shrunkenhead

I have one lost valley book, America Menaced, which slabbed at 9.6. It's a real stunner. One of the few genuine "nobody's got one but me" type of gems in my collection.

I thought that was weird, too...on the flipside, though, it's odd that this one's not in the Gerber guide, which begs the question...how rare is it? One the one hand, one might argue that Gerber simply wasn't interested in a lot of giveaways and didn't bother to make a comprehensive account of them in the photojournals. On the other hand, it's hard to imagine that Gerber would have passed on listing anything with the title "Comic Cavalcade" in it had he be able to scrounge up a copy, given the significance of the series to GA DC history. Plus, he's got one of the other three CC giveaways listed, the more famous one with the Nazi imagery, so the absence of this giveaway in the gerber books is curious. Thanks!

Hey guys, so I just nabbed a book from Harley Yee that was in no way, shape, or form on any want list of any kind. But, I am a sap for these rare-as-hell esoteric giveaways, and I thought the price was right at roughly 30% of guide. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...N%3AIT&rd=1 Whatcha all think, did I get a steal, or is this wildly overvalued in the guide? No doubt the market for this stuff is pretty thin, but still pretty groovy. Not that I'm at all looking to flip this one; just always curious as to other's opinions. Either way, I'll be pleased as punch to own it.

Wow, SF, what a wonderful pick-up indeed!

I think it's about $100-125 too high. Not a terrible price, but not exactly a bargain either. Still, for the book in question, I can't fault Metro for the asking price.

Too true...those two just about never come up for sale in respectable shape. Metro has had a Weird Mysteries 5 for at least a few months now in fine-ish condition (they list it as a 5.5)...though the price is formidable, I'm kinda surprised there have been no takers yet. Certainly WM5 can lay claim to a few hoarders. If wasn't gunning for an all-star as my next "big book," I'd probably haggle for this one myself. http://pages.metropoliscomics.com/365/PictPage/1922668770.html

Ditto here. Way too high. Especially considering that a NM copy went for roughly $1400 not too long ago. Yeah...I see what you're saying here...BUT....the MM12 is a hugely iconic image for the genre. That's it's "value," as opposed to its artistic merit and such. It's come to be a source of definition for the genre/hobby, as opposed to other PCH covers (classic and non) that are drawn with more obvious artistic talent. To me, this argument is somewhat analogous to discounting the GA Batman logo because it didn't take a wizard to create it. I think, in terms of icons that define the genre for collectors, MM12 takes precedence over BCM 50. But I might just be demonstrating my personal bias here, (heck, I did just buy a VG MM12 this summer!).

Big thanks to nochips for the two sweet Batman Familys. Two down, eighteen to go!

NIce BB112! What the heck is there not to like about that cover!

Mine's the Lost Valley copy, so it's understandable why one would think there were no other copies floating around....I gather that Lost Valley was a relatively recent find, with most of the keys only coming to market a couple years ago.

Does anybody other than me and Harv have an America Menaced? I keep asking about this book when I come into contact with dealers, and nobody seems to own one or remember selling one...

Dunno how I missed Pov's post for a month ...but yes, he's right on this point. However, I'd add that the academic community has somewhat recently given Margaret Cavendish's 1666 The Blazing World the honor of being the "earliest sci-fi." Maybe not a sci-fi "novel," but it's in a novelistic prose style in any case... Just being pedantic.

Now we know why all those surreal superior covers look like they were drawn under the influence!

Ohmigod that's just hideous...not only the language, but also classifying and categorizing african-americans as being some kind of natural oddity like some weird animal or tree. Wow, that's just almost as bad as the cover to Air Fighters #6 in terms of wearing racism completely on the sleeve.

So you're actually discouraging people from collecting pre-code now? Less competition keeps prices down.

That would be me circa 2002.

Thanks for all the kind words, everybody.

While my cross-posting of this book is now officially bordering on spam (3rd thread thus far), my enthusiasm for this one is boundless. Plus, I wanted to throw this on the boards somewhere other than the GA forum, for those who don't usually dance over there. Feast your eyes, er, eye.

Uber-kudos to Bob Storms for a wonderful VG Mister Mystery #12. If I never buy another pre-code horror book, I've now got the creme de la creme! Thanks a ton.

Yep, thanks again Paul for the pre-purchase discussion...I was dragging my feet on this book at first, but now I realize how badly I'd be kicking myself right now if I'd stalled too long and the book went into another permanent collection...it's certainly a book that's not likely to gather dust forever on a dealer's shelf. I'm glad I pulled the trigger. Definitely a keeper! While this copy is certainly not high grade, it's the nicest copy I've seen come down the pike for a couple years. The front cover colors are surprisingly rich. Great "eye" appeal on this one.

Thanks be to Bob Storms.

I just posted this in the pre-code thread, too, but c'mon, if ever a book merited a double post...

I've seen that MM for sale a bunch of times, too....I don't think it's as hard to get ahold of as MM #12, IMO.