Davidone

On 9/9/2018 at 5:19 AM, Michael Browning said:

Here are a few that I hardly ever find in the wild, but found them over the last few weeks:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does this Masters of the Universe Gold edition has an Invincible preview ? If so, that should be the rarest of all the Invincible previews.

On 9/3/2018 at 1:20 AM, Beige said:

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/The-Felix-Annual-Felix-The-Film-Cat-RARE-c-1920s-ID-800/232680544112?hash=item362cd75770:g:GFMAAOSw30NalU44   

Another 1920's contender?

I believe this is the 2nd one from 1925?

That is the same cover intanibase.com has listed as issue 2. They date it as 1925.

If there is no date printed inside, i'm willing to live with 1924. The only "1923" referrence is this eBay listing. That's never a reliable source. ?

Regardless, it seems to be the oldest we have found so far. Very nice! Thank you for the help!

21 hours ago, Michael Browning said:

Yeah, I've had a few of these "ghosts", too. Didn't realize they were ghosts. Huh.

Yeah, I have had "Image, Turtles" on my eBay watchlist for a few years. Granted, I only use the eBay app which I believe doesn't do the best search but it finds most. I try and check every issue that comes to market from the series. I find 1-2 a year if i'm lucky. Issue 2 has come up maybe 3 times. I have seen 1 badly damaged copy of issue 3 and 1 copy of 4. Strangely, issue 1 is the most common issue of the series, by far, and I have yet to see a newsstand for it. 

A member here posted a photo of issue 8, so I know they at least made that many. That's it. After all this time, I can only verify 2,3,4 and 8.

On 4/28/2017 at 4:37 PM, Beige said:

Felix the Cat 1927 - took a while but found on Amazon on all places.

Wonderful book, but too thick for CGC to slab.

 

I wonder if that's changed now with the new cases - anyone know?

 

This may be the first Felix book. Your listing says 1927. Here are two other listings that say 1923 and 1924. The felix site I posted above says 1924 was the first.... hmm. 

Still kind of crazy that this may be the first ever Felix book and they are currently selling for under $50 ?

Here's a few Hungarian children's comics. They are dated 1938. I can't find a month so I don't know if they pre-date the first Aussie book in April of 1938

16 hours ago, JollyComics said:

So far, I would find Felix the Cat in first comic book back in 1927 by McLaughlin Bros. In same year, other Felix the Cat comic book was in German language.

 

The 1927 McLaughlin edition is oblong and reprints strips. Definately a platnium age creation. I've never held one so I don't know if it is hardcover or not. It doesn't resemble a modern comic, if that's what a collector is looking for in a "first appearance." However, they published a bridged edition in 1932 of the same book with only 8 strips. It's square and looks to be stapled. It looks a bit more like a modern comic. Again, they do not have original stories (if that is what one is looking for.) This is an interesting rabbit hole of books and different media. 

Here's an interesting Felix page. They have a chronological list of Felix books. The Aussie comics are not mentioned. They may be so scarce that they are unaware.

http://www.intanibase.com/gac/felix/merchandise.aspx

9 hours ago, JollyComics said:

 

16 minutes ago, fastballspecial said:

I understand your point, but speculators don't read comics. That's become apparent the last few years. They rely on spec sites to tell them. 

At least cover collectors appreciate the art. As someone already said many of these books are built on sand. When 80-90% of collectors
don't care about a book that's a bad sign. Hopefully animation and movies will help save them because circulation numbers didn't.

 

 

I'm a speculator. I read comics. 

Many specs are built on sand. This one is more solid than most, in my opinion. I sold enough copies to pay off what I put into it. I'm holding the rest. We'll see how it works out. 

X23 is popular with older readers but she's too violent for a younger crowd. Honey Badger seems to fit perfectly with where Disney is going in animation and other children's media. We also don't know the numbers on digital sales. That may be where her fans are hiding.

There were 2 FN copies online and 0 NM. That's it. THAT was the catalyst. There was a supply shortage. I posted 1 for $30, sold. I posted 1 for $40, sold. I posted 1 for $80, sold.... the rest exploded from there. Seems to me that's how capitalism and the market is suppose to work naturally. 

I don't know if this fits into your spade calling philosophy but whatever... it is what it is. 

I don't know if this is common knowledge but did you guys know there are two editions of most the 1/2's. There is the regular copy and the gold "special editions." (I'm sure everyone here knows this....) From what I can gather, these were only sent to NEW subscribers, not all subscribers. (Is this correct?) Most issues had them up until a few years before Wizard folded up. So the final issues did not. 

I don't know if there are any crazy scarce editions but it doesn't seem to make a difference in the market. Almost none of the 1/2's seem to have a major demand and I don't think many collectors know the difference.

Do you guys know of any actual scarce gold editions? It might be fun to put together a set.

