precodekeith

RJ - I got that book ( MM # 12) off of a dealer named Dale Roberts. While he was never a seller that priced books "cheaply", or even one very willing to discount/ cut deals, he was at least not a dealer who priced his material above or ahead of the OS guide. (although in this case I question my own statement! obviously this was a deal!) As for Harley, I bought many books from him in the 90's. He always had a nice supply of horror. His gig, if you ever noticed, was to "undergrade" a book, but "overprice" it. Example: he would take a FINE book and grade it at VG, but price it out at FINE. (essentially the right price for the true grade, you just wouldn't be able to complain about condition) What this actually did, since Harley reported his sales to OSPG, was continually help RAISE (somewhat deceiptfully) the cost of comics years after year. Get it? He was reporting the sale of a VG book at guide FINE price! Yikes! That's why I quit dealing with him. As for true HG horror (or any old comic genre for that matter) I actually DON't have a problem with slabbing/ high prices for the finest remaining examples. Just so long as the end result is not a ridiculous raise in the cost of lower grades for collectors who enjoy the reading of their books the way they were intended to be enjoyed.

I agree that these prices are unbelievable. You know what, they are almost a downright shame as well. I hate to bring up the SE Hinton "That was then, this is now" theme again, but I looked in my notebook and in approx. '94/95 I paid $75 for a MISTER MYSTERY 12 in vg! I'm starting to think the pre-code "boom" of the mid/late 90's did more harm to the actual horror fans of these books then anything else, simply because it did more to put these books out of the price range of the people who enjoy them the most more than any other event I can think of. Now, I make that statement on the basis that, of the vast majority of horror comic fans I know, (and being the self-publisher of a horror comic fanzine a I know a few) most horror fans are READERS of these fine books. Yes, we all agree it would be swell to have a great NM copy of Book XYZ, but horror fans in general love to ENJOY the VISCERAL feeling that horror stories bring. So, WE READ OUR COMICS! The complete downside is that when "50's horror" became hot and attracted speculators some few years back, the inevitable rising price of a NM translated into (obviously) rising prices for mid and low grades as well. When reading copies got absolutely ridiculous in price, I saw a great deal of former pre-code collectors migrate to Bronze Age horror, where the books are more affordable. (ESPECIALLY in the reading grades!) It reached a point where the horror collector was more scared by the price of the book, rather than the contents! Maybe I shouldn't make these posts while under the influence of a few cans of malted hops, at the risk of offending the high grade slab crowd who never read their comics, but frankly at this point I don't care if those types get offended. Spoken like a true HORROR addict, I must say: " I can't wait until 20 years from now, when (hopefully) there is no market for multi-thousand dollar horror books, and you old, greedy, "investment" nerds are all dead and rotting, so I can buy your collections at a reasonable price, READ YOUR BOOKS, drink my beer, and whiz on your tombstones.... alll at the same time..."

I FOUND IT!!! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115813/ It is CAMPFIRE TALES! Although not the same one as the one you quoted from Amazon, Jay. This one was made in 1997, not 91, and has actually a couple "hot" young Hollywood thespians. Check it out! We now return to our scheduled horror comics.....

SiD! - Those 4 color "APES" books were among some of the first back issues I ever bought! Used to be a travelling "antique show" that would come around to the area malls every couple months in the late '70's/early '80's, with one comic dealer in particular whom I always bought books off of. DAMN, wish I had been buying horror back issues at that time!!!

THANKS! Wow, if only I had spent my weekly allowance more wisely as a kid....

Yeah, I guess late '95/early '96 the "thunder clouds were starting to gather." I think it is safe to say that '97 and '98 were certainly pre-code horror "BOOM" years, for sure.

If that Black Cat 50 you bought was better than a Fair, you made out like a bandit. I paid $750 for a NM file copy back in '96, and at the time VG copies were selling for $250-$300 if you could find one I just looked in the '94 Overstreet. $84/36/12 were the NM/Fn/Gd prices back then. Today it guides for $900/216/72. Looks like I paid ~2.5x guide -- just about what it usually goes for. Stronguy, do you have a '95 OPG? Believe it or not, I dug this puppy out and the dealer sticker on the bag reads: " Grade:G. Classic gore cover. NM Guide:$100 My Price: $20 Graded:Oct. '95" The book did have more spine wear than I remembered it having ( ), but I'm still proud to own it. Solid Good. I'd say I probably purchased it shortly after it was graded and bagged. (I'm glad the dealer wrote his grade dates on the sticker! That's one thing I should have put in my notebook, but never thought of: PURCHASE DATE!) Hard to believe that late in '95 I was able to snag it for that price! I'd say by Fall '95/Spring '96 is when the pre-code horror "BOOM" was starting to get rolling, what say you all?

