. Through a combination of skepticism and good fortune, I recall getting ripped off only once. And I thought I was cautious enough with this transaction. Somebody had posted a check made out to Dr. Fredric Wertham in 1949 for a contribution to Argosy. I wasn't aware that Wertham had ever made any contributions to Argosy, so I was intrigued. I have Wertham's signature on several items, but nothing on a check for his work. This was interesting to me for several reasons. I saw the seller had feedback of 100+ and decided to make an offer The seller countered, saying "I've already had another offer, and it was higher than yours." That sounded fishy, since the auction had just gone up and the offer was really generous. The story was plausible, although I didn't buy it. It wasn't totally relevant, but it did make me wonder if I could trust the seller. If he's telling a story about another offer that seems likely to be untrue, then what else is untrue about the seller or the listing? I accepted the counter-offer anyway, and paid. After a few days, I got a notice from the Post Office that the package couldn't be delivered because it required a signature. Signature? Who sends stuff with a signature required these days? The signature meant that I couldn't pick it up from the Post Office for 10 days, because it took 10 days till I could get to the Post Office (my work hours 25 miles away are the same hours the P.O. is open). Here's the item I had won. More to come...

Lately I've found myself with a few extra copies of SOTI, so I've been selling them off on eBay. I had a slightly lesser grade than this offered at $500. It was complete with bibliography and dust jacket, but the book had some markings and the DJ was a bit more worn. It sat for a couple months with no takers at $500, but then sold last week with a best offer of $400. I would expect the copy you have to go north of that. Does that help? Regards, Steve O'Day, SOTI Collector

Thread closed. Thanks for looking.

I added a couple Priority Flat Rate shipping options, both significantly cheaper than the by-weight option I had listed. Thanks, Revat!

Next came Broadway Comics. I'm not quite sure how I ended up missing Powers That Be #2 regular edition, but there is a copy of the preview edition so you can still read the whole storyline. This lot includes Babes of Broadway, Fatale #1-6, Powers That Be/Star Seed #1,3-9, Shadow State #1-5, Knights on Broadway #1-3, and a stack of the preview editions. The whole lot, just ten bucks plus exact shipping, but the shipping is a killer. The lot weighs 6.9 pounds, is about 3 and 1/2 inches high, and will ship from Zip Code 01103. In a Priority Mail Flat Rate large box, shipping is $16.55. I think they will go in medium box 11 1/4" x 8 3/4" x 6" for $12.05, but that would mean limited packing material around the books. My preference is to always pack books well, but if you're buying these as reading material and don't care if they get dinged a bit, then I could do the cheaper shipping option. The cheapest way to get this batch is to meet me in Springfield, MA. No shipping charge, and the books are yours for just $10 for the lot.

First up, Shooter's first venture after Valiant: Defiant. This isn't every book Defiant made, but it's a good percentage of them. As noted, a few were at the front of the box and slouched a bit, but otherwise they are all pretty sharp. Charlemagne 0-5, Dark Dominion 1-10, Grimmax 0, Origin of the Defiant Universe, Prudence & Caution 1-2, War Dancer 1-6, Warriors of Plasm 1-13. The whole lot, just ten bucks plus exact shipping. The lot weighs 7.1 pounds, is about 3 and 1/2 inches high, and will ship from Zip Code 01103. In a Priority Mail Flat Rate large box, shipping is $16.55. I think they will go in medium box 11 1/4" x 8 3/4" x 6" for $12.05, but that would mean limited packing material around the books. My preference is to always pack books well, but if you're buying these as reading material and don't care if they get dinged a bit, then I could do the cheaper shipping option. The cheapest way to get this batch is to meet me in Springfield, MA. No shipping charge, and the books are yours for just $10 for the lot.

