jimbo_7071

I like that cover, but I agree with you, Collector, about that book being overvalued. Like Sqeggs indicated, back in the 80s and 90s many of us thought it was rare. We know now that it isn't rare at all, but many collectors still have the idea that it's rare stuck in their heads, so it still fetches rare-issue prices.

It's possible. I used to want to upgrade my SS4, but with the kind of prices they're getting now, it wouldn't be worth it to me. The one book I was intetested in was the Planet 58, but I'm scratching my head over the price. It's a pretty common issue that usually has nice colors and nice pages. Maybe someone thinks it can be pressed to a 9.6?

You may be onto something. I like GA sci-fi, but Contact 12 doesn't do much for me. If we're talking similar covers, I much prefer Captain Aero 26.

I didn't realize he was 88. I never met Adam West, but I did see him in person in the men's room of the Motor City Comicon back in 2001. He must have been 72, but if you had told me that he was 52, I would have believed you. RIP

I can see your being disappointed if you sold a book that was important to you, or if you sold a book from a run because you were hoping to upgrade, but I've rarely felt bad about being outbid in an auction or about selling a book that wasn't a key part of my collection. I try to bid what I think a book is worth—maybe a little more—but if the only way to "win" a book is to overpay, I'm always happy to let someone else overpay. I'll wait until the next time it sells, or until another copy comes along, or until a different book that I like just as much comes along. (Sometimes a book will take off in value weeks or months later, and then I'll start to kick myself.)

Well, I learned something from looking at the Jon Berk collection on CConnect: I never realized that the first appearance of Andy Panda was in Crackajack Funnies! (I may be the only one who cares.) The book that stood out to me the most (other than the Fantastic #3) was the Punch #12. I won't be a contender, but I'll be curious to see what it sells for. I think it's safe to say that it'll leave the guide price in the dust.

No argument. Without Stan's genius for marketing and his overall success with Marvel's silver age, the superhero genre may well have died out decades ago, and collecting comic books might have died with it. Bob Overstreet and Jerry Bails would come next, but it's hard to pick just two to round out the list. Bill Gaines, Jerry Weist, Steve Geppi, Shel Dorf, and Chuck Rozanski all deserve mention.

It stands to reason that a fair number of pedigree books have been lost to fires by now. I'm still trying to find out which Church books were ruined when the Greg Manning Auctions basement was flooded. I asked Bill Hughes, but he didn't remember.

A name written on a book isn't a deal breaker for me, but I think CGC goes too easy on that defect, so I probably won't be buying any slabbed examples any time soon. I remember seeing a Marvel Mystery in the last CLink auction that was graded 9.0 even though it had a name written fairly obtrusively across the cover. For me, even calling that book a VF would be a stretch, let alone VF/NM. This will not be a popular opinion, but I think that even pedigree books with writing on the cover (Larsons, Okajimas) or name stamps (SFs) should be downgraded.

I don't consider them trustworthy. Whatever book they've got, it isn't worth the risk. Wait for another copy. There's always another copy.

Among the earlier covers, #5 and #17 are my two favorites, but I like C. C. Beck's interior art much better than I like most of the covers from the run. I like some of the outer space/sci-fi covers from later in the run, too (#106, for instance).

I don't know much about romance covers and don't really have a favorite (except for maybe GCE 12), but I like the way colors were used in this one. I'd never seen one of these prior to reading this thread.

I doubt he's interested in much of the offbeat material in Jon Berk's collection. He seems far more interested in mainstream books. Now, if the Dentist's books are auctioned off, then I think he'll be a player, assuming he's still in the hobby at that time.

I didn't even bother to bid. I e-mailed CLink weeks ago asking whether several books I was interested in had any rust on the staples, and they didn't bother to reply.

I stopped investing in my 401K a few years ago in order to pay down the credit cards I had run up with comic book purchases after returning to the hobby with a little too much zeal, but that's because I'm sort of addicted, not because I've ever thought comic books in general were a good investment (although I never doubted that the mega-keys were relatively safe).

I agree with Mitch that a downturn is on the way, but I don't think it will be that bad for mainstream GA titles and classic covers. I do think mid-to-late SA and BA will get hammered.

I usually put a lot of thought into my purchases, but this Catman no. 26 comes to mind. I was lukewarm about it because the grade was lower than what I would have liked, but it has grown on me, and the cover has become one of my favorites. (I'd still upgrade if I had the chance, but only if I found a high-grade copy with equally fresh pages and vivid colors.)

As someone who collects based mostly on cover art, I'd have to say that I like both well enough but like 41 a little better. Still, I wouldn't consider either book important. I doubt I'd buy either one at current prices unless I were attempting to build a run. Robin appearing solo doesn't mean much, and the Joker story being the first one in Detective Comics doesn't mean much either since there had already been Joker stories in Batman. Both of those facts seem like trivia to me--part of the trend of trying to make every other book a key.

What other techniques are you thinking of? Some people have mentioned that the extra humidity present in a book immediately after a press makes the pages feel more supple temporarily, so books that are graded within days of being pressed often get a page quality bump.

It will probably go higher, but maybe when books hit that level, people start to actually look at the book instead of just the label. Some bidders do, anyway. It reminds me of the Vancouver Namora no. 1 that sold through Heritage years ago. It was a beautiful book, but there was no rational way to justify its 9.8 grade. It should not have graded higher than 9.4. Someone bought the label the first time it sold, but the he (or maybe somone he sold it to) took a beating a few years later when bidders actually bothered to look at the book.

Kaptain said:"Solid inner well looks like there is a wall surrounding the book. Soft inner well loops like the book is just suspended in a comic sleeve/bag. There is no wall for the book to bang into. The book pictured above has a solid inner well." Thanks; that does make it clear. Even most of my Gen 1 slabs appear to have a solid inner well. This book is the only one I found that doesn't (grade date 7/18/2000):

Maybe it can be colored very subtly, with watercolors or colored pencils, without obscuring the details. Or maybe he could color selected foreground elements on the page and leave the mid ground and background elements B&W. I don't know why hand coloring by the original artist would hurt the resale value; for me it would enhance it.

This book used to be a 9.2 (before I owned it). The tearing at the staple was caused by movement of the book within the inner well. It was in a Gen 1 holder. I'm not sure I know how to identify a solid inner well. Could someone clear that up? I'm wondering whether any of my other GA books are at risk due to being in the wrong kind of inner wells.

Catman Comics no. 13 is a Gerber no show.

I agree that a page should not be colored by anyone other than the original artist. (I probably wouldn't even want a page that had been pencilled and inked by different artists.) If I owned a modern B&W page, however, I'd consider hiring the original artist to hand color it. Some of the Heritage auctions have featured some Krazy Kat strips that were hand colored at some point. I don't know whether they were colored by Herriman, but they're gorgeous either way. (If anyone owns one of those strips and is thinking about throwing it away because it has been colored, I'll be happy to take it as a freebie.)