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Alawson453

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Journal Entries posted by Alawson453

  1. Alawson453
    Very Hard to Find Wrightson Item!
    While digging through some stuff today I came across this item that I'm
    sure not very many collectors have seen. This book was a guide for those attending
    the gallery show in 1977 and showcased some of Bern's best work of the day.
    I had the chance to meet Berni about 15 years ago and he was great to talk to and signed as many items as you would put in front of him, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have the first 3 issues of Swamp Thing signed. The title of the illustration used for the book cover is titled "Coming Out Party" and it was done
    With ink and magic markers.
    Enjoy!

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  2. Alawson453
    2003 CBC's Eye on E-bay
    Some of you may remember To Comic's Buyers Guide Weekly Fandom
    Publication which was devoted to everything comics. This was the Internet for comic collectors prior to the Internet I have added a clipping that I manager to keep from a 2003 edition with an article an chart indexing CGC pricing for the week of January 19-25, 2003. The attached index was right on the money for the most part when it came to superhero books and to some degree may still be of some use
    10 years later.
    SW3D, I hope this will be of some help to you and everyone else. If you can read
    The whole page you will see there were some interesting books moving at even more interesting prices.
    Enjoy

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  3. Alawson453

    Hidden Treasures!

    By Alawson453,

    Modern Age Books That I think I will have graded.
    I'm usually not one for collecting much of the Modern Age Comics especially most of the independents. I do happen to have a lot of stuff that I am starting to go through and find some nice pieces
    Tnerb, Bagofleas it's so much fun reading post about your adventures and your passion for the Hobby especially the New Mutants. You remind me a lot of myself in years past. Thanks so much for sharing your stories with us. That goes for the rest of the community as well, for all of the great post and discussions regarding comics, shows/cons and anything related to the hobby I read each and every post as well as all of the comments.
    Now, the Hidden Treasures!
    I found a few Lady Death Issues as I was going through some boxes of stuff over the weekend. I have seen these a number of times but really never paid any notice since they were not Silver or Bronze Age books. I'm starting to warm-up a little to some of the Modern Age books especially those with great cover artwork.
    So I thought I would take a minute and research the trio and found that they are half way decent copies to have.
    Lady Death Limited Series #1 Chromium Cover
    Lady Death The Crucible Silver Embossed Cover &
    Lady Death II Between Heaven & Hell #1 Chromium
    I really like the covers on these so I am going to ship them
    out for slabbing and maybe down the road I might even add signatures.
    I'm sure there's more goodies to dig up but it will have
    to wait until the next weekend
    Thanks for reading!

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  4. Alawson453

    Meeting Ray Park

    By Alawson453,

    Scoring A Snake Eyes Autograph!
    I had the chance a while back to meet and talk with Ray Park, the actor who plays Snake Eyes in the live action G.I. Joe movies and also play the character Darth Maul in Start Wars The Phantom Menace. I must say that I was very excited to meet Ray and tell him what a huge fan he had in my grandson, who is practicing Jui Jitsu. Ray Park being the total gentleman that he is, not only signed a Snake Eyes (color) photo but he also personalized it to my grandson with words of encouragement to keep up the good work on his martial arts! Oh, and he also took time to pose with me for the great picture below. I know this isn't a picture of a comic or cgc graded book, but to me it really was an experience worth so much more! If you get the chance let Ray know what a great job he had done bringing to life one of the major comic book characters in Snake Eyes.

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  5. Alawson453
    Newest addition to my X-men Set
    This came in the mail today! I was very excited to have this added to my X-men set that I am slowly trying to build. My goal is to assemble a 9.4 or higher set of all of the New X-men up to about issue 200. Most of the issues I already have and just need to submit but there are a few scattered issues below issue #110 that I need to obtain.
    Generally I am all over the board with my collecting and really not very focused on any one set. I find it so much more enjoyable to just buy things on a whim (or if I get a really good bargain at a show).
    I do have a number of great sets that I plan to have submitted in time for next years Registry Awards, with at least a dozen if not more easily placing as the top sets based on the current standings
    This issue however was available on E-bay at a great price so I pulled the trigger and crossed my fingers!
    Thanks for reading

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  6. Alawson453

    Phoenix Must Die!

