CentaurMan

Enjoy that comic. Read it, read the ads, check out the 1-page fillers, see if you recognize any old artists (or pseudonyms of them), notice the developing styles, primative plot-lines, etc., etc. I love my pre-hero books unslabbed for these reasons, and I like them in relatively low grade so I can handle them without fear of hurting their value (as well as for affordability reasons). That book in particular ought to have some great early S&S work on Slam Bradley and Spy. Congrats again!

I warn you now...once you start down the Rare Low Grade path, picking up truly rare pre-hero books in any non-falling-apart condition, there's no turning back. The thrill of the hunt is exceptional, as even if money were no object you'd still be hunting. I'm very excited for you.

NOW you're talking! I'd buy unrestored lower-grade pre-Batman Detectives under guide all day long! Well done.

Well done! Those 1950's World's Finest are notoriously tough!

In case you're wondering what happened to Benny McCoy, touted as possibly the next Eddie Collins: Connie Mack paid him an announced $45,000 bonus to sign with the A's and gave him a two-year contract. McCoy played in 1940 and 1941 and put up decent (but not great) numbers (1941 was his better year, at .271/.384/.368, 95 walks in 517 at bats but little power). He spent the next four years in the Navy, and his major league baseball career ended. In 1942 he played on a military all-star team that included Bob Feller and Sam Chapman which played an exhibition game against AL All-Stars in Cleveland in front of 60,000 fans to benefit military relief, raising $160,000 (the AL team won 5-0). Apparently, according to what I can find, he's still alive and would be 91 this year.

Wow aardvark, great books!!!! And right up my alley too. I own your bottom right corner, the Detective and both All-Americans. But man, I can't touch that fellow in your upper left!

I got rooked by him a number of years ago, when I was still a relative novice. I guess he's been doing it for a while. How do you think he got that great collection? Actually, in the grand scheme of things it wasn't that bad. I got a Blue Ribbon #1 and a Whiz Comics #2 from him, and the problem with both was overgrading. I had seen a scan of the Blue Ribbon, but couldn't tell until I got the book that it was brittle down the spine. The Whiz #2 was supposed to be CGC graded, but he sent it in a cracked-open slab with no label, and yes, it was overgraded. I didn't lose anything but money (I traded him a few things not in my core collection, like a Looney Tunes #4 and a duplicate More Fun), but MY GOD it was a hell of hassle trying to communicate with the guy, and he was always changing the terms of the deal to the point where I felt lost. I agree 100%, avoid this guy like the plague. I'm getting irritated just typing this e-mail.

I'm really enjoying these write-ups! Keep 'em coming!

Phenomenal stuff Jon!! I can't get enough of these pre-Centaurs. And since we've now shown copies of the first and last issues of Detective Picture Stories, I might as well show the scans of the middle 3 issues. Feel free to show your own, of course, as their condition is likely superior to mine, except for maybe my #4, which is sharp (trimmed?).

I absolutely LOVE the Centaur precursors! Not to jump the gun on Jon's topic, but I can't help but post my Larson copy of Detective Picture Stories #5: I've gotta free it from its slab. The scratches on the case make the book look much messier than it actually is.

A couple of other good Centaur examples, Keen Detective Funnies v1#11 and v2#8:

I don't have my old price guides with me but if my memory still serves me, an old guide estimated 35 copies in existance. To date, CGC has certified 9 unrestored and 9 restored. I don't know if any of those numbers were resubmissions. Here is my copy. It is extensively restored but I love it nonetheless. Man, you GOTTA love an All-American 16 thread. I'll keep it going with my restored copy (7.0, moderate resto). I wonder how many more copies we can get posted?

Boy, I hate that I picked this weekend to not check the boards! As I mentioned before, I think Jon has the greatest Centaur collection in existence. My personal Centaur collection is only about 65% complete, and I'm missing many of the rarest issues. But here are some of my favorite covers, starting with Funny Picture Stories #2 and #6 (these technically are Centaur predecessors):

34. Never been older, never will be younger. Been collecting comics forever, GA for around 8-10 years (once I got out of business school and got a real job).

Jon can correct me if I'm wrong, since I don't have my copy with me here at work (duh), but I think there was a full page panel in Detective Comics #1. If I remember right, it's in the Slam Bradley story, and involves Slam saving his little cartoon sidekick buddy as he's about to go over a waterfall. Maybe it's not a full page panel, maybe it's only like 80% of the page. But I was very surprised to see it.

Basically one of the biggest cop-outs in the history of comics. I'm always shocked the MM #9 is so sought after because of how terrible the conclusion was in #10. Torch and Subby fight to a stalemate/cliffhanger at the end of #9. There appears to be no way to resolve the situation. Then in #10, the authors basically acknowledge as much, saying that Torch and Subby agree that it's been a good fight and they should part ways with mutual respect. This all happens in 1 page, with text that says "Well reader, if you thought this was a tough spot, you were right, and that's what our heroes thought as well, so they decided to quit." Has to be one of the Top 10 comic book letdowns of all time. If there had been Internet message boards back in 1941, the servers would've all crashed under the outrage. I bet there were at least a few early "fanboys" who swore off Timelys forever based on that fiasco (only to come back 3 months later, because after all, they're fanboys and can't help themselves).

Not really in my core area of competency, but I do have 1 Cole cover. Sorry for the glare; this picture dates from before my purchase of a scanner.

You wanna see a rough Larson? Check out my Silver Streak #1. Bone white pages, but it must've been on the top of a pile in that barn for all of those years, unfortunately. (Of course, that's also how I was able to get it cheap, so I guess I can't complain too much).

My god, those Nazis are pure EVIL I tells ya. If they really wanted to kill kids in a war zone, they could easily shoot them. But NO, they're taking the time and effort to develop a candy-poisoning injection system. Pure evil!

Great book, Doiby! The splash page for that Scarecrow story is outstanding. Really, as cool a villain as he is, I've always thought that WF #3 should be worth a bit more.

Fantastic Master Comics!! I'm an enormous Raboy fan, and that's one of his best. The shadows and the deep reds are so well done. I think quite a few Golden Age collectors have great appreciation for Raboy, so I wouldn't necessarily call him overlooked. Great pick-up!! The demand for Fawcetts hasn't been there for a while, but if you can turn that to your advantage by getting books like that a bit cheaper than you'd expect.....

I'll see what I can do. It's a squarebound book with a cardboard cover, so obviously it's not something I can even come close to pressing flat onto the scanner bed. But I may be able to take a decent digital photo.

Ever wonder why Comic Cavalcade #6 was so rare compared to its peers? Here's the answer: GUILT TRIP It contains a full page public service strip featuring Wonder Woman (right after her story) explaining the need to organize waste paper salvage groups for the war effort, showing how soldiers' rations are packed in paper, shells are wrapped in paper, and other war essentials ("bomb bands, practice bombs, wing tips, airplane signals, parachute flares") are all converted from paper. Then, after the Green Lantern story, there's another full page public service strip featuring Doiby Dickles tackling and trying to arrest a businessman who throws a newspaper into a garbage can instead of recycling it. Then, after the Flash story, there's yet another full page public service strip featuring the Flash urging YOU to help in the scrap paper salvage drive! It's a wonder any copies of this issue surivived at all.

Fantastic! That's not one you see every day. Or year.

Great Green Hornets!! I never see those issues (not that I'm looking, but still...)