Michael Browning

There is a lot of his early stuff out there that doesn't much resemble his later, better work, but it is cool to see it.

Or, maybe I learned that when I was working with the DC press office around the time that they finally did away with the DC Bullet for the new DC logo with the flying star.

I believe it was discussed in one of the Direct Currents bulletin pages that was running in DC comics around that time.

DC also had the logo at that time with the star in the middle that was later used on DC shoes and clothing (but were not associated with DC Comics).

At that time, it was actually the new cover logo that was GOING to replace the DC Bullet. But, for whatever reason I don't know, DC kept the bullet, instead of using the logo that was later used in the UPC boxes. I think, at that point, DC was test marketing the logo.

I read your post quite thoroughly. What other reason could anyone have for NOT wanting to list them as rare or scarce? But you'll tell everyone who asks (there are PEOPLE ASKING FOR THIS INFORMATION so it is relevant) to go dig through some earlier posts, 50 pages back. I don't think anyone on here is lazy, but to continue saying to go back and read the posts tells me that the ones that are hard to find aren't listed as such because people are still trying to find copies for their own collections and don't want anyone to really know which ones are rare and which ones aren't. It's that simple. You can argue all day about this, but the truth of the matter is that as soon as something is listed as rare or scarce (I will concede that NONE of these are rare or scarce, but some are rather harder to find that others) the price goes up on it and, then, copies start coming out of the woodwork. As for the Miracleman Gold and Blue editions, I may not have been the first to have discovered them, but I sure got them listed in the price guide and brought them to everyone's attention with an article on them in Comics Buyer's Guide -- after years and years of research. Overstreet wouldn't list them (they had a "silver" listed) as Gold and Blue until I reported on the sale of, if I remember correctly, the #4 copy (or maybe it was the #7) that sold for $1500 in the Pacific Northwest. I started gathering information on them long before that when I saw them offered in the catalog that Eclipse sent me back when those came out. After the article came out, lots of these started popping up on eBay for astronomical prices. One more thing: I also discovered the Man of Steel raffle edition trade paperback and the Batman Blind Justice Diamond Conference trade paperback (I sold Ian the DC completist his copy of Blind Justice), researched them, wrote an article on them and, after the CBG article was published and those first copies sold for over a grand each, prices skyrocketed on each of them. But, those early sales also caused collectors to start digging through their own collections to see if they had these -- all because they were supposed to be rare (they can be quite tough to find).

First and foremost, I mean no disrespect to anyone on this thread, but I have been around the comic hobby long enough to know why people don't want a "rare" tag placed on a comic - until they find it for themselves. I don't collect these. I find them and buy them because I think it's a fun little aspect of the hobby. I haven't "collected" comics in years and everything I get is either to read or for research purposes. I'm the one who discovered and reported to CBG and Overstreet (when I worked as an advisor to the Guide) the Miracleman Gold and Blue variants, the SoMuchFun variants and the MPI cassette tape variants -- but I don't collect them. I do try to be more attentive when I look through dollar boxes to find these. I also know that, as a longtime comic book historian, putting the "rare" or "scarce" tag on these is important to the research and to those searching for them; it is important to know as collectors look for these. None of these are break-the-bank variants and many sell for $5 or less. It isn't like we're buying a Showcase #4 when we buy a DC logo variant. Even if one is listed as "rare", then it still won't sell for a lot (and, honestly, $100 is a nice price, but it still isn't a fortune). Heck, I put a whole bunch of these up on eBay and didn't sell a single one, and I do have some of the more scarce issues. Having said all that, I do want everyone on this thread to know I greatly appreciate the research already gathered here and I continue to read each and every post hoping to find out more about these. Now, if anyone ever wants any of these or needs any for their collections, just let me know. Most I've got a buck or two in and some I've got up to $10 and I'd really just be looking to get my cash back. Like I said earlier, I'm not planning to keep any of them, so just PM me on here and I'll certainly be glad to help you fill holes in your collections.

Still, I speak the truth.

Good try. Others of us have tried, too, but we get the same response. As I've said before, it boils down to those on here who are looking for some of these don't want the "rare" tag placed on them UNTIL AFTER THEY FIND THEM FOR THEMSELVES. Then, you'll see them listed as "rare" or "scarce".

