CentaurMan

Check out the colors on this #7:

No #13 for me yet. But here's my #15:

Here's #12. Neat coloring on this one.

Thanks. Here's possibly my favorite of the whole pre-Batman run, #11:

and yes, I've starting stamping all of my higher grade books "HG" so I can easily identify them. Good system, I think.

and here's #9 (one of my favorites; unusual to have a blond protagonist):

I don't have a 3, 4, or 5 (although in theory I know where to find them). Price is a bottleneck on these, and it's part of the fun to try and find copies at reasonable levels. Here's my #6:

Wow, nice! At least she has good taste in something.

In my opinion Detective # 2 AND # 3 are the tuffest in the intire Detective run ! You know, having been working on pre-Batman Detectives for a while, I'd have to say the the issues in the #20's before #27 (particularly 24, 25 and 26) are pretty challenging as well. Most of the others are pretty doable if you've got the cash; the tricky part comes in not wanting to spend too much yet still complete the run. Pre-Batman 'Tecs command some pretty sick prices sometimes, especially compared to pre-Sandman Adventures (which I view as even more scarce with some awesome covers).

I'm not worried. At least I know where a few copies of #20 are. There are some Centaurs where I just flat don't know how to find them even if I wanted to (Jon Berk's copies excluded). #20 exists in decent quantity, but has such a cool cover and is just so cheap in Guide that no one feels compelled to move their copy. Issues like that I end up with one way or another (usually by overpaying in trade). It's freaking Keen Detective Funnies v1#10 that's going to be the death of me.

I've posted my 'Tec #1 more than a few times, but I don't think I've shown my #2 yet:

With 12 unrestored copies in the census, a ridiculous number for a book that doesn't even sell for $25 in Good, it's obvious the Gerber number is wrong on this one. I'd guess the main reason why there are twelve graded copies is that people going strictly by Gerber send this in to be slabbed far more frequently than the underlying value would dictate. A few rules on how to use Gerber in the age of the Internet: Check the census, Heritage, and Metro to confirm scarcity Compare that data to the value of the book (higher value books will be slabbed more frequently) If a Gerber "8" sells for over $100 in Good and has 3 or fewer unrestored copies in the census, then it's truly scarce. If it sells for less than $100 in Good then the census data could well be skewed because the value proposition of getting it slabbed falls (although just the Gerber "8" designation can be enough to ramp up submissions as the Warrior Comics shows). Creating a market value + census/Heritage/Metro matrix in a spreadsheet will also show a number of Gerber 5, 6, and 7's that are actually exceptionally scarce.

This cover reminds me of Marvel Mystery Comics #6 from April 1940. What year was this printed? 1942. It's one of the last of the early Fox books.

Given that I've got the strength of a man half my size, I'll pass on the tempting offer. I will say, I picked the worst day to be laid up in bed sick. I'm missing 3 Keen Detective Funnies to finish the full run of 24, and that #20 is one of the three. Obviously, if either of you guys want to move your copy, I've got some very cool stuff I'd trade you for it......

Price inflation on Action #1 has been enormous since that book sold on Heritage, while All-Flash #1 is clearly stagnant. I bet that Action would go for $75K or more today. I don't see anyone picking the All-Flash in that comparison.

That thing's in a blue label. There's not enough color touch to matter, obviously, so it can be ignored. Church All Star #3, all the way.

A Marvel 1 vs. the Church copy of All Star #3? Boy, I just don't see that as a tough choice, even before adding the Nic Cage prestige factor. One's a unique book and the other's simply scarce.

One of my few other Fox books. This is Mystery Men's final issue.

It's a November copy of Marvel #1, while the All Star once belonged to Nic Cage. That pretty clearly tips the scale.

While I'm not man enough to do lots of things (such as changing my oil, killing a deer, or slapping my butler around for not cutting the crusts off my fried bologna sandwiches), collecting Planets is in fact within my circle of competence. I see your dare, and raise you a dare to sell me yours.

Obviously, the Amazing-Man #5. That one's not very hard.

Once I knock this Centaur thing out, or close to it, I've got Planets in my sights. The more of those I see, the more I like them. Gerber doesn't do them justice.

If not for the slightly impacted corner, this book would be simply perfect. Even so it's probably the highest grade book I own.

One of my few Fox books. Unlike the other things I collect, in which I'm usually a staunch completionist without regard for cover quality, I'm generally quite picky about my Foxes. Here's one I like:

That Nic Cage sure knew how to pick 'em. I'm so glad we benefit from his wisdom by seeing his name on the CGC labels.