Define999

Just imagine what can be available form this NB house ad. This is on the inside of my NB Tarzan. Could a HOS 92 exist? This house ad tells me its possible.... A New Gods #1? Forever people #1 and first full Darkseid? all possible....

Wow ... Do you have more? Where did you acquire this one from? I got it from New Dimensions Comics at a show in Pittsburgh. Interestingly enough, some of the best conditioned FIlipino books have a tendency to reside in America. Many of us think thats because the Filipino books that escaped the 100% humidity of the islands have a better chance of surviving in better condition. How many ultra rare Filipino books are sitting in longbox's here in the states with owners that don't relize what they have? Who knows?

It’s "Chespirito"! Im a horrible speller... I have just come to accept it.....

ummmm this is a toughie.... we think we have confirmation no 181 exists.... the TOD 1 we have thought might, we also think a bats 227, spidey 129, maybe even some DC..... like hos 92 or ASW 10? But we don't really have set parameters as far as dates.... nothing is concrete. Some collectors have confirmed the non-existence of the 181 which we trust for the most part. The problem is there are no databases, there are no threads upon threads of info on these books on the Filipino comic boards, there are no contacts over there even that can give us more than bits and pieces of info.... It really is crazy how little info there is out there about these books. We have cold emailed LCS's looking for info, we have contacted the few sellers over there that sell on Ebay looking for more info or more books, we have even tried to get people that might be travelling to the Philippines to hunt for us? A contact of mine even put an ad in the paper requesting info and money for anything? Books, info, sources..... he did find me some books, but this was over a couple months almost a year. Some books and little little little trickles of info... Just the other day I contacted National Bookstore customer service to see if they could put me in contact with their records dept. or anyone that could possibly shed light on their publishing and licensing in the seventies? Run around and blew me off... im pushing harder but geeze.... The other thing is... many of these books could be sitting in longboxes anywhere in the world being passed over because they look so similar to their American counterparts in many ways. No end to such pursuits if you want to hunt down international reprints. I have also come across very nice foreign language reprint editions of LSH and even Neal Adams GL/GA , think it might have been from Hong Kong/China or Malaysia. I just flipped thru it and never bought any, though on hindsight memory, the pages were of more durable type. Judging from these boards, I think the Adams Batman versions would be very much sought after by collectors here. Foreign Adams & Wrightson books are my main focus. There's more foreign Adams goodness here than you can probably imagine. Word of advice OveraboundingMint..... speaking Adams and Asian books in the same sentence could very well drive our friend here LSC ABSOLUTELY CRAZY! Thats fun for everyone to see but Im the one that has to deal with the dude on a daily basis... Id like to see what else you got OverboundingMint in foreign books? Post some scans bro! Speaking bout pursuits.... in the foreign variant niche its called the "hunt" and I am def no stranger to it. The hunt is its own journey and reward. The inability to just find the money from somewhere and buy whatever in whatever grade you want is something many new foreign hunters have to struggle to get used to..... But the payoff is immense! And I wont even bring up high grade snobbery in the foreign game. Basically you cant be one... We have another moniker we use at times. Books like the Spidey 129 Filipino can be called "white buffalos" or "monsters". Like white buffalos of indian legend sometimes they can be glimpsed, or you hear stories of their existence. And you dedicate your life to hunting the creature down. Now excuse me for waxing philosophical for a bit.... but just like in the case of the white buffalo's death when the hunter is in his paramount joy and glory. Inside the hunter weeps for the creature he destroyed... for it will walk no more in legend, and has become only a bleeding carcass. Often times after you have spent years hunting for a a book, a kind of sadness comes over you after the initial high of adding that book to your collection. The "hunt" is what drives many foreign peeps like myself.... without the "hunt" we mourn a little.... so it drives us ontu more hunts and more adventures.... I sometimes call the foreign variant niche a sickness.... and many of us are very very sick. When the day comes that I complete my Spidey 129 foreign set? Lets say its gonna be a very sad day indeed.... I gotta give props to Chesperito.... he was the first to tell me to calm down and take it easy.... the hunt takes time and patience. And their is no greater hunter in this game then that guy up there! (thumbs u The Philippines is like an archipelago full of white buffalos.... If I had the money, I would travel to the islands for a vacation whose sole purpose was finding these rare books!

Actually its funny... I was bagging and boarding today and while I was doing so I had forgotten about a 2 book set I kinda stumbled into recently... I had bought the National Bookstore WF 211 with a group of books from my contact in the Philippines. And, I had bought the Arabic WF 211 in another lot from Saudi Arabia. I can confidently say this is the first time these 2 rare foreign versions have probably ever been photographed together. I can also say with 99% certainty that this is first time these 2 foreign types have ever been in the same room on planet earth! Ok maybe im exaggerating but trust me... WF 211 isn't necessarily a key book but its a cool cover and putting these 2 books together is super cool to me.

