MBFan

I'll just wait until you decide to sell your Baker books at double what you paid.

I've had experiences that lead me to believe that many dealers think they should be able to get big bucks for ANY Matt Baker book. A few months ago, a dealer out of Kentucky advertised a buying trip to my part of Oklahoma. I called him to find out what he was looking to buy, and if he would be willing to bring some books to sell. He said he wouldn't be selling due to a fear of violating Oklahoma sales tax laws, but we still had a nice conversation, until... I mentioned that I had been the under bidder on his recent eBay auction for a Matt Baker St. John book. (Sorry I don't recall the exact book now, but it wasn't one of the harder ones to find, and it didn't have one of those "Oh wow" covers.) The winning bidder had taken the comic for about $75, which was more than I was willing to pay, as desperate as I am for Baker material. The dealer suddenly got agitated. "You should have bid more," he said. "I should have got twice as much for that book! I wish I didn't even put it up for auction!" After our phone conversation, I investigated a bit to see if he was right and perhaps I was wrong. My research proved to me that the particular book he auctioned was not incredibly rare & desirable, and it certainly wasn't worth more than 75 bucks. Had it been a grail, several of us would have bid accordingly. I've had similar experiences with other dealers who refuse to budge on their too-high Baker prices. They usually say something to the effect that they've seen very few Baker books, and they will sit on their Baker stuff until the "right buyer" comes along. This in itself contributes to false scarcity, as dealers keep great books off the market while wishing for pie-in-the-sky income that may never arrive. My conclusion is that most dealers are focused on books with mass appeal (Marvel, DC, etc.), so all they know about Baker books is that they've seen SOME go for astronomical money. As a result, they wishfully think ALL Baker books should go for big money. Since they have a better education in Spider-Man than Teen-Age Romances, they find a Matt Baker book and say, "A Matt Baker book! I've seen Baker books sell for insane money, so all I've got to do is wait for an insane buyer!" They haven't taken the time to study the real market and realize that Baker books are just like all the others. There are different quantities of each issue, some covers are more desirable than others, and some books with Baker covers are filled with Baker stories while some have none. It's like thinking that just because Avengers #57 (1st Vision appearance) is worth $850 in NM-, all the earlier Avengers issues should be, too. The truth is, you have to go all the way back to Avengers #11 (Spider-Man appearance and cover) to find an issue valued at $850 or above. As I said to a dealer at Wizard World Tulsa this past weekend, "Yeah, some Matt Baker books are worth big bucks because a few of us are fighting over them. Once we each get a copy of what we want, regardless of what we paid, you may have to give your books away to get someone to take them." Anyone who's been collecting comics any length of time knows that, regardless of what the price guide says, a book (or any collectible, for that matter) is truly worth only what someone is willing to pay. Self-delusion appears in grading, as well. I very often see torn, stained, folded Baker books way over-graded AND with crazy-high asking prices that they wouldn't put on any other title in the same awful condition. Worst of all, though, are dealers who list a "Matt Baker book" with a sky high price...and the book is one with NO BAKER ART WHATSOEVER. I see that a lot. One eBay dealer continued to hype his "Baker book" for months after I irrefutably pointed out that it had NO Baker art at all. He didn't revise his listing, and he didn't lower his price.

To answer the original question, NO. But thanks for giving me the opportunity to up my post count.

Not sure myself, but CGC does it all the time. If we had enough Grader Notes from 7.0 and 7.5 books, we could probably figure it out.

The more Grader Notes I see, the more I'm starting to figure out their criteria. Having to pay for the notes limits the learning process, but after seeing just a few sets of notes, you can start to discern the kinds and numbers of defects that warrant certain grades. I agree that customer awareness of CGC's exact criteria might cause some folks to call them on mistakes, but what's wrong with some accountability? Grader Notes, in essence, DO reveal CGC's grading guidelines. Regardless of "policy", making Grader Notes available shows they really don't mind letting us in on their grading criteria, but they do want us to pay for it. And just to keep things on-topic, knowing exactly which and how many defects kill a book's grade would be very helpful to those of us who collect Baker, because many, many available Baker books have multiple problems.

...or getting too close to the truth.

Like the heading says... Bring it on!