I believe these Australian books are the first comic book format editions to reprint those newspaper strips from the 20's. There may also be earlier floppy editions from the UK as the hardcover UK Annual pre-dates the Aussies. I would love to see what's inside that Annual. By the look of the early blocky "frankenstein felix," I would bet it's the same type of strips shown in this Felix comic.

On a side note, have any of you read about Pat Sulivan? What a mess!! The dude was bad drunk and raped an under-age girl. They claim he never did any work and just yelled at everyone in the studio. This is why Otto Messer claims to have created Felix, since Pat did nothing but drink.  When the cartoon studios wanted a "talkie" Felix cartoons to compete with the new sound cartoons being made, he had no interest. That's what ultimately killed Felix, who was previously one of the most popular characters in the world. I had no idea there was so much drama involved.

4 hours ago, Wolverinex said:

Are those or the Image comics more rare? 

I have found them to be about equal in scarcity. The Mirage solo books are also very tough and sell quickly for good money online. Raphael: Bad Moon Rising...etc.

The Image newsstand editions of the Turtles are ghosts.

https://ausreprints.net/issue/84547/16974

Ausreprints has 39 issues listed from 1938-1941. They only have photos for 5 issues unfortunately.

I follow as many spec sites as I can find. When this book got hot, I did not see anyone pumping it up. If anyone has a link, a screenshot of an article or thread discussing this book PRIOR to it getting hot, that would be interesting to see. 

I picked up 30 copies from my LCS at cover when it was a $12 book. I later noticed there were very few copies available on ebay. Believe it not, there were only 2 or 3 at most. I was one of the first sellers to start getting a premium price for this book. After that, it went crazy for a couple weeks ($70-$80 raw NM-) and then settled down. 

People are quick to blame spec sites but that doesn't always explain every trend. Sometimes you have to actually read modern books to understand what's going on in the market. Movies are not everything.

On 8/21/2018 at 8:39 PM, Wolverinex said:

I found a bunch of Tales of TMNT by Mirage for about 3 bucks each, should I pick those up? 

$3 for anything past issue 55 or so is a steal.

Pat Sulivan was from Australia, so it would make sense if the earliest Felix was from Australia or the UK (which imported Australian books.) The UK did Annuals for many comics and they were usually collected works from previously released material. Therefore, there may be earlier Felix comics from the UK, or the Annual is collected strips. 

Here is a photo of a Felix comic size book that looks to reprint the strips. This is issue 2 from 1938, pre-dating Four Color 15. 

Looking for a solid "first appearance" as we define it is tricky for Felix, as he predates standard comic books. It really depends what you are looking for and that will vary by collector. There looks to be early newspaper strips, reprinting of newspaper strip in a comic, book appearance and finally a first original comic story. 

It's possible Four Color 15 is the first original comic story that was not a newspaper strip. Although 1942 is late in the history of Felix and many international comics are not properly documented. 

On 9/8/2017 at 6:00 AM, gino2paulus2 said:

Wasn't quite sure where to ask this question so figured the knowledgeable folks over in this thread may be able to help me out. I work with a few gals who are from the Philippines  and they know i am into comics. They talk about Darna all the time who is a female superheroine from around the Golden Age. Anyways was looking for her 1st cover app and keep coming up with this book. Pilipino Komiks #78. Problem is I can't find an actual copy anywhere and that includes sold items as well. Anyone seen or heard of this book and have anymore info on it? thanks!!

 

These golden age filipino books are so scarce that finding any information is difficult. Most of us who have been collecting these types of books for years have never seen one. Compared to other international books, comics from the Philipinnes are among the most scarce in the world. Good luck to you and if you find information, let us know

1 hour ago, Wolverinex said:

I found the Xmen 423 Error a few months ago in the wild and I've been obsessed with finding it's companion Avengers 77 (492). 

http://www.recalledcomics.com/Avengers77PriceError.php

Does anyone now how much this goes for raw?   Has it ever been sold on the boards?   I might end up biting the bullet and buying it.  

I haven't paid much attention to the Avengers 77 sales. I have noticed that a few copies of X-Men 423 have sold for surprising low prices at auction this year. If I was you, I would be patient and wait for the next auction to see what happens. Those books may have cooled off.

Here's a book that has been spiking in price.

I have been chasing these Image Turtles newsstands for a couple years now. I rarely find any issues from this series in the wild. 

I have had "Image Ninja Turtles" on my ebay watch list for the last two years and checked it almost everyday. I have seen three newsstand editions of issue 2, a VG- of 3 and finally this issue of 4. A board member posted issue 8 so I know that exists as well. 

Ironically, issue 1 sells for good money but is the most common issue listed. Out of all the copies I have seen, I have yet to find a newsstand for it. If anyone out there has others, let me know. Not sure if I will ever be able to finish a set at this rate.