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A b/w xerox of the cover was among a mixed lot of otherwise unremarkable papers (from Gemstone's or Overstreet's archives?) that sold 5-8 years ago. I am pretty sure it was purchased by a board member who may have posted a scan somewhere in this thread. There was nothing unusual about it aside from the different company name.

Nice book. I don't think the PG&E version was included in the recent discovery of the larger set of high grade SCE copies, which would make it considerably harder to find. I read somewhere, during one of my visits in Yellow Kid's library, that Kim Weston purchased all known copies of the Florida version sometime in the 70s or 80s. They were included in Overstreet because he provided credible documentation of their existence. I've seen Weston selling on eBay from time to time and he might be the only person in the world who knows where they are.

I always enjoy when you post rare treasures like these, sacentaur.

I was the under bidder when it last sold around 2008. I bid with some frustration after having lost almost everything else in the prior 18 months when prices went crazy. That result might go down in history as one of the most absurd from the Great Duck Bubble of 2006-08. It is a beautiful book, though. Many copies of this issue have a printing flaw with annoying white streaks that ruin the blue background for me.

Oh no, another competitor :-). It's funny, after many years of hunting down the rarest, most beautiful Disney comics, a considerable fraction of my want list consists of inconspicuous, mid-run issues that you'd never guess would be so hard to find.

Gorgeous copy! Very hard to find in this condition.

I wish, but I'll never reach that goal as most of the issues from the first year probably don't exist in that grade (I only have 3 of 12 in 9.0). It is the average grade of my run that is very close to 9.0.

I've never heard of that, but it sounds interesting. I think he is talking about the War with the Flies with Bucky Bug. It was reprinted in WDCS 23 and 25. This is one of the most remarkable and overlooked Disney stories ever. It was a shame that Earl Duvall left the studio so early as this story, which I believe is from 1932, is right up there with Barks' and Gottfredson's longer adventures.

Congrats. That's a great looking copy. +1 Beautiful! I held a CGC 9.4 copy in my hands a few months ago - it was stunning.

Awesome, thanks a lot! It's a really cool story with all kinds of fun sea creatures.

Does anyone happen to know which US comic this story is from? The scan is from a rare Swedish comic, "AllaTiders Seriejournal" #1, 1950.

His auctions can go for princely sums.

That's great, ft88. I remember when you got that book a long time ago and it is nice to see that you appreciate it. The 7.5, 8.5, and 9.0 copies from the census are all locked away and may not appear on the market again for decades. I don't know where the 9.4 is today.

Nice to see that you also like the WDC&S, LtPink. Your copy looks very pretty.

When I read "The Magic Hour Glass" story recently, it struck me how different the Arabic world was perceived in 1950 compared to today. The nomadic lifestyle reflected in the story must seem absurdly outdated to a youtube kid whose reference frame probably is built up watching videos like . Comparing to political situation today, there's something charmingly naive about the world view reflected in Barks stories. "The Magic Hour Glass" also made me think of the "Pipeline to Danger" story (Uncle Scrooge 30) which laments the cultural and environmental changes brought on by the oil industry. When I watch the evening news today, I could only wish that those were the problems we were faced with in 2014. One thing I like about old comics is that they can remind you how people used to see the world very differently from the way we take for granted.

Great to see your turtle racing along, AJD. I am still working on 1-31 and am probably also around 2/3 done, but that has taken 15 years so far. Like you, I could probably have completed the run by now if I had been willing to pay higher prices, but that wouldn't have been as much fun and the eventual outcome will be the same. The issues between 10 and 20 have been the most elusive for me. I hope you'll be able to get good deals on those, but 5 years sounds ambitious.

You have some nice books, Ltpink. I've always found the zombie in this story one of the weirdest, un-Disneylike characters, Barks ever came up with. In an interview, he brought up the horror movie as his inspiration. The scene, Barks mentioned, starts around 12:10 and it is easy to see the resemblance to his character, both in terms of appearance and personality. Given the recent popularity of "Walking Dead" etc., I find it impressive that Barks saw the humoristic potential of zombies back in 1949.

Great books. If someone had told me 10 years ago that the Firestones would end up with such low census numbers in high grade, I would not have believed them. Before the census, I had expected them to be relatively common and certainly more so than other Disney titles that I thought were scarcer. Clearly, I was wrong as some of these have been among the hardest books to find in nice shape.

And it is great to know that the original art has survived and belongs to someone who genuinely appreciates it.

Congratulations, rarehighgrade. It looks like the store clerk made an effort to write the name aesthetically, following the flow of the diagonal black bar. I wonder whether the writing on the last two copies was diagonal as well...

Thanks. I'd like to revive this project some day, but the internet technology that I am hoping for is still not there. Fun to see the books again. I've upgraded 6 of my V1 issues since then.

Might be because I only hit the notify button on the second one.

40 Yrs: That's exactly what I was thinking when I looked at this "triptych" spread out on the table in Heritage's preview room last June.

Here's 1-3 together.