Qua-Brot

Just kind of showing off . . . even though I do love his almost geometric layouts on these Ship/Airplane covers, I prefer his dames and Sci-Fi covers.

Got this one back from CGC - don't see it too often.

I'll throw my 2 cents into this pool of resentment and defeat . . . yes, them there is fightin words! First, any company like CGC that relies on public good will and trust in their ability to try to be as objective as possible (even in an area like grading that is indefinite and is more of an art than a science) it is absolute suicide for them to change their standards over the years, especially if it is tied to their other revenue streams. If this was true and were to get out into the general public they would be done in seconds. There is at least one other company that would take over in that second, and maybe another that could step up. The theorizing that they shill for themselves or change things drastically is tantamount to conspiracy theorizing (No, I do not own stock in the company or am I a big supporter - this is just basic common sense in business). Second, the prices of comics are going up because of supply and DEMAND. It isn't the dealers or flippers or CGC who are driving up prices (though to be fair, CGC and 3rd party graders are making it easier to create tiers - i.e. grades - that are in more demand than other tiers, which does drive demand as supply seems to be low in certain tiers/grades). Dealers, Flippers, CGC et al, bag and board manufacturers, Comic box manufacturers, Con holders, etc. are merely cashing in on the DEMAND that exists for these old pieces of paper. I agree with whoever said above that this demand is being driven by the popularity of the movies and will last at least 25 to 30 years - probably 50 to 60 in actuality (figure the kids of 10 today who are loving the movies will grow to become collectors in some manner - hit their prime nostalgia/money making period in their late 30s to 40s, and keep going for another 25 to 30 years). There will be ups and downs. Markets are fickle, what is popular is fickle, and trends and tastes change. Who knows, there may be a run on oddball funny animal books. Or Westerns might come back. But once PCH became popular the prices were going to go up. I'm sure there are some beautiful books hiding away in collections that won't see the light of day for another 10 years or so, and maybe the popularity will have cooled off. Maybe not. But figure how popular Horror was in the 70s - Creepy and Eerie and all those Monster mags it makes sense those who grew up on it would discover the previous era of Horror - the question is will they discover Horror Pulps? But anyway, I digress. You may not personally understand the desire to own a book, or to pay so much for it - but that is the beauty of a free market - you don't have to understand it! Someone (actually, usually a few someones) is willing to pay that much for it and there you have the value. Works for any commodity - I don't get gold laminated marble bathrooms, but people seem to love them and pay a lot for them. Finally, the amount people spend on books relative to their income varies: There are some who are addicted and just spend. There are some who budget well and stick to their budget - if they make a lot they spend a lot, if not they don't. There are those who are retired and can spend their savings as they want. It's hard to figure out based on income how much people will spend. Look at how much people spend on a boat, or a motorcycle, or their TV or clothes or whatever. Some don't have those expenses and instead put it into comics. No boat, that's 20K. No Motorcycle, 15K? No wife - unlimited funds (no woman no cry). My point is that if you try to ascribe motivation by bad actors to such a large and open market you are being silly. Might as well blame the Jews for higher comic book prices (and you would be right - Siegel, Schuster, Kane, Lee, Simon, Kirby, Cole, Feldstein, Kurtzman, all Jews and had their hands in most of the most expensive books out there - and full disclosure - I am a Jew). It is frustrating when prices rise above what you can afford. person_without_enough_empathy and moan all you want, but don't start looking for the boogey man. The only thing to blame is supply and demand in a free market (and comic books are one of the free-est markets around - no regulations, we all pay what we want and have no reason beyond our own strange desires to buy these four color horrors, and no one is coerced to sell at any price). Thanks for reading my screed. I hope I didn't really insult anyone, not my intention, just my own frustration in general about lack of understanding about basic economics (don't even get me started on the world at large and contemporary politics . . .)

Final and then I'll move the unsold to other venues. Thanks!!!

End of the weekend

There are still a few left!

thanks!

Its a Qua-brot-bat-bot thing

Thanks! I'm sure Mom will be forgiving

Four Favorites 10 and Super-Mystery Comics V4#1 taken by - none other than the Take-bot! Thank you!!!

Let's go out with a bang! Super-Mystery Comics V4 #1 CGC 9.0 White Pages! This is a beauty! And it's a Gerber 7! Ferstadt and LB Cole art. Clown appearance. This is the highest graded by 2 full points – next grades are 7.0. GPA has one of the 7.0 sold for $900 in 2017. Prices have gone up a bit, plus Gerber 7, plus two points, plus highest graded, plus White pages . . . Asking $3,000 SOLD!!!

Super-Mystery Comics V3 #6 CGC 2.0 OW. Cover detached, tape on cover. Great color! Kurtzman, Cole and Ferstadt art. Mr. Risk story. Clown appearance. Hanging Panels. Chock full of goodies!!! GPA has a 3.0 sold in 2017 for $435. Asking $450

Super-Mystery Comics V3 #5 CGC 5.0 OW/W. Solid graded book with great color. Kurtzman art and what seems to be LB Cole’s 2nd comic book work. Torture cover with lots going on inside – hanging panels and man burned alive panels. Fun! GPA shows a few sales from 2017 but nothing recent. One 1.8 for sale on an expensive site for $690. Asking $1,450

Super-Mystery Comics V3 #4 CGC 3.0 C/OW, tape on cover. Kurtzman cover, classic hanging cover, skeletons, acid baths, and - well, just an all-around gruesome cover! I contrast these early Kurtzman covers (particularly this and Four Favorites 10) with their gore and horror aspect to his later involvement with EC, which was primarily known for it’s horror books – but Kurtzman steered clear of that genre and stuck to War and Humor (thankfully! He gave us Mad!). GPA shows some high-grade sales from almost 3 years ago, so it’s hard to extrapolate down to this grade, but given it’s horror chops, skeleton and classic hanging cover . Asking $1,100 SOLD!!!

