burntboy

Thanks Guys...

I actually bought Showcase #4 originally off the shelf at a little Candy store around the corner from where I lived in East Orange NJ, called Jimmies. It followed me in late 1955 to a new apartment in Orange NJ but was lost somewhere afterwards along with the Detective with the first appearance of Batwoman.

I'm pretty sure I joined the Club way back when, but after scanning through the first 20 pages of this thread I couldn't find anything, so I'll rejoin.

About a dozen plus years ago I got on a buying kick and latched onto a number of GA restored books and One SA book...

It's an EP 8.5...

That #2 is indeed strange looking. Looks like about an eighth of an inch is missing from the botom cover.

And, creature 75 is following up his smashing success with trying to foist off a group of 4 FM's including a number 5 that he states would be a NM if not for the 1 and 1/2 inch spine split. (And the bent back corners on both of the left and right lower corners AND the dozen plus deep spine creases).

Strange days indeed...

UNBELIEVABLE! Creature75 just got $865 for FM #13!!!

 

When I put high grade FMs up for auction it's like pulling teeth to get bids. For some reason the on eBay just seem to bid this guy's stuff up to ludicrous levels. I guess my copy of FM #13 must be worth at least $1,000! Unbelievable! And #13, in my opinion, is one of the ugliest FM covers ever. It certainly is the worst cover that Gogos ever did for FM!

 

- Mike

 

Wow!!

I threw in a bid of $125 when the high bid was $88 with 7 hours to go, but I knew I'd be away all day and not otherwise bidding.

I will say that the spine on that looked pretty pristine, but in any shape that seems like a lot of cash.

Based on this discussion I took a long look at the books in question and think they are pretty decent copies, but all are overgraded. He calls the #25 MINT despite a cross section of rubbing on the FC and a pretty decent ULC ding among other things.

 

The #17 has really rusted staples as well, which is too bad as it presents well otherwise.

 

Based on the bidding so far, I don't think the grading has fooled anyone...

 

Creature75's FM #17 just went for $267!

 

Like I've said in the past, I simply do not understand bidders on eBay. The mag presented well, but those rusted staples tell me that this mag (and it would appear most of the FMs this guy is selling) have been exposed to high humidity or actually saw water.

 

As tempting as some of his material may be, I would just hit myself on the hands with a hammer before they could touch a key to bid! I very well could be wrong, but I strongly suspect that there are surprises that will be waiting for the winners of most of Creature75's auctions.

 

- Mike

I was surprised by the price on the 17, as well. I guess that the bidders either didn't care (because the book was so otherwise nice or didn't know what they were looking at in the often blurry photos.

Heck, someone might even feel that as long as they are not bleeding into the cover or pages yet, they could swap them out for nice staples from a vintage beater??

Based on this discussion I took a long look at the books in question and think they are pretty decent copies, but all are overgraded. He calls the #25 MINT despite a cross section of rubbing on the FC and a pretty decent ULC ding among other things.

The #17 has really rusted staples as well, which is too bad as it presents well otherwise.

Based on the bidding so far, I don't think the grading has fooled anyone...

Father's Day gift from my daughter.

 

 

That's a beauty...

can't go wrong with a nice Frazetta cover

Courtesy of Batko, FM #18. Mine looked as nice in a Mylar but the FC was only attached at the bottom staple and the back cover wasn't attached to anything...

I sent you a PM. If you're looking for some issues in really nice condition check out my FM ##14 (newstand fresh), 7 (WOR-TV variant), and 2.

 

- Mike

Hey Mike, was it you who won that gorgeous FM #3 tonight?? I was thinking about pulling the trigger on the sellers counteroffer to me just as I was notified that someone else won it. I know it's your favorite cover and this was really a sweet copy...

I've been following that one and the seller's FM #1. The high shipping cost is because the seller is located in Germany.

 

FM #4 with Ghoul's Eye sticker is the second rarest FM next to FM #6 with the MT Graves sticker. On the surface $390 looks really cheap, but I'm wondering about the condition. The covers don't look too bad at first glance, but the spine is pretty rough and there is a coupon clipped out of the bottom back cover. In addition, this copy look wavy, not flat when laying on the table in the photo. The pages appear very yellow and brittle. Also, the cover has a good deal of foxing, especially on the back cover.

 

Despite its rarity, condition is very important. I am not a professional grader, and grading is very subjective. However, there is no way that I would give this mag a Fine / 6.0. I know it's a moot point, but just looking at the pics to me it looks more like a VG- / 3.5. The highest that I would give it is a VG / 4.0. Both grades are listed with a value of $544 in the Nostomania on-line catalogue.

 

Be that as it may, I, personally, prefer issues in better condition. I couldn't live with this one in its present condition.

 

- Mike

 

I'm with Mike on this one. As far as FM 4's go this is actually a pretty decent Front Cover. I've somehow wound up with 3 of these and this would probably be as nice as my best except for the fact that the missing coupon on the back cover is a grade killer for me. i could deal with the one in the interior, but not that BC.

 

Having said that, it is a decent copy of a mighty rare book...

 

 

Harry, do you really have three copies of FM #4 with the Ghoul's Eye sticker??? That has got to be a record for Ghoul's Eye sticker variants in one place!

 

I only have one regular FM #4 and one Ghoul's Eye variant. I figure if I get any more they may start to fight with each other in the mag collection box!

