namisgr

Curator, Boston, Western PA, Northland, Green River....keep 'em coming! Here is a great Steranko Nick Fury cover - I don't think there were any bad ones. The guy was just the master of action-packed and dramatic composition. Could there possibly be any more guns? The Northland copy ain't too shabby either:

The PC JIMs apparently did not include copies of 83,85, or 86. The PCEI grading system ranks, as increasing grades: NM, NM+,NM++,NM/M. Here is how some of the books were graded by CGC: 90 VF+ = CGC 7.0 (They absolutely hammered it for pre-Marvel chipping) 115 NM++ = CGC 9.4 116 NM++ = CGC 9.4 117 NM++ = CGC 9.4 118 NM = CGC 8.5 (Another hammer job, this one for a very small spine scuff) 119 NM++ = CGC 9.2 122 NM/M = CGC 9.6 124 NM++ = CGC 9.4 127 NM+ = CGC 9.2 and from Beltan: 89 NM++ = CGC 9.6 93 NM++ = CGC 9.4 Not too shabby, eh?

Thanks for the info, Beltan. I can certainly respect the wishes of someone to keep their books unslabbed, and also to remain anonymous from the hungry hoards of high grade JIM collectors. That list you posted came from me, so I recall all too well the singular opportunity afforded by the first OO/PC listings. I actually paid 10% less than those list prices (!) for the PC 90,115,117-119, and 122, and also the Thor 134 (my best "deal", next to my Bronze collection purchased off the rack). At the same time, I passed up the chance to buy all those other tremendous books on the list at those now-ridiculous prices. I wonder where the Curator and Western PA JIMs are hiding?

The late Silver Age Western PA books seem to have brilliant colors, and that one looks like no exception, COI. Here is another PC JIM, courtesy of Brent (Quality ). It wasn't cheap, but fills in a mini-run of 5 consecutive PC copies. I think between Beltan (r100) and me, we've got a fair amount of coverage of the PC Thor JIMs. As per usual, this PC book has a noticeable transfer stain and some loss of cover whiteness, but has great registration and structure:

Wrightson artwork on a Marvel, plus a Northland book, plus a first appearance - triply cool!

While there may be a few exceptions, Steve, I don't recall there being any NL duplicates in Motor City's original listings. You raise an excellent point that the pedigree "system" has the potential for abuse, but the CGC census should be helpful (if not definitive) in this regard. As for my NL books, I bought them directly from Motor City, and so have complete confidence in the authenticity of their ped status. On the other hand, I've seen lots of books at shows that are alleged Mile High II books that I've wondered about, and with the many replicates of certain books that MH II contains, keeping legitimate track of the pedigree is not straightforward at all.

I sure wish I owned more of the early Northlands, Steve. My only gripe with the pedigree (besides the FF13 turning up with a partially detached centerfold, according to CGC ) is that the quality of books from around '67 on is not as high, ironically, as the older books. Recognizing this, Michael Goldman downgraded many of the later '60s Marvels to VF/NM or NM- grades. Below is just one example of a later NL book that has great structure and gloss, but also yellowing on the front and back covers, especially along the spine:

Northland early Marvels ... Great books, Beltan and Steve!

Don't know if you wanted someone other than me, Brad, or just another ish, so here goes. Here is the (GASP!) unslabbed PC Thor 134. Sweet QP, no?

You caught me, Steve.

That GR has some white cover there, Red. Glad to hear you didn't have to pull it out of your arse in order to scan and post it! Any reason to downgrade it below NM is certainly not apparent from your scan, but doesn't really matter anyway with that spectacular color preservation. Surely, you Steve, or some other forumite must have ped copies of JIM124 - which one of you is hoarding a Boston copy? The White Mountain? The Curator (anyone ever seen or heard of Journeys from this collection?)

OK, Brad, let's give it a try. Here is the PC copy of a very cool but relatively common-in-grade Journey. First appearance of Herc (it never made sense to me how Norse and Greek gods could "co-exist" when I was younger... I mean, how many "all-fathers" can there be?!?). Show us your pedigree JIM 124s!

More nice books, all. It's nice to see some gorgeous DCs on this thread, as with some pedigrees they simply don't show up very often, if at all. The Northland collection comes to mind - I remember Motor City listing a bunch of them about 6 years ago, but they seem to very rarely appear for sale. Same old, same old, with another Marvel-ous Northland book with a cool Kirby cover. In retrospect, do you think Stan and Jack may have had Gimli in mind when they came up with the Prince of Trolls?

Here's the Pacific Coast copy of the same ish, only not quite as nice as the WM copy:

Terrific copy with a truly great Kirby cover, Bak. It's one of my alltime favorites - what father of a son wouldn't react to it?

Nine point freakin eight! You've got quite the muey fantastico high grade TTA run going there, Steve. It does look like the book has acquired a slightly fuzzy ULC from being in the older, looser slab - might grade as low as a 9.6 today. How about sharing some more closeups from your Mass Strange Tales run? I would especially enjoy seeing any of the Steranko covers you'd be willing to post.

Brad, that's a terrific looking book, and I don't just mean the number on the label. Colan did so many wonderful Silver Age covers for DD and other titles that really show well with the absence of word balloons. Steve, those are tough books to get in such sweet condition. Although the cover to TTA60 looks like a bit of a rush job by Kirby, the re-appearance of Hulk in his own monthly series makes this a worthy minor key. So which book has superior whiteness preservation on the covers, the White Mountain 60 or the Northland 61?

Well, I've now been Greggerized, and I actually enjoyed the experience! Thanks to Greg for a smooth transaction and a gorgeous Starlin Bronze-Ager.

There's certainly no doubting the coolness of her rendition of the Surfer on TTA93, COI. Kirby, though, did many outstanding TTA covers (even though many others were clearly rush jobs lacking the usual Kirby details), including 57 and 67. My favorite Marie Severin cover work is actually the Not Brand Ecch stuff - they still crack me up!

I second that emotion.

Wow - Can't beat that TTA93 there, Steve. It's got not only the premium grade, but "milky white" pages and excellent registration to boot. A toast to the Boston ped!

That is a cool Marie Severin cover, Norrin - I haven't seen it before, but I'll certainly be looking for the book now!

They just keep on coming. Here is a Northland early Marvel with "milky-white" pages and exceptional color preservation. Kirby appears to have done rush-jobs on many of these split TTA covers, but they are cool nonetheless. To digress for a moment, I purposely avoid the common rave "bone-white". Have you all taken a close look at bones? They typically have gray areas, and from the elderly have a distinctive yellow tinge. Many of my books look alot better than most bones, and don't deserve the besmirching reference.

Since we've seen only a single Diamond Run book on this thread, here is another (and my only example). My impression of the pedigree is that it consists of solid high-grade Marvel and DC runs, and is especially outstanding in the high-grade nature of its early Marvel keys, such as the NM AF15 that the Blazing One sold a couple of years ago. The color preservation on this HOS is only average, but man that first Spidey looked like a beauty.

Sounds like a great buy to me, COI. You got a book from one of the two best Silver Age pedigrees discovered so far. The book is a sensational copy. How much you paid for it is between you and your purchase!