PDGray

Completely agree, but what COULD you do to get even a rough ballpark estimate? If there are 10 copies in the CGC census, would you think less than 20 exist? 50? 100? For the discussion, I am only thinking of ways that you might be able to come up with a reasonable estimate. PDG

So, to put this into perspective. If you were to look at the CGC Census and find that there were less than 10 graded copies or less than 20 graded copies - what does that mean? Or does that have ANY meaning at all in relation to rarity or scarcity? We know that there are a lot of books that have never been graded and therefore aren't counted, but do we discount those or simply use that as a basis? Thoughts? PDG

I met him a bit over a year ago and really wanted to find one of the books from HIS pedigree and have him sign the slab. Well, I learned that was the wrong question to ask him. I still think it would have been pretty cool to do though. PDG

Those are fantastic!! Love the Daytona!! I don't have a Speedy yet, but perhaps one day... The Longines is spectacular - I have one, but it's a 1970s/80s quartz - so not as cool as yours. I am not familiar with Royce watches, but thats kind of cool! PDG

I absolutely love knowing this. Thank you! It makes me wonder just how many "undiscovered" copies there are out there. My assumption has been relatively few. I even remember reading an article back in the 1990s that stated that probably fewer than 50 copies of any given GA book even existed. So, this conversation and our other "discoveries" over the last thirty years leads me to believe that there are far more than that article led me to believe. This sort of information adds to the history of the books - even if they don't come to light during my lifetime. PDG

Is it safe to say that those Action 1s are not graded and probably never will be? PDG

Oh, I agree - I think SFCityDuck is on the money. I think my bigger question is now - how many of these GA books truly exist and then how many of those are graded? I absolutely love the statistical analyses of these sorts of things. I find them fascinating! My other question would be where do we find the Gerber rating? I have heard of it for years, but don't know where/how to find them? PDG

Fascinating statistics - I love these sorts of studies. Thank you for your input! I can't imagine a LOT of these books surviving - probably less than 1% of the total print run are still around would be my guess. Then figure that a much smaller percentage of that 1% are being sent off to be graded and you end up with a pretty low number. Yeah, the TMNT is a modern book that has surpassed anything I would have ever guessed - I hate I passed on one back in the late 80s now. I think that is an unusually high percentage of books to be graded. Out of curiousity I am going to run the numbers here - so bear with me as I am doing this on the fly. Please feel free to correct my math on these, or check the numbers I used as the print run - I know most are likely estimates anyway, but they were what I found on a quick google search. X-Men 1 (1991) - print run of 8,186,500 - 14249 graded so - 0.17% of the print run graded Superman 75 (1993) - print run of 750,000 - 3379 graded so - 0.45% of the print run graded Spawn 1 (1992) - print run of 1,700,000 - 25,393 graded so - 1.49% of the print run graded So, it is all an interesting statistic. It may or may not have any relevance to what we are talking about as it relates to GA books - but I found it to be a fun exercise anyway. PDG

Yep, I completely agree with you. When I bought most of these books, I bought them because I wanted an example of a book from that particular collection. I didn't buy it because I specifically wanted a Tarzan 76. I have a number of other GA Tarzan books that are not graded. They simply aren't worth the effort to spend the money on getting them graded. I like having them and preserving them as part of my collection that will go to my kids one day. If I have the chance to rescue any other old books, I intend to do just that and they probably won't get graded. So, yes, I think there are probably a lot more Tarzan 76s or Gene Autry 51s or other GA books than what the census shows. But who is going to spend the money to get any of them graded unless they are that high grade or have that provenance that you suggested? That is almost certainly a financial loss at this point in time. Part of me thinks that is sad, but my accountant training says that it just doesn't make sense to spend $50 to get a $5 book graded. This does raise the question - What percentage of those GA or SA books are actually graded? I would tend to think relatively few. I would say less than 1% of my SA books are graded easily. I think less than 10% of my GA collection is graded, probably far less than that. But what is the number when looked at across any and all available copies of any given book? PDG

Well, that was fun checking the census to see just how rare some of those books are/were. I apologize if I have posted some of these earlier in the thread, but I always find it fascinating to see other books in other collections, so I thought I would share here too!! PDG

Again - three of these graded - Black Diamond Western #11 - Promise Collection copy PDG

Three of these - Life Story 13 - Crowley Copy PDG

Six of these - Gene Autry 51 - Edgar Church copy. PDG

Five of these graded...Davis Crippen Red Ryder 39. PDG

Only 3 of these apparently!! PDG

Only 8 of these graded. PDG

Only 9 of these currently on the CGC census, but this one is a CBCS, which would make at least 10 graded - so may not be applicable?? Here it is anyway. PDG

New to me and only 8 on the census. PDG

Ok, I will throw a few things into the mix here just for kicks. I tend to collect LOTS of things - much more than just my comics. Lately, I have been on a watch kick - picking up watches here and there - some new, some old, but just focusing on pieces that I find interesting - or examples of brands that I want to have in my collection. I am retired now, so most of this has slowed up in the last few years. I have picked up/inherited a few of these - so don't think I spent a lot on most of these. I have a lot more than what is represented here. PDG

As requested - this is a new pickup for me! PDG

Excellent pickup!! PDG

Ok, good to know! I have had this account for years, but still consider myself a newb as I haven't posted a whole lot. PDG

Forgot I had added this Lost Valley Tip Top 62 recently. Again, I think I posted this somewhere else on the board, but posting it here just for fun. PDG

I completely agree with you on every count. I don't mind even the cream pages as I am just overjoyed to have any pedigree book in any condition!! Or even any GA book, regardless of condition. I try to preserve them all, as I consider myself the caretaker of the book(s) for the next generation of collectors. PDG

Slowly, one book at a time. Fortunately, the books I have picked up aren't the usual Super-Hero genre that carry those huge premiums. Not that many people fight over the Westerns or the Romance books, or even Tarzan. But I lucked out with the Master Comics as that is obviously a Hero book, but I think that it being in the CBCS case didn't really help it bring a higher premium. When I happened upon that Tarzan I thought that it was a spectacular book, but again, not a highly sought after title, so it was a HUGE win for me with it being a 9.6. PDG