Dr. Love

On 3/2/2024 at 8:28 PM, Ricksneatstuff said:

I once had a better copy of My Life and foolishly let it go. 
 

I might say the same!  

My son would make an excellent valet.  Every gentleman needs one!

 Before I get into specifics tomorrow, let me frame this first from a particular vantage point - from 10,000 feet up.

What HA has set out to do - and is accomplishing - is to carve out these Thursday/Friday specialty auctions which focus on a particular artist or genre.  This is next level marketing/auctioning.  While the best the others can do is to differentiate between two types of auctions, for the most part - separated into the better merchandise, and the lesser.  As basic as it gets, and a business model that hasn't changed much in 20+years?

One might speculate that for HA this is as much or more a commitment to the brand and to the future of the comic market as to the financial bottom line.  Take this romance auction for example.  531 books which grossed $131,712.  Not what you'd call a lot of money - their take of approx 40K could just as easily come from a handful of popular SA books.  These romance books could have been split into lots of 10-30 and seeded into weeklies or even sigs, easily.  They might have even grossed more when all was said and done, as romance collectors may not have as much funds to deploy as other collectors and could get wallet fatigued in the midst of a 250 book dedicated session.

We can see that HA is committed to the romance genre.  They've had Baker specialty auctions, a Cole auction that might arguably also be framed as an Atlas auction, and now this one focused on the smaller publishers one never sees collected in one place.  Rick and crew know the private owners and the consignors are coming to them.  And as we've seen in this thread, when it comes to Rick, like in the old Hair Club for Men commercials - "I'm not just the President - I'm also a client!".

On 3/1/2024 at 9:35 PM, Bumble Kitty said:

   

Wow!  Maybe I need to think about selling my copies.  They are a little better than VF-.

Sorry for the confusion - they were listed as VF's each.  Still, maybe you should.  I know a guy you know who really really wants a nice #2.  Well, make that two guys.  uhhh, three!

I sold my VF #2 five years ago to our friend in LA for $300.  I wouldn't be shocked if this was my old copy tonight.  That might be true for many of the raw lower grade books in this auction, he's great at timing the market.

nope

$10 says he didn't save what he didn't consider worth saving 

Condolences to all his family and many friends. May he rest in peace.

On 2/24/2024 at 1:37 PM, GACollectibles said:

Seems like a bit of the "What I collect rocks, what you collect sucks" mentality but with "why" instead of "what".  It probably happens across all categories of collecting.

No one has to justify why they collect something, there is no right or wrong.

Not according to the self proclaimed Prince of Pulps.  He seemed pretty adamant you didn't have to justify... because there absolutely was no justification.

On 2/22/2024 at 9:22 AM, Bosco685 said:

 

Because superman spells F U N

On 2/23/2024 at 10:42 AM, BA773 said:

this way i could save a lot on shipping fees

ah the Swiss 

always thinking of others!

On 2/17/2024 at 8:29 AM, gunsmokin said:

Buffalo Bill 5 1951 Fine Crippen Copy none on the census. $50 

Take

Wow. That's disheartening. Best to read my policy. So, fire only, no theft? Hmmm. Looks like I do need to concern myself with the insurance carried by others. Life - always something!

I've got a policy, as many here do, with CIS - Collectibles Insurance Services. And I dont even own "big" books. If I had an AF15, I sure as heck would have a policy and a rider for that book.

I do not ask my presser or my restorer for a copy of their insurance policy and proof of payment for that policy.  And even if that was provided, who's to say it covers the entirety of the material in their possession at every moment of time.

Not sure how successful the claim would be but at this point if I was covered I'd be pivoting this way.

Not one of Mike's victims had insurance, filed a theft report, then filed a claim?

Same with bedsheets. Went into the 1" deep giant slabs. Can't feed them in as reholders either, the cert numbers designate the books as magazines and won't take em. It does not compute!

On 1/25/2024 at 12:19 PM, pemart1966 said:

I ask the question - why was this book even published?  Anyone know any details?

it's Charlton.  They were smart, nimble, opportunistic.  Since they bought those lines from Fawcett and had the material to reprint - well then why not get Giordano to slap on a new cover and see if it sells?

and they got an answer - nope.  Otherwise, as sure as God made little green apples, there would have been a Negro Romance #5. 

On 1/21/2024 at 8:11 PM, Readcomix said:

 I am picturing them here so all Joe’s Charlton work will be recorded in one place.

that is very much appreciated

you need a sense of humour...to survive in the Bronx!