    By Alawson453,

    How could they do that to one of the greatest characters ever created
    Ok so I picked up a group of books recently off E-bay. The books consisted of all X-men CGC's 9.4 all with White Pages.
    First was X-men #134 Titled "Heroes and Hellfire". In this issue Phoenix becomes dark Phoenix after being transformed into the Black Queen by the Hellfire Club. This is a classic with story by Chris Claremont, art by John Byrne and Terry Austin Cover.
    I so loved this story arc that began in issue #131 and remember purchasing multiple copies when it was originally released.
    Next is one of the greatest stories of all time in my opinion.
    X-men #137 "Phoenix Must Die". Seriously, is exactly what I said when I first picked up a copy of this book and saw the cover way back when (1980). No way they would actually really kill off one of the founding members of the X-men. No way they would actually kill one of the most powerful characters of the Marvel Universe. Well we all know what happened, yes they did whack Jean Grey aka Marvel Girl, aka Phoenix, aka Black Queen aka Dark Phoenix, R.I.P Jean.
    This is what kept me in this hobby for over 40 years. The possibility that every once and awhile a great story line might come along that totally captures my imagination and transports me into the actual storyline where I feel as if I am actually living and battling alongside my favorite heroes. This is where I realized that no matter how great I thought my heroes were and how strong the team, ultimately someone will die in the end.
    Lastly, X-men #140 which features the disbanding of Alpha Flight, an appearance by The Wendigo as well as a Blob Cameo appearance on the last page. Again great storytelling, great artwork and now part of my collection and X-men set. Hope you have enjoyed this little commentary See Pic!

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  7. Alawson453
    I have had this book for some time and just realized that there was a Bronze Age DC Number One Set that I could add it to
    Laurel and Hardy easily one of the most popular double acts of all time. Best known for their slapstick comedy, they became well know during the 1920's to the mid 40's.
    The pair made more than 100 short films together before expanding into feature length films in the 1930's. Stan passed away in 1965 and Oliver in 1957 but I remember so many evenings and even Saturday Mornings being entertained by their hilarious antics.
    The pair had an Academy Award to add to their credit for the short (1932) film Babes in Toyland.
    With Stan's catchphrase "Well, here's another fine mess you gotten me into!" being highly recognized and used often in their films.
    It's hard to believe that these guys were working in show business as early as 1921 and both had numerous short movie credits to their name before putting their act together.
    If you haven't seen any of their movies, I suggest you take the time to check out some of their material. These guys were in my opinion Great Actors and truly Masters of Their Craft.
    Enjoy

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  8. Alawson453
    I just started collecting Signature Series Books this year.
    So I find it a lot easier for sure to just purchase a book already signed and slabbed as well as it saves a heck of a lot of time I do enjoy the chase of tracking down my favorite artists to meet face to face and obtain an auto on one of my favorite works of theirs.
    But man thanks to E-bay I can actually just wait for some items to arrive via USPS.
    My most recent purchase and addition to the family is a CGC SS 9.8 copy of Crisis on Infinite Earths #1. This book represents what I believe was one of the most important books published by DC in the last 30 years. It totally re-defined the DC Universe
    as we know it today. Not to mention the series went on to produce multiple events that would completely alter the course of the future for the company and all of its characters.
    This along with a slew of others is the highest graded SS copy available at the time of purchase and as many of you know I am a huge George Perez fan.
    I may attempt to complete the entire set as SS otherwise I will simply send in one of the sets I have and have them slabbed just to show the completed set.
    Enjoy the pics

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  9. Alawson453
    Just ended E-bay Auction for SS #15 maybe new record. Only (1) of (2) 9.8 copies sold for...............................
    I don't know about many of you but I have it bad watching ending comic book auctions on ebay and keeping a record of books that I feel sell for prices that are higher than I would expect for the particular book to sell for. Sparkle City just closed a bunch of auctions this evening and one of the books that sold was a perfect copy of SS#15 in CGC 9.8 condition. I started watching it earlier this evening and was astonished when the bidding went above the $1,000.00 mark.
    This book is definitely a rarity in that there have only been (2) copies to receive the grade of 9.8, so I was surprised but not totally shocked.
    Well the bidding ended and some lucky buyer will be adding that beautiful book to his/her collection (it could be a female
    Oh and the final gavel price was ....................
     
