tb

That's an unbelievablely clean looking copy. Is that damage production related on the upper left hand corner? Is that one of the 8.5s?

Yes, it's the only CGC 8.5 that has never been up for auction. Hard to find this nice. One of the big collectors paid over $6,000 for the CGC 9.0 last year and the CGC 9.2 brought much more than that in a private transaction.

Thanks for the luck on the 178. I have a feeling I won't be able to pick it up and it'll go for 2x guide, but we'll see. I'm willing to pay at least 1.5x guide for it.

I have an FC 178 in CGC 9.0 that I'd consider selling for the price I paid at Heritage a couple of years ago. You can look it up if interested.

Good luck getting the "Bear Mountain", PSI, it looks like a great copy.

Here's one of the Four Colors that I don't think have been posted yet(?). With two terrific early Barks stories, it is my own favorite Golden Age comic of all time.

I highly recommend Jerry Weist and his grading of raw books. Back in 2002, I bought a collection of 20-25 Mickey Mouse Magazine file copies in his first eBay auction. Most of these books were gorgeous and many are still the best copies I have ever seen, but Jerry only gave a single modifier-free "NM" (see below - looks like I somehow never posted this book before, btw). Based on my experience from this deal, I would not hesitate to trust his grading on the raw books in his current auction.

Welcome to the boards, LB!

This page should answer your questions about US 13. Aside from one or two exceptions, the only Barks artwork prior to 1960 known to have survived was cut or censored prior to publication. Sadly, all published art was burned.

All the originals measure 41x59.5 cm per full page (don't have figures in inches at hand).

Regarding white-out, Barks had his wife Gare, whom he had married a couple of years earlier, fill in black areas to save time. I happen to own the to my knowledge only existing piece of OA where the blank areas were left empty (see below). It would have been natural for Gare to have added the white-out at the eyes etc. as well. In the "Silent Night" original I posted, Barks obviously did this himself since he did not marry Gare before 1952. The two tiers below actually fit together to a halfpage. Barks cut it up and gave it to two brothers when they visited him in 1961. I bought it directly from them some 40 years later.

A couple of early hires Ducks to keep the thread going. Feb. '37 is one of the most classic early DD covers

and very underrated in the guide. Part of a collection that has not been offered publicly since the 1970s.

Look for them on eBay when I retire around 2037.

PS: Gorgeous FC48, ft88! Is this a Dallas Stevens?

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Edit: Fun to see those Mexican editions, lotemo. Here's the Danish edition of Four Color 408 along with a great

Barks cover that never appeared in the United States (the latter is copied from a website).

What makes the period 1935-40 so interesting to me are all the more or less successful experiments that eventually culminated with Action 1 and the modern comic book format. One thing that made Disney stand out from the other early publishers was that they were producing cartoon shorts. It was therefore quite novel and clever of Kay Kamen to try to use his publications to promote the shorts, many of which were still experimental. While quite a few Mickey Mouse Magazine covers with iconic images of Donald and Mickey have appeared on hundreds of products over the years, all of these promotional covers are now long forgotten ("Snow White" being, as a full length feature, the one possible exception). Still, to me the latter are even more interesting because of the thought process that shaped them. It is fascinating how magazines promoting now classic shorts at the same time were experimenting with comic strips. Today, the winner of that race is obvious, but it probably was not at all clear back in 1939. Another reason why I like the shorts is that I used to work for Pixar Animation Studios. From the very beginning, the brains behind Pixar used their shorts to do the research, storywise and technical, that eventually allowed them to make "Toy Story". Just like Disney experimented with shorts to create his movies back in the late '30s.

The file copy below features the movie poster illustration for "The Practical Pig" (1939). The image of the poster (bottom) is courtesy of the Heritage archives.

Edit:

After I realized (with the help of ft88 and Scrooge) that FC 379 had a controversial pre-"Poor Old Man" appearance of Scrooge by another artist, I had to have a copy of this interesting book myself (CGC 8.5):

Edit 2:

One of the hardest-to-find issues of Mickey Mouse Magazine in grade. I bought this copy from moondog (which speaks for its quality) 5 years ago and it is by far the best one I've ever seen. Gary told me he had kept it for many years in his own collection.

