Mmehdy

For those on the fence of purchase or thinking about it you might want to take a look at the book we have been raving about, if you go on Youtube and type in the search " the history of ec comics-Taschen ( leaf through) there is a video of the book..she goes fast, but this should give you out there a idea of the quality and images which you can add to your collection, the writing is just as good...give it try...you will be pleasantly suprised.

The boards are vastly superior to really any other form IG...facebook might come closer to what we have here, but sometimes a older format is better. I am against any type of form censorship of another grading or different grading company as to me CGC is superior in terms of consistent grading and they should welcome the comparison. Hoping for some light at the end of the tunnel Q1 2021 in terms of a estimate to return to normal in terms of economic activity. However, we can never go back, only forwards, just look at 3 years ago..the speed of change has increased so when we go back it will be different. A factor which could increase GA/SA comic book collecting in the future is more available free time...40% of the workforce will probably remain "remote" which means less time to commute, less costs and more time to read, collect GA comic books. I think also the need or demand to go to comic book conventions might increase with the workforce at home and people wanting to change it up. Futher if you can work with a laptop you could go to a comic book con and work from the hotel....I think looking forward the extra time and cost savings could spill over to SGA/SA comic book world and a INCREASE in comic con attendance and interest.

I would say by far the best deluxe edition this year our there is "the history of EC comics" by Taschen......it took me 4 days to read, its massive and the best and by far the most comprehensive history of EC comics.

Yes

how was it?

I would correlate the reduction in traffic to the lack of Comic book conventions and comic book store reduced hours. I think a number of posters attended these conventions and that would generate excitement in the GA section. I look forward to the conventions returns big and little and we see as we get progress in this virus that more traffic will return to the GA and all forms. Also there were flea markets, and garage sales etc ....it will come back. But this is excellent time to catch up on your back reading, going thru your collection and organize it.

REVIEW: Best book of the year by a mile and a great value for price you pay...quality here. Let me say I had high expectations after seeing the preview.....it exceeds those and It took me a full 4 days to read cover to cover.....I can tell you great reread value, and printing quality second to none, especially on the blown up images, they are flawless. This book probably took 20 years of knowledge and research to fully write, and in this day and age of print media, it is just this book, this size to remind you mind why we collect REAL GA/SA real comic books and not look at them on the impersonal computer. Holding this massive volume gives this book special meaning as to what we have grown up with all of our lives in tangible books and comics.. This is a lifetime keeper book with incredible reread value. It great to get a history lesson about something you think you know everything about. Grant, thank you for a masterpiece.

I will second that, especially in excellent condition

MAD 1-23 hands down the greatest comic book run in history, yes I liked the magazine but that run is the my favorite. I like early Jack Kirby Caps especially 1-10 with those double page spreads check out the Captain America Omnibus Vol #1 with Cap 1-12. I then would put the early Batmans w/o Robin as well as Action 1-10. There are great stories you just have to find them. But here are a few GA favorites EC's 1-"My World" and "the Loathsome" are amazing, as well as Action #1 and Whiz#2.

I am with you on that ROBO, we now finally have time to READ some of the great books stacked up....GA is the best, I am looking forward to finally getting my copy of the EC book.

For those of you on the fence and those are you who are interested, there is an incredible video done for the SDCC 2020 called "The wonderful horrible world of EC comics" Grant is the main guest and the program runs under one hour but in terms of "new Stuff" check out those photos of Gaines, Kurtman, Feldstein, etc that are presented, and if in anyway have any doubts about Grants Knowledge of the EC world, give it a listen, I don't care how much you already know, I learned something. It is sort of a preview of the book and the subject, I am sure a member can link this video up....it would be interesting here comments on that video...its great.

that is exactly the issues I had with the Tashen book...until I looked at a preview copy...wortth every dime of $200....lots of new images as well as a ton of new information....I am there with you....but rest assured there will never be another one as this is the best of the best by a mile. The book of year, in the best book category for comics and in the last ten years by far.

