Randall Ries

My humble #227.

On 6/14/2017 at 5:25 PM, Martin Sinescu said:

Glad to see this thread back. Here's an upgrade I picked up a CLink or two ago. Would love to see this one in the new holder....

 

 

Pretty generous 9.4 IMO.

3 hours ago, Vorpal said:

Well, he's may favorite comic artist (considering the entirety of his work) and created my favorite character in Swamp Thing. I got the chance to meet him shortly before his health took its last downward turn, and was bowled over by how nice he was. After the last tumor discovery and subsequent surgery, I followed his progress closely and (like many others) posted words of encouragement when his wife Liz would give us all updates on Bernie's Facebook page. So while he wasn't a personal friend, there was a personal connection.

That's why.

I get that. I bought the Wrightson ST books right off the racks as they came out in the 1970's. Was flabbergasted by the Wrightson/Wein teamup. Redondo took over the artwork and I lost interest. Redondo's work was fine, but the storylines became less gothic and more alien schtick than I wanted to deal with. In the mid eighties, Moore picked up the Saga series and blew my doors off.

I recently picked up signed copies of "Frankenstein Alive Alive!" He had lost none of his artistic style or talent and the are a proud part of my collection. I'd show them to you all, but they are PGX 10.0's and I don't want to butthurt anyone by offering sacrilegious pictures from a rival grading company. But they are beauts!

So, I dug Wrightson a great deal as well. When I say "inconsiderately died", it wasn't out of disrespect, but out of sadness and the knowledge that there would be no more. From a fan POV and illustrating the irony and frustration of the effects of death and endings. I'm pretty sure he didn't die on purpose and it probably wasn't his first choice. Death is - not to be cliche - a part of life. I think he knew that and he may have gotten a chuckle out of my choice of words.

13 hours ago, Jayman said:

HOS 92 has been on a steady rise for the past couple of years. Wrightson's passing just gave it a recent nudge. I think you made good choices with the Supes, especially the 23 with the classic "pissed off" Superman swimming after the Nazis cover. 

Yeah, I know. I have a raw copy and the graded copy of Superman #23. It's a great book. If I had enough money to spend, I wouldn't have to make these choices! LOL!

1 hour ago, Jayman said:

My original  was for the fact that your comment didn't come off as "tongue in cheek". Hard to read into that in just text. However you have explained yourself and I understand. . Been meaning to ask what you traded your original 9.0 copy for?

Text certainly leaves something to be desired, doesn't it?

I traded my Batman #9 CGC 8.0 ow/w and HOS #92 CGC 9.0 OW for Superman #16 CGC 8.5 ow/w and Superman #23 CGC 8.0 ow/w. It was a good trade AFAIC. But I had no idea HOS #92 would take such a bound in "value", which I think is mostly because of Wrightson's passing. So, from that POV, his death was "inconvenient". I missed that book almost as soon as I mailed it.

7 hours ago, scooter99 said:

I think more beer drinking will help. 

It might. Also, people need to look around at the world in which they live and get a sense of humor. Just because something offends us doesn't mean we are right. Saying that Wrightson inconsiderately died is a tongue in cheek approach to the death of one of my favorite artists. And really, none of us knew him personally and so why behave like a close relative or friend was maligned? I'm offended on a daily basis. I don't refer to people who offend me as part of the lower GI tract. I may not like it, but I'm an adult and have learned to cope.

Well, my 7.5 HOS #92 came in and it is a nice copy. Just like the picture. Some teensie scuffing along the spine is what kept it down. It is a welcome part of my meager collection now.

9 hours ago, Vorpal said:

More like you're being insensitive, and you got rightfully called on it. Don't be an arschloch.

MUCH more like it was a droll turn of a phrase. Go get some baby wipes and MYOB.

Here is one that Metro is selling. $1600.00. Beyond the corner fold, it looks 9.0 or better. I called about the line going horizontally across the front. Thought it was a scanner error. Not. It's a printing error. Never seen that on another copy.

Anyhoo, I will just hang onto my 7.5. It should be here tomorrow. Some books you just don't part with. I won't make that mistake again.

22 hours ago, Jayman said:

Calm yourself. I am not happy Wrightson died. So sensitive.

