ecfanman,

Thanks for posting the last two very rare books. Your copies look very,

very nice - the best I have ever seen! If a couple of on-going transactions

work out, I'll have 47 of the 48 first issues in VF or better (only missing

V1#1), but I still only have 4 (1,4,7,12) from the last year.

bonds:

Thanks for posting your WDCS in the other thread - I still haven't checked

these out but am curious to see them. It is hard to imagine that the print run

for those brand new issues is 10-15 times lower than the circulation for the

MM Mags in the 1930s.

I thought it would be fun to put together a list of the MM Mag copies I've upgraded since I bought my scanner last year. I actually do like many other comics - it's just that by some fluke the most interesting books I've been offered have been from the same title. I will pay extremely well for VF or better copies from the 5th/last year.

Mickey Mouse Magazine upgrades 2003-04

Great, sick cover - I love it!

A few more examples from the set of MM Mag file copies I've been buying

recently (the highest grade 1930s Disneys I have ever seen) - the V3#7

arrived just a few weeks ago. Holding two virtually flawless books (these

really seem like they came off the shelf yesterday) that came out at the

same time as the movie (premiere in February 1938) condenses the entire

history of animation into what seems like just a day or two. To me, this

is what collecting high grade Golden Age is all about.

Ouch, that is one the only 2 issues I am still missing (and, aside

from V1#1, the only ones I am still missing in FN or better). I sense

my inner Levine coming to the surf...

OH PLEASE, PLEASE WILL YOU SELL IT TO ME??

I visited the Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor last week. Seeing

the beautiful and touching monument more than 60 years later adds

an extra dimension to the plea on that cover.

Thanks for posting all these, Timely; this is one of my favorite threads!

Fantastic book(!!) and it certainly looks nicer than the grade. I must

have seen 10 "Pirate Gold" and 5 "Phantom Blot" for each one of

these. The copy my friend bought at Heritage a few months ago was

the nicest I had ever seen, but yours is a real treasure too.

---

Now we're at it: got this CGC 6.5 at Heritage the day after the Nic

Cage auction.

Some people would argue that (a nice FC 4 was my substitute Holy

Grail before I got the V5#12), it depends on what you define as

"modern comic book format". My extra brownie points go to V5#12

since the contents were more diverse (MM Mags had featured longer

Gottfredson Mickey Mouse stories for a while, whereas FC 4

contained Taliaferro 1-page gags) and it was a natural, final step in

the continuous evolution that started with V1#1 in '35. Both books

are highly sought after, of course (a friend of mine recently bought a

nice midgrade copy of FC 4 for around $8,000).

Btw., the back cover of RHG's copy is nice too, I think:

http://www.hhkkpp.com/mv512b_sd.jpg'>

V5#12 was the dress rehersal for Walt Disney's Comics and Stories:

the first Disney publication to perfect the modern comic book format.

I see it is rarer and even more desirable than the better know October

issue (my avatar). If I were to point to the single most important and

collectible Disney comic ever published, this would be it.

Wow - that looks even better than the CGC 9.2 copy. Your

id is an understatement.

Shiver:

> to see your disney books in one spread must be such a joy

Glad to hear other people enjoy these. I actually did have my entire

run of Mickey Mouse Mags out on the floor (for the first time) a few

weeks ago when I changed mylars. I should have taken a picture...

Here is a book that I purchased from rarehighgrade recently. A nice copy of

MM Mag V5#12 had been my holy grail for years but I never though I'd find one.

I guess you probably have to be a serious Disney collector to fully appreciate

just how special this book is. To put it in context, I lost the only two other

decent copies I've seen in the last 5 years to Steve Geppi. One was an FN+

(from Gary Colabuono's collection) in 2001 and the other a VF- (where I had

to give up at $7,200, which had haunted me ever since). Aside from having an

incredible collection, RHG is also an amazingly nice and considerate person -

I had the pleasure to meet him when I flew out to pick up the book last month.

Those keys are all so way off the scale that it's scary.

Please warn us in advance before you post books like

this so we can sit down and put our soft drinks aside.

Although the pre-hero covers are my favorite, I love all the early Detectives (especially when they are this nice!). Thanks for posting.

Glad you liked it - I love seeing all 1930s comics in high grade myself.

Here's a list of the last 10 MM Mags I am missing in strict VF or better (I've

located 3 more that I hope to buy soon):

V1: 1, 2

V5: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11

I'll pay at least 2x NM guide or $1,500 each (whichever is higher) for any

of these.