Nice bro! Any more? (thumbs u

ummmm this is a toughie.... we think we have confirmation no 181 exists.... the TOD 1 we have thought might, we also think a bats 227, spidey 129, maybe even some DC..... like hos 92 or ASW 10? But we don't really have set parameters as far as dates.... nothing is concrete. Some collectors have confirmed the non-existence of the 181 which we trust for the most part. The problem is there are no databases, there are no threads upon threads of info on these books on the Filipino comic boards, there are no contacts over there even that can give us more than bits and pieces of info.... It really is crazy how little info there is out there about these books. We have cold emailed LCS's looking for info, we have contacted the few sellers over there that sell on Ebay looking for more info or more books, we have even tried to get people that might be travelling to the Philippines to hunt for us? A contact of mine even put an ad in the paper requesting info and money for anything? Books, info, sources..... he did find me some books, but this was over a couple months almost a year. Some books and little little little trickles of info... Just the other day I contacted National Bookstore customer service to see if they could put me in contact with their records dept. or anyone that could possibly shed light on their publishing and licensing in the seventies? Run around and blew me off... im pushing harder but geeze.... The other thing is... many of these books could be sitting in longboxes anywhere in the world being passed over because they look so similar to their American counterparts in many ways.

Yea, use any scans from my books as well.... I have been curious where Metarog got that SW#1 NB for awhile now! Ya sure you do not remember where you got that scan Metarog? That Star Wars #1 is probably the rarest Star Wars #1 variant on the planet right now? Rarer than the 35 cent, rarer than the Greek Kabanas Hellas SW#1.... Here is an interesting blog on NB books..... don't bother bugging Gerry, I already contacted him about a source for these books... no dice... http://gerry.alanguilan.com/archives/3790 im going to do some more research on this new book store....

Wow! So someone else is paying attention to these uh? (thumbs u I am getting ready for a wedding that is going to busy me for the entire day so I will make this quick.... Tim is exactly right! The Filipino books are some of the rarest foreign variants in existence. Don't ask me how we know, but we think print runs couldn't have been more than maybe 4000 for National Bookstore, Good will bookstore we have no clue and now this? :o THis bookstore we have never heard of before? And, a few of us have been discussing the complexity, the maddening rarity, and absolute coolness of these books for a very long time. Every point above that Tim talks about is a factor in how difficult these books lives were as far as surviving the ages.... I have to run...... We need to talk more about your book for sure.....

Very nice! (thumbs u Welcome to the boards elisa! (thumbs u

Let me see what I can do? Found ya one.... check your PM! (thumbs u

Let me see what I can do?

Nice little hoard there..... (thumbs u

Nice Tim! Australia has slowly started lifting her skirt and revealing her secrets lately.... lot more Aussie stuff hitting EBAY it seems.

Not sure? Hit up Liaton about it... he knows alot about the Canadian books! (thumbs u

Dude, there is nothing like classic silver age La Prensa!

Damn Tim! Crazy scores lately.....

Ooh nice! I agree, nice is one way of putting it sure! But, when it comes to how freakin rarely you see key Bats tip tops...... stunning is a word I like using for these..

For the last couple decades most U.S. comics have actually been printed in Canada, so it would be the U.S. editions that get shipped over the border. It should be noted that SOME (certainly not all) foreign comics have been printed in the US over the years, including some UK editions, some Mexican editions (also printed in Canada too I think) and many many others. Its just not consistent and not always easy to track where they were printed. It should also be noted that for foreign editions, there's a decent chance the comic was not printed in the same country it was sold in, especially in Europe where countries are so close together and trade is so easy, but supplies and labor are so much cheaper in some countries. For example, it wouldn't surprise me at all if German comics were/are printed in Poland. So if you want to start hunting for original printing country.... well good luck. If I remember right a good amount of the European stuff was printed in Italy at one point. Spain too if I'm not mistaken. Italy may have a lock on the market now with Panini printing as much as they do. Yea, Panini did a huge amount of stuff! Verlag in Germany might have done some other countries stuff I think? The only way to guarantee a foreign book was printed in its intended country of readership is probably only with books that were distributed along with newspapers. Similar to the comics de el sol in Spain.... or those Mcfarlane Spideys from Turkey. Eventually I plan on doing some research into some of the bigger foreign publishers and doing an article on the licensing process.

Yea Monkies! Nice books..... but I am in the same boat as Tim. Thanks for sharing! (thumbs u

Nice books guys!

There are surely two spanish editions, from Forum I seem to recall. Marmat posted the more recent reprint, you should ask him. No italian edition, as the X-Men were published as a backup feature in the italian Captain America. Im pretty sure I saw a Northern European one somewhere... possibly a Swedish or Norway? More resesarch is needed....

For Arabics those 2 books are stunning condition-wise!!!!! Great find....

Ahhhh man, no stickers or posters guys... those little freebies are so very cool. I can see why books that include them are priced at a premium.

I'm not sure why you wouldn't consider the two I just picked up keys. They're the respective #1s from both series from the publisher. Anyway... I just got this one in today from Thailand. Justice League of America #69 from the Death of Superman crossover. Man, I love that Thai text! Cool book!