Westy Steve

Oops

Yeah but for marvel to get from point A to point B it had to go through point C. The ideas in that book were good enough to keep the doors open and the lights on, unlike most of their competition. Most wouldn’t know anything at all about marvel if it weren’t for the book. Can’t have a rebirth without a birth.

Hey guys, I’ve been watching Sabrina on Netflix and it’s really pretty good! I think I recall that they did some dark issues that were non-humorous or just basically more occult and darker than the typical Archie versions. Anyone know where to look to see some of these? What was the first version? Bonus points if you have pictures. Steve

I remember. Another factor is apparent when you ask Mr. Joe Sixpack on the street to name a comic book company. The average non-collector/reader only knows marvel comics or they know none at all. In my humble opinion it’s the top of the pyramid of the Marvel comic book universe.

There was a time when that book was running neck and neck with action one and detective 27. I wonder if the only reason that stopped happening was because no high-grade specimens have come to auction for a long time? If true this book might surprise people.

“OK, after you guys clock in I need you to get some needles and go down to room 409. I’m going to need you to poke that guy for a while. Be sure and get the face area. After that, go to room 273 and use the ropes on the lady in there. She’s armed but she’s kind of a newbie so you should be OK. If you get done early just help out with coffin carrying duty”.

I’ve been looking at a lot of GA comics lately and I’ve noticed that Minions seem to be a common trope. What a thankless job being a minion must be. Whether they are lowering a superhero into a vat of acid or chaining up damsels, they are the unsung heroes of the Golden Age. It’s time they got the recognition they deserve! Please post a cover photo and describe their work in recognition of their important contribution I’ll start... These minions are carrying live people inside coffins up the steps in the background (look close) to God knows where. Of course the minion in the foreground seems to have lost his payload due to unexpected job interference but now his supervisor is on the scene and he is trying to make amends with his whip. All in all, excellent work.

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So, I've been enjoying my quest for Bronze. But I've pretty much backed off the pursuit of all titles but Smith Art Conans. I might attempt some early Savage Swords. I've also snagged a few minty early appearances of Iron Fist...I'm thinking about going after the keys of that series since the hype-train has slowed down on that character. Essentially, all of the material I'm pursuing is "anti-cinematic universe speculation" and I'm snagging them in higher grade. And why not! They're so beautiful! But just recently, after being disappointed on my strict want list at a small regional show, I stumbled across a few good deals on a couple golden age books. And I found myself intrigued. It's occurred to me that (with the exception of a few titles), there is a whole bunch of golden age stuff out there that is completely immune to cinematic hype! So being a contrarian who likes rare stuff, I'm genuinely intrigued. I had a brief daliance with golden age material about 20 years ago, so this stuff isn't entirely new to me. I still have my Gerber Guides, but I didn't get very far. The thing is, Golden Age material is practically like a new country to me. So I've stuck my toe in the water with a couple of ECs, one of those odd 50's book where it's transitioning from a super hero title to a horror title (I find those interesting) and I accidently made a spectacle of myself in the buyers area when I pulled the trigger on a Speed Carter Spaceman #1 and gushed about how I always wanted that book. It's such cool stuff! So now, I'm going to continue pursuing my high grade Conans (in the NM/NM- range), but I'm going to explore the cheaper side of the Golden Age. I'm going to try to be patient with the GA stuff...letting the deals find me since I have an entire universe of books to consider. Right now, I'm captivated by the stories in the EC titles, but i also love 50's sci-fi covers and I can't understand how low grade golden Sci Fi books can be so cheap compared to pedestrian high grade silver and bronze! I'd also like to snag some cool war covers from less popular characters and maybe grab one nice book to represent each of the more popular characters who managed to endure through the dark times of the late golden age and into the silver age. One thing I do know is there is a lot to learn and make sense out of. The market for some Golden Age books doesn't always make sense to me. Why is one book so expensive when it's not necessarily rarer than another comparably rare book with a comparably rare character? It's like the GA collectors have favorite books that they all agree are desirable, but there are others that seem just as cool to me that are cheaper. I'll figure it out eventually. Anyway, I'm steering clear of the cinematic hype and just trying to find good value for my money. Steve

I’ll take it. Wanted this one for years.