 

Below are the front and back of my regular #4. I'd give it around and VF-/7.5 to VF/8.0. Following those pics are the front and back of my #4 Ghoul's Eye variant. I'd give that one around a F+/6.5 to F+ VF-/7.0.

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I've been following that one and the seller's FM #1. The high shipping cost is because the seller is located in Germany.

 

FM #4 with Ghoul's Eye sticker is the second rarest FM next to FM #6 with the MT Graves sticker. On the surface $390 looks really cheap, but I'm wondering about the condition. The covers don't look too bad at first glance, but the spine is pretty rough and there is a coupon clipped out of the bottom back cover. In addition, this copy look wavy, not flat when laying on the table in the photo. The pages appear very yellow and brittle. Also, the cover has a good deal of foxing, especially on the back cover.

 

Despite its rarity, condition is very important. I am not a professional grader, and grading is very subjective. However, there is no way that I would give this mag a Fine / 6.0. I know it's a moot point, but just looking at the pics to me it looks more like a VG- / 3.5. The highest that I would give it is a VG / 4.0. Both grades are listed with a value of $544 in the Nostomania on-line catalogue.

 

Be that as it may, I, personally, prefer issues in better condition. I couldn't live with this one in its present condition.

 

- Mike

I'm with Mike on this one. As far as FM 4's go this is actually a pretty decent Front Cover. I've somehow wound up with 3 of these and this would probably be as nice as my best except for the fact that the missing coupon on the back cover is a grade killer for me. i could deal with the one in the interior, but not that BC.

Having said that, it is a decent copy of a mighty rare book...

Thanks for taking the time to compare with some original issues. I am looking for a #1 and would hate to end up witrh something that was not what iwas sup[posed to be. I noticed from the pictures that the interior appeared correct and the seller confirmed there was no commemoritive notation inside. I guess my biggest concern was that someone had "recovered" a book with the re-issue cover. Sounds like that is not the case if there are others out there with the same cut.

 

On another note, FM hunting has been good with several nice copies arriving lately!

 

Cheers!

Best of luck and let us know how it all turns out...

harry

Here's my take on the subject..

1. I was never aware of there being an exact reprint so thanks for that info.

2. My first instinct was that this is just a different "cut" of the cover.

3. So I pulled out my copy of FM #1 and found that it conformed to your understanding of what the cover routinely looked like. (Less space below COLLECTOR'S EDITION and more space at the top over FAMOUS). BUT that could still be just the cover cutting process.

4. I then checked my undercopy of FM #1 and found that it matched the one up for sale almost exactly (more of both Frankie's and the girl's hands) and that particular book became mine over 50 years ago when I traded 50 comics for it to an upperclassman in High School.

SO, IMHO I'd agree with the seller that it's the real McCoy...

Harry

[quote=Hepcat

 

I just picked up a really clean copy of FM #15 which is a real pain in the butt to get in nice shape.

 

 

Hey, nice magazine! Pity about the handwriting on the cover though....

 

Yeah, but it is John Zacherle's writing. I compared it to about a dozen examples that I found and it matches up. He even signed his name with the real spelling - ZACHARLE. They added the "Y" at the end of his name when he started the TV show back when I was about 10.

I would have preferred a non-autographed copy, but FM 15 is really hard to find without some sort of issue (spine split, clipped coupon, creases, etc.)

I would kill for Zacherly's signature. Shock theater was a huge part of my youth.

Those Universal Horror movies were routinely awesome.

Next year I'm going to go to Parsippany NJ and get his sig!!!

It was $100 for that # 20. Considering what some sellers ask for for Gd copies, I feel it's a bargain.

This is the nicest copy I've seen in years after the one you snagged and the $2000 copy.

It's funny but after collecting these since I bought Issue #3 off the stand, I never noticed the lack of "Of Filmland" from those few Titles...

Speaking of Mr Gogos, here's a copy of FM # 20 that Fed Ex just dropped off at my door.

To me for some unknown reason this is one of the very hardest issues to find a decent copy of, and when they pop up, they can be quite expensive.

I've been looking for a nice copy for years now and had a pretty decent one from Atlanta except that the cover was completely split and separated from the book.

Then Mike (Batko) snagged a nice one at a very attractive price a few months back after seeing a surprisingly lovely copy top $2K on ebay.

For some reason I didn't see this in my usual search but stumbled across it by accident. It far exceeds what I expected to be able to find and was amazingly cheap.

It looks like there could be some color touch below the letter S in the LLC although there is no bleedthrough on the inside of the FC.

Also the spine was split in spots and has been repaired in some fashion but given the overall attractiveness of this book, I don't care...

Those are really lovely copies...

My small collection runs from #1 to #31. I stopped buying after # 30 (1964/1965ish) but always wanted to see the results of the Monster Model contest, so bought # 31 some years ago.

I've been upgrading some copies by buying Mike's undercopies... :blush

Harry

Dmac - been a long time!!!

Who knew you were a magazine collector?!

Lovely copies of some cool covers...

Harry

OK, i'll bite - what's inside?

BTW, love those HM's and Epic (especially the Nov 1981 ).

Just arrived today - yet another Frazetta cover for Eerie # 97

Eerie # 23;

(I guess by now it's clear I'm a HUGE Frazetta fan...)

Creepy # 11;

Creepy # 15;

Ceepy # 16;

Creepy # 27;