10 minutes ago, scooter99 said:

I remember that 9.4 sale on the Link.  It must have sold in less than 10 minutes.  I remember seeing it and emailing a friend to see if he had snagged it at that very attractive price.  3 grand is more in line with a 9.2 (or a very nice 8.5 old label) which just sold in CC's last auction.  

Well, prices started getting out of control after Wrightson inconsiderately passed away. Same with the higher grade ST issues. And now Len Wein is dead. My 7.5 should be worth a cool half mill by the end of the year.

11 minutes ago, NoMan said:

Wow!  I actually made a good purchase finally. After 30 years out of the hobby got back in about a year ago.  Went to Stan lee 2016 comic con in Los Angeles and bought an 8.0 WP for $800.  

Maybe I could flip it now for 7 grand or something. 

I'll give you $850! LOL!

3 hours ago, NoMan said:

You paid 1,500 for this copy?  Wow! I haven't been paying attention. You're right about great cover/character. 

I did. I didn't WANT to, though. I think the prices are bloated and owners are getting on the greed train. Since I have a high grade run of ST 1-10, having HOS #92 makes it complete. I really wish I had kept my 9.0, but someone else is either enjoying it or HOSing (See where I went there?) another prospective buyer/collector. As i mentioned before, someone bought a 9.4 recently for $2k and is now asking $6k. That is greed in my book. I offered $3k and was turned down flat.

10 hours ago, oakman29 said:

It is a pretty copy, wonder why its only a 7.5

I don't know. I'm sure I will find out. I have bought several Deadman Strange Adventures CGC 7.0 and 7.5's signed by Neal Adams. I swear those should be 9.0's. Good for me I guess, as the prices are right. I did a thing here last year where I posted some books and asked us to guess the grade. Everyone always guessed higher than the CGC grade.

1 minute ago, pickycollector said:

Paid $705 for mine in 2009

Very tight 9.0. Book looks NM/NM+ but was downgraded to a  9.0 because of a store stamp on back cover (do they still downgrade such a defect today?) and very light hint of rust on staples.

They probably punched it for the rust more than the store stamp. Nice copy! Do NOT get rid of it!!!

I can say this: I am never getting rid of this one again. A 9.4 sold on CLINK for $2K recently and the buyer wants $6k for it now. I think a lot of this is speculator bloat. It's always been a desirable book, yes. But, collectors put stupid prices on it and people start buying them up. It isn't a rare book, but finding one with page quality higher that off white is the difficult part. Even the bloated 9.4 has OW pages.

I bought a long box full of HOS's 30 years ago. Probably a run of 40 issues. .......86,87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 93...... ARRGH!

Just my two cents:

It's Wrightson. It was a nearly perfect gothic story that was referenced and expanded on by Alan Moore years later. Louise Simonson, the wife of Walt, is the cover model. The one brushing her hair. IMO, Swamp Thing as a movie could be epic. Too bad it's a DC character as most DC movies suck. With computer graphics as astonishing as they are now, a well directed ST movie could introduce many generations to a character that's the worlds best kept secret. They could use any one of the American Gothic Moore story lines and have an awesome movie. But I fear they won't. I fear they will botch it and I would hate to see that happen to this character. There are so many possibilities.

Got this one day before yesterday. $1500.00. The photo isn't grand, but it seems like no major stress lines and/or bent corners. I traded my 9.0 last year. Then, Wrightson died. Having traders regret now.

The only part I didn't like was when Bats caved in when they got into that stupid "Martha" thing.

Brave and the Bold #109. Art by Jim Aparo and story by Bob Haney. I love that issue and it is still affordable in high grades. Aparo at that time seemed to be the heir apparent to Neal Adams in the Batman titles. He did a great job with the artwork, I thought. His style changed as he got older and not for the better IMO. But in the mid seventies, there was an aspect of his art that surpassed Adams.

Neat. Howard Rogofsky sold me GL/GA #85. I got his catalog in 1974.

Swamp Thing #7 (1st Batman/Swamp Thing meet)

Detective #395 (Great cover; Launched the O'Neil/Adams Team-up)

Superman #249 (1st Appearance Terra Man; undervalued book)