----

Not to overstay Donald's welcome, but here is another new arrival. This

issue is interesting in that it is the first Disney publication ever to feature

comics in full color. Although it was only 2 pages of reprints, I think it is

one of the most important Disney comics ever published. From a historical

angle, a more descriptive title for the early issues of Mickey Mouse Magazine

would have been "Walt Disney's Stories". With V2#10, the series transformed

into "Walt Disney's Stories and Comics", which later became "WD's Comics

and Stories" with V5#12. It really was the first Disney book to nail (a brief

glimpse of) the modern comic book format; I see it as the second most

important issue after V5#12 (but as least as significant as WDC&S #1).

Btw., this upgrades another file copy that I won at Sotheby's a couple of

years ago (see below). I'd never in my wildest dreams imagined that it

would be possible to get this close to a complete VF run. The circulation

for MM Mags ranged from 50,000 to 100,000, which should be compared

to the 130,000 for Action 1 and 900,000 for Superman 1. It's been my good

fortune that several major collections (including Gary Colabuono's) have sold

since I started collecting high grade copies in 1999 and I've been able to

cherry pick from all of these. As I've gotten closer, several key players in the

market have been very kind to help me (including major collectors who

lurk at these boards). The most amazing experience was an e-mail I

received from a collector who had kept the most incredible collection (even

better than the file copy set that sold at Sotheby's) I've ever seen hidden

away for more than 30 years. He saw my posts and thought that I'd make a

good home for them.

I can't help but wonder if it is a fluke that so many high grade Mickey Mouse

Magazines survived or whether similiar large quantities of Golden Age DCs,

Timely's, Centaur's etc. are still stashed away in other private collections,

waiting to surface.

Just bought another batch of MM Mag file copies (had been off the market

since the 1970s). Am aiming for a complete set in VF or better condition;

still have 15 (of 60) to go.

Here are a few more examples from a killer set of early MM Mag file copies I bought from a friend recently. All of these books are by far the best I've ever seen (the paper quality is incredible!) - they'd been off the market since the early 1970s.

Click on the thumbnails to see a hires scan.

That last chapter was absolutely brilliant !

Nice book, Shield. This cover seems very similiar to Top Notch #9?

Arty,

I can't believe that - never noticed it myself?? I just checked my other double copies and found at least 5 more that have both variations. For the remaining pairs, both have the same marking.

This is really strange since all are file copies that at one time were stored in the same archives. I have not idea why they made two variations?

Just how I feel when I look at Timely's scans...

I was incredibly lucky to land this deal. Did pay considerably above guide but some of the books were just surreal.

Which one would you keep (all are file copies)? Ended up with about a dozen of these dilemmas after a recent deal. So far, I've taken the easy way out and kept all of them.

Thanks for your input, Ghoulaid; I'll see if I can get a good deal on an early Marvel Mystery and Captain America and check them out.

If I were to point to a single GA Disney comic to get someone excited about these, it would have be to a nice reading copy of Four Color 62.

----

(Recycling old post):

Thanks for posting that #28 Odin - never get tired of those first few obscure

stories. Must be amazing browsing through the original...

I can relate to that on a smaller scale. I've been collecting Disney comics but got to a point where I just couldn't find upgrades any longer. When I do find something I like, I have to pay far more than market value to get it. That (along with the fact that I can finally afford a nice pedigree collection) has made me look for new challenges. Not least thanks to these boards, I've realized that there are so many other cool Golden Age titles out there and that I can get a lot more value for my money by branching out.

I've never seen a Timely comic except from pictures (am 36 and only moved to the US 10 years ago). If you were to point a novice collector to a single issue of any title in order to get him excited about that publisher, what would it be? Joanna recommended Wonder Woman #28 for that title, for example.

Timely,

I am curious why you sold your DCs and started collecting Timely instead? Over the past year, I have been trying to learn as much as possible about the various Golden Age publishers and pedigrees. So far, I've been especially interested in More Fun and Adventure and it is kind of strange to see someone else selling off the exact books that I'd like to collect. To me, the Church copies of these two titles - including many of the books that you owned - represent the very best of the best. I assume you must have felt like this too at some point so what made your interests change?

PS: That Tec' 31 is unbelievable - wow...

Great cover; I love these early books! Thanks for posting & keep them coming. 5 stars to the new guy...