rumrunner71

7 hours ago, comicjack said:

3.0 /3.5  that was a great run 

Thanks! I'm definitely enjoying it so far!

Thank you all for your help with this one! Those tears and chunks missing drive me a little nuts since it's such a nice-looking book otherwise. 

I really appreciate your expertise!

Hi All,

Thanks for your help in estimating a grade for this! The colors are bright, and the spine is solid with no splits or staple pulls. The right edge of the front cover is missing some pieces, with two pieces of tape, both of which are holding together tears. There doesn't seem to be any ripplling or waviness. I'm grateful for any suggestions on approximate grade! Thanks in advance!

4 hours ago, Robot Man said:

Two great runs indeed. Full of sick covers, stories and subjects!

Beautiful!

35 minutes ago, fifties said:

Charlton made some damn good horror comics.  This run started out as a straight crime book called, "Lawbreakers", then morphed into "Lawbreakers Suspense Stories", and finished the run as "Strange Suspense Stories".  Some Steve Ditko artwork in at least the last title.  Starting with Lawbreakers Suspense Stories you can't go wrong and WILL get hooked, LOL!

I'm definitely looking at these a lot more! 

30 minutes ago, Jayman said:

Super cool cover on that one!

1 hour ago, sagii said:

Always loved that one! Gorgeous copy, really nice grab sir!

Thanks!

25 minutes ago, bronze johnny said:

Classic cover! Giordano did some great stuff back then.

Totally! This wasn't on my radar before, but when I saw the cover, I couldn't take my eyes off it. Some great perspective with the up-close face melting and the mirror.

9 hours ago, Jayman said:

All great stories in this one, especially Acid Test! Congrats!

Thanks! It's my first issue in this title, and so far, I'm loving it

Take via pm

On 7/30/2020 at 7:54 AM, Frisco Larson said:

That cover is fearsome! Nice:)

6 hours ago, stolon 5 said:

I really expected a bit more from the forum. .I've discovered  the answer. The dealer (UK) is lifting cgc  comics that are for sale in the states relisting them in the UK at greatly increased prices. If /when they  sell he simply buys the American comic and apologises for the delay in postage to the UK buyer..

"I really expected a bit more from the forum?" Can you say what you were expecting? You asked, essentially, a hypothetical question, received several replies within a day offering suggestions, and you are disappointed? I'm confused.

1 hour ago, steveinthecity said:

I don’t think the members answering you were considering anything as nefarious as a seller drop shipping someone else’s books, but the more common or practical reason a barcode would be blacked out.  It might be of benefit for boardies both in the UK and the States if you would “out” the dealer who’s engaging in this practice.

Agreed. This sounds like a candidate for the eBay blocked users list 

1 hour ago, Tony S said:

What you describe is how it is supposed to work, along with requiring a signature on delivery. Showing ID if the carrier/clerk doesn't know you when delivered.  I have told others - in the past - much the same thing you have said above when they ask about how to ship valuable comic books. 

If Registered mail is handled the way it is supposed to be, getting lost should be nearly impossible.Getting damaged rare.  Which is why they will sell up to $50K of insurance on a package. 

Nearly impossible is not 100% impossible, As they say, you can't make things foolproof because fools are clever and creative. So I get it that even registered mail can go missing. What grinds my gears is USPS not paying the claim. USPS knew it was CGC graded, collectible comic books when they took the package. They collected the postage, registered mail and insurance fees. They can't find the package. At least pay the claim.   

 

Yes, that's how it's supposed to work, but you're right, that doesn't mean it always goes that way. And not paying the claim is just outrageous, especially with the cost. With some of my insured shipments, they haven't paid the claim because it's still "in transit" - 3 weeks after it was shipped. smdh

Good luck. USPS is a monstrosity to deal with, and it sucks having to go through this with them.

This is not at all to deny the problems with the USPS. I posted elsewhere just some of my more recent frustrations, and I wish you luck with yours. This is solely in response to the question, "what are we paying for?" with registered mail.

Admittedly, this was sometime ago, but in college, I worked for a company that loaded mail for USPS, FedEx, and UPS on to planes for delivery. On the USPS shift, we would receive 2-4 semi trucks a night loaded with carts of mail to then reload into bins that would go on the planes. Usually the mail was in bags grouped by airport, so we just sorted it, tossed it in the bins, etc. We weren't intentionally rough with packages, but yeah, things fell, and the bags provided no protection. Hardly ever saw a driver or any USPS employees.

Registered mail was different. When registered mail was on the truck, the gate of the trailer was locked and clipped with a plastic tag. (Most trucks we received weren't even locked.) A USPS employee who was following the truck to our warehouse had to cut the plastic tag and log the time he did it, and keep the tab to turn in later. We weren't allowed to touch that tag or lock.