Way back in the dark ages of the 1990's, I liked the stories Jim Shooter told. I liked what he did with Valiant, so I bought bought the books from Shooter's next two ventures, Defiant and Broadway. I told myself I'd read them. Since more than two decades have gone by and I still haven't read them, I really need to recognize that I'm never going to read them. I know they aren't worth much on the collectors' market. If you live close to me (Springfield/Northampton area in Massachusetts) and can pick up the books and then shipping is zero dollars and zero cents. Otherwise, Priority Mail Flat Rate seems to be the best shipping option. Two lots of books up for grabs. Payment by PayPal. Returns (at your expense) accepted. The books are unread, and show minimal wear. Most are really high grade, except for a few of the Defiant books that somehow ended up slouching down at the front of a longbox, causing some curvature and bending of the bottoms.

It's likely there was no connection between the IL and GA Wuxtry stores. I got to know Fred Bozek, who owned the Wuxtry in Illinois. He named the place for the shouts of a newboy way back in the day. Billy Batson or other newspaper boys would shout "wuxtry" as an alternative form of "extra". Fred sold the place sometime in the early 80's and moved away, I believe to Colorado. According to their website, the Wuxtry stores in Georgia have been around since 1976. So I think the name shared by the Illinois and Georgia Wuxtry stores just happens to be coincidence.

This book was discovered relatively recently (2013). I've stopped sending discoveries to Overstreet, since they ignored some of my suggestions and utterly botched others (like perpetuating a completely incorrect listing for SOTI itself). Here's what Wertham said about it: "In one love comic a demonstration is given of how to steal a "very expensive gown, Paris original" from a department store: "I'll slip it on in the dressing-room. They won't notice me! I'll put it in that box and walk out, while the saleslady is busy with someone else! ... I walked out, trying to keep calm, trying to look and act natural ... Nobody has seen me! Ohh! If I can only reach the door!"

Wuxtry, in Carbondale, Illinois was my first comic shop. It was primarily a used record store, but they also sold comic books, back in 1977-81 or so. I remember sifting through stacks of old books while listening to whatever they had playing in the store. It wasn't till a few years later that I realized how many times I heard Elvis Costello's "Armed Forces" while digging through old comics.

A beautiful SOTI book! Love it!

Just for the record, I bought one and love it. There's this super great guy who used to work in my comic shop. Every year he buys the coolest gifts for me and my family, and I wanted to find something for him that I knew he didn't already have. He and I both grew up on 1970's Marvels, and this seemed so perfect. Thanks, Shrevvy!

Um... just... WOW!!!! Okay, I'm getting a Powerball ticket tomorrow. If I hit, this baby's MINE!

I'll take a 100-share certificate, please.

True Crime v1#2 Cited multiple times in SOTI. And cited by the NY State Legislature, in Wertham's Saturday Review article, the Ladies' Home Journal article, etc. If Wertham had ranked the most dangerous comic books, I'm betting he would have put this one as Public Enemy #1.

Might as well add this to the box.

Now that's just too darned cool. I'll take it.

Thread closed. Thanks for looking!

I should point out that your SOTI-related collectibles in trade will also be considered. I already have all of the books mentioned in SOTI, but perhaps you have one in better shape than what's in my collection, or perhaps you have something else SOTI-related that piques my interest. If you have something you think I'll like, feel free to drop me a PM.