I just today received a Email from TASHEN informing me the massive History of EC comics is in stock and available to purchase and ship NOW. Those waiting for Amazon will have to wait till 9/30 for availability. Those who know Grant and his love for EC comics is aware this could be the single greatest book on the history comic book company ever done. With over 1000 images in a massive 592 pages, this oversized 11.5 by 15.6 book looks amazing, there are 16 sample pages on the Taschen website, but I was able to preview the book on grants I-pad and let me say, in my 50 plus years of collecting..this is the best book ever created on the history of any comic book company period. I have been a EC collector since I first discovered them in the EC paperback reprints of the 1960's, which I read and reread over and over again.I know a lot of us have experienced waiting for the next issue...on the paperbacks it was the same thing..amazement when the next one came out.... The next major encounter with EC and books was the Nostalgia press , which I bought when it first came out, I think it was $20 which was a lot of money back then, you could by SF EC's for $10-15 and horror for $7-10. I liked the book so much, I set a goal, get that Master Race story no matter what, which I did and which I sold, and so be that it, as it is for many many of US. That book was great at the time....at the time the book was very impressive, especially for a book devoted to comic art, this was WAY before marvel masterworks etc, I purchased it around 1973/4 ish at Bob Sidebottom's comic book store in San Jose along with some original EC's, it bothered me at the time that I was spending my money on a book that I should of purchased the original issues, but I read that till it was worn out and I bought a replacement. I was in college when the Russ Cochran EC Weird Science slipcase box set was released..I did a college paper on it and got A...I will never forget that....Yes prior to that I had purchased some of the Russ's EC Portfolio's and all the Squa ,Spa Fon's but up to that point Nothing was like that box set or had anything been done like that before on that type of grand scale. To me at that point, it was the greatest reprint publication ever done in term of comic book art. Yes it was in black and white but just looking at how that original art was..well amazing. Next was the color corrected reprints in a smaller format but still very very well done, it gave them a sort of 3-d quality that had never existed before and they were needed to supplement the the Russ black and white volumes. So at this point I have owned and read a complete ec comic book collection less Shock 3 and TTA#1 and in the old days you read them, which I did..carefully, all the paperbacks which were reread over and over, all the Russ Cochran volumes and subsequent reprints and Grants books on EC. So we all know that as the best book publisher out there, Taschen has superior color and printing and size wise which cannot be beat by any other publisher. So I was skeptical about buying an ANOTHER book. Boy was I wrong, as I was looking at the preview of the book...my jaw dropped as I was seeing things I had never seen before and I kept repeating myself to him, "how did you find this...he had a bright smile on his face, as he did not want to do a retread book either. I am still kicking myself in the head for coming into the book with a bad attitude...it great to meet and exceed any expectation let alone create a masterpiece, and when book publishing is said and done and over, this book will be remembered as the one best of all time in our comic book world and , which some oversized computer screen could never reproduce like it is there in your lap. Given for all of us and our extra time at home, there is no better way to have this masterpiece make the best use of that. A hats off to Grant and Tashen for hitting it out of the park. The first edition is limited to 5K copies and be the one to own..

amazing...cong

It will be interesting to see if the 3 trillion dollars which just got dumped into the economy will raise prices on these.

With the US government dumping 3 trillion dollars into our economy, GA/SA buyers are probably spilt with those who got funds, the haves vs those have nots who who face possible business closure or job elimination. I think 800K including BP is very realistic...in normal times given the GA mega key appreciation rate and upcoming Batman movie ( which looks great) I think it would be 900K with BP.

I will second that, it is a very sharp copy, its a 7.0 in my opinion

150K is the old 50K and of course while the government keeping putting and printing money out there-3 trillion recently...you will see some prices pumped up.

It is a real shame that some future collectors could be taken advantage of....hopefully E-Bay will do the right thing

RIP

that is the real problem...what if somebody does it even better...real issues for long term collecting

I wonder how the paper quality is on those and how similar to the original?...