The registered mail itself was in a hard plastic red case, and for sure, that employee watched us the entire time load the case into one of the bins, then instead of letting us fill the bin up, which we would normally do, we had to lock it up, and he would put one of those plastic tags through the lock again and record all the times in a log book. Then, he waited til the bin itself got transferred put to the tarmac and loaded on the plane, again recording everything in a log book.

I'm not saying that stuff doesn't get lost or other problems or that complaints with USPS are unjustified. Just trying to help share what I saw about the difference between regular priority (what we usually shipped) and registered. With priority, there was very little oversight or protection for packages. The only safety was how well you packed your stuff. With registered, that red case was never out of view of a guy whose sole job it was to make sure it got where it needed to go. That's what the cost is for - and what makes it so frustrating that something still got lost.

2 hours ago, BuckFlash said:

I was in Chicago for the Windy City Pulp Show the weekend this collection was announced. When I got the auctions email that day with auctions near you, my eyes popped out of my head when I saw what was there. I was hoping no one else saw it, but of course everyone saw it in the area. I didn't get a chance to see the books like you did but I did make an offer without seeing the books. I didn't win the auction but I was curious who got the collection. I have a feeling maybe Graham Crackers got it since he's in the area? 

It was definitely an eye-popping list. I was searching the sales just on a whim when I saw it and couldn't believe it. The estate company didn't have much of an idea of what they had there. When we were looking through the collection, I know they were fielding a ton of calls about it. At one point, the head person with the estate company came in to tell the other staff that they couldn't open the All Star 8 anymore to answer questions about the condition, and I was thinking "Good idea," given the way they were manhandling it.

Take per pm

This is a straight longshot, but I'm hoping someone can tell me what happened to "the one that got away."

In April 2019, an estate sale in West Allis, Wisconsin, featured an original owner collection of mostly GA. The original listing is here: https://www.estatesales.net/WI/West-Allis/53214/2183139. The current page has removed most of the pictures, but there were about 250 GA books, and it was a great-looking haul with a mix of horror, hero, and romance. An All-Star 8 was up for grabs, separate from the rest of the collection. The remaining books were sold in a closed-bid auction.

Here are some of the books:

Action 37, 60, 73, 126, 129, 130

All-Flash 1, 9, 16

All Star 4, 44

All Winners 7

Batman 25, 46, 50 (2 copies)

Captain America 20 and 70

Exposed 3, 4

Firehair 1

Flash Comics 27, 39, 57

Forbidden Worlds 21

Golden Arrow 1

Green Lama 5

Journey into Fear 13

Journey into Mystery 8

Menace 2
Phantom lady 21

Planet Comics 9

Sensation Comics 87

Spy Smasher 1, 6

Terrifying Tales 13

Thrilling 18

Victory Comics 2

Wonder Woman 32 (2 copies)

Yellowjacket Comics 1

This was my first try at an estate sale collection, and I drove with a buddy out to see it. As you can imagine, it was amazing walking into that room and getting hit with that smell of vintage books. (Almost as amazing as watching some of the staff handle these comics like they were stacks of 90s X-Men. At one point, one of the guys literally grabbed a stack of about 15 with the Flash and Actions and knocked them on the table on end like a sheaf of papers. Then another staff person nearly tore a corner off All Flash 1 while opening it  From what the estate folks said, the collection belonged to a man who bought the comics with his brother when they were younger and then just kept them in a couple boxes in the garage ever since.

Needless to say, I put in a bid and didn't get it, and I'd be lying to say if I said I hadn't thought about it a lot of times since. The condition wasn't great for a lot of the books (water stains, chews, what you'd expect from seventy years in a Wisconsin garage) but man, what a collection!

So, my question: did anyone else hear about this one or know what happened to it? I'm not trying to be nosey, so if someone on here is the buyer, my apologies for prying. But I'm just curious where that collection ended up.

8 hours ago, Marty Mann said:

Not quite sure what he's throwing here.

 

 

After seeing ec's cover above this post, I'm thinking he's throwing the only weapon left...a green snake with VD

2 hours ago, fifties said:

Got this in today.  Make no mistake, it's a horror book.

Thanks for sharing the interiors. Those are even better than the cover!

On 7/24/2020 at 4:27 PM, Jasonmorris1000000 said:

1st Gorilla Man.

I've been wanting to upgrade this one, but it hardly ever shows up. When it's in a CGC holder, who cares if the cover is completely split.  Ha. Ha.

Split or not, that is a cool cover!

6 hours ago, littledoom said:

Craigslist for garage sales; estatesales.net for estate sales... although both have been very dry for many months sadly 

estatesales.net is pretty good, but yes, there's been very little (of anything good, anyway) for a while. If you can find local estate sales companies in your area, many of them have email listservs you can get on.