Moondog

Here's an interesting twist to the A Wallace signature. Andy lived with his spinster sister, Anna. The signature sure looks feminine to me... I'm pretty sure she put the name on the cover... And it's clear that the signatures in both examples above are in a different hand...

Ernie photographed my Windy City St.John giants. These are nice - any chance you remember when you acquired them, Bob?

I'm a big fan of markings and names myself. I really don't have much interest in owning Mile High/Church copies that aren't coded, as I love those markings and "Larson" so much I too love the markings and names. When I found the Guy Holcombe collection I felt an immediate bond with the former owner of the books. My favorite Windy Citys are the ones with the A Wallace neatly penciled in the logo. Most of these are late 40s and early/mid 50s. Here's the sig from Flyboy 1 (courtesy of Pedigree Man).

Not a real book There has been talk that was 2 copys of #1 out there right. I know this is a photocopy that Matt did of what he said the book would look like i was told. No ones ever produced so I say nay I have looked for 30 years. I too say nay.

(thumbs u

Richard, I bought a copy off Heritage in 2007. It has all the "original, first printing" elements. I still have it. I've seen tons of these things over the years and their are originals, good counterfeits and bad counterfeits. The only copies I have great confidence in identifying are the bad counterfeits...

I noticed different names on the Green Lama cards (this one and the one with all the premiums) - wow! 2 different cards!

I don't think it's Barks. He seldom, if ever, drew the ducks in profile that way. Still a very neat piece. Looks like Kelly to me. The woman's face and the ducks...

Defacing a cover with a huge, sloppy Sharpie autograph is not something I would ever do. But I think a classy signature in black or blue ink on the inside splash is gold. (thumbs u

Hi Bob! God, I loved that book! I still kick myself for selling it. One of my all-time favorites! When I get together with comic buddies I have talked about that copy more than any other book I've ever owned. Welcome to the boards. It's great you here. Gary

Loved this movie when I was a teen. Pretty scary (and sexy!).

Welcome back, BZ! Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Thanks, Greggy. (thumbs u

Hi Greggy, "Great" as a bargain or "Great" as a strong price.

Series A booklet, empty.

I just sold a beautiful copy (9.6 for sure) of Series A for $245 on eBay. Is this about right or too low/high?

Pre-code horror and EC's! http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=8139559&gonew=1#UNREAD

Well done! One of my all-time favorite sets!

If this is the "Windy City" copy I had a chance to buy this and wanted to but didn't simply because work got in the way and communication with the seller was a little off-putting (I was hearing about it from him as well as from several other people who were telling me of a "better" book which I realized later was actually the same book which they were apparently going to buy from the seller and then resell to me. The prices quoted ranged literally, from 43K to 125K. The guy who actually had it quoted me a price toward the lower side and I was interested but then he sold it without telling me (for a price below what I was prepared to pay). When I asked him why he said that he hadn't paid for the book in full and was worried because he was told by others that "nobody wanted it." Can't tell you how many times I have heard that the "word" on this book or that was "nobody wants it" only to hear later that "everybody wants it". Why would there be a Windy City copy of Tec 27? That collection contained only #1 issues. But it does sound like a story about the "other" high grade Detective 27. And the fact is that it kind of wasn't paid for twice. Jerry originally purchased the book from Geppi and only gave him a 5K deposit. Shortly after this sale the first Sotheby's copy comes to auction and sells for $55K. Of course now Geppi wants to get paid for his much nicer copy (and why shouldn't he?) Jerry initially didn't have all the money to complete the purchase, so I agreed to buy half of the book for 20K which he could give to Geppi and finish paying for the book. Only Jerry never gives Geppi the money. So now I own half a book that is unpaid for and the original owner is getting upset and I think telling other dealers/collectors not to buy it from us as it's not paid for. I tell Geppi I can't pay him for what's owed on the book when I've already given Jerry 20K, and tell Jerry he needs to get this settled immediately and get Geppi and I both paid. He sells the book for an incredible discount to Oklahoma Dave, pays Geppi and I off and Oklahoma Dave turns around and flips the 27 back to Geppi for $81K and sets a new record price for a book at the same time. A pretty sour experience all around. Just to be accurate here - there was no copy of Detective 27 in the Windy City collection.

