Hepcat

Now here is my entire collection of Atlas jungle books:

That is really white! Thank you! I don't have many of the Atlas western comics but the three I have are really nice.

Here are my two other Atlas western books:

Can't wait to see them! Victory! My first scan is up! The image of the Outlaw Kid #15 from the previous page is now that of my own personal copy. (thumbs u

I'm going to try to post some scans of comics from my own collection tonight including that stock cover I posted of Outlaw Kid #15. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping all goes well.

I love Rex the Wonder Dog! They're almost impossible to find in high grade.

For shame!

Good stuff! I like the raw ones too. (thumbs u

I'm here! I only started to peck away at early Mads this past decade but I now have over half the issues from #24 through #100. The later issues with the back cover fold in gags are actually tougher to find in grade than the earlier issues.

I don't think preservation is the issue here. I think it's quite simply the case that high prices bring the supply to market. "Key" books are in higher demand which means that they typically fetch much higher prices. As a result they're offered up for sale more often. For example, number ones are far more likely to be offered up for sale than number twos because the prices for number twos are too low to pry them from the hands of hardcore fans/collectors. That's also why more key books show up in the CGC census. Slabbing is very often a prelude to sale. The books that aren't for sale are far less likely to be slabbed by their proud owners.

The eye appeal is nonetheless excellent. It looks to me as if you'd have to squint to find flaws.

I owned the Edgar Church Two-Gun Kid #3 slabbed as a 9.2(?) for two or three years earlier this decade but I decided I just wasn't interested in completing the run back that far. Accordingly, I put it up for auction, either Heritage or Mastronet, and realized a 25% profit or so after their take. I still have a NM- Outlaw Kid 15 that I bought through a Comic Heaven auction perhaps fifteen years ago. Here's a scan of my copy:

Lovely copy!

Which issue of Our Army at War has the word balloon free short of the corn fed American G.I. and his young German counterpart fighting over a little puppy with all three ending up dead?

I agree! Capt. Storm is way underrated and a real person_without_enough_empathy to find in high grade.

always loved the CC stories, this is my best copy: Very nice copy!! The 33 is just as tough as the 31 IMO. I'm a huge fan of the Cave Carson books!

The Flash 109 looks like a Fine to me. The others look to be of somewhat lower grade.

Collectors buy the books. They may also break the book out from the case in which it's entombed. Investor/speculators just buy the label.

Oh, say it ain't so Aardvark! That would be an issue from 1960!

Thanks for the interesting commentary! It's always cool when people are able to say that they started buying these issues back in the single-digits or teens, and these older issues have particular personal significance to them. I don't think I deserve the compliment since half of what I said was actually an outright lie. It was actually JLA #8, "Justice League for Sale", that was the first JLA issue I ever read and which together with GL #11 left what turned out to be a lifelong impression upon me. JLA #14 was the first JLA issue I ever bought as a kid. Nonetheless, I'll get out my camera and see if I can post some random bits of my comic collection, including some old Green Lantern, JLA, Flash, Aquaman, Atom, Hawkman, Wonder Woman, Tales of the Unexpected, Fly, Black Cat, funny animal, Drag Cartoons, etc. I already posted pictures of my comic/magazine and model cabinets in the "Got a comic room??? Showcase it here!" thread about eighteen months ago: My Comic Cabinet My Model Cabinet Then there's my bubble gum cards, hockey, CFL, baseball, non-sport, etc.- my milk and pop bottle collections, and small collection of other assorted board games, Kenner Presto Sparkle Paint Sets, Hasbro Marble Mazes....

I suppose they may be roughly equivalent to CGC's 8.5 - but my grading aesthetics differ from theirs: 1. I penalize for miscutting on the left edge. I don't like to see a white border on the edge, particularly if this border is at all toned. That just makes a book look old to me. 2. I'm pretty tough on yellowing. I do like my whites bright. 2. I'm generally quite tough on staple and spine wear. 3. I don't penalize as much for other little nicks in other areas of the book as does CGC. I'm more of an overall "eye appeal" type of fellow while CGC seems to "count" defects/blemishes and deduct points according to a preset schedule.

I'm still trying to find a copy of #47 that's up to my quality standards. One of the problems is that with the checkerboard graphic that DC used at the time at the top of the book, any type of yellowing/toning makes the book look "old". I'm also looking to upgrade my copy of #77. My present one isn't white enough.

Certainly with respect to cover artwork I'd disagree here. I much prefer the cover art from about issue 11 to 39 where Murphy Anderson(?) inked Gil Kane's pencils to some of the later covers where it appears to me that Gil Kane inked his own pencils.

Green Lantern #11 is a very high nostalgia book for me because it was the first Green Lantern comic I ever read. That and JLA #14 with the Atom joining the Justice League were the two comics which hooked me on the DC superhero universe for life.

That #4 provides an excellent example of a defect I hate for which CGC does not penalize - the miscut left edge which leaves white showing along the spine. Miscutting of ths sort leaves any comic that isn't the brightest white look old.