Drgoldage

Another winner from the Timely team 

My last group shot was random but today  I was looking for a particular pedigree “Denver” to take some pictures of , but came across these some other pedigree books as well mostly first issues, they are mostly Denver but mixed in there are a Windy City  A Hawkeye , A Kansas City, and a Recil Macon 

This commentary on Okajami or Denver brings me a smile we are all collectors some prefer white pages or structural perfection or rarity or just the story on how these collections originated . I got hooked on the Denver collection after I talked with the  great couple that bought them long before I even had bought one book from the collection . I will keep looking for the Okajami but here are a few of the Denver’s I have been fortunate to find I will try to post more when I have time to find them 

It was a few months after James Payette and Sparkle City acquired the “Denver “collection  early 1980 s I would say when I went down to a large antique show in downtown Omaha. I came across  a booth put up by a middle age couple from Colorado they had a lot of everything glass antique furniture old paper items and too my delight a box of high grade  comics from the 1950s . We started talking and they mentioned they had an antique store in Colorado which they kept stocked with frequent buying  trips back east , Pennsylvania a frequent state to visit and buy . Anyway while back east they caught site of a  flyer of an upcoming auction in Pennslyvania of a retired retail shop owner that caught their interest as it had older quality furniture ,antiques smalls etc including  paper items .The couple were not comic dealers or collectors but they got to the auction at an early preview and found one small box with twenty some comics  and on another table a larger box with more than a hundred. .The previous owner had apparently owned a newsstand and had kept one copy of first issues of magazines newspapers and comic books .The auction was loaded with quality items and the comic boxes were just there no fanfare but they immediately noticed these were not rag tag random comics but rather high grade all number 1 issues including Batman 1 , Marvel Comics 1 , Flash 1 , Captain America 1  all from late 1930 to early 1940s . The books were not protected no bags no boards no description of contents and they immediately knew they were special and valuable .  They noticed  the comics received no special attention at the preview they did request of the auctioneer to put the boxes next to each other with which they complied . Later that day they reviewed a comic price guide and made banking arrangements to have available nearly 50,000 dollars but they hoped to get them for, of course, far less . The day of the auction came and though a few auction goers looked at the box they received no special attention . The auction started and at the request of the couple the comics were sold early , to their surprise the Auctioneer grabbed  the first larger box and heaved the contents spreading them  across a empty table so the audience could get a better look. As it turned out there was one other auction goer who recognized the books were special and the bidding which started low quickly escalated with just the two bidding back and forth . The general audience had no idea of there value and when they won the first box for 8000 dollars they were relieved and the other bidder dejected he knew they were worth more but that’s all the money he had . The second bidder lost interest when he knew he had no chance to win and then  the second box went only for 1000 or so I was told . The couple after the auction put the books in plastic bags packed then tightly in luggage and then contacted several major dealers . James Payette received the list of high grade first issues asked for them  to send a example of one of the lowest graded items , found the book of high quality and bought the collection along with Sparkle City . My conversation with the couple sparked my interest so ,I bought a high grade Stange Adventures  9 that day (not from the Denver collection ) and then I contacted James Payette who still had several “Denver “copies available . 

 Lived in Fremont Nebraska near the time these were brought to flea market and sold , man wished I had been there . I ve picked up a few Larson’s here is a nice one with a great cover 

These is no rhyme or reason to this group shot just books I was lucky to acquire and hang on too 

Hi to my knowledge I don’t have a single Okajima Pedigree book from what I’ve seen on line they are lovely copies hopefully will own one some day . I have over a fourth of the Denver Pedigree Books most not encapsulated and page quality for mine are off white or better  , never seen one with “crummy “ pages , I can only wonder if a few  after sold were stored poorly . In general the Denver pedigree also doesn’t have identifying marks . I met the couple that acquired the Denver collection right after they bought it and loved their story on how they acquired it but it doesn’t have the impact of the story behind the Okajami. I favor the Denver Pedigree for the number of Key first issues but ask me again after I acquire  a few of the Okajima.

Tried to get the tough ones first this one was an exception simply put didn’t have the cash to buy one . Negotiated and didn’t buy anything else for a while but finally got this one late 1990s 

Working my way back to the earlier Detectives, Batman a no show on the cover regrettable still my heart was racing when I bought this copy over thirty years ago 

Another detective from a bound volume but never mattered to me bright and captivating 

Another detective favorite of mine as I remember bought the twilight coverless 29 and married to this cover  restored but complete and presents great