Thanks Shep. Not much of a story for me to tell, but here it is. I got into war books with both feet when I purchased my G.I.Combat 68 a while back. I decided then that I wanted to get nice clean copies of OAaW 81-83. I found a nice 82 right away and jumped on it. Now there have long since been many copies of #81 at Metropolis (the best of which, CGC 8.5, I was the underbidder on ebay-It's now about $2500 more than it went for that day) So I decided I would wait on the 81 and look for a nice 83.
I told a friend of mine I was looking, so if he came across one to let me know. I continued to look. I saw one nice looking copy on SoCal Comics (CGC 4.5) I didn't really have the money at that exact time, but I kept checking the site every few days to see if it was still there. A month later I looked for it and it was gone. I now was upset with myself that I didn't just pull the trigger and charge it. Since then the only copies I've seen are a couple low grade copies with poor scans on ebay that I didn't want to take a chance on. Then one day that friend of mine told me he found one. I had NO MONEY as I was knee deep in replacing the asbestos roof on my 200 + year old house (still not done now, but getting close) So I went through my collection and picked a bunch of books that I was willing to part with and took a drive to see him and traded them for the 83. The books I traded had some value, but all of them can be replaced. I knew I would kick myself if I didn't find a way to get it. I've continued to look for #83 since I got mine, not to purchase another, but just out of curiousity, and I have seen zero, I'm very happy with the decision to make this one happen.
As for who the "source" is. I would not say he deals in very many war books, but he's a great guy and he came through for me on this one and his name is Ted Vanliew, better known as Superworld Comics. It will be a (long)while, but now I have to start saving for a #81.
Thanks again for the kind words and for confirming that I'm not crazy!
-Mike
My oh my oh my!!!!
NICE BOOK!!!!
You should feel great about picking that book up, as you're right, you will not find another one in a long long time (if ever at all). The source, Ted from Superworld, is a gem of a dealer. I've only met him once, face to face, but knew right then and there that this guy is super. I've dealt with him through his website as well, and I don't know if you'll ever meet a nicer comic book dealer.
Good for you, Mike!
Andy