Edit 3:

Original art to the 14th and next-to-last page in Carl Barks' manuscript, "Captains Outrageous", published in Junior Woodchucks 25, 1974. Aside from a few scattered stories co-written in the 1990s, this was Barks last comic book manuscript. Thus, there's a valid argument it is his next-to-last manuscript page. This page, along with the rest of the manuscript, was printed in Carl Barks Library volume VI. In 1992, a good friend and I bought the last 5 pages together. I got pages 11-14 and he got the last one. Unfortunately, my friend suddenly and very tragically lost his life shortly after. I was offered the last page after his death but had no desire to have it given the circumstances. I hid away the art for many years and eventually sold pages 11 and 12 on eBay. I am keeping page 13 and 14 but these will always have a bittersweet spot in my collection.

Thanks tth2; beautiful books as always! There was a longer period where I didn't have time to post so I am working my way through the pile. I'll stop spamming your thread soon.

Here's a cool and quite scarce comic I've never seen discussed around here. Large Feature Comics 16 (Series I) which came out late 1940 or early 1941. This book came out just at the time when Mickey Mouse Magazine turned from a childrens' magazine into a standard comic book. Its format was one of the many unsuccessful experiments that make the last half of the 1930s such an interesting period. I've never seen an unrestored copy of this book better than VG/FN or so.

Edit:

> One sold on ebay in Fair condition (maybe poor...) recently for maybe $500?

I think this copy cost around $1,300 about a year ago. A file copy around the same condition sold for almost twice that a few months later.

Edit 2:

Nicer scan of March of Comics 41 (CGC 9.2). Too bad the composition and coloring of the US edition is not very attractive. The Scandinavian editions (see below) are much prettier.

Thanks, Arty. Glad to see other people appreciate this. I've owned

this page for several years but never found it worthwhile to

take photos since people here are more into comics (thus also the

halfbaked attempt at the pictures). It hardly makes sense to talk

about a market for early Barks originals since they rarely surface.

To my knowledge, this page, along with another halfpage from the

same story which sold at Howard Lowery 1997, are the only examples

from the 40s to have surfaced in the last decade. I bought it

instantly when it came up for sale to the chagrin of a couple of

my "rivals". Rumor has it that Steven Spielberg owns another "Silent

Night" page. Another collector I know was in Helsinki recently and

told me that he saw another halfpage there.

The page is in perfect condition, btw., and appears never to have

been displayed. As with all my other early originals, it doesn't

have a spot of whiteout except for deliberate use (eyes, buttons,

...). Barks' craftmanship is just completely unbelievable - you

have to see it in person to fully appreciate/believe it.

Normally, the page is safely stored away in a safe deposit box and

I use the excellent lithograph shown on the right for display. To

me, the OA is just too historically important for private use.

This book made the CGC gallery a while back, but here's a hires version. For those who are not familiar with this 8 page promotional, it is actually one of the most sought after ducks (guides for $3,600 in 9.2).

Edit: Sorry for the poor photos.

Congratulations! -//-. The "Ghost of the Grotto" story was not published back in Scandinavia before the mid 1980s. I still remember reading it for the first time. The panel with the octopus jumping from the ship is one of my favorite of all time.

Anyway, here are a couple more scans I did. The first should need no explanation (my apologizes if the resultion causes problems, but I thought it deserved it), the second is the back cover of the Danish edition of Donald Duck from January 1951 (probably best existing copy).

--- Edit:

> That FC 199 is a 9.2?!

I would have graded it differently myself. The front cover looks virtually unimprovable to me: not a stress line at the spine and just about perfect edges. The slight "dent" in the lrc must be a scanner artifact; my scanner magnifies otherwise invisible perturbations. The bc has one or two small stress lines at the spine and that's about it.

Btw., the second scan came up because I am getting this book appraised. Although it is a relatively anonymous issue from Vol. 3, someone just offered me $600 for it. A NM V1#1 would run around $8-10,000.

Right now, there are a few collectors competing for top census WDC&S. I am patiently waiting for their runs to saturate as I expect prices for the 3rd to Nth nicest copies will become more reasonable then. A similiar trend is currently happening for Four Colors in the 8.5-9.2 range (the CGC 9.0 FCs 178 and 199 I posted a few pages back are examples).