    $2,555.50
    I thought this was worthy information to share with the group especially those that may not sit and eyeball the computer for as many hours on end as I do.
    Happy Hunting/Collectiing
    P.S. It's the issue where the Surfer battles the Human Torch
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  10. Alawson453
    Ready for press and slab!
    I am so excited to share my most recent purchase with you guys! I bought a lot of raw books off ebay last week and they arrived today. The group consisted of a run of early Teen Titans from issue #6 through #25 and was two issues.
    The group was advertised as mostly vf and vf to nm. I usually expect the worst even after I do my homework and check out all of the pictures. But something told me this was going to be a great group of books, and I'm glad I followed my instinct.
    Of the 21 books maybe 2 or 3 would fall into the vf category scoring around 7.5 to 8.0. Over half of the books will rate at least a 9.0 or higher without pressing with maybe half a dozen having a shot at 9.6 to 9.8's with pressing.
    So Matt my friend get ready for a Titan-ic Quick Press! Once pressed I will have them slabbed and decide what I want to do with them. Anything higher than 9.2 I intend to keep The rest I will sell. This helps me with this title a great deal since I have every issue from #30 up but had previously sold off all of the earlier issues.
    See pic below

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  11. Alawson453
    But I think I will just shoot for Stan's and be happy
    This is one of those great covers from back in the day that just jumps
    Out at you! Every time I look at this cover I can imagine Stan telling us how this one has it all. Nuff Said!
    Enjoy

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  12. Alawson453
    A few books I picked up at the LA Convention recently.
    During the 1960's and 70's Gold Key was one of the great comic book companies that was able to compete with Marvel and DC. Maybe not totally on the same level since they didn't have quite as many characters ad the "Big Two". Nonetheless they had great characters and great stories.
    What made it hard for collector's of the early issues was that most of their comic books were slightly wider and a little longer than the standard comic book so they didn't fit well in to comic bags. This I know first hand as a lot of the books I would just leave unbagged way back when.
    As the 70's came and went so did the popularity of the Gold Key Characters with Superhero comics now as strong as ever. A lot of the Gold Key books I believe were and still are undervalued to this day. With the re-introduction of some of the major characters like Magnus and Solar through the Valiant Comics many collectors have become familiar with the a few of the more popular titles of the 60's and 70's but there are many more that
    deserve a little investigation such as Dark Shadows, Bonanza, Mighty Samson, Korak: Son of Tarzan, M.A.R.S. Patrol and many other titles. This is also where Star Trek originated in comic form and was one of the best sellers.
    I am slowly trying to accumulate as many high grade copies as I can (Kinda Like Bagofleas) in an effort to take over the world or at least a registry position.
    At current I have completed the first 40 issues of Korak all super high grades which will easily allow me to accomplish that set (we are talking 9.4 - 9.8 on the first 30 issues here guys). I will post pics of some of those books under a different Journal Entry I intend to dedicate to Korak. So for this posting I am including a pic of a couple of books that I picked up at the show. The total war books have such cool covers I couldn't pass them up and the condition was pretty nice to boot.
    Thanks for Reading

