Dad&Son-migration

I agree with that theory. Sadly, it's about timing and opportunity and the big wheels that can finance the books and allow themselves to hold for a longer period will be the majority that take stock of the collection. I hope Doug thinks of the little guys if it happens, but then again, he has to look out for #1 and why not maximize, it's good business to do so. I'll be very happy with 9.0 and 9.2's. I could never touch Doug's stuff...well...I could but my wife would hang me.

Then never be afraid to break up your run and start the "thrill of the hunt" again!!

I've pretty much given up on thinking I'll ever be able to afford Doug's stuff. I think 99% of us could write ourselves out of the equation. Who can afford a 9.8 and still have anything left to buy throughout the year?? My goal is to try to crack at least the top 5 with both pre-hero and hero. I want a collection that I can be proud of but also be realistic and within my budget. Until a large windfall of cash comes along I'll be happy with the "thrill of the hunt"

Ahhh.. good point Frederic!!! Metro graded them as follows: #142 - 9.2 #151 - 9.4 #152 - 9.2

Fresh from CGC, I originally bought these from Metropolis Comics & they are all Boston Pedigree. Overall, I'm happy with the results....

As far as I can pinpoint a Stan lee -script is issue #9

a tear ( I would so say no), but this is more along the lines of a bindery defect which I have seen acceptable in more then one description of a 9.8. I think it certainly displays a lot of the qualities a 9.8 book would display. Sharp corners, tight spine, conserved... kidding on the last one

Thanks Frederic!! Here's 8 more I picked up off Pedigree a few weeks back. Some bronze & silver age stuff. I like the fact I picked up some from the Winnipeg Pedigree since I live in Winnipeg -- brought them back home where they belong!!

Ok.. finally got around to scanning the books Steve sold me. Here's Strange Tales #89 CGC 7.0, #93 CGC 8.0 and Annual #1 CGC 7.5. Thanks to Steve as I know he loved these books very much. sorry for the blur as my scanner doesn't seem to do slabbed books well no matter what I try.

This is great... I think our love for these pre-hero books actually spills over into a lot of similar pop-culture that revolved around this genre.

Good questions, especially when you compare S-F vs Monster era : TOS #1 (January 1959) - #4 (July 1959) : S-F TTA # 1 (January 1959) - #4 (July 1959) : S-F ST # 67 (February 1959) - #69 (June 1959) : S-F Then starting in August/September 1959 the monsters start in the three titles Could it be linked to some movie (or movie genre) that became popular in the summer of 1959 ? Searching on the web I found the following movies from year 1959 :"Giant Gila Monster", "Behemoth, the Sea Monster", "Gigantis, the Fire Monster" and "Monsters of Piedra Blanca" that have the same type of monsters than the one seen in ST, TOS and TTA from 1959 on... Before 1959, big monsters movies were more S-F type. Maybe that's where Stan Lee got his inspiration. Great research guys!! Those dates aren't coincidence. My personal opinion was that these titles and JIM pre-hero spoke about the times and pop culture and you can really pick up on the evolution of the stories based on popular themes for the days. As Strange Tales got on in the later years. I believe the effect was the same with the Nick Fury -- SHIELD stuff as mid to late sixties culture picked up on the spy and espionage theme ala.. James Bond

I've wondered that myself... I have issue #66 and it's the early horror style then the next issue I have is #75 which is Taboo...monster stuff... haven't seen the covers to the others ( or can't remember them at this point. ) I think the early prototypes started at #68 though.

I can't post the pics yet .. cause I'm too lazy at the moment. I just picked up : Strange Tales #89 - CGC 7.0 Strange Tales #93 - CGC 8.0 & Strange Tales Annual #1 - CGC 7.5 pic's up this weekend!! All from Rhino!! Steve is a heck of a good guy to deal with!!!

A big thank you goes out to "Rhino" !! I just received my Strange Tales #89, #93 & Annual #1 all CGC'd in 7.0, 8.0 and 7.5 respectively. 2 days to get to me too. Lightening fast shipping across borders. Thanks so much Steve you are A-class buddy!!

These were my favorites. Very cool books Paul Were any of these ever reprinted? Would make a great Essentials. Thanks a lot Rich!! It's always nice when someone with a ST collection such as your's pays a compliment. I don't know if they were ever reprinted. I've been trying to research that because I don't want to handle them. To be honest I haven't even read them as I don't want to take a chance. They're going to CGC in a few days along with the Boston copies I just received.

Here's 3 more that just arrived in the mail. All 3 are from the Boston Pedigree

Were some of these raw books without scan on CLINK ? I'm curious to know if you were pleased with the grade Hey Frederic!! You know what.. I was skeptical when I ordered them raw. ( They are actually all raw ). When I received them I have to admit I was very pleased with the grading on all of them. They were advertised as 7.0-7.5 and I would be very confident in those grades after I submit them. What was a great surprise was how firm the books are and the richness of the cover inks. They have a lot of gloss. Now with that information. Please don't buy all the other ones available

Hey Rosland, I don't have an exciting story about how I got them. I actually picked them up from Comic Link's site recently. You can also see in the group shot the slabbed books. #75 with Taboo came from that same shipment and is an 8.0, highest graded copy and I also had #147 CGC 9.4 and #116 9.0 Big Apple Copy in the same shipment. Still waiting on 11 more coming from Pedigree and Metropolis.

Paul, that's one crazy cover ! No kidding!! I just love the campiness of these covers. If I show my wife that cover she'll never do the laundry again

A closer view ST #36 ST #45 ST #58 ST #61 ST #64 ST #66

Sheeessh !!! Been a while so here's a couple group shots of some pre-hero stuff!! These little fella's are getting backed to go to CGC this week!! Enjoy!!

Pre-hero favourites, I meant to say #80, not #10... my bad

I love #116 for the action sequence. It also has the appearance of very rich colours that look almost like a painting. I believe it's the best that I've ever seen the Thing appear in a comic.

My hero favourites are #107, #114 and #116. My pre-hero favourites are #10, #78, #93,

That's a dozen more then I've seen !! Behold.... http://www.darkdesign.com/gr/strangetalesindex.html That's awesome!! Thanks for sharing Red Hook!! Now I've seen 9 copies and white pages to boot!!