From what I've observed, the supply of early WDC&S increases roughly by a factor of 2 for every 10 issues up to #60 or so: 20-30 seems four times as common as 1-10 etc. The CGC 9.0 copy of #6 below is one of my favorite books. Finding the first 10 issues in this shape doesn't happen often.

Since I already posted the above book in 2003, here's a new one. This file copy with a classic Mickey cover cost me over 2x guide but was well worth it.

Edit: here's another FC 238 (CGC 8.5). Early appearance of Scrooge - see one of my recent posts for an interior scan).

The list is from a single seller (I forget his name).

Below is a list of various markings that identify file copies. Note the browning near the edges of the interior fc (sorry for the bad scan). Many otherwise gorgeous copies (including the FC 456 shown below) have this defect. Also, many file copies have no markings at all (the most incredible file copy run I've ever seen was in this category). The bottom scan shows the publication date written in pen. There is another variation of (generally lower grade) file copies that have interior pages missing.

The fact that file copies appear with many combinations of all these markings suggest to me that a substantial number of sets survived in various places. Based on my own observations and what I've heard, I'd estimate the number to be somewhere between half a dozen (lower bound) and two dozen copies per book. The vast majority, however, would grade 9.0 or lower.

I'd be very interested in hearing other observations on file copies, especially about other identifying markings.

File copy stamp.

File copy stamp + editor's signature. Many books appear with just the signature and no stamp.

All copies of this variation that I've seen had the same hand writing, but the size of the writing varies widely (sometimes takes up the entire front cover).

Browning near the edges of the interior covers. Even 50s file copies often have brittle edges.

Some file copies only have these markings, on others the front cover is marked as well.

This book has browning interior edges as the only (hidden but serious) defect. Always ask for a scan of the interior cover when buying Dell file copies, especially from the 50s.

That's a gorgeous FC 300 tth2, congratulations!

Thought it would be fun to post part of an old Poughkeepsie file copy

listing. The books marked "PK" that I know of have been coming back from

CGC anywhere between 7.5 and 9.4 (the PK FC 300 is now a CGC 9.2).

RHG, I'll be sure to watch out for your books and spread the word.

That's a great book. I happen to know the owner of the CGC 6.0. He told me that he was very happy after buying it at Heritage and that it looked a bit undergraded. I suspect a 7.0 would break $15,000.

Saw your Bugs Bunny Four Colors somewhere else, ft88. Those are really beautiful books - thanks for posting them.

> FC 379 - "Southern Hospitality"

>

> Pre dates 386 by a few months and has a prominent Scrooge cover and story no

> less plust it is not drawn by Barks. Besides the fact that it is fairly

> politically incorrect.

Interesting, I am not sure I ever read this story (don't think it was published in Denmark where I grew up). If anyone has it, I'd be curious to hear about Scrooge's personality. Also, how was it politically incorrect? Barks' stories up to this time had basically portrayed him as a lonely, frail, and mean old miser closely inspired by the Dickens story. About his only purpose in the early stories was to figure out who deserved to inherit his fortune. With FC 386, the character became much more rounded.

---

Edit: Re: "Back to the Klondike"/FC 456 below, a friend and I have been trying to locate original artwork for years without success. If I remember correctly, 4 censored pages are known to have survived(?). An example from this story is notably missing from my Barks OA collection and at the very top of my want list. We'll pay $30,000-$45,000 for a complete page.

> Anyways, I imagine one of the post-WW2 books you`re referring to is my FC 178. What is the other issue?

Oops, I forgot about that one. The two other books are both gorgeous CGC graded Four Colors. I'd love to talk about them but unfortunately they sold in private transactions between people who prefer to remain anonymous. I am working with them on something that would allow these and many other gems to viewed by everyone. For now, though, it is best if I don't say anything. Hope you'll understand.

> If you could list all of the Scrooge appearances from FC 178 to 386, I`m sure these boards would be highly indebted to you.

Pre-FC 386 Barks stories featuring Scrooge off the top of my head:

FC 178 "Chistmas on Bear Mountain"

FC 189 "Old Castle's Secret"

WDC&S 98 10 pager

March of Comics 41 "Race to the South Seas"

FC 238 "Woodoo Hoodoo"

FC 263 "Trail of the Unicorn" (2nd story)

FC 282 "Pixilated Parrot"

FC 291 "Magic Hourglass"

FC 367 "Christmas for Shacktown"

I wonder if any artist other than Barks used Scrooge in a story between 1947-52(?)