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  13. Alawson453
    What's your take on flipping comics?
    I thought this would be an interesting story to share with my New Registry Family About 7 years ago give or take a year, while on one of my regular visits to the local outdoor swapmeet I happened upon a box of comics from one of the regular vendor's.
    Now this guy was also one of my competitor's for buying storage units at auction. He was a well seasoned buyer and dealer to say the least. So when I searched through his box of comics on his table I never expected to find anything of tremendous value, but from time to time I find a gem.
    Well it's the middle of summer and if you know Vegas on a normal day it's well over 105 degree's so i'm ready to high tail it out of there. I start making my way towards the exit and make a stop by this guys table to see what he might have in this small box of about 40 comics on his table.
    Well at first glance I can see he has a few magazine sized comics near the back of the box but I take my time and go through the rest of the books first. When I get to the larger books I find that they are copies of TMNT #1. Ok I'm thinking that they are all 3rd prints since I already had a couple of copies and could tell the difference by looking at them. But there was another copy that looked slightly different. I ask Tony what he was getting for the books and he says 25 cents each.
    Ok, you don't have to be a genius to realize even if they are all 3rd printings you will still make a lot more than a quarter a piece. So I buy them all and the rest of the books in the box.
    Not paying much attention or mind for that matter I get the heck out of there and head home. I didn't research the books right away because I was late for taking the wife to breakfast so they had to wait. 2-3 hours later after we return home and settle down I finally get the chance to open up and check what print runs they are actually from.
    Holy ! One of the TMNT books is actually a first print and the other 2 copies are 3 prints. Well now I am really excited because I really didn't collect that title anyway and could see $$$$$$$ and a profit on my 25 cent investment.
    What follows next is documented somewhere within my many sales records on E-bay.
    I package up the book and ship it to CGC for express service so I can have it back in a week. They get the book and it comes out with a grade of 8.5. Ok now we are really talking some serious cash for the 25 cents I spent. It was well worth the $85 for the slabbing that I paid. I get the book back and list it with a starting price of $2250.00 knowing that I would get
    offers of much less I wanted to at least not under price this little gem.
    So offers start coming in, the first was $1400 (nice) I wait and another comes in $1100 considering my investment and total cost this was also a nice offer but it's the first day and I think there's more to come. The next offer is $100 yep that's right one hundred dollars. Never the less I inform the guy that I was blocking him form ever bidding on any of my items for making such a ridiculous offer. He apologized and I didn't block him. Later that evening I received what I thought was a great offer of $1700 and accepted the offer hoping the guy would honor and pay for it. And yes within 24 hours the sale was completed and the book was shipped.
    So within a little over a week I managed to flip a TMNT that I picked up at the local swap meet for 25 cents and pay the $85 for rush service at CGC and make a profit of well over $1600.
    The books are out there guys, but you do have to look under every rock to find them sometimes and it's true the early bird gets the worm. But in this case I was actually late and quite a number of people had already gone through the box of comics from what Tony told me. (I never told Tony about the flip)

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  14. Alawson453
    What if all of a sudden you inherited every comic you ever dreamed of!
    guys for my 2nd Journal Entry I'm coming out swinging! This will give a little insight on part of my history in Comic Collecting.
    The year is 1990 and i'm visiting one of my favorite places to pick up back issue comics in North Las Vegas (The Book Rack). I had been a customer at this store for well over 12 years already since my early childhood. I would ride my bike over 5 miles down a steep hill while my Mom and Dad were at work just so I could spend hours sifting through the back issue bins of comics from the late 60's and 70's.
    It was commonplace in the mid to late 70's to find books like House of Secrets #92 (1st Swamp Thing) in high grade in the quarter box. I found a total of 6 copies one summer Part of the reason I always went back because you never knew what you might find.
    Now back to 1991, after talking with the owner one day he told me that he wanted to sell the store and I thought maybe he would blow out some of the leftover comics. Ok, keep in mind that this was first a used book store which specialized in trading paperback for a quarter. Well after talking with the owner he tells me that there are thousands of comics in the back room of the store that he had been just stockpiling. Ok i'm curious I take a look and could not believe what I was looking at. Over 20,000 books all stored in brown paper bags stacked up to the top of each bag with another bag over the top to make a perfect case, air conditioned for the last 20-25 years with 5-10 copies on most of all of the Marvel and DC Comics that had ever been published. Hell there were 8 copies of Silver Surfer #1 (1968) which ranged from vg to mint with 3 of the copies super high grade.
    Ok, I buy the store! I scraped and scratched every penny I could and pulled it off. The day I take the keys I go into the back room which was now mine! I had gone through each and every bag and stack of comics and magazines till I was just totally overwhelmed. I now had every book (just about) that I had ever wanted times five, but I also had the rest of the store as well and had to manage day to day operations as promised for one year so customers could use up their trade credits for paperbacks.
    I will pick up from this point in my next post. Hopefully this has been interesting (it's a true story).
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  15. Alawson453
    A Jack Kirby Classic-Kamandi #28
    I love the weekends especially Sunday! I usually take some time to retreat
    to my comic room and piddle around or read comics Over the last couple of days I have been wanting to read the Kamandi series from start to finish. I have read
    a number of issues but never the entire series. This is such a great title to me because it showcases Jack Kirby's full range of talent. Most of the issues were
    Written, drawn and inked by the great one and show his very distinct style of art.
    One of my favorite issues has or hero on the cover yelling " Stop, Stop This Massacre". With the title "Bulldogs Dying Like Men". Talk about imagination and originality. It just doesn't get much better than this for a Sunday afternoon of relaxation