I've traded a lot since really getting involved in the hobby in 1999. My first trades were with George Pantella, Ken Danker, Tom Fleming and Mike Burkey. I have continued over the years to trade with dealers including Burkey, Anthony Snyder, Will Gabri-El, Rob Hughes, Saul Zimmerman, Steve Donnelly (I know people say bad things about the Donnellys, but I had a good experience trading with them), Hans Kosenkranius and Albert Moy. I enjoy a good trade and it can be fun. I've had a few bad ones that soured me on a few dealers and collectors, but, for the most part, I love the art of an art trade. Most recently, a guy had a page I really wanted and I asked him what it would take to get it from him. He told me that he didn't want cash, but, instead, wanted a page of Savage Sword of Conan artwork penciled by Buscema and inked by Alcala, so I reached out to the dealer who had the page he liked, paid cash for a piece I didn't want, only to have the collector to tell me that although I was getting that page specifically for him to make the trade and he knew that, that he had gone ahead and traded away the page to another collector and that I should ask for my money back on the Conan page. What a jerk. I saw the page I was trying to get pop up on CAF this morning and it made me sick to my stomach. I was so naive when I started trading all those years ago and so many people could have taken advantage of me, but, thank God, they didn't. The second dealer I ever dealt with DID take advantage of me being a new collector. After I did the lopsided trade with him and found out he had really burned me, I refused to buy a cover I had agreed to buy, so the dealer threatened to sue me. It almost caused me to leave the hobby. A dealer/"friend" nearly caused me to stop collecting back at the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017 when he conned me into giving him a good deal because we had been such great friends for so long. I also found out he had been trashing me to other dealers at shows for a long time, while we were still friends. Tom Fleming was great to trade with. I made him a huge offer on my Doom Patrol 1 cover and he said that he liked the art I was offering him and to pick out the art I was trading him that equaled what he was asking in cash, which was extremely nice of him. Tom is one of the good guys in the hobby. On my very first visit to CAF, I found my grail: the Carmine Infantino Flash 323 cover. I made a trade with a collector to get that cover and I offered him WAY more than it was worth then, but he didn't take advantage of me and made me a very fair trade. I will always be grateful to him for that. More recently, I made good trades with Mike Burkey to get my Carl Barks unpublished cover and Will Gabri-El on a couple of pieces and they were great to deal with, as always. So, trading can be a lot of fun, but, beware, there are a few unscrupulous dealers/collectors out there who will do whatever it takes to take advantage of you, if they can.

I collect Team America art, but only from the series. I like this one, but won't be bidding on it.

I think it hurt the final prices by having two main events in the same auction -- and, several weeks ago, I told a friend who was also watching these that it would be a factor in them under performing.

Yes, it's unopened and I didn't want to take it out of the shrinkwrap it if it was worth more that way (not even for that 5-minute DC phone card). Thank you!

So, before I open this collector’s pack, are there DCU logo variants inside?

Out of all the Pitt 19s and 20s I have found over the last week, I've only found a single copy of issue 18. I think it may be rarer than the last two issues.

My favorites from the haul today are those glitter editions. Man, those things sparkle.

Today's haul (Part 3):

Today's haul (Part 2):

Here's today's haul (Part 1):

That Wonder Woman with the DC logo in the UPC box is tough to find. Nice haul. Is the GR 12 hard to find? I see those around here a lot and never thought about them being HTF.

Same thing with Pitt and Maxx. Great artists and books that were hot (and well-remembered) with low-print-run later issues.

A few more nice and rare comics:

The shop had the whole run in multiples, except 18, which it only had one copy of and only two copies each of 19-20. I figured the shop would also have those later Maxx issues, but they only went to issue 29. I ended up getting 25-29 to go with the Maxx 35 I got earlier in the week. I just always look for oddball stuff that I’ve never seen before. Sometimes it pays off and sometimes it doesn’t. But, it’s fun discovering things.

Very hard-to-find last two issues of Pitt and the Showcase is about as HTF and it’s kind of the first Birds of Prey.

And, I actually found two each of the Pitt 19s and 20s and a copy of 18. It was a good day and I’ll try to put up more pics of the comics I found in the wild tomorrow. There are plenty more where these came from.