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Edit: Scrooge: thanks for the scans below!

Thanks, RHG. The prize of the set will probably always be the book you sold me. I can't imagine there's a nicer MM Mag in existence. Unfortunately, I no longer have all the lower grade copies. Not because I had or wanted to sell them, but I just found it unethical to keep piles of high grade books that other collectors were looking for. I still have many duplicate file copies, though - these are just too nice and undervalued to sell.

---

Unrelated, talking a bit about contents instead of labels, the FC 178 and MOC 41 that I posted above both happen to be among the earliest appearances of Scrooge McDuck. I can't remember the exact order(?), but these two issues, WDC&S 98 (see tth2's first post), FC 189, ... all show an early, simple, mean, old and frail looking Scrooge. This crude, unrefined character is to me one of the most fun and charming traits about this period in duck evolution. When duck fans treasure FC 386 ("Only a Poor Old Man") so much, it is because this was the key issue that transformed him into the more mellow, well know character he has remained ever since. It is actually an unusual key in that it is neither a first issue nor a first appearance. Still, as far as I know, tth2's copy brought the highest price ever paid for a post-1950 duck book to date (actually, I only know of two post-WW2 books that have sold for more). To fully appreciate the importance and genius of the story, I'd warmly recommend reading through the Scrooge stories that led up to it, starting with FC 178.

Since it's been more than 18 months since last time, and since I've made a number of upgrades since then, I'll take the liberty to repeat my plea for Mickey Mouse Magazines. The scans below show part of my upgrades in the past 3 years. I've bought pretty much everything I could find and assembled a set of the best available copy of each issue. A large chunk of these are from various sets of file copies. I am particularly interested in VF or better copies from the 5th and last year which, curiously, has been the most elusive (I have a near complete VF run of the first 4 years). I'll pay well for any copy that will allow me to upgrade.

]]]

Impossible to beat tth2's opening act, but I've been pretty happy with this 9.0 copy of Scrooge's first appearance. I've been offered an upgrade so PM me if anyone is interested. Just for reference, I believe it cost something like $2,000 at Heritage a few years back (you can look it up at their site) but - as should be obvious - I am not into this for the profit.

Recent addition. One of the 2 top CGC copies. The other does not

show up in the census yet but is actually is a little nicer QP-wise.

Not yet.

This CGC 9.0 copy is for sale since I upgraded a while back. Anyone

seriously interested can look up the price at Heritage - highest graded

copy they've sold. No bargains, sorry; one of my favorite covers and I

am not in any rush to sell.

Scrooge,

Back in '87 when I lived in Denmark, I bought a pile of several hundred late 1940s/early 50s midgrade US comics with that exact stamp on them. I paid something like $90 for the bunch (which actually seemed like a bad deal at the time). The seller was from the island of Fyn, but I have no idea how he acquired them. I still have all of the books stored away in Denmark (except for a handful of Westerns that I sold on eBay for a few hundred dollars) but unfortunately have no easy way to scan them.

Scrooge,

Just wanted to let you know that I've been reading most of the entries in this thread with great interest.

"Only a Poor Old Man" is quite possibly the most read and loved modern story in large parts of Europe. Its contribution is so much more impressive considering that Barks was going through a very painful divorce when he wrote it back in 1951. I read in an interview somewere that he had just left his alcoholic wife and was living alone in a trailer at the time(?) but I don't have the reference at hand.

Anyway, thanks a lot for all the hard work you've put into this so far - it is greatly appreciated!

Wow! That FC 386 looks right up there with tth2's. Always wondered why it is so impossible to find the early US in NM(?). Maybe the guide had just been way too low for many years.

A few more scans that belong in this thread. A few years back, I was offered a VF unrestored WDC&S 1. By the time I had raised the cash the next day, the seller had second thoughts and ended up keeping the book . The copy below got a 6.5 - best I've seen for sale in the last 5 years (excluding the CGC VF+ which I thought was over-priced and -graded). MM Mag V5#12, which I consider to be more important historically, is courtesy of rarehighgrade who sold this baby to me last year.