Bookery

Tupenny - JR Ewing

 

South Fork has been moved to Tampa, y'all.

 

I don't know Tupenny, but this another of my favorites. Step back a couple of feet from the screen and this image is a dead-ringer for a young JR!

 

 

This is terrifying.

Which part? The upper image of a four-legged monster, or the lower paste-in image of opening day at SDCC?

Bonnett's Bookstore opened here in Dayton, OH in 1939 and is still operating today with the 3rd generation of family employees. From the beginning they traded in comics 2-for-1. They still sell back-issues today, but they are pretty picked over and they don't actively seek collections, though may still pick up some stuff if it walks in.

A few years back the 2nd-Generation owner sold off some of the stuff he kept tucked away that came in the shop early on -- an Action #1 and multiple copies of some other golden-age keys such as Sensation #1, etc. (mostly in the g-vg range, IIRC).

Most people around the country that have sizeable collections of older material likely have comics with the infamous "Bonnett's cover stamp" on them... so they dealt with many thousands of comics over the years.

 

Who wrote the Ghost?

Under a pseudonym, all of the Ghost stories were written by G.T. Fleming-Roberts (even when it becomes "The Green Ghost").

Good pulps have been scarce lately, but I did just pick up this one...

Is E-Bay seller I.P. Freely a member of these boards?

Hey, buddy, don't blame me... blame the hydrochlorathiazide!

It's well known that the only reason Donald put up with all those shenanigans from his nephews was he was biding his time until they were fattened up enough.

Mark,

 

according to the Bookery Guide (come on, Tim, can't you answer the man directly ) -

 

Federal Agent (Dell) is listed as Uncommon and the last 4 issues are scarcer than first 4 [Last four are May through November 1937] You show 2 of the scarcer ones.

 

Feds, The (S & S) is listed as Uncommon to Scarce

 

and Thrilling Spy Stories (Standard) are Somewhat Common (which I would have guessed being later books).

Sorry-- just now saw this! But yes-- that pretty much covers it, other than all of the detective / mystery / spy pulps seem to be getting scarcer each passing year. Obviously, they are still out there... but they aren't changing hands very often. SF pulps are still relatively easy to obtain.

I've read that the cover does not actually reference the Buck Rogers story, but I prefer to think otherwise. Very nice! You have to love the knickers on the girl - so 1920s.

The cover actually depicts the Skylark of Space, which gives this issue even more significance as it's also the 1st published story by E.E. "Doc" Smith. Smith was one of the most popular sf authors of the 30s and 40s.

For the actual 1st (and only) cover appearance of Buck Rogers, look to the March 1929 issue (but you aren't going to like it).

The point is, you don't need two pieces of plastic surrounding a comic book to get the greed juices a-flowin'. Blaming CGC for some schlub shelling out $3k on a book from 1991 is like blaming CarFax for making you pay $5K over Blue book value for a 2002 Toyota Corolla. CarFax did its job and verified the car isn't a lemon, but that's hardly the same thing as it being a Peach.

Exactly. If I were a slabbing operation would there be things I'd do differently than CGC? Sure. Just like if they bought my shop they'd completely re-tool it to their personal preferences. But in the end it was collectors and speculators that determined that certain grades should command many multiples beyond previous market parameters. I don't recall CGC ever giving pricing advice or publishing an official CGC price guide.

CGC provided a service that many were looking for, and it was collectors that decided these products were worth X-amount. When those determinations, due to the massive price increases a fraction of a grade could mean, brought a host of other issues... micro-trimming and other scams, etc., some people tend to cry out that "CGC" ruined the hobby.

Assuming the hobby is even "ruined", no 3rd party grading system brought it to that point... the hobbyists themselves did.