Sharon speaks the truth here. The resub game exists soley because of CGC's propensity for inconsistency. The game isn't necessarily rigged when it goes against you. It's just gambling, period. If you want a more regulated playing field try stocks, more specifically stock options. You don't need a big bankroll to play options. I'd rather make my money there and spend it on comics. I don't entirely agree with this assessment. Yes, CPR exists because of CGC's inconsistency, but also because CGC grading is not as strict as it was in the past. That's called inconsistency. Normally I don't respond to posts like this because you clearly didn't read my entire post or the parts of this thread leading up to it. Inconsistency in grading and the overall lowering of grading standards (even if we don't know what they are) are entirely two different things.

Sharon speaks the truth here. The resub game exists soley because of CGC's propensity for inconsistency. The game isn't necessarily rigged when it goes against you. It's just gambling, period. If you want a more regulated playing field try stocks, more specifically stock options. You don't need a big bankroll to play options. I'd rather make my money there and spend it on comics. I don't entirely agree with this assessment. Yes, CPR exists because of CGC's inconsistency, but also because CGC grading is not as strict as it was in the past. Gary, I totally agree with you. CGC does not grade as strictly as in the past. I actually attribute this to Haspel and I mean this as a compliment to him. I think consistent, tight grading is good for the industry. It adds more value for the buyer in the open marketplace, giving the CGC product a good name. Seeing an overgraded, fugly book in a CGC slab makes them look bad. The fugly books for the most part are mistakes. Some are laughable like the example you've made. But I believe that overall grading is not as strict as it was when CGC first started. This seems to be a recurring situation by grading companies in all fields - sports cards, coins, currency. In comics I don't believe it's been done on purpose. It's just a natural evolution - a corporate understanding if you will - that the perception of being too strict is bad for business. So they give tweeners the benefit of the doubt, and suddenly a NM 98 is given a 10. In sports cards it was done on purpose. They went from 8, 9, 10 to 8, 8.5, 9, 10. This 8.5 grade was huge for PSA. Just think of the thousands of resubmits they got with collectors who had "strong 8's"! The same for coins when they lowered the MS grades of what is considered high grade and added new higher MS numbers. This is not a criticism of CGC's grading practices. But we all need to understand what's happening so we can deal with it properly.

Sharon speaks the truth here. The resub game exists soley because of CGC's propensity for inconsistency. The game isn't necessarily rigged when it goes against you. It's just gambling, period. If you want a more regulated playing field try stocks, more specifically stock options. You don't need a big bankroll to play options. I'd rather make my money there and spend it on comics. I don't entirely agree with this assessment. Yes, CPR exists because of CGC's inconsistency, but also because CGC grading is not as strict as it was in the past.

CGC said they cannot detect pressing with 100% certainty so that is why pressed books get blue label. Next I guess if CGC cannot detect micro-trimming with 100% certainty then you will see micro-trimmed books getting blue label. Soon, you will have people offering micro-trimming service and most of CGC blue labels will be pressed, micro-trimmed, spine reversed and costanzed. Is this where you think the hobby is going ? Undetected micro-trimming already get a blue label.

I'm curious how long some posters think CGC graders spend on a book. 12 seconds? 20? Some of the posts seem like they imagine Graders do extensive CSI type investigative exams. This goes back to my statement that CGC needs more professional graders. To properly examine and grade GA and SA books takes too much time at the prices they charge. If they raise prices and then hire more graders and give them more time to grade each book, scams like this will diminish. Now, what new pricing structure can the market bear? I know I would pay 50% more. If it appears I'm campaigning for higher prices - I'm not. I'm campaigning for better results. There is already a premium attached to grading pre-1980 books, and unless you are using the value tier for grading at least 15 books you're comfortable insuring for $150 or less, then it 's going to cost you at least $40 - $50 bucks a book to grade them now once shipping is factored in. Raise prices by 50% and it's probably going to mean a lot less under $300 GA thru BA books sent in. Though from a raw low-mid grade collector's point of view, that might not be a bad thing. Well, that's the trick. What will the market bear? Right now there aren't enough experienced collectors/dealers willing to work for the wages they're paying. Getting the resto check and grade right is what it's all about. How much is that worth?