Cat-Man_America

Given the stratospheric prices GA are reaching at auction I'm thinking in the future I'll only go with Brinks.

There's a stack, right? ...Isn't that what the under copies are all about?

That big stack of copies of Captain America #49 (Aug. '45) looks recently added to store inventory (street date June 15th)... So my crystal ball is telling me that this photo was probably taken in mid to late June of '45. PS: There's a stack of unsold Marvel Mystery #65 7/45 (street date May 9th) on the lower shelf, probably to be returned! At least a copy ended up with me...

Tent attentive Tom cat to Private Dogtag on his own without a pup-tent...

A toast to the obsessive nature of FANDOM (I resemble that remark), ... After taking this group shot I came across a 9.2 copy of ALL WINNERS #21 which I liked a bit better... ...so I bought the slightly nicer book, then was offered another book in trade the 9.0 under copy above! Guess I need to find the time to take a new group shot (below is the 9.2 copy)!

small cheese wheel to cheesy Gill Fox cover...

Living in Texas, I live with western, humor and crime, ...alas less than average romance. This looks like one of the questions I missed on the exam. Let's see, if Charlie had a copy of Action #1 and divided it between Jane, Freddie and Adam, then got it back and let his cousin Billy thumb through it, how many years would it have to be in his collection before his granddaughter Rita discovered her crazy packrat grandpa left her a gold mine? Now (bonus points), how many books would Charlie's collection have to contain before being designated a pedigree without Action #1 being in high grade?

I wanna borrow your time travel machine!

Look for a Newton ring on her finger.

The big problem with variants ...modern day or GA... is they are either not as rare as thought or so obscure as to have a self-limiting market. Pedigrees are the perfect "special" book because they're at once unique and have a story to tell while also being part of a larger whole. Also, since pedigrees by the nature of being pedigreed are going to weigh more heavily towards being high grade. You are indeed correct that high grade is itself rare, especially for GA. I also agree that it's possible more high grade books may at some point enter the market with or without being given the sanctification of pedigree status, but topping the census? Let's not encourage that too much, the stratosphere is already crowded! Unless we're going to invent some sorta "new" improved Spinal Tap grade measurement system (...one that goes all the way to 11, for anyone wondering what the heck I'm referring to), grading is already pushing the limit of plausible deniability.

Perhaps, but I've never seen "pressing" mentioned on a label before. Also, moisture apparently comes into play with a lot of manipulations or so I understand (I've never done any of this myself, so I'm just gauging by what I've heard about the process). I'm more of a "leave it as is" kind of guy, but the whole crack-out and bump thing has become a centerpiece of the "jockey for best position" game and who am I to criticize it.

And there's the rub (hopefully not observed by graders!).

This is my best restored CGC graded book; very early label. At this time apparently pressing was still considered restoration, which makes the label a true collectors item!

By my calculation about 1/3 of my collection is pedigrees, which isn't as shocking as it might at first seem when you consider my collecting interest is driven by grade. The last four purchases I've made were all pedigree books. I've sold a couple of pedigree books over the years as well, but most of my book sales and/or trades have been toward acquiring higher grades which tend to weigh more heavily in the direction of pedigree by virtue of grade. I've purchased high grade books that were as nice as any pedigree and never sought a pedigreed replacement too. Also, I've occasionally purchased a higher grade pedigree copy without selling the under-copy. It's just the nature ...or peculiarity, if you prefer... of the hobby. '

I had my copy cracked out, regraded and re-encapsulated because the CGC label failed to carry any art attributions (see below, in spoiler). Since I wasn't fond of this label redesign going with the local guys was an easy choice; it also received a modest .5 bump, which wasn't expected, but appreciated. The book looks much better than 8.0; I'm giving CGC big props for conservative grading here which is intended as a compliment to Matt and his crew. The one designation on the new label which transferred almost verbatim from the one below was the addition of one word: FROM THE PERSONAL COLLECTION OF JON BERK...

I posted my condolences in the FGCC thread when Pat Calhoun informed us of the sad news last night around this time (my insomnia again), Apologies for the cover repost, but this is my single Jon Berk Collection book; it's as special a book to me as he was a rare, generous and inspiring a collector in our hobby...

Thanks, I haven't had a chance to read through the in memoriam thread. I responded to Pat Calhoun's post about Jon's passing in the First Great Comic Collector thread last night ...or rather early this morning... before the Jon Berk thread was started. While I was aware Lamont Larson had been located and responded positively to fans it didn't immediately click that it was Jon Berk who'd done the research. I will read your comments and track down Jon's articles. I'll post my condolences in the Jon Berk thread too; several of the conversations in the FGCC thread got sidetracked or completely derailed.