Thanks. Yeah it’s kind of a mini key because it was the title rename issue. Agree with you about the low-grade stuff. My Skill at grading the lower grade material might actually prove useful here. I did learn with some pulps that I picked up recently that it’s more important to pay attention to paper quality lest I end up with a Mylar bag filled with paper chips. So I guess I’m trading my fear of lowering the grade for a fear that the book will fall apart.

Thank you. But as I said, I’ve traveled down this road and back again.

I’ve been trying to avoid buying overpriced books. Movie hype has me avoiding so many books right now that I was losing interest in the hobby. I just snagged a couple ECs at my last show and got this at my LCS over the weekend. I’ve dabbled with GA in the past but it was almost cathartic to buy this scruffy book for about the same cost as a NM- Secret Wars #8. So many of those out there! Anyway, consider me on the bandwagon for now. I got so much satisfaction from buying this book compared to the silver or bronze book I could have bought with so little funds.

Thanks! That's exactly the info I was looking for. I ordered some. Beautiful books, BTW. Steve

Over the years, I've seen people bagging and boarding in creative ways to protect their raw books, but they look glossy and attractive when handled. For example, I've seen people start with magazine-sized bags and boards, put multiple boards in, then use different thicknesses of mylar bags to make something that looks great, but is also very rigid to protect those near mint books. Ok, so I want to do something like that. How are you doing that, and what do I need to buy? I want extra protection against bending and an attractive presentation. I guess I need to buy a magazine short box to store them in, but what else? Got pix of the final results?

Hey guys, Along with comic book collecting, I collect other things. One of them is coins. An interesting way to collect coins is what they call "type collecting" where you collect one very nice example of each different type of coin. So as an example, one really nice buffalo nickel, one really nice mercury dime, etc. Prices on comics have gotten so high that I'm considering using that method for comics instead of first appearances or runs. You know, one really nice example of different types of comics in my sweet spot for collecting...the $200 to $500 range (though golden age stuff would cost more, I'm sure). For example, a really nice example of Batman might be Batman #251, because it’s got a great story, a great cover, it’s a semi-key book, and in higher grade there’s a fair argument that it would be a good one to own if you could only have one. Another example is Marvel Premiere #15, because, for Iron Fist, it’s a great cover, a great story, and even though it’s considered a key book, it’s still affordable in higher grade. For the Golden Age, I can see an argument for having a Wally Wood EC, a really cool looking Planet Comic, A nice good girl cover like a Phantom Lady, a Superman War cover, etc. See what I mean? One book that represents each genre or hero in better grade that ideally has a good story, a nice cover, and is a little more important than the typical issue in the run. So if you get the drift of what I’m saying, what books/specific issues would you suggest? Pix would be appreciated too. TIA, Steve

This is what I am driving at. He “had owned” an Action 1. And yes theoretically he could buy it back. But perhaps some systematic method of holding back really good stuff without crippling your overall business would make sense?

Hey guys, Just wanted to ask a question to the dealers here. I imagine that you also collect comics. Do you ever hold something back for your collection? How do you decide what you're going to keep for yourself and what goes into general inventory? TIA

Hey guys. Can't believe this thread is still going. I guess that's a good thing, right? I got my answer to the question in the form of the above. The guy contacted me to buy more stuff. And this time he asked me to give him an offer, which I did, and he took. And my offer was better than the first purchase.

I saw the thread about people making a lot of money on comic book flips. Here's a question: Situation #1. Someone offers you a comic book collection for $50. You buy it, and after you total it up, you're pleasantly surprised with the value of some of the items not immediately known to you, and then with some labor on your part, end up selling it all for $400. Is that unethical? Situation #2. Someone offers you a comic book collection. They say, "make me an offer". You see it's worth $400 retail. You offer them $50 and they take the offer. Is that more unethical? How big of a profit is unethical? You should get compensated for your time and effort to sell something, but how much is too much in Situation #1 and Situation #2? What do you think?

Coincidently, my favorite cover and I didn't realize there was a backstory behind it. I just bought this one a few months ago. It's a masterpiece. Yeah, it's raw, and it's not a 9.8. Looks fantastic in Mylar.

Arguments about the artist are interesting. But the writing. Oh the writing! Genius!

Thanks. I'll give it a shot. Hmmm....plus to stop following. That's like clicking "start" to shut down your computer. :)

Sorry, but I can't figure out how to shut off notifications for a thread that I started following a few months back.