*paull*

Some splash pages ahead...

I bought a book at the National show that I wasn't so sure I'd be able to find since I have never seen one for sale, either at a show or online. Horrific #2, from my perspective, is at least as hard to find as #1 and #3 (bullet in head cover), but quite possibly even rarer. This copy is a VG- at best, but I had to get it since it's the first I've seen. The interior is by the Iger studio (I believe that only #1 and #2 were... #3 on were done by another group of artists. Did Don Heck have his own studio?)

My favorite L.B. Cole romance cover.... Confessions of Love #14

Anybody go to the National show in NYC? I went and ended up buying a few books that I had on hold with a couple dealers. I didn't find anything else that I was interested in. I'm wary of spending big money on raw books with dealers that I don't know well. One dealer had a nice box of pre-code books and if I didn't already have books picked out with other dealers, I might have been interested. However, I could see that at least one book had color touch that wasn't marked on the label. I prefer to buy from dealers who know what restoration looks like.

The only thing missing is a scantilly-clad buxom babe.

It's not only a great cover (which makes a nice companion to FF #112!), but it's also a great issue. John Buscema is seriously underrated in the history of comic book art. I absolutely love his work. The power in his figures was unmatched.

That's one thing I like about the old days..... ONE DAMNED EDITION!

RAT ISLAND! I always enjoy the Iger Studio's macabre and tongue-in-cheek sense of humor displayed in the horror titles.

on the last page, he swims off the boat to a nearby island, only to find out that he has landed on.....

toward the end....

Haunted Thrills #6 has one of my favorite pre-code stories. I didn't include the whole story here, just the beginning and end... basically a man is on a ship that is overrun by rats.... as you'll see here.

This is one of my newest books, bought from the same dealer that sold me my Haunted Thrills #5, #8 and #10. They all came from an owner that spent many years putting together a complete collection of Ajax/Farrell pre-code horror books. Most of the books are in the area of F- through VF, which is not easy to do for Farrell books. This is Haunted Thrills #6, a book that I already own, but in much lower grade (Good+). This one is at least a Fine, and I find it to be one of the scarcest in the run. It's one of my favorite pre-code horror covers, and one that I think is underappreciated by fans.

I agree completely on the pricing of low grade pre-code horror at cons... in many cases the prices haven't changed since the boom years. One of the most over priced items that I commonly see at cons are L.B. Cole Star Publications books in Good condition priced at close to $100 per. No sane person should be paying that much for that grade. They sell on eBay for a fraction of that. I should also mention that pre-code horror key issues are obviously going to sell in low grade for relatively high prices. There's a list of books that sell on sight in VG at $300-$500 a piece when they do turn up. If anyone is complaining about prices for keys such as Weird Mysteries #5, Mister Mystery #12, Fight Against Crime #20, Startling Terror Tales #11, etc., don't blame the high grade copies or CGC... it's simply rarity that is driving up prices. A Good copy of any of these books will sell for hundreds.

I'm not so sure that high grade pre-code horror books have affected lower grade copies. Case in point, let's look at Mister Mystery #12. In 1996, I think that a VG copy of this book probably would have sold for about $150 - $200. Yet a VG copy today would sell for about $400 based on the sales of a few low grade copies that I've seen this year. Yet a NM 9.4 copy could sell for roughly $8000 now. What would it have sold for in 1996? Nowhere near that price, that's for sure. If there was a roughly 2.5x increase in the VG copy since 1996, I believe that there was way more than a 2.5x increase in the NM 9.4 copy, probably 5x to 8x.. The spread in high grade to low grade books has increased dramatically, just as they have in Silver Age Marvels. The reason that I don't think that high grade copies are influencing low grade prices is that they seem to appeal to two completely different worlds. The prices are so far apart between the very high grade and low grade copies and don't seem to attract the same people.

Drbanner, that Terrors of the Jungle #4 is a book that I don't see very often for some reason. It seems from my perspective to be a somewhat scarcer book in the run.

The thing about Metro is that they can afford to sit on a book until the market reaches their price. They don't have to make guesses about where it will sell... price it high and at the precise moment that the market accepts that price, it will sell since they are the largest and most visible dealer. I don't think the high grade copies are driving up the cost of low grade books. I think pre-code horror has remained relatively flat on the low end while high grade has been steadily rising. The rarity of high grade copies has become much clearer with the release of Gerber and the ability to discuss books over the net. I bought my beater copy of MM #12 for $200 earlier this year. It's complete, no tape or tears, but just has a lot of wear, it's probably a G+. The interesting thing is that it probably sold for the same amount in the late nineties during the boom. I've bought a lot of pre-code books at the same prices I saw during that time.

Good post! I read all the horror books that I buy. I rarely buy anything over 6.0 condition and most of my books are in about VG. Any key books in higher grade is just crazy expensive.

Wow.... that price is unbelievable. And that's not even a #12. If it was, I think you could expect Metro to charge $7K or $8K. I bet that a 9.4 would come close to $10K.

In my opinion, that price is absolutely ludicrous. If that book (a Gerber 4), with known file copies in existance, is worth $2500, I'd like to hear a price for a 9.4 Weird Mysteries #5 (Gerber 6) or Mister Mystery #12 (Gerber 6).

That's an unbelievable buy! I think you beat the pre-code horror boom by a year or two.

It's ridiculous that ANYTHING sells for 2.5x guide when the guide is updated annually. When is Overstreet going to straighten out prices for obvious key issues? I could name a ton of books that never sell for anything near guide prices: all issues of Weird Tales of the Future, Mister Mystery, Weird Chills, Weird Mysteries, the key Harvey books (Black Cat 50, Witches Tales 25, etc.), Horrific #1-3, Voodoo Annual, etc.

That's true... it's an easy sell for dealers. Among the other pre-code books with legs are Mister Mystery #12, Weird Mysteries #5 and Horrific #3. Those books sell almost immediately in any condition. I've seen Mistery Mystery #12 in worse condition than any book in my collection (or any collection, for that matter) sell for way, way over guide with no problem.

Hey Jayman, I read the story from Voodoo Annual last night... unfortunately the hobo didn't come back and chop up that woman. He ended up dying while chopping wood, came back as a ghoul and ended up scaring the woman to death. Personally, I would have preferred that he strike in vengeance!

Nice pick-up! I still need that book for my collection. However, I find that the Black Cat 50 and Witches Tales 25 are always overpriced as compared to rarer books. There are even files copies of both floating around... anyone ever see a file copy of Mister Mystery 12? Your copy is far better than the one I saw on eBay recently. Hopefully you got it for a reasonable price. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=70&item=2281989038&rd=1

Nice book with a great Kirby cover! Too bad TTA didn't have more Kirby and less Marie Severin and other second (third) tier Marvel artists.