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  16. Alawson453
    This was an apparent Promo for Bally's Casino Las Vegas.
    Hey everyone, I have what I believe is the original artwork for a complete promo comic for Bally's Casino Las Vegas or Bally's Gaming. I have all of the original pages plus the cover. The pages are dated 1993 and the only signature on the pages is the name Henderson. All of the pages originated from Image Comics and are on Image Art Paper as seen in the attached photo's.
    Does anyone have any idea if this was actually published and or distributed? Thanks for any help you can give.

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  17. Alawson453
    A weekend at "The Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con"
    For many years I have wanted to meet Neal Adams to shake his hand and obtain signatures in person for some of the items that I wish to keep in my private collection. Well this weekend presented the opportunity and let me say that I definitely took advantage of it.
    I really had a ton of items that I want to get Neal's signature on from Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Avengers and X-men with the first Havok appearance to name a few, but I need to get those witnessed for signature series which will be a long process with the number of books I need to submit.
    So, to make things easy I just took (3) items. Both issues of "The Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams and a copy of Strange Adventures #216 for a friend who also wanted Neal's signature.
    Let me say I absolutely adore Neal, he is quite the showman when it comes to promoting at shows and makes you feel really at ease being so easy to approach.
    I was also able to obtain a beautiful print of The Joker/Batman (see Pic).
    So now I can't wait to start sending off books to have signed and slabbed.
    Thanks for reading

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  18. Alawson453
    George Perez a tribute!
    I really got into George Perez in the early 80's when I started reading some of the New Teen Titans issues that he had done. I came across those issues by luck and picked up issues 12-15 all signed by both Perez and Len Wein (way before signature series).
    I thought to myself what detail this guy draws. Not just the cover but the entire book page after page of jaw dropping detail. Not to mention some of the greatest fight scenes ever drawn in comics to my knowledge were either Justice League of America, New Teen Titans, Wonder Woman and how can I leave out all of the great covers from Crisis on Infinite Earths!
    I know I'm leaving out a lot of material that George has done both prior to and after my short list. I just want say that I don't think there has been an artist since Kirby that has in my opinion produced as much, as frequently with such quality as George Perez.
    I saw a set of History of the DC Universe available both signed by George and had to have them. For anyone who has not had the opportunity to read these, I strongly suggest you add them to your collection even if you are not a DC fan. These two books actually redefine the DC Universe at the time of production and are beautifully done in squarebound format.
    Check out the pics below, I intend to keep these in my collection forever

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  19. Alawson453
    Neal Adams Cover SS to add to my collection.
    I don't really buy many new comics these days unless I find a great deal at a show where I can pick up a couple thousand. But Captain Marvel has always been one of my all-time favorites especially the Jim Starlin issues.
    So when I saw this cover it really jumped out at me from my computer screen. I mean really it just does not get any better than this. Neal Adams has always been one of my personal favorite all time top 5 artist and I can't wait to get to meet him for the first time here in Las Vegas at the Comic Con.
    I hope you enjoy the pic of the great cover to Captain Marvel 15 from 2006.

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  20. Alawson453

    Double Vision

    By Alawson453,

    Avengers #57 with double covers from a recent lot purchase on E-bay!
    Every once and awhile you can get really great deals looking for deals on E-bay. A couple months ago I purchased a Silver Age Lot of about 40 really beat up comics. They were advertised as such and the pictures that were attached confirmed it! Out of the lot though I noticed a copy of Sub-mariner #1 and Avenger #57 (1st Vision App.). There were a couple of other nice books that for the price would be great to have as readers. So even though I had read most or still have high grade copies I just couldn't pass up bidding on the lot.
     
