BrianR

I mainly am focusing on FF and Kirby Westerns. I do have other keys Like DD 1-3 etc, Avengers 1 Captain America 100 and more I have a few hundred foreign books at this point. There are several grails FF 1 which I have is probably the most expensive and most sought after Mexican Marvel, 5 is a huge Key and issues 4 and 7 are the rarest with 4 being extremely sought after this is the first copy to surface in years

Another one for my Kirby Western collection

I have been extremely fortunate to have been able to find all the books I have. I have the Mega keys. and missing a few smaller keys at this point. I am hoping to complete the entire run within the next few years. I have 74 out of the 161 issues and 2 of the 3 annuals.

I was very fortunate this week and was able to fill in a chunk of early issues from a long time collector in Mexico. Issues 1-16 follow FF in the U.S. Starting with issue 17 they integrated Strange Tales with the human Torch.

Very happy to add this rare gem to my collection.

Here are two more lucky finds FF 11 and 15. These and the 8 are considered High Grade.

I Figured You guys may like this. The UK FF 8 , next is the Mexican La Prensa 8 they came out a few months later (approx 10-20 copies known) a Norweign 8 from 1968 approx 3k printed only, and Creepy Worlds Alan Class from the Alan Class collection. If you guys Like seeing this stuff I can show more. The first 16 La Prensa are extremely rare.

If you compare the covers you can really see how much of the original art was cropped in the U.S. edition as compared to the Mexican edition. The colors are more washed out due to me using a cell phone.

Here are a few low grade fillers which is what you typically find for the niche I am collecting. You have Gunsmoke Western 59 with moisture damage bug chew etc. Kid Colt 90 that was a trimmed and bound. You find a lot of books like this and need to be careful before you buy. I knew what it was when I bought it as it makes a decent place holder. The last is Kid Colt 86. I used to pass stuff like this as it wasnt good enough for my U.S. copies. I learned with foriegn book low grade is better than no grade as HG may never exist let alone being able to find another copy.

Finally got another La Prensa Kid Colt. Got to buy them when I find them. I have multiple people searching in various countries for these rare gems.

While not a key, this is one of my personal favorite late Kirby books. U.S. Mexican, Pence, and Weekly versions of the same book. I love that the La Prensa shows more of the Thing. and the Weekly alternate view/ cover is awesome as well.

I have been buying the Allan Class collection (pedigree) as I can . nice clean examples. Miller is difficult to find good examples of most copies I find have staple rust and the spines are shot.

I pretty much stopped posting and seriously collecting for a couple years. The Foreign editions and the hunt for something new and harder to obtain brought me back to collecting more. I have quite a few UK books, I not only collect the pnece books, but the Allan class, L Miller and the weekly stuff.

I just got this one. This shows what you find most of the times. I needed the issue so I will upgrade later if I can. Also just like the U.S. editions, la Prensa ran through the 1970's and reprinted this material as well. Those are typically nicer and more common.

I had My Two Gun Kid 55 handy to show the differences it isn't the best example to show the finer printing inking on the cover. But you will see the color are more subdued and more art is shown along the border as well as the word balloons are missing smaller quite a bit of the times.. The size between the two is slightly different. I know the 55 is a pence. If everyone remembers I loved/ love my pence books.

The page quality on these is actually really good these are non cardboard stock. They look and feel just like the U.S. editions. Extremely difficult to find La Prensa pre 1964 and even harder to find anything above good very good. These came out withing a couple months of the U.S. editions. There was a delay from my understanding as Marvel didn't want them competing with the U.S. You will find that the art on some books like the FF 1 X-men 1 and JIM 83 uses the original non edited Kirby art for the covers. The inking is finer of the La Prensa which allows for more detail to be seen. The storage conditions in South America were poorer, a ton have moisture damage insect damage etc. people didn't collect like here in the U.S. so more were tossed and the ones that survived were passed down so to speak to the point they were also destroyed. I collect the FFs from La Prensa as well FF 1 which I have there are 10 known examples only. well 11 another was found. There is a Rawhide kid 17 out there. The only person known to have it is a long time Collector down in Mexico and he isn't selling. I like collecting these gems as with the right amount of money I can turn up the U.S. editions and complete my runs . these it doesn't matter what you want to spend it will take years of hunting to find them.

Some Kirby Goodness.

Here are a few random non Kirby goodness. well one is Kirby.

Aguila Blanca 69 or KID COLT 91

Flecha Veloz 74 or RAWHIDE KID 19