Now we'll move on to the Super-Mystery Comics: Super-Mystery Comics V3 #3 CGC 2.0 C/OW, tape on interior of cover. Low grade with great color. Harvey Kurtzman’s first cover! Robot cover, first appearance of the Lancer. GPA shows a 1.8 sold in early 2017 for $330 . . . Oh yeah, it's also a Gerber 7, so maybe one of the cheapest G7s out there? Asking $500.

Four Favorites 11 CGC 3.0 C/OW. This one is an honest lower grade book – lowest graded of the 8 copies graded, no tape or glue, cover is attached – it’s just a solid but used book. But it’s got some interesting people on the cover – Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito. War bonds cover. Clown appearance. Harvey Kurtzman art – Early L. B. Cole art!!! Seems this is Cole’s 3rd comic book work (from looking it up on Grand Comics Database)? He was working for Ferstadt Art Studio which supplied art for Ace Periodicals. GPA has only one sale in the last few years, a 4.0 for $1,550 in mid-2017. Prices seem to be going up, and this is a desirable issue . . . Asking $1,750. SOLD!!!

Four Favorites 10 CGC 4.0 C/OW. 3rd highest graded after a 9.0 (Mile High copy!!!) and a 5.0. Gerber 7, Scarce. Heritage has only sold 4 copies of this issue. Their recent sale of the 5.0 makes me scratch my head at CGC – the 5.0 has writing on the cover, a huge stamp on the lower part of the cover, and “Extra staple added after manufacturing” yet still is a 5.0 blue label - and sold for over $3,300!!! This one is a beauty with vibrant colors, sharp edges and spine. This copy’s main issues are a very neat 3” spine split at top and a chip out of the bottom right corner . . . Harvey Kurtzman cover and art, Hitler appearance, Clown appearance, and a “classic bondage cover” with a guy literally getting his guts blasted. You can even see some of them (the guts). GPA has 2 relevant listings. Well, one relevant listing. The Mile High copy graded at 9.0 sold 2 years ago for $14K. That is irrelevant to the discussion at hand. The sale of the above referenced 5.0 about 6 months ago is relevant. Take a look at it on the Heritage site – and then take a look at this one. Which would you rather spend a few grand on??? I thought so! Asking $3,000. SOLD!!!

First up: Four Favorites 9 CGC 5.5 C/OW. 2nd highest graded after a 6.5 out of 7 graded copies (6 on census, this one makes it 7 total). Heritage has only ever sold 5 copies. Not such a common book. This one is nice and sharp looking. The major flaw is visible in the shadowed part of the robot – circular tear in the cover, plus some shadowing on the front (back cover looks great – too bad that isn’t a selling point!). Robot cover, bondage cover, one-staple War book, with lots of action. Oh, and early Harvey Kurtzman art! What more could you want? GPA is scarce with only 3 sales in last 2 years, with even that data kind of all over the place – a 6.5 selling four months before a restored 3.5 for a hundred bucks less (6.5 for $436, the C1 3.5 for $525!) and then last year a C1 2.5 (cover glued back on, tape on inside of cover) sold for $531. Asking $2,200.

I'm offering some rare books today - Ace Periodicals Four Favorites and Super-Mystery Comics. Not your common thread. But first! The rules!!! No Bad people, HOSers, Probies or others who will sully the process and cause chaos and havoc with me or the process. First unqualified in the thread trumps all negotiations and PM/DM agreements. I do listen to offers and package deals. Payments up to $1,000 PayPal, Check or Money Order. Above $1,000 Check or Money Order. Books will not be shipped until check/MO clears bank. Time payments allowed for purchases over $1,000 - 20% non-refundable deposit, and no more than 3 months to pay off the balance. Shipping will USPS Priority for purchases under $1,000, Registered for above, and both are free in CONUS and will be fully insured. Canada and elsewhere we can discuss how and how much shipping will be. No Returns - these are all newly graded by CGC. If there is damage during shipping they will be insured so we can go through that. Not sure how long I will leave this up. I have heard this weekend is slow because Boardies may actually be someplace called "Outside" having food cooked to ashes over charcoal or gas flames, and imbibing strange beverages that cloud their judgement. I don't want to to believe it, but in case it is true I will leave this up well into the week upcoming, or until they are all sold! Thanks for looking,

So got the books back from CGC - had some press and clean done on them but I wasn't expecting any big bumps, just sort of cleaning up here and there. Not far off what you all thought - the 10 would have been higher but for the 3" spine split (!!)

Finally - what everyone has been waiting for!!! Richie Rich 10 and 13. 10 is a decent 3.0 - presents better but lower staple is pulled through cover and a few interior wraps. Otherwise interior is tight, and this comes with white pages! 13 is in rough shape - cover has water damage and flaking/paper loss. Interior is tight, white, and complete. GPA shows a 10 in 2.5 went for $$225 last year. I'm asking $200 for the pair.

Tim Holt 35 2.0. Negligee cover!!! Headlights, up skirt . . . is this a sleeper (looks like she just got out of bed!!!). VG+ sold on the bay for $45 recently. $20

Patsy Walker 52, cover neatly detached. Interior nice supple off white, complete (no cutouts). Tame negligee panels and aliens/robots. Fun! $40