    Ok, I win the lot they arrive and I said to myself, that was a bad purchase Most of the books were even worst than the pictures showed in the listing but it's hard to tell sometime.
    I couldn't complain the price was still fair, however this past weekend while going though some of the books I noticed that the copy of the Avengers #57 felt a little thicker than it should have. Did I not check it out when I first got it? I think not, I was disappointed that it was actually in the shape as advertised and just tossed it into a box. Well this copy had received 2 covers during production, so even though the exterior cover was a complete mess, the interior cover was very nice. So nice that I now plan to send it to Matt Nelson for pressing and then get an autograph by Stan.
    I'm hoping it presses out to a 6.0 or better on the interior cover the exterior the best I can hope for is a 4.0 and I will keep everyone posted on the books journey through each process. See attached pic!

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  21. Alawson453
    One of the best Small Press Comic Titles of the 80's
    I know a lot of you readers are strictly either Marvel or DC fans with a few Image sprinkled in for good measure. However Image and all the other non Marvel/DC companies would not be around today if not for the Small Press/Black & White Explosion of the 80's.
    I tend to journey back in time quite often with my journals (I hope you guys don't mind).
    This time our time machines destination is the year 1986 and a small comic shop owned by yours truly (My first venture before The Book Rack).
    I had been open for a couple months and business was ok, people were starting to find their way in to purchase both new and back issues. I had a small group of high school kids that liked to hang out and shoot the breeze (man those were the days).
    Well one day in walks this dude off the street and ask if I might be interested in distributing his book. Now I was always getting self published books from various artists/writer/creator's, much of which I would buy a couple copies just to help the guys out, but today was going to be a very special day.
    I ask the guy to let me see what he had, and when he pulls out his material I was floored! His book was already published, on high quality mando paper and the kicker the artwork was unbelievable.
    Ok, I thought this has to be a joke, no way a guy walks in off the street pushing a book and the artwork is as good as some of the major publishers.
    Just happened a couple of the high school kids show up take a look at the book and were sold on the spot!
    The guy's name is Ted Nomura he actually spent about an hour visiting with shoppers and signed a book for anyone that asked.
    That day he passed out copies of his number one issue of Tigers of Terra "Families of Altered Wars". The book went on to become a small hit with the small press and independent comic buyers of the day including myself.
    Not only was Ted great at telling his story but I simply could not believe how fast he was able to keep up with production based on the quality of his art (it was amazing).
    For anyone who had to live through the barrage of publisher's at the end of the 80's believe me Ted's book was such a treat.
    Ted was a regular at the shop up until the time it closed and always made sure I got signed and numbered copies of every book.
    Ted went on to collaborate with Ben Dunn of Ninja High School Fame and do many other great works. I keep in touch with him through Facebook and he is doing well today.
    If you get a chance look for some of the back issues of Tigers of Terra, Families of Altered Wars. They are very well drawn and entertaining (Black & White).
    Ted gave me a little keepsake one day out of the blue he comes strolling in with an original hand drawn/sketched and inked poster as a thank you for helping to promote his books. I thought I would share with all so you can see first hand how amazing his work really is. Enjoy

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  22. Alawson453
    Betty's Budior
    Don't know how many of you know of or possibly collect artwork, comics or anything else from the late Dave Steven's of Rocketeer Fame. I was hooked the very first time I picked up a copy of Pacific Presents and saw the smooth artwork and great female anatomy that Mr. Steven's was able to with almost no effort make come to life. I swear you would think these were real people you were looking at pictures of only doctored up a little (way before photoshop was invented). My Crown Jewel of my Dave Steven's collection is "Betty's Budior". Betty was the girl of every comic collector's dreams not to mention she was modeled after the famous Pin-up Queen Bettie Page. I saw the advertisement for the litho knew I had to have it no matter the cost (lucky it was only $150 at the time).
    I never had the chance to meet Mr. Stevens but did manage to get what I believe to be one of his greatest works of art.
    Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy the Pic!

