Vorpal

Wow, you have some amazing weeks!

Pretty happy to snag this beauty today:

That is amazing.

Wow. I hope you can work out something that is mutually beneficial.

That's some really interesting information about Vertice, as well as some beautiful books you have; thanks for sharing. Also, thanks for the kind words about my copy of Der Eiserne. If I had the available funds, I'd be in the market for this UK printing of ToS 39. Interestingly, the seller notes that it actually pre-dates the US printing by a month! http://www.ebay.com/itm/TALES-OF-SUSPENSE-39-UNRESTORED-MARVEL-COMIC-1963-1st-IRON-MAN-PRICE-VARIANT-/121866803005?hash=item1c5fd3d73d:g:PgUAAOSwUdlWcJs-

This is the list I have. I'm stopping with the end of the 1968 Iron Man run, so basically nothing after Model 15 (for now ): Model 1 - ToS 39 Model 1 Mk.2 - ToS 40 (gold armor) Model 1 Mk.? - IM 191 ("retro" armor) Model 2 Mk.1- ToS 48 (1st red and gold, "horned" faceplate) Model 2 Mk.1A - ToS 54 (riveted faceplate) Model 3 - IM 68 (infamous "nose" faceplate) Model 4 - IM 85 (return to noseless faceplate) Model 5 - IM 142 (Mk1 Space armor) Model 6 - IM 218 (Hydro Armor) Model 7 Mk.1 - IM 152 (Mk1 Stealth armor) Model 7 Mk.2 - IM 229 (Mk2 Stealth armor) Model 8 - IM 200 ("Silver Centurion") Model 9 - IM 231 (Neo-classic armor) Model 9 Mk.2? - IM 280 (Telepresence armor) Model 10 - IM 278 (Mk2 Space armor) Model 11 - IM 281 (War Machine armor) Model 12 - IM 290 (NTU-150 Telepresence armor) Model 13 - IM 300 (Modular armor) Model 13 variant - IM 304 (Hulkbuster armor) Model 14 - IM 318 (Arctic armor) Model 15 - IM 319 (Crossing armor) If this focus interests you, I've just started my in-depth review of the various armors in my journal: Vorpal's Hall of Armor and Mysticism

My first foreign comic! I was watching this on eBay for a bit, and finally decided to pull the trigger. This is a 1975 German printing of Tales of Suspense 39 (with backup story Tales to Astonish 27). I really wonder what possessed the colorist to choose orange for the cover armor, when the splash page has the traditional color (which is gorgeous, I might add). Newsstand visibility, perhaps? The entire color scheme of the cover is really, uh, vibrant Either way, I love this issue. My main collecting focus is first appearances of each model of Iron Man armor, so this is a great (and affordable!) addition to the collection.

The book is really good. It made me want to watch the movie, which I was pleasantly surprised with. I agree that a movie sequel is unneeded, though.

This show is great! I can't wait to watch Episode 10 with my wife. We tore through Season 1 on Netflix and then caught up on Season 2 using Amazon Instant Video.

Wow, those proofs are amazing! Hand-colored by Marie Severin herself??? Thanks for sharing!

Dude. Wow.

Nice looking book! This is absolutely true! Mylar makes books look so nice, I re-bag every comic I get with it -- cost be damned!

Rune, this library/archive that you're keeping is really impressive. I love your passion and dedication. Your histograms are inspiring me to do something similar with my collecting focus. I do have a question, though. For the issues with really low census numbers, do you think that desirability/value (since these two things are intertwined) is a factor in any of them? Or is any Conan #1-24 valuable/desirable enough that any high-grade copy will get slabbed, and the low numbers are just due to actual scarcity of high-grade copies?

Found these hiding out at a local antique mall today; $22 for everything in this pic.

Sorry for the de-rail! Turns out it's not something I am interested in anyway. Please carry on, edowens71

Care to elaborate? Inquiring noob minds want to know...

Nice re-cap and good goals you have there. I'm not sure if I'm setting any goals yet, . Also, I LOVE that Zap #3 cover... trippy, man!

Very helpful posts! Thanks for the nice walk-through of the slab-cracking process. I also like the tips/reasons for doing so contained in your first post today. Personally, I'm torn about slabs. I love the fact that they protect the book and establish a hard grade, but hate the fact that they basically make the the book useless for anything other thank looking at the cover. I like reading my books, and there's nothing like the experience of reading the original printing... seeing the imperfections, smelling the paper, reading the vintage ads and letters pages...

I love the pre-code horror books, especially Tales from the Crypt. If I weren't knee-deep in superhero stuff, that's probably where I'd turn my collecting eye. Either that or GGA

I really like this cover, so when a cheap copy in decent condition popped up on eBay, I pulled the trigger: I opened up the cover and was greeted by a nice surprise! Cool, my first signature! - Almost assuredly authentic even though it will never be officially declared as such. Really excited to have a Bob Layton-signed book **to those that read my journal, I apologize for the double post**

Nice signature! As a kid, my interest was always piqued when Batgirl came on screen -- usually blasting forth on her motorcycle

Entertaining and educational (both your post and the lady's)! I'll have to pick up that Zap #16 for my father-in-law, who is a fan of Wonder Warthog.

I really enjoy the posts from you two. Please keep them coming!

Beautiful!

A long-time geek's journey into the world of comic collecting! Here's a repost of my introduction thread: "Hi all, I just started getting into comics (at age 37!) but have always been a nerd/geek (Star Wars, D&D, computer games, Magic: The Gathering cards, etc.) and have bought random copies here and there over the years, whenever a title/cover struck my interest. My son has been into superhero characters for a few years now, and we were leafing through the comics bin at Half Price books a few months back when I stumbled upon the awesome Michael Golden cover on Doctor Strange Vol. 2 #55. I knew nothing about it except that I loved the cover. I quickly looked up the issue on my phone and read that many consider it to be one of the best-written DS stories, so I picked up for a whole $1 (condition issues). I ended up enjoying it, and recently decided to start picking up some other DS issues -- I'm really drawn to the Frank Brunner pieces in vol. 2. Then I read that a movie is coming out next year, and decided to accelerate my purchases of some of my favorite covers before they become too much more expensive. I should be posting up some raw Doc Strange goodness in the next week or so! So obviously I've gotten into Doctor Strange, but (like a lot of people) I have also re-acquainted myself with Iron Man after thoroughly enjoying the movies. Being an engineer, I identify with Tony Stark and his endless tinkering with armor designs. Because of my affinity for the character and his technology, I've decided to focus on the following Iron Man comics: 1. Tales of Suspense 39-58 (i.e. ToS Iron Man solo titles); and 2. 1st appearances of each major Iron Man armor. For issues where the cover does not show the armor, or where its new appearance is obscured or otherwise poor, I'll also collect a cover that depicts it nicely. My goal is to have my very own "hall of armor" in my home office At this point I don't plan on extending to armors after the 1968 Invincible Iron Man run. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.