DeliBebek

Nice. Mine has a subscription crease. It was the first comic I got that had been folded down the middle like that. It has been flat for many years now, but that bit of wear makes it feel nice and relaxed when I hold it and read it. I like that grade range for that reason.

Vargas girls were in Playboy for a couple of decades. Originals would be the thing to have there.

I'm a sucker for a Samm Schwartz dancing cover, and this is a really nice one.

I bought a couple of Playboys out of nostalgia. One of them was the November, 1972 issue, which is the source of the Lenna image. It also happens to have been the peak of Playboy's circulation figures, selling 7,161,561 copies. It probably has little collector value because of that number, but it's a neat historical crossover for computer geeks.

Papercutz released several Smurfs albums in English, including the story we see (in part) in Spirou 1071. I've seen them in many bookstores, usually in the juvenile section with the Bone color editions.

Definitions of Bronze Age and Copper Age often depend on what feels like it fits in one age or the other. Unfortunately, once someone develops a feeling for certain books belonging to a certain age, the feeling tends to dictate the time period. It defies analysis. If only the publishers and creators had planned the beginning of each new age as a proper event. Then we would know for sure.

I picked up this issue a couple of years ago, for much the same reason, and I observed the same thing you did. It's a pretty easy pickup for the first appearance of such well-known comics characters. Part of the problem, from the American perspective, is that the European comics are something like Sunday comics, with a one or two page installment in each issue. In this case, the Smurfs appear in the middle of a much longer story. The two pages in 1071 are out of context, but they do make a very clear appearance of Smurfs, Papa Smurf and even the Smurf village.

I was disappointed not to see the baseball bat. Otherwise, a lot of work, but it certainly leaves a great feeling for the recipient to find the books well-protected without being impossible to extract.

Very striking cover. It's strange that the art notes don't include "Russ Heath cover" despite the prominent signature. I'd think he's a better-known artist than those listed.

That's a deceptively nice find for fans of the later Aircel series. Congratulations.

I had to order the upcoming Archie as Thor cover by Walt Simonson.

These guys are giving N.C. a really good name. You must admire his "gotta start somewhere" attitude. What better book for an untried entity but one of the biggest grails of the comics market?

I'd have to know more about that example of shilling--sounds highly circumstantial from your description. Related to the auction being discussed in the thread, has Wally contacted them yet? He's the person in the best position to get the auction yanked since he has the original version of the image with the CGC label in it. I think this is the same guy still doing it. http://www.ebay.com/itm/INCREDIBLE-HULK-181-1st-Full-Wolverine-App-w-Marvel-Value-Stamp-NEAR-MINT-/281142304559?pt=US_Comic_Books&hash=item4175631f2f Yes, UPSMAILFRAWD and collectors_gone_wild are still this guy who was also this guy. He's been doing this for years. eBay cares not what he does. Exactly why I don't go there anymore. Being a good seller is a lot of hard work. Better to spend all day giving yourself false feedback on several different accounts. Maybe he does it on his phone while he's delivering pizzas, just waiting for that one big sale to make all that easy work pay off. Seriously, I can't figure out the value of that kind of effort.

This is a bit slanted toward the second half of the century, naturally because that is in our memory and our parents' memories. It's easy for us to forget the influence and impact of performers like Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby and Billie Holliday, not only in terms of their musical abilities, but in their overall abilities as performers and personalities. I understand what you mean about preeminence within our times. However, probably any of the recording acts you name would correct you that they are nowhere near some of those who came before them, the stars who were at the forefront of establishing the dominance of recorded music over published music, and further the crossing over of recorded music into radio, movies and TV. No I understand the roots of all three. Sinatra's entire career is built upon what Bing did for example. However, I feel that Sinatra did it bigger and better and with more oomph. Even when Sinatra was in his decline and had to make way for Elvis and then the Beatles, Sinatra was still a standard and relevant to a degree. That is why I give a nod to Sinatra over Bing. I'm a big fan of everyone we're talking about. Sinatra is no doubt a lot more fun to listen to, especially after he found his sound after signing with Capitol and took more control over his arrangements. Bing's recordings have a much more even tone all the way through his career. He didn't stretch artistically the way Sinatra did and certainly the Beatles later did. He didn't challenge his listeners with a new style. What he did was record great songs and record them well over about two and a half decades. What really gives Bing props is to not only be such a dominant force in the recording industry, but to be a terrific success in movies and radio as well during the same timeframe. Sinatra is in some of my favorite movies (Guys and Dolls, On the Town) but Bing's Best Actor Oscar and two additional nominations, plus being the top box office draw for several years in the 30s and 40s give him objectively a greater superstar status when added to his overall presence and achievements throughout the entertainment world. That's not even getting into his influence on Desi Arnaz and Les Paul in their respective innovations. In the end, the dynamic personalities and stage presence of Sinatra and Elvis overwhelm the very laidback, easygoing public persona that Bing evoked. It's not surprising that their recordings and performances are more enjoyable to most. I just can't let conversations like this go by without giving respect to one of the grandmasters of the entertainment world.

This is a bit slanted toward the second half of the century, naturally because that is in our memory and our parents' memories. It's easy for us to forget the influence and impact of performers like Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby and Billie Holliday, not only in terms of their musical abilities, but in their overall abilities as performers and personalities. I understand what you mean about preeminence within our times. However, probably any of the recording acts you name would correct you that they are nowhere near some of those who came before them, the stars who were at the forefront of establishing the dominance of recorded music over published music, and further the crossing over of recorded music into radio, movies and TV.

YOU KNOW I WILL HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT THAT !! Ohh, ooh, grandpa fight! (I assume you guys are both like 80 years old? ) Nah... obviously we just have better taste in music than you... And I was about to counter-argue by mentioning Der Bingle, but that's going back to my grandparents' younger days.

No, the story would be about someone he almost knew doing it.

I don't think you'll be able to find the original threads, as I think one of the board updates truncated the early posts/threads. IIRC, "fantastic_four" (JAR) also confirmed this in a previous thread, where he looked up his sign up date and his first post date, and they were way off. I joined on 6/29 and it says my first post was 7/12, and then says I only posted like 4 times in the next 2 months. No way that happened! There are several 12/31/69 thread dates with -1 posts. It's some manner of hiding old stuff, I guess.

Gotta update to g.a.tor now I think there are several old names in the mix.

How did you get this data? The best place for this data is to click on "User List" at the top, but the list in this thread is missing a lot of those, to start with cd4ever, Hogations and Grider67, who were only a day behind Bronty.

There were plenty of coinees, but I know we're focusing on those who post in the comics forums. Are you limiting your monthly list to those from the existing yearly list?

"Deli bebek" is Turkish for "crazy baby." The avatar is a self-caricature from 6 years ago.

Did you try using the popup menus at the bottom to sort by "thread start time" and include "all posts?" It seems to work, except that stickied threads are still stickied at the top, followed by what I guess are deleted threads, then the active threads which started the earliest. The very first thread in CG got locked!! http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=5 And somehow Architecht avoids being on the LTPC list.

Did you try using the popup menus at the bottom to sort by "thread start time" and include "all posts?" It seems to work, except that stickied threads are still stickied at the top, followed by what I guess are deleted threads, then the active threads which started the earliest.

His description clearly states that the comic pictured is not the book that is being sold. The use of a sample image is not uncommon, but reputable dealers make it very clear, even at the risk of running off potential buyers. I know. I was being facetious. Yeah, a stock image is fine for some random nothing book (I suppose), but nobody legit whould use one for an AF15. Agreed. I was mainly adding unnecessary commentary.