Primetime

All legit points. I know plenty of 29 fans. The 29/31 are neck in neck as far as popularity but I think the 31 would have slightly more votes. What is true is that blue label 31s have been more scarce in the public/private market the past three years.

Your SDCC set up is much simpler and lighter

Honestly i think the seller did a very poor job. I would have gone after a few of those books but i am not willing to drop 10k+ on a book with those poor pictures. I suspect that impacted the prices. I also think there could be a lot more defects that were not visable which is common of low grade books like that. James G +1 That was definitely a "not how to" guide on selling big dollar books. Seller did not do himself any favors, to be sure. the same seller dumped a bunch of pre bat tecs a few months ago on ebay too...

although I am biased towards the early 1-13 run, I think the interior art was at it's Kirby best around issues 39-73 range...highlighted by the DD/Dr Doom issues (39-40), SS/Galactus Trilogy (48-50), all the silver/doom/black panther issues, and finally the Blastaar/sandman splash panels in issues 61-63 were pretty good. My two cents.

congrats. I saw you post it on your IG

I just made a private deal with the seller j/k some pinoy sneakiness

I emailed him to inquire about the book's history and how long he's had it...no reply yet.

Richard, between the 2 of us we have 100 years in the hobby. Richie Evans is bringing up the rear with another 35-40. add the three of us together and we're the oldest man on the planet I feel so young now, having only 31 years in the hobby. buncha pikers. First comic book for me was summer of '65 i bought this at a drug store in fort walton beach, summer of '64. oldest . book i still have. really neat Billy

all the pre robins (except the 27 and 31) are at cheaper price points than the Bat 1, but aren't as common.

goes up each year. Solid blue chip investment. Somewhat plentiful (I use that term lightly) in supply for a GA #1 key but always has high demand.

They are running $17k+ a point in low grade pending eye appeal and PQ. .5s seem to be running $8k-$12k depending on eye appeal and if a BC is present.

he bought a few from Metro like the Church Cap 1, and a lot of them were raw since it was pre CGC, if I'm not mistaken.

right you are Richard. I actually remember trading you an All American 90, a Tec 86, and cash for a VG Subby 3. I quickly went over to Showcase Dan's booth and traded the Subby and cash for a Cap 7. Those were the days of Wondercon in Oakland with dealers like yourself, Metro (fishler showed up; pre Vinny days), Vincent's Collectibles, Harley, Showcase NE, Four Color....

Such a classic cover! Nice! This and USA 7 were my GA gateway books. How much did you pay? Where did you get it? you will always be attracted to the books that pioneered your GA collecting career. I remember my first timely was a Human Torch 4. I must have traded 20 SA marvels to Carbanaro at Wondercon 1995 to get it. I was into Caps, Marvel Mysterys, and All Selects when I started collecting Timelys in the mid 90s. Oddly, I didn't start buying USAs until the mid 2000s and I had bought the GA Gerber back in 1994. I bought this All Select 1 from Ed Jaster way before he joined Heritage. All Select 1 was arguably the hottest Timely in the 1990s and into the early 2000s.

I got this one 14 years ago today.

Bob says they only paid a dollar a book. $60? And he says that Mike and Nick were ethically challenged. Who are we to believe? memories are fading so I dunno . At $1000, that's less than $17 per book. Mike did say they paid roughly 40% of guide back then. Mike thinks the Cap 1 would grade a 9.0 today from what he remembers. What would 40% of guide been back then? I only have the 1980 guide as my oldest.

Manyak mentioned to me that the first pallet of books he and Nick bought were roughly 60 in number for $1,000. I keep imagining that Cap 1 rolled up in a rubber band. That's another book I've never seen publicly or privately.

Beautiful Leroy! Looks like a VG +1 This book does present VG. There must be dome hidden defects we are missing. Oh...just caught spine split. CGC ceiling grade is 1.8 for completely split spine. I will take any spine split 1.8 that looks like that all day long. it's a good defect to have when you can get an otherwise nicer book for a discount. And in the slab, it really doesn't make a difference

Beautiful Leroy! Looks like a VG +1 This book does present VG. There must be dome hidden defects we are missing. Oh...just caught spine split. CGC ceiling grade is 1.8 for completely split spine.

it may be possible that the "tom" on the rubber stamp could be the father's name used to mark the comics..?

Nice one Leroy.

Well, BLB objected to the SF designation on the grounds that Reilly (supposedly) lived in Piedmont in the east Bay. The collection had no direct connection with SF as such. It surfaced, if I understand the story, at the Berkeley con and, of course, Comics&Comix was in Berkeley. yup Piedmont is in the Oakland east Bay. It's a strange pedigree location wise, as a third of the collection was with a relative in New Jersey. Also, comic dealer Redbeard (Ron Pussell) from Nevada first coined the pedigree "San Francisco" after he found out it originally was discovered in Berkeley. None of the books were ever physically in San Francisco.

I posted this a few months back, but I did spend a good 90 mins talking to Mike Manyak at a small local show in December 2014. He remembers the aunt and uncle wheeling in a third of the collection on a dolley that Easter Sunday at the Berkeley Con 1973. Mike doesn't really recall any details of Reilly, but it was cool to hear him speak of the runs of Timely Torch and Subby he and Nick Marcus feasted their eyes upon. The Cap 1 was, interestingly, rolled up with a single rubber band.

fantastic colors