esquirecomics

Let's not forget our "superhero" friendly ghosts (beat up they might be)!! #2 from 1958.

Is it just me or are adamstrange's images not coming out? I see everyone else's images, but not his.

I am departing ever so slightly from our Gerber 7 + discussion to post two Gerber 6 books. I recently obtained them (and, yes, believe it or not they are unslabbed!!). Given the known interest of many of the users posting on this thread for anti-communist and war propaganda books, I offer the following:

As usual, I bought it slabbed so I don't know the history. I checked with the person I purchased it from and was told that it was bought from an original and he doubted it had been pressed. The book was miscut and has a shadow both of which clearly brought the grade down to the 9.0. Was it pressed? You be the judge. I don't know. I sure would like to though.

It's for sale!

Frankly, knowing what I know now, I would not be surprised if it were. I bought it slabbed so I honestly don't know. I will scan in the back tomorrow and post it.

There are 3 copies graded higher than this one, but all only at 5.5.

Tied with one other book as highest graded.

Here are some of the Gerber 7s. The scans are not as high quality as some of the others. Sorry about that.

37 1/2. Been buying GA since I was around 16.

Actually, I am more ashamed to admit I don't have many really, really rare books, i.e., Gerber 8-10. As far as I know, I have the following Gerber 8s (happy to post any if someone requests): Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics 1 CGC 9.0 More Fun Comics 52 CGC 5.5 More Fun Comics 56 CGC 8.0 New Book of Comics 1 CGC 8.0 And I have the following Gerber 7s (also happy to post if requested): Adventure 42 CGC 6.0 All American 16 CGC 4.5 Circus the Comic Riot 1 CGC 8.5 Green Lantern 1 CGC 9.0 New York Worlds Fair 1940 CGC 7.0 Star Spangled 1 CGC 8.5 Rockford I used to have Mystery Comics #4 (William Wise & Co, 1944), which Gerber does not even give a SI #. I traded it though. Anyone have an idea as to its scarcity? Will I be kicking myself?

Go easy,.......I'm sure he paid through the nose for them! It was definitely an obscene amount of money when you consider what most Americans make in a year, but in our world the prices actually were not bad. The Adventure went barely over guide, the World's Finest went under guide, the Famous Funnies went for guide or not much over, and the Mad #1, although about 3x-4x guide (9.2 price, this was a 9.8), is, well, MAD #1 CGC 9.8 GAINES. Anyway, other copies have sold for the same amount (and of course 15% was the darn BP) so I didn't go crazy on setting a record new price or anything, I just proved the price was fair, or something like that. These were all investment books so I will resell them at some point in time and justify to my wife that the purchase was sound. The collector in me requires that everytime I buy one of these great books in a slab I go out and buy the corresponding DC Archives, if one exists, so I can read the stories.

Nice thread. Did anyone find the thread for the scarce books?

Well I don't want to repeat what has already been done. We can just keep this thread to discussion. My relative inexperience with the boards has been revealed!

Would be great if we could add to this thread any images of books from our collections that are listed as Gerber 8 and above. Ok, if its a really, really great book, we'll allow a 7.

If you are referring to the two volume Photo Journal, I bought my through Amazon.com, although I think there is an ad in the CBG that is less money. Or were you referring to a different book?

That is certainly true when speaking of GA books in general. Of course, I would venture to guess that WW #3 is probably a Gerber 4 or 5 (someone correct me if I am wrong), which would mean that the number of copies in existence would/could be triple digits and above. Thus, 8 certified copies does not accurately reflect the true census, neither does it support a re-evaluation that perhaps the book should have been, for example, a Gerber 8. However, with respect to the key valuable books, say within the top 20 on the Overstreet list of 100 most valuable GA books (though I don't want to limit this discussion to that list), for the most part many of those books have been either slabbed OR we generally know of their existence, i.e., Action #1, Superman #1, Det 27. We know of, by fact or at least rumor, the high grade copies of these books that remain unslabbed, in addition to the number of the slabbed copies. So we can - perhaps - assess whether the Gerber and Overstreet scarcity designations remain accurate. I am counting on the obvious vast expertise and long time experiences that permeates this GA board! Mark Esquirecomics.com

I would be interested in hearing both anecdotal and statistical evidence of whether the scarcity ratings created by Gerber and those utilized by Overstreet (not sure if they are the same) continue to remain accurate, and the degree to which that may or may not be the case. Obviously, one of the consequences of CGC is that we can better track the existence of specific books and thereby ascertain a clearer idea of at least the minimum number of copies that might exist for a book. Of course, the CGC census cannot be interpreted literally since we do know that books have been resubmitted in an attempt to secure a higher grade or had restoration removed and resubmitted for a blue label. Thus, for example, last time I checked More Fun #52 had 19 copies listed on the census. My recollection, though I don't have Gerber's Photo Journal in front of me, is that they estimated 20 copies existed. That estimate would seem too low, though I know for a fact that at least two of the copies listed in the census are the same book, i.e., the CGC 5.5 I own that previously was a CGC 6.5 PLOD. Mark Esquirecomics.com

I picked up some beauts from the Heritage auction as well. I won't include scans since you can just go to their website and take a look, but I bought: Famous Funnies: Carnival of Comics #nn (Eastern Color, 1933) CGC VF/NM 9.0 Off-white pages.... [tied with one other book as highest graded] - Gotta love a 72 year old book being a 9.0!! World's Finest Comics #2 (DC, 1941) CGC VF 8.0 Off-white pages.... Mad #1 Gaines File pedigree 4/12 (EC, 1952) CGC NM/MT 9.8 Off-white to white pages.... [tied with 3 others as highest graded] Adventure Comics #42 (DC, 1939) CGC FN 6.0 Cream to off-white pages.... I trust everyone saw the Sensation #54 "San Francisco" copy sold for $1800. I also just bought some great More Fun Comics, which are for my personal collection (I am building a complete run of the entire series). 56 CGC 8.0 O/W 63 CGC 9.0 O/W to W Mile High 65 CGC 9.0 O/W 66 CGC 9.0 W Mile High I should have these four books in hand today. Mark Esquirecomics.com

Excellent article Jon. I can imagine the thrill of the interview. Mark

To redeem myself on this thread, and to get us back to where we should be, here is another contribution from my personal collection. I love these old Cold War propaganda covers!

I will be real brief so as not to unduly detour from the discussion on this particular thread, and I apologize for doing so, but I wish to follow-up on Jon's momentum. There are many rumours out there regarding the issues referenced above, and which run rampant through Marnin's post on his website. At a minimum, there are "appearances" of "potential" conflicts of interest involving CGC and Heritage (and others) that include but extend beyond pressing. I hear rants from dealers and collectors alike, and frankly I do not know what is true or what is not. I want this known in the open that I believe, presumptuous or not on my part, that many questions do require answers from those who effectively "hold" the power in this industry. The books I need and want (as if the two were different!) require the spending of money, the amounts of which incur shouts of "what the *(&)(% were you thinking" from those who do not understand our passion in this hobby/business. Nevertheless, this is nothing to joke about. I intend to and have been seeking answers and/or clarification from Steve and Jim Halperin. To date they have been responsive, and I have appreciated their courtesy, professionalism and, I certainly presume, their honesty. But I do still have questions. Nuff said on this thread. Mark