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  23. Alawson453
    One of my most treasured moments as a collector!
    To all my fellow collector's that may not have had the chance to meet "The King" let me tell of my experience.
    The year is 1982 if my memory serves me correctly. The place is Friendly Neighborhood Comics which was owned and operated by a kindly gentleman by the name of Tom Heiner. This was the very first store in Las Vegas that was dedicated to nothing but comic books. I had made many a purchase at this store and seen many great books pass through its doors.
    When Mr. Heiner announced one day that Jack "The King" Kirby himself was going to be in the store for a day to sign autographs and talk comics, I almost lost my mind!
    What was I going to have signed (Jack was only signing 3 items per person). So here I had to make a decision on what I would take. Keep in mind that at that time I only collected mostly Silver Age Marvels so just about every title had been touched by
    Kirby in one way or another.
    Ok, so I settled on 3 books Tales of Suspense #40 awesome cover and 2nd appearance of Iron Man. X-men #3 Yeah, the cover with the team battling the Blob (most awesome) and for my final autograph candidate The Incredible Hulk #5 all of the books were high grade copies and I wished the limit would have been a little higher. Hey, I was happy just to have the opportunity to get them signed by the man that I had come to recognize as the single greatest icon the comic book world had!
    So the day comes, I get to the store wait in line (not very long). I make it to the front of the line and there he is.......
    the one who started it all, Jack Kirby! He was a very soft spoken man, not very tall (actually short) along with his wife Roz. I tell him how much I love his work and that I was trying to collect everything that he had ever done (did not accomplish that goal). He takes a look at my books and smiles, opens each one up and signs his name. I really like that in the old days artists and writers didn't sign on the covers of comics unless requested to do so. He asked me if I had any other books that I would like for him to sign? Ok, I was told the limit was 3?
    Had to think fast, Jack was actually at the store and making appearances to promote his new title that he was working on from Pacific Comics called Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers which happened to be on the spinner rack in the store. I leap into action whipping out the cash for a copy and run back over to get one more signature before I head home.
    Mr. Kirby says thank you for supporting the book and the purchase, and I tell him thanks for all of the many great stories and artwork.
    Later Mr. Heiner the store owner told me that he and his wife spent the evening with the Kirby's at dinner and dancing.
    Wow, I got to meet and shake hands with Jack Kirby!
    I have sense sold all of the great silver age books Mr. Kirby signed for me (needed the cash at the time) but managed to hang on to the Captain Victory (see pic) and treasure it so much that I will never let it go.
    Sidenote: This event takes place nearly 10 years before "The Book Rack" purchase.
    Thanks for reading

