path4play

Thanks Robot Man, I agree. Fun, readable stories with great art. Spirit included inside. Affordable in higher grade and w/pedigree. Even pre-Baker Phantom Lady. Jack Cole cameo (Police Comics #20): Phantom Lady (Police Comics #18)

Not saying rare, because I'm new to the romance books - these are like, well yes, the only 2 current romance copies in my collection. Pretty cool representations of era.

Continuing to work on what is becoming my Police Comics run.

Finally got another copy of Margie #36 after selling my copy last year on these boards - one of those I regretted selling and was actively looking for. Had to purchase in bundle with 20 something odd other silver age books which will probably be up here for sale in coming months - but I got one. “You may inform Mister Lee that Margie is here to see him!” “Where are we going mister Lee?” “Just call me Stan! I have a table reserved at the Stork Club.” “I’ll bet all the celebrities come here!” June 1947

Amazing research, sfcityduck!

Pic?

The camp opened Aug '42, with majority of population peaking Nov '42. By my tracking from this thread your book is among the earliest known (5th). 3/30/1943 Red Dragon Comics #7 8/27/1943 Startling Comics #24 "Okajima" "1P" 9/1/1943 Captain Marvel Adventures #28 "Okajima" 9/1/1943 Catman #21 "Okajima" 9/14/1943 Sparkler #26 "Okajima"

I'm starting to get hooked on the Westerns.

Yes, that was suggested by me (buy limit or time limit). I've also considered starting a trade only website (copyright/trademark lol). In the meanwhile what are the other scenarios that could play out?

I'm not sure what the solution is - nor am I clear on the problem. If the prices are "run up" then the purest (or their families) are still happy with the subsequent cash out prices. We can stop bidding/buying entirely, go to reprints and freely available scans or confiscate and redistribute all the GA comics evenly among all collectors. Or roll with the punches.

Interesting thought experiment. Say I have 10 nice GGA golden age books that I got a good deal on a couple of years back for $100 each. Being a good fellow, and willing to share my good fortune with the community, I decide to offer them up on the boards. Good Samaritan scenario A: I consider a 50% gain reasonable for me and a nice buy for board members so I post them one by one for $150 each. Result: they are snapped up in seconds by 2-3 different buyers to disappear into a hoard or be flipped and I’ve made a tidy $500 to buy another comic. Bad flipper scenario B: I find based on prior sales the books are “hot” and have 5x the current market value I originally paid. I post them one by one for $500 each. Result: they are carefully purchased to be cherished by 10 different buyers over the days members check in. The comics fill holes in runs or build on desirable portions of a members collection. The sales have re-affirmed the books values among other collectors and I’ve made a tidy $4,000 to buy more comics. Which scenario is healthier and better for the comic community?

A few recent painted cover additions.

It’s called arbitrage, and Rick is pretty good at it. I admire him. I think it was in the Gerber photo journals that I read Gerber actually paid for his collection from the profits on books he sold. So maybe we have some “recency bias” and this is not as new a thing as it appears. Given the readily available data on sales prices these day, such arbitrage is even harder than the good ole days. Perhaps if we change the label of collector to dealer it makes more sense? I too like the camaraderie and concept of the message board exchanging good will with other collectors. I prefer to offer here before selling elsewhere. But conduct a little experiment. Pass on some good deals on the sales thread and see how fast they are scooped up – then note that 80% of the sales went to 20% (3-4) of the buyers. It’s not even possible to share all good will evenly among members (interesting idea – make the rules of a sales thread limit 2 per buyer – or mandatory 6 hr. wait time?). Some will go to collectors, some will show up for sale again (and again...). Heck if there was no flip'n going on, there would be slim pickin's indeed. Its cover vs. inside stories; slab vs. un-slabbed; pressed vs. non-pressed. I think its great we all enjoy the same hobby and healthy for the hobby that there are differences in everyone’s approach.

My Police #39 just a few posts earlier on this thread has two on the front. I think in this thread somewhere there is stamp front and date written on back?

I'm only saying that the date and stamp "fits" into the realm of possibility given the date and timing. I presume other clues like page quality etc., would also be tell-tales. Nothing short of a Certificate of Authenticity (COA) from the seller I guess would be a guarantee. Unfortunately, as has been discussed here recently, the majority of copies probably don't have a COA. That leaves the sellers word, he could probably add to the "provenance" by retelling whose hands it passed through.

Cool, by records I've compiled from this thread, the last known signed/coded book is coded "4x" from 9/13/44. The first known date stamp is 10/10/44 (there is an earlier Fighting Yank #10 Okajima - the record is from GPA so no photo (aka unknown if signed or stamped). There is also a date stamped the same day as your Blue Bolt, Shadow Comics #v4#9 [45] (Date Stamp 11/11/44).

Wow, interesting. Wonder what was going on there? That's that's the case issues number...?

Long time closely held. The hills in the background kind of match some other hills?

Com Cav's back!

Interesting. You are actually an original owner that can attest to the stamps. I think I have assumed too much that most stamps were placed by the original owner, but as you point out even non-date star stamps were on books by the store/distributor. Did you find that each location where you purchased had a different mark?

"P" books rock, glad you left it.

Linear regression only considers two ratio level variables. Like age and price. A binary logistic regression or multi-linear regression model might be appropriate here depending on additional variables, like date of prior sales, condition etc.,

That's an interesting star stamp in the upper right corner Marty.

Posted previously pre-GCG. Avert your eyes if you don't like to see the same comic twice