PRTeckie

Wow, SECollector! What an AMAZING coincidence! When I was a kid, ASM 56 was the very first comic I bought new, off the spinner rack at a local convenience store! Which, now that I think about it, suddenly makes me feel like !

Ernieherring, many thanks for bumping this thread. From time to time it's good for all of us to remember what it was like being new to the hobby. I never had a plan, either--but muddled my way through until I caught on. The biggest help was going to conventions, seeing all of the different types of books, and talking with both dealers and other collectors. Somewhere along the way my main focus drifted from Ditko Spideys to pre-hero Marvels and finally to Pre Robin Detectives. This hobby can certainly take you in directions where you never planned to go! But what a fun ride!

Many thanks for bringing this to my attention! Couldn't find any golden age books, but the discount did allow me to get a sweet deal on a CGC 7.5 Fantastic Four #53!

I do not have an answer to your question, but wanted to thank you for posting this unused cover. I did not know it existed. VERY cool!

Jaydogrules, thank you for your comments. And I agree wholeheartedly! Caps1 and Bats1 are PHENOMENAL books! I will never denigrate either one. We all have our preferences. I know you are partial to Captain America #1 and I respect that. The characters in these books have become a multi-billion dollar business. Barring a global calamity, I don't think there is any question that all of these comics will do well in the future.

TWMJR1, you are incorrect, sir. Here's what I bought INSTEAD of either book. Why? Tec33 contains the second most famous original story in the history of comics--a masterpiece of words, art, and storytelling. I truly believe that if any GA comic surpasses Batman #1 it will be this one.

TWMJR1, you are absolutely correct that this auction is PROOF POSITIVE that Captain America #1 is gaining ground on Batman 1. Dueling 1.5's in December, 2017 show that Captain America 1 sold for 82.42% of the Batman 1. In today's battle of 3.5's, CA1 sold for 83.33% of the Batman 1. Taking this to the next logical step we see that CA1 gains .91% on Batman 1 every two months. Thus, Captain America #1 and Batman #1 will undoubtedly cost the same price in a little over 36 months. I would love to calculate how long it will take CA1 to pass Superman #1 to see if your 10-year prediction is correct, but I'm running late for tonight's monthly Earth Is Flat Society meeting.

If it's possible to do, I will happily kick in $50--but only if this thread gets pinned to the first page of the Golden Age forum to honor BangZoom's generosity in showing us his books and to wish him and his wife well!

Congrats, also to Tbone911t for picking up that sweet Tec #32! And speaking of sweet pre-Robins, I thought you all might like to see a full scan of MY PR pickup last March. It's my pride and joy!

GK, it sold today, seemingly for for the asking price: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Detective-Comics-33-1937-BATMAN-Cover-Complete-UNRESTORED-CGC-1-5/312023563193?hash=item48a60dbbb9:g:wAIAAOSw43haMGh8 By the way, super-congrats on your Tec 37! That is one beautiful book!

GK, sorry for the late reply. I caught one heck of a case of the flu 2 weeks ago and it's is STILL hanging on to me! Blech! But I am finally feeling much better. (Especially because the Astros won the World Series!) Thank you for bringing this book to my attention. I wish I could buy it. That is one gorgeous book! I've always felt the cover of 37 (and the book itself) was massively underrated.

In my younger days, I spent over a year working in the quality control department of a small printing company in Southern California. On a four color press, the pressmen constantly check the ink wells, adding ink as needed. In addition, they must also make sure the ink is spread evenly across the bottom of the ink tray, and that the tray is adjusted correctly to deliver equal and correct amounts of ink across the entire width of the roller. Because the press is a huge vibrating machine, everything is constantly drifting out of alignment, so constant attentiveness is required to produce quality runs. A well-staffed, well-tuned, well-monitored press will deliver consistently high quality print runs. A poorly-staffed, poorly-tuned, poorly monitored press will deliver wildly-varying quality runs. Because many early Marvels have chipping caused by dull cover-separation blades, it seems clear that the printing company(s) Marvel used were not very concerned with the quality of their work. As a result, we see varying degrees of both chipping and color vibrancy on the covers of comics like AF15.

GK: Dagnabit! You caught on to me too fast! I was hoping at least one person would see that Tec 36 and say "Wow! Who is your LCS? Bedrock? Har har!" To which I would proudly reply, "It is, indeed, Sir Richard!" Work and the World Series has taken all my time as of late, so I haven't had a chance to stop by to see him recently. I have a question to ask, so I will put it to you and maybe Richard (or others) will also chime in. I have purchased several books through auction houses, but I have not sold any through them. Question: when you submit a book to an auction house, do you have any say in how the book is described? I was horrified to see the description of the 8.0 Detective 33 in Heritage's current auction. It first states Overstreet's current ranking of the book and how it has moved up the list recently, then that it was the 4th Batman cover, then that Batman is wearing a gun holster on the cover, and finally, almost as an afterthought, in the blandest possible terms, the description mentions that the origin of Batman is inside. I understand that the current comic market is cover-centric, but the story of how Bruce Wayne became Batman has become an importance piece of American (and now world-wide) pop culture history. To make this aspect of the comic an afterthought is unfathomable to me. I can only think of three reasons, all of which reflect horribly on the auction house. 1. They do not understand the historical importance of the story and honestly believe that "Overstreet", "4th Batman cover" and "gun-in-holster" supercede "origin story" as the best way to advertise it. 2. They do not want to "sell" books to gain maximum returns for their clients. 3. They DO know the importance of the story and they DO know how to "sell" it--but do not want to do so to lessen the hammer price for corporate or clientary reasons. From reading these boards, I am aware of all of the "miscreantism" that permeates this hobby so this may be just another example. But I welcome your thoughts and experience. Are you allowed to ask an auction house for the right to approve their description of your submissions before the description is published?

Gotham Kid, I've been wanting to clear up a misconception in this thread, but work has been too brutal for me to do so until today. The Tec 33 I bought earlier this year from Comicconnect is NOT the copy in your photograph. For some unknown reason, they used a photo of the Heritage copy in their promotional announcement instead of mine. Also, as others have surmised, I did not bid on the Heritage book, which I see has received a new higher offer than has been mentioned earlier in this thread. Here is a photo of the book I bought from Comicconnect, taken when I took it to my LCS to play with one of the owner's books. I am a long time collector but a total noob to posting on these boards, so I hope the picture posts correctly.