circumstances

Not October? Pfft!

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Superman 4 was "Spring Issue" so it was intended to be on the stands for several months. The fact that it pre-dated by a bit (then overlapped) the monthly Action Comics probably wasn't much of a concern for DC?

Pretty sure Supes 4 hit the stands first, with the 2nd Luthor story.

Something like that. In Action 23 Supes doesn't know who Luthor is, in Supes 4 Luthor says "we meet again," or something like that. From the Grand Comics Database: Indexer Notes The first story with Luthor was in Action Comics #23 (cover date April 1940). Superman asks "Who is Luthor?" This is the second Luthor story. Luthor says "We encounter each other once more". However this issue may have gone on sale before Action Comics #23. In their copyright registration, Detective Comics, Inc. said Action Comics #23 was published Feb 23, 1940. An in-house ad said Superman #4 would go on sale Feb 15; the copyright registration said that it was published Jan 23. Officially, per DC Comics web site, Luthor's first appearance is in Action Comice #23."

With almost 300 replies!

The original post asked who got in early and found good deals

Babadook? Marmaduke? Babaganoush?

So close!

if mine were a 4.5 and i was selling, my response would have been "good day, sir!" followed by a "i said good day!" to $120,000!

I signed up in 1998, but I didn't get the itch to really browse for Gold until 2009 or 2010. I was scarfing up a book a week (more or less). To this day I have no idea why I did this, but I started bidding on 1950s superhero DCs (maybe because I never collected them and never had all that many around in general?). I had some rules. I would put in a snipe for 40% of grade in Overstreet, and $200 was my max per book including shipping. I would set up my snipes with 2 or 3 seconds left to go, at 40% of Overstreet or $200.99, whichever was less. Did this for a couple of years! Lol On other random (older and more valuable) stuff I had a $299 per book limit. I'd just load up the snipes and let em go (Centaurs, WWII covers, etc.).

my least favorite Kansas song

The Supe #1 4.0 went for $815,000. it presented nicely, but seems a bit high?

Definitely. Although I wish I had the cash in those years so that I never had to trade away anything! I stopped actively collecting over 25 years ago, but I have also been keeping an eye out for the past dozen years or so, grabbing random books that fell through the cracks here and there, which has been super enjoyable.

I am a superhero guy. When I moved from Silver to Gold, I wanted DC and Timely superhero books, primarily. Not necessarily completing full runs, but as many as I could get, the earlier the better, and of course I wanted the #1s and first appearances. Somewhere along the way I started collecting Avon sci fi, but I really only wanted the one-shots and the Wood covers. I never collected ECs, but over the years I have had all the horror and science fiction ECs (and probably Shock Suspenstories). I also went on an LB Cole kick, when Overstreet put it in all our heads that it is something we must do. I had the Masks, and the Law Against Crimes, and the Blue Bolt Weirds, and the Ghostly Weirds, and on and on. Never collected GGA, Romance, Crime, PCH, Teen, Funny, although many have passed through my hands. But when it came right down to it, if i could trade lesser comics towards a Bat 1, Supe 1, Torch 1, Subby 1, etc. etc., they were gonzo. And that is what happened to those Avons, and LB Coles, and ECs and what-have-you. I am a superhero guy!

november on the cover, and november 1938 in the indicia. same as the rest of the run, i'd imagine.

I bought #15 at the same time as #14. As I said, #15 is listed in the correct spot. 1 copy on the census.

Could never wrap my head around calling comics after the code stamp Golden Age.

So, you get a Feature Funnies #14, from November, 1938. You like Will Eisner. You like The Clock. You go to check out the CGC Census to see how many they have graded to date. Voila, it skips from issue #13 (October, 1938) to issue #15 (December, 1938). That means that they have graded zero copies in the history of all comicmankind! yay yay yay But not so fast! Waaayyy up a the top of the list, above #1, what do I see? Issue #14 with a blank in the "year of publication" column. Quirky! And no idea why! Anyway, there is a 1.8, 4.5 and 5.5 (3 copies) on the census.

Once that mask goes on it's a free-for-all!

That's me on the cover trying to pickaxe that young lady!

Fish in the face!

That's racist!

I doubt it, but it couldn't have been too much, I probably had $200 or $300 total to spend at a four day show!