Robot Man

In the immortal words of Monty Python's Flying Circus "Now for something completely different". I was digging through some files in the garage this weekend and found some old comic related newspaper articles that I thought you'd get a kick out of. First one is from 1974. It is a feature article on Rick Durell. Rick the first "adult" collector I ever met. At the time, he was the one to sell your high end GA to. Not only did he have the best collection I had ever seen, but he was a condition freak at a time when nobody else really cared. One time when I was at Cherokee books he brought in 3 copies of Action #1 as trade bait for Bert Blum. (These were his under copies). As a little kid, I was floored. I'd never seen one let alone 3! Rick was the man to both Cherokee and Collector's Book Stores at the time. To the best of my knowledge, Cherokee might have been the first comic book store in the US? It opened around 1965 I believe. I have heard sad stories about what happened to his collection after he died but I really don't want to stir up bad vibes. Just want to salute one of the first visionaries in this hobby. Enjoy!

Yeah, a cool cover with GREAT color! Great score. My copy is also about a 6 but not nearly so bright.

Are they sold with a certificate at least? Seems like a special collection.

Southen State Collection goodness! Should have been a pedigree even though (I think) it consisted entirely of No 1s. My thoughts too. I know the Carson City and Denver were all 1st issue collections. This is original owner (I believe). Sure seemed like a lot of books. Maybe DTA didn't pursue it?

Oh, that's rough... I'm a National League guy. (Dodgers). My nephew is a Giants fan. We get into some spirited ribbing at games. I wouldn't take any young kids to one of those games. So, take your son and your dad to a game!

I just bought one of these on Ebay to surprise my dad. He's not a comic book guy, but he was 10 when this came out, and he's a huge Yankees fan. I'm dying to find out if he saw it as a kid. You are a very good son! A very thoughtful gift that I'm sure he will get a big kick out of either way. And, if you two live close, take him to a game. I treasure the days I spent with my dad at the ball park...

I've been looking for one of those for a long time...it seems to be fairly difficult to find... That's an interesting name on the book. In the WW2 internment records, a Tomoyuki Tanaka born in 1932 and from Santa Barbara was interned at the Gila River (Pima, Sacaton) Arizona camp in 1942. The Gila River internment camp was closed in November 16, 1945. Tanaka would have been 14 years old when he owned that comic and out of the camps. Interestingly, Tomoyuki Tanaka (1910-1997) is also the name of the film producer who created the Godzilla series in 1954. That is very observant, I can barely read the name. Is this someone you know?

Nice score Brian! But...seems like I might have a rare "interment camp" copy... And hey, kick a guy because he types too fast and forgot a coma???

Very white for a 79 year old comic! I like pre-Superman books and have a few in my collection for historical significance. Famous Funnies 4 or 5 is probably the oldest. Trouble is, for the most part, they are un-readable to me (with exceptions). I also include (gasp!) pre-Supe DC's in that. Other than the covers and "look" they kinda bore me. I sold off a lot of that stuff a few years ago becuase other stuff interested me more. I will say, I do like King Comics because they have a lot of readable strips.

I don't know. I've had it a long time. Would love to upgrade it but this will have do untill I can find a better one. As you see, I've got more than a few lower grade books. I'm of the school that any copy is better than no copy. Sometimes, you just have to take what you can get.

Great book Shadow! I had one once but foolishly (now) traded it for EC's. If I only knew then what I know now...

And because, at least I love toys, here is a 1920's tin baseball game. I love how the players have a "bench" right on the field. There is also a football one that matches as well that I also have, but who cares football is over until next year. Time to celebrate the small ball! Sorry the photo is a little "blown out" but I took the photo in the sun. The colors are much more rich inside...

Here's a classic. A note, upper right corner "Rex" wrote his name. This book came from the best estate sale I ever went to. The whole attic was filled with his toys, comics, books ect. He had polio and in the late '40's and early '50's he was a poster child for this disease. He was given two of everything. He usually played with only one of the toys and the other usually stayed un-used in the original box. There was everything. Vehicle toys, Cap Guns, Playsets, Western stuff, Character toys and over 1,000 comic books of all genres. I bought them all sight unseen. Had a wonderful few weeks going through them. He wrote his name on them all but kept them in very good shape. The usual western, funny animal stuff but also tons of superhero, horror, crime, jungle ect. It was fun to pick up a pile and flip through them not knowing what the next book would be. I sold most of them pretty quickly but kept about 75-100 for myself. The lady threw in a Donald Duck tells about kites for free because she thought it was just pages from another comic. Oh, and being one of the first people in my wife and I got a ton of toys as well. Made 5 trips to the car. A friend of mine who didn't know any better got the baseball cards. A big box including a lot of 1952 Topps. Yes, there was the Mantle rookie. When I pointed it out, he about wet his pants. I even got the Forbidden Planet Robby the Robot battery toy. So, if you ever see the name "Rex" or "Rexford Parker" on a comic, think of me.

Love this one "Murder at the World Series" with a skeleton cover. Great story and nice art here.

Nice Satchel Page black cover.

Classic Eisner book I picked up cheap at Wonder Con last year on a whim. It doesn't disapoint!

OK, it's that time of year when our minds start thinking of spring. The days get longer, the flowers blooming, girls wearing less clothing and America's pastime. So, in honor of Spring Training, I thought I'd post some baseball stuff. Batter up! I got the first 5 issues of this book from the "Paul" collection. All were marked except for this one which is my favorite.

No hurry Gary. Just when you get the time! Seems like you've been the lucky finder of more than one nice collection...

Dang! You had to go show that. I was hoping to have a shot at that. Oh well, guess I'll have to pony up if I want it now...

Wow! What a box lot! It's taken me years to get that many Bakers and you hit the mother load. Some scarce books in that pile too.

That's a nice My Life. I think I have a beater of it. Then again aren't most of these Fox books very hard to find nice?

My favorite of the bunch!

Sorry, I just HAD to do it... Now mine took a lot longer than one trip to the mail box to assemble but just some great books. A lot of good reading there. Hope you are enjoying your copies!

Well, I looked and looked and can't find the Canada issue of that book. It is called Lucky Coyne. It is slightly larger than the US version and b/w interior reprint of this book with a green background instead of blue. I looked in the horror boxes, I looked in the Crime boxes and I looked in misc GA and could not find it. And no, I don't have a Canada box! When it turns up and I know it will, I'll post it here.

Calling Moondog! Can you give us the lowdown on the Guy Holcombe collection? Would love to hear the details and what what was in it.