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  24. Alawson453
    The Ring!
    I'm going to start this part of the story off going back a few years to one of my first trips to The Book Rack. I was about 13 years old and thought I would sneak out of the house while my mom and dad were at work. Keep in mind It was about 5 miles and I had to walk during this trip (the lengths I would go to for a fix). I'm almost there and as i'm crossing the street in front of Jerry's Nugget Gambling Hall I see something shiny in the street. Lucky it was early morning and not many cars on the road. I pick up the shiny object hoping it might be a quarter (I could buy another book or two if it was. No such luck, it was a stupid ring still I put it in my pocket and forget about it.
    I make it to the book store and get back home safe mom and dad are none the wiser. Well I ended up getting into trouble later that day and mom makes me empty my pockets (busted). She see's the shiny stupid ring and gives me the third degree. Finally I fess up and tell her how I came by it. Don't know why but I didn't get grounded. She tells me a couple years later that the ring I found was a solid gold 1893 one dollar gold piece ring and that my dad had it fixed because it was bent from being run over in the street but still in excellent condition. Believe it or not she gave me the ring a couple years ago and I have it to this very day.
    I thought some of you might like this story (it's totally true) I have the ring in my safe. But funny how in my quest to find comics at the age of about 13, before a true golden age I find gold
    Now you would think after acquiring what I considered the deal/dream of a lifetime the story would end, well it doesn't!
    I come to find out that the old guy I purchased the book store from still had more comics stashed in some storage facility! Yeah, I was shocked as hell when he comes waltzing in with one of the trademark brown paper bags filled with books and ask if I might be interested. I figure what the heck I already have the store and everything I wanted and more. We open the bag and the stuff inside was absolute primo condition books all 12 cent cover price marvel and or dc. Now I am confused as hell, did this guy just play me (yep) I think so but still I really couldn't complain. I came to realize that the paper bags once completely filled to the top would hold about 200+ comics (normal size silver age).
    The best thing about the way he stored his comics was that they were always laying flat and the pressure kept them that way. This was crazy there were 5 copies of each book the entire doctor strange run starting with #170 up to 183 also runs on strange tales, tales to astonish and tales of suspense, remember all of these were primo nothing less than 9.0 I kid you not.
    I ask where did he get these and he told me he also had a store up in tonapah in the mid to late 60's and this all was in storage. We worked out a deal for the entire bag remember I was pricing at 1991 overstreet prices and didn't have to pay multiples of guide. I asked if he had any more and he told he had about twenty thousand. Now i'm double confused, why the hell didn't he have the stuff in the store trying to make money in the first place? Oh well I ended up buying a couple thousand more books and told him I would have to stop for a while I was seriously out of cash and couldn't move the books fast enough. That's when I decided to start doing the LA Shrine Show.
    I never saw the old man after that and had dreams for the longest time wondering just what else I missed out on. I did score a vg spider-man #1 out of the deal as well. Now everyone has gone back in time with me on one of the most amazing rides I could ever ask for, and even though I have bought many more collections since. None have and I doubt will ever compare to the deal I made when I bought "The Book Rack".
    Thanks 4 Reading
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  25. Alawson453
    What do I do with all these comics?
    Ok, so now that you have all hopefully read Part 1, let's move along. Now I have this store which was "The Oldest Used Bookstore In Las Vegas" at the time. But all I really wanted was the comics
    Now I had never really been in awe of much of anything in my life, but let me tell you guys I really didn't know what to do next.
    It worked out that after about 6 months I actually made enough money to totally pay myself back for the purchase price of the business.
    During that year I had to ask myself, what do I do with all of these comics. Keep in mind the year is 1991 and comic values are maybe about 10% of present day prices. So I was going to be lucky go get $150 for a near mint copy of Silver Surfer #1.
    My first order of business was to blowout all of my lower grade comics. So I started selling to some of the mail order dealers who were extremely excited to purchase large quantities of mid-grade 60's & 70's Marvel & DC. I would just pack a box up each month and ship them out to a couple of the ones I had built up a rapport with and they would send me a check lightning fast.
    This helped free up some space and get rid of books that I really didn't need to hold onto.
     
    Next, I decided to start selling at Los Angeles Science Fiction & Comic Book Convention. I packed up about 3000 nice books but not the best. I would start with my lowest graded books which were still nicer than a lot of the dealers in the room had access to.
    My first show was a huge success! I made a ton of money before the show was even half over and I also made one of my most important contacts ever in meeting Mr. Terry O'Neill owner of Terry's Comics. Terry made me an offer for everything I had left which was very generous. Keep in mind that I would be able to replace 80-90% of the books I sold that day with better copies and sell at the next show the following month
    This went on for the next 20 years believe it or not. And I still love doing that show when I have the chance, just to run into some of the guys that I have come to know and deal with over the years.
    On top of all of the comics there were also a ton of magazines that covered all genre's. There were runs of Creepy, Eerie, Famous Monsters of Filmland, Savage Sword, Savage Tales and Many more including a ton of the Eerie Publications Mags. All of the mags were in beautiful condition with multiples on many issues(80% of which I still have). I always thought the pricing on Mags were way to low so I held on to most of them.
    I was able to sell the FM #1 Fine condition to Steve Dolnick for what was a pretty good price back in 1991
    Ok, so as the years passed and prices started to increase. I started to make more money selling fewer comics. I didn't jump in right away as I should have with having books slabbed (big mistake). By this time though I had already sold most of the key books from the store purchase. Hey, they helped pay the bills and that was more important at the time.
    Think I will stop here for tonight and try and wrap this up tomorrow. I'm throwing in a few pics of a couple books I had handy and will try and load more later. Enjoy!

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