jimbo_7071

I sold my unread copy wholesale to a comic shop for 10 cents back in the 90s (along with a few long boxes full of BA and CA Marvels).

Nick Cardy/Nicholas Viscardi interior art to same.

Suppose the part about "Junie" being killed in action turned out to be false? What if he came home from the war and became a barber or opened a car wash or went to school on the G. I. bill and became an accountant? One would hope that CGC would have verified the backstory on the collection before titling it the "Promise Collection." One would hope.

Don't bother making offers to midnightshadow or whatever his handle is. I've made him offers that were fairly close to his asking prices and still gotten no counter.

Red Sox to a Bruin.

Hero causing thousands of dollars worth of damage to a public bridge in order to administer extra-legal justice to hero causing thousands of dollars worth of damage to a privately-owned undersea dome in order to administer extra-legal justice.

BAKER's man to (patty) CAKE.

City at risk of being leveled to city that has been flattened.

If you don't trust Heritage to give the true account, why would you trust them if they attempted to squash a particular theory? Any theory will need to be proved without any statement from Heritage (which I doubt will be forthcoming anyway). I will be more accepting of your theory if you can find some examples of someone named nicknamed Junie because he was the "junior member of the family" despite not actually being a junior. Like I said, I think that you're trying a bit too hard to make the evidence fit your theory.

Flexo the Rubber Robot to raw rubber.

I bought two. For the Blue Bolt, the story was the main reason why I selected a patriotic cover featuring MacArthur (who commanded the troops in Korea). For the other book, the story had no effect on my interest in the book or on my bids, but, as @Straw-Man mentioned, the underbidders may have been been affected by the story.

Sorry @sfcityduck, but I remain unconvinced with respect to your theory. It seems like you're trying a little too hard to make the evidence fit. Have we heard from any official source that Armand was Junie's real name, or is that an assumption based on the fact that the name is written on the books? That could be the name of one of his siblings or even the name of a friend if he arranged to have a friend pick up books for him while he was in the service. We also don't know that the end date of the collection is related to his date of death in any way. The end date may reflect when he entered the service, not when he died. If he went by Junie, that doesn't mean that he was a Junior. One of the names written on a book is Jean; maybe Junie is a nickname for Jean (which can be a man's name). Maybe Junie had a June birthday. Or, the nickname may be unrelated to any other appellation; people acquire nicknames in myriad ways. There is evidence that at least one book was distributed regionally in the Cleveland area; that is compelling evidence that you have more or less dismissed out of hand. Finally, you have proposed a candidate who was likely not killed in action at age 21. If Heritage was willing to fudge such a major detail, then who's to say that the story wasn't a complete fabrication? Maybe Heritage took the consignor at his or her word; maybe Heritage embellished things. (This is the same company that hired Mark Wilson, after all.) I hope that the family is getting some money from this auction, but I won't be ultra surprised if we learn someday that that was not the case. The consignor may be someone like Doug Schmell who bought the collection for a song. Most dealers and collectors are good (if socially awkward) people, but like any other field where a quick buck can be had, the hobby does attract its share of parasites. The 1950 census records will be released in April. I would suggest searching the Cleveland area for examples of the name Armand (as a given name or a surname), paying especial attention to examples that show up in proximity to Jean, Robert, or Stange. Korean War casualty records can also be searched by state. https://www.archives.gov/research/military/korean-war/casualty-lists/state-level-alpha.html Just to give one example of someone who needs to be ruled out, a Harry Stang (no e), Jr. , enlisted out of Lorain, Ohio, and was killed in action on December 16, 1951, and he had a brother named Robert who was one year older than he was. Now, the name Armand doesn't appear to factor in, so perhaps Harry can be ruled out easily. The point is, a number of candidates could appear viable if you selectively ignore or discount evidence. To be fair, your theory may well be correct, but you haven't proved it.

Many thanks!

I thought of another pet peeve: when a seller lists a book in an auction format with an opening bid amount that is basically a buy-it-now price (and often a very high buy-it-now price).

Is there a way to block particular sellers on eBay? I would like to be able to block sellers whose books are priced too high to bother looking at, and there are plenty of those sellers.

Jay Maybruck, is that you?

Web to web.

It's probably in their best interests. (If I died tomorrow, my family would take my comics to a comic shop or used book store and take the first offer they got—that's if they made any attempt to sell them. They might just pack them up and store them in an attic, basement, or garage.)

What do you make of this one, @sfcityduck? I haven't seen any other STANGE books. This one went way past what I was willing to pay, but I was tracking it while it looked like it might stay under $2K. Action Comics #141

Tied up with ropes to tangled up in a web.

I didn't realize that Mary Worth went back that far!

My biggest pet peeve is when a seller lists a book in the auction format and then cancels the auction with one day left because he isn't satisfied with the bids the book has gotten.

Nothing would surprise me in this market. We're seeing rag copies of books selling for more than what high-grade copies were selling for just a few years ago. I'm tempted to sell some books because I think there will be a correction at some point, but the only books that I have that are worth anything would be too difficult to replace. I'd also have to use a fair percentage of the proceeds to cover the taxes on the profits.

I bet it would, but not necessarily immediately.

Yes, the CLink web site was incorrect (as it often is). But "highest-graded" doesn't mean much to me, anyway. There are probably some raw copies out there that are just as nice (but this 8.0 copy does appear to have been very tightly graded). Do you own the 8.5?