Post deleted because jpepx78 was faster than me. By the time I researched the books, my post was unnecessary. Good job!

Sweet!

Here's a mystery. In March of 2013, a CGC 6.0 Cinderella Love #25 sold on eBay. As of this post, the CGC Census shows NO 6.0 copies of the book. The only conditions listed are 2.0, 3.5, 5.5 (x2), and 7.5. What happened to the 6.0 copy?

The jump in '49 was probably long overdue. Western stars were hot as can be by 1948. During 1947 and 1948 alone, 11 Hopalong Cassidy films, 11 Roy Rogers films and 7 Gene Autry films were released. On top of that, Roy Rogers had a Top Ten single each year from '46-'48, and Gene Autry had 9 Top Ten singles during the same time period. As super heroes were on the wane and publishers were willing to try new things, it didn't seem like much of a risk to start publishing western comics with the public already infatuated with the genre in other mediums. 1949 looks like the year several publishers woke up to the potential at the same time.

The 5.5 was a consignment. The owner may have taken it back. Rick Starr also had a PR 8 on consignment there. Via email today, Bedrock informed me that CR #25 has been sold.

The seller listed it with a BIN of $749, which was voided when the first bid was made.

Wow! Sweet condition, too. Congrats! I wish I had your Baker hunting skills.

Unfortunately, I snoozed and losed, too! Someone got a great deal.

Received my first book from Sharon today, and the packing was bulletproof. She should give lessons! Truly a pleasure.

To me, the girl on these covers and Sweethearts 109 is not Alice. In the pictures where she's smiling there are no dimples at all, and when her ears are visible, it's apparent she has less pronounced earlobes than Alice. Also, in the stand-up shot on Sweethearts 109, this model appears to be less petite than Alice.

Squeggs was very close to the truth...and was he also the winner?

I must admit that copy of Romantic Adventures #50 was so clean & striking that I almost bid on it myself. The back might have hindered grade, but the front is pretty sweet. According to the bid history, the book would have topped out at around $600, if it not for 2 snipes set for around $1700.

I agree. My collection is missing all the books I mentioned, but I refuse to pay that high a price for such low condition. Other such low-grade high-priced books have sold recently, though, so sellers are encouraged to continue to gouge.

Even though I've been collecting comics for 50 years, I just recently joined this forum. I've now gone back and worked my way through the Baker Romance thread from the very beginning. It's apparent from past discussions that prices for Baker books have been up way high in the past, only to settle down again. Now we're seeing some, but not all, raise in apparent value. In addition to shill bidding, it's possible that some who own a copy of the same book might bid early and drive up prices, in hopes of justifying a high price for their own book. They may not be serious at all about buying the book at auction, but by jumping in and helping drive up the price, they can say, "Hey, look at my copy of that same book. It's worth the crazy money I want for it!" Establishing true worth and rarity for the St. John books is impossible. Since few issues have a high enough OS guide value to make them worth slabbing, the CGC census doesn't really tell us much. It's safe to say that many people who own these books haven't submitted them and are not part of the organized fandom that meets here. I've seen forum discussion (probably in the "rarest romance" thread) indicating that True Love Pictorial #9 is almost never seen for sale...but there have been at least 3 copies on eBay during the past couple of months alone. One is sitting bidderless right now. Many St. John Baker books have been closing on eBay with no bidders at all. Someone's been trying to sell Teen-Age Romances #40, Wartime Romances #10, Authentic Police Cases #19 & #23, Diary Secrets #16 and Pictorial Romances #10 for $200 each...but the books have been sitting there for days. If they'd put the books on a true auction, they'd be lucky to get $100 a piece for them. Once a couple of deep-pocket Baker collectors fill the holes in their collections, prices for certain books might settle down to a reasonable level. At least that's the hope of some of us without deep pockets. Meanwhile, dealers are hoping the anomaly becomes the norm.

I concur. The hint of a dimple is a giveaway, too.

That girl's got almost no lobe at all, much different from the ear clearly seen on Alice's publicity photo.

Looks like Baker-inking-Baker to me, much in the style of his last few Teen-Age Romances covers. If it's not Baker on the inks, it is certainly someone who respected the pencils and faithfully enhanced his work.