The Larson books are loved because of the owner and his story. He was actually located late in life and was approachable by fans, enjoyed and appreciated the attention. He just passed away last year during the pandemic. Many, if not most pedigree collections have sketchier stories ...lots of blanks to fill in... or their original owner/heirs prefer anonymity. Lamont Larson celebrated fandom and that love has been returned by fans loving his collection.

2:37 in both states unfortunately (mine being the big one further to the South). Alas, insomnia. I rarely get more than four to five hours of sleep a night and rarely crash before 5 AM. Last night was no exception, although I slept to noon and feel much more rested (6 hours plus, woo-hoo). My late wife wrote the Morganville Vampires series and the even more successful Stillhouse Lake series, Fortunately, I've got more in common with her vampire's sleeping habits than with her harassed serial killer's families.

So sorry to learn of his passing; I wasn't aware of the extent of his declining health. He's certainly in the pantheon of great collectors and this is absolutely the perfect location to highlight it. Quite a few of us have acquired books in recent years from Jon's Collection; mine is this treasured Prize... The warmth, spirit and humor in this cover seem to reflect Jon quite a lot, in my estimation. Looking toward a time of peace and good will.

Point taken. There may be a few non-Gaines, non-pedigree exceptions, but very few.

It depends on the pedigree. In respect to the second question... A definite maybe, but it depends on the tick, eye appeal and pricing. Good call, those are the most desired super-peds! There are several sidekick pedigrees almost as popular though. Gaines File Copies are highly valued over non-pedigree ECs of equivalent grade, with a triple or quadruple grade to price ratio, perhaps because of their vaulted status (pun intended). There are a several other pedigrees that receive almost as much interest as the four you mentioned (Denver & Vancouver come to mind, perhaps one or two more). All pedigrees are deserving of some incremental value enhancement over non-per copies, although some pedigrees haven't sustained their high promise investment wise. ...But that's a well beat horse of a different color.

If Mitch had done nothing besides accidentally drawing national attention to comic values, that would be something, but there was more vision to his purchase since both he and Theo agreed to this price which caught the public eye when he was featured on Tom Snyder's Tomorrow program. Was he featured on a national TV news show as a novelty interview because the idea of a high school kid paying so much for a comic was unheard of at the time and considered crazy by the general public? Perhaps, but the attention his purchase drew to the hobby is inestimable. While it's arguable that the hobby would've grown and developed independent of this the recognition did put things on a faster track. Prices started changing and we now have a billion dollar investment hobby with no end in sight. I've had the good fortune to spend time with Mitch and see some of his collection. He took my late wife and I out to dinner a couple of times in San Diego during SDCC visits. He helped me make a valuable collecting connection with Theo Holstein, who's a very aloof, savvy collector/dealer, that allowed me to broker a couple of deals that would've been impossible otherwise. Bud is a friend and one of the first people I got to know outside of Oklahoma fandom, simply via a fluke since I met Jerry Weist first having become acquainted through his Squa Tront semi-prozine earlier. We both hung out in Jerry's "suite" that weekend at the motel ...I'm thinking it was a Trade Winds... that hosted HoustonCon. His second floor room was ideally situated to get back and forth from the dealer's room so we spent a lot of time using his room as a base of operations discussing collecting interests and getting to know each other. I made some very good friends that weekend who've lasted a lifetime. PS: Interesting timing, it looks like Elvis is in the building! (Hi, Mitch!)

Three separate tiers of value/interest, as far as Im concerned. I have absolutely no personal problem owning encapsulated books in apparent high grade that are restored, better yet conserved. OTOH, I'm less enthusiastic about the qualified designation, except perhaps for the rare green label with replaced staples which used to receive the Qualified designation. What would turn me off with Qualified is trimming, missing pages, missing coupons, etc., if that's how it's designated. Also, too much restoration might drive me away from a book regardless of how it's priced, but that's definitely on a case by case basis. Bottom line, I think Conserved and Restored books are going to become more important to the hobby as time goes on and rarer books are obtainable or affordable in no other way. Collecting GA requires strategizing given the deep pocket demand, IMO. I'm also an advocate of filler books ...basically photocopy reproductions... to stand in for books that aren't easily acquirable. While filler copies have no demonstrable value in the collector marketplace, they serve as reading copies and to fill-in in runs that are all but impossible to complete. There are times when it's preferable to have a nice non-encapsulated reading copy that isn't as fragile as a lower grade well worn original. My , no extra charge for the caffeine!