It has always since day one been a guide...in the old days it was a year or two behind of the actual prices serious collectors were paying, after 50 years still have some relevance in terms of price guiding is amazing. Happy 50 Bob

Let me respond to your points as follows: 1-"there are still plenty of traditional buyers that still paying record prices"...what a great time to consolidate your collection, sell dups and get top dollar and that is my advice on the selling front. On the flip side, my advice is do not be the person "paying" a record price at this time. If you are in luck and get a record price, bank it, and wait for a more opportune time to purchase and I think this advice is going to be spot on, when looking back with hindsight. 2- "haven't seen a whole lot of dip or flat out taking like you suggested would happen in the beginning of this thead" I suggest you study those comments more carefully as I said these events will take a minimum of 18 months to pay out. It could be longer and up to 3 years. This is not a overnight crash like the 1929 stock market, there will be no "black tuesday" in the GA/SA market period. There will be a sustained period of price decline marked by a flat or bottoming out period, and then a slow upward recovery. Whether its 30%, 40%, or 50% it is gonna have to play out over a long period of time. I am not suggesting a 90% Black Tuesday market correction will ever happen in the current GA/SA comic book market. 3-"you can't have a market correction 9 months after the start of the pandemic, during an election or even later and then say I told you so"...First the true effects of this GA/SA comic book market and its impact will not take 9 months or thru a election of a president, or any clear line in the sand date. I never predicted when it will occur to every GA/SA comic book collector on this board, But, based upon my 50 plus years in the GA/SA comic book market, we are going to have a deep correction of GA/SA prices for a sustained period of time, it is not a question of will it happen, it is now a question of when. With the closing of comic book stores, the changing landscape at DC comics with cutting of 1/3 of its publications, and too many other factors to list, it will not be just one...it is many reasons with many different time lines intersecting to create a decline in the market. . I suggest you reappraoch me on this thead when the proper time has been allowed to see the true economic impact of this virus and the economic damage both temporary and permanent on the GA/SA comic book market. This is not a personel "I told you so", as I hope I am 100% wrong on this, I am a fellow GA/SA collector and I certainly do not want to economic damage to my or your collection in terms of resale value. If we are prepared and plan correctly, we will lessen the impact of this impeding correction and recover faster over time. If we time this right there will be great opportunity purchase and collect Sa/GA comic books and upgrade our collections.

Economic change is the a ship slowly going like the titanic towards an iceberg. Shock and the consequences of a economic shutdown need time to sink in. One of the more significant clues looking ahead like the Federal Reserve does is the Fed changing their policy and allowing low interest rates even if inflation. Why...they know what's coming. The lay-offs are slowly beginning to pile, this week 18,000 las vegas casino jobs disappeared. Lou, this pandemic will have effects which will occur unevenly on all kinds of different markets. For example the real estate market is red hot...why because less people are putting their houses up for sale due to the pandemic thus creating a shortage of the normal supply of houses available and couple that with two major factors of 1-low, low long term interest rates which are increasing buyer power and a mass migration of people going from the city to the suburbs-there is a great NY times article on that. If supply remains low, that market could unaffected or actually increase in value during this crisis. Even during the depression the old saying is "people have to have a place to live" applies here. While the stock seems to offer amazing quick returns..beware what goes up can go down. SO I think a safe haven would be CGC graded Ga/SA with strong page quality seems to be to be more stable. I do not see a great gain like the market did earlier this year translating over to massive GA/SA price increase over time. The GA/SA comic book market has a long way to go as well as all of us together. My sources say Q1 2021 for a vaccine if that is true then the potential is with some vision in the fog for some type of possible ending to this situation. I think a number of true comic book collectors will tough it out no matter what, my worry comes not for the brother and sisters on this board, but how many pure speculators are there in the hobby now and how they react to a downturn in the GA/SA market. We are about to find out when we go thru some tough times, but as mom said, "when times are tough, the tough get tougher. I hope we get thru this sooner and stronger, but when you purchase or sell GA/SA thru this extraordinary time be selective and demand the best of the best for your collection.