WoW!!! I just looked in my notebook, and I paid $20 for BLACK CAT 50 less than ten years ago! My how times have changed the pre-code horror market! I'll have to check the grade on it, but I remember it was a nice looker. Makes me yearn for the days of '94, to some extent. Then again, I'd go to shows back them and dealers either didn't know what "pre-code" meant, or they said "oh, I left a whole long box of that horror at home, it never sells!"

Voodoo annual!!!!! MY GRAIL!!! THE HOLIEST OF HOLIES!!!

Yeah! Matt Fox Chilling Tales! (with what looks like a little cut & paste)

Sterling, Sorry, but I don't know of any such links off-hand. I used to work in printing from 1989 to 1993, before I got into the steel industry. That's where I'm basing my opinions on. Wish I could be more help.

Oh, yeah! Certainly happened at the printer! Another thing I have seen happen quite often is that when the paper roll is unwinding and feeding into the press, sometimes a "chunk" of paper or debris from the mill that was somehow "wound/wrapped" in the roll falls onto the web and then gets on the transfer roll; resulting in no ink on the plate in that spot, and thus a "blob" looking area on the printed material. Happens quite frequently with "inferior" paper like newsprint type.

Looks like a printing error based on the colors and similarity to the crouching demon above it. I suppose technically, it is probably a stripper's error - they forgot to fully hold back the colors when making up the flats that eventually get burned to make the final negatives the printer burns the plates from. POV, you are my bud, but I have to respectfully disagree that this would be an error by a stripper. The shape is just too irregular. My guess is that the covers were done on a web press (a continuous strip that gets cut after printing) or were possibly even sheet fed. Either way, looks like after the "magenta pass" something maybe fell into the process either on the strip or elsewhere. (could have actually happened PRIOR to magenta pass as well) This could have been anything like bearing grease which got on the transfer roll and kept the ink from getting onto the contact/plate/image roll . It would have gone away after mere moments to minutes, and would have created this "blotch" in the image. I've also seen press operators squirt solvent/reducer across the rolls during a run to remove build-up from a plate in order to restore some image quality, but "most importantly" - to keep the operator from having to do a plate change (uh, more work ). Just my two cents. IMO, a stripper error is 9/10 times going to be more of a conforming shape. Like, "oh crud, I forgot to cut out the cyan in the circle of the DC logo!"

Sfilosa, surely ya got some readers tucked away somewhere, don't ya?!

Possibly, I have no idea though. If not, he certainly was influenced by Wood!

I think Howard doesn't get any respect! This is the version I was talking about a couple weeks ago; with the "Dr. Weirtham" sign. Guess this was the later version, and someone at Charlton had the humor enough to change the name the second time around..... good joke!

Thank you! I knew it was something like that, but frankly I really don't pursue the L.B. Cole stuff very much. Great covers, but bland horror stories or off-genre reprints inside most of the time. That doesn't appeal to a reader like myself. (please don't pelt me with rocks and garbage! ) If one of you Cole collectors could recommend a list of books with his cover art/but decent non-reprint horror interiors, I would be much obliged!

Oh, those are sooo cool! I've never seen either one before, awe4one!

Very nice book! Are their two versions of this one? One with a red background? Or am I thinking of another Cole spider cover that can be found in both black and red variations? Help!

Give me a beater-reader any day over that price.

Oh, you gotta tell us what that FAC graded at!!! "Nice book" is putting it mildly.

Bulk is the way to go on reader BA's!!!!!!! Happy Halloween!!!!!

Yeah, I still need that one!

Yup, it was an anthology flick. The "stranded" teens waiting for help while telling scary tales to pass the time was the wrap - around (or framing) piece tying them all together. As for year, no idea. Probably more of a 90's flick, I'd imagine.

Believe me, the one who whined about selling my comics didn't make it very long! She got the axe, although not in a Crime Suspenstories fashion. The one I'm with now not only bought me pre-code for my birthday, but has given me $ to go to the LCS, and had suggested comic shopping for our anniversary! Hope she coughs up some dough for the Mid-Ohio Con, haha! I need to find that ring pretty fast, I think.....