Okay, your friendly neighborhood SOTICollector is back with another rarity. You've seen me here a number of times offering copies of Seduction of the Innocent. Since that's my primary collecting focus, I usually have a few spare copies in varying conditions lying around. Something that comes my way FAR less often, and is much tougher to find, is the British counterpart to SOTI: Parade of Pleasure. And incredibly tough to find is the original dust jacket. Many of the books listed in Overstreet as "used in POP" were used only on the dust jacket, so if you're looking for the whole POP experience, you need the dust jacket. I have sold a few of these over the years, including one copy at Brass City Comic Con earlier this year. But it is REALLY tough to find copies of this book, as you'll know if you've been shopping for one. This is the 1955 US printing by Library Publishers, not the 1954 UK printing by Verschoyle. The book is complete, including all pages of comic book reproductions and even the photo of Marilyn Monroe. Other than the inside FC writing, the book is unmarked. As you can see, the dust jacket is in extremely rough shape, but it is protected by a Brodart-type sleeve and it does have all of the pictures of comics on the jacket. The book's notable defects are: writing inside FC, presumably a previous owner's name, that has been scribbled out so that it's illegible; white scuffing lower FC; waviness to the upper right of the pages that indicates water or moisture damage at one point in the book's past. With my camera I tried to capture the waviness of the pages, but didn't catch the light just right for that. It seems like the copies that have shown up for sale lately have almost all been Phil Levine copies. How many did that guy have? In any event, I looked back at the last two years of Heritage auctions for copies with the dust jacket (all of which have nicer DJ's than this). Here's what I found. US edition $836.50 on 8/12/2017 UK edition $1015.75 on 2/25/2017 UK edition $1015.75 on 11/19/2016 UK edition $657.25 on 6/26/2016 UK edition $956.00 on 2/20/2016 Boardie price for this copy $450, shipped anywhere in the US. Shipping outside the US at cost. Payment by PayPal. Returns accepted within 14 days of receipt. No HOS, Probationites, or Dark Lords of the Sith, please. Unconditional :take it in thread trumps all, but PM's are welcome if you're willing to take the chance at losing out the most affordable POP with DJ you're likely to see. If rash develops, discontinue use. Did I miss anything in my terms and conditions? If so, gentle reminders are greatly appreciated.

Welcome to Black Friday! Well, Black Friday is a little more than an hour away here on the East coast. But it's close enough... time for some Black Friday deals. Right now I have up for grabs on eBay THREE copies of Dr. Fredric Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent. Yup. Three copies, all first printings. One even has the bibiliography and DJ. That can happen when your collecting is so narrowly focused. My surplus is a win for you! https://www.ebay.com/itm/Seduction-of-the-Innocent-by-Fredric-Wertham-1st-print-GRAIL-with-bibliography/222714754090?hash=item33dad5742a:g:Tu8AAOSwTQtaBnG0 https://www.ebay.com/itm/1954-Seduction-of-the-Innocent-by-Dr-Fredric-Wertham-first-print-second-state/222653028203?hash=item33d727976b:g:u4wAAOSw409ZxGXR https://www.ebay.com/itm/1954-Seduction-of-the-Innocent-by-Dr-Fredric-Wertham-FIRST-PRINT-bargain-price/222728570284?hash=item33dba845ac:g:whYAAOSwR2RaFNcX Want one of these for 40% off? Here's what you need to do to get a boardies-only Black Friday discount. 1) Be a boardie in good standing (no probation types, etc. ) and post the "take it" in this thread between now and the end of Black Friday. (which would be 11:59pm EASTERN TIME on 11/24/2017). 2) Pay via PayPal within three days after I invoice you. 3) That's it. Nothing more. You're done. I cancel the eBay auction and sell to you. Of course, all of this is dependent on some eBay bidder not clicking the "buy now" option on eBay. If somebody on eBay agrees to buy it for full price before I cancel the auction then, sorry, I have to sell it to the eBay buyer. If that doesn't happen before I see your "take it" post and cancel the eBay auction, then you're golden. You just got a deal on an original first printing 1954 SOTI.

I'd say you pegged it! Nice work, Ed!

Thanks. I'll probably adopt some of what you're doing. I'm not going to sell it all off any time soon, but hearing the concern in my wife's voice regarding "what am I going to do with these?" has given me the resolve to unload some of the stuff with little or no value. That full longbox of Ultraverse books that I'm going to read some day? Yeah, it's gotta go. Stuff that has close to zero wholesale value, takes up a lot of space, and that I will realistically never read, has got to go sooner rather than later.

I appreciate the input. I should have indicated that I'm familiar with the importance of a will, and that's taken care of. The will's instructions for the comics are straightforward. They are part of my estate, which is specified in the will. Whoever gets the comics then owns them. What I want exactly done is for somebody new to own the comics with zero strings attached. That person, or those people, may choose to keep them, or sell them, or line a birdcage with them if that's what they choose. I will not burden anybody will telling them what they must do with their newly-acquired property. I can prepare them with some possibilities "if you choose to liquidate, here are some routes you may choose". But ultimately, what is done with them once sombody else owns them is their business.