They were not sold all at one time and I don't recall the story in CB Monthly but if you provide the issue date or some notes from it I may be able to provide more info.
Here are some of the ones that have made it into my hands (2 are not WMs).
It's hard to imagine...but when the WM's surfaced ,the pre heros weren't all that popular...and were very cheap in the guide. A hundred bucks could pick up a REAL nice copy of most. When I first started collecting them in the early 90's I was snagging solid fines for 25 to 30 bucks a pop...but they were hard to find. They still are in fine or better. Even though Stan recycled the same 3 or 4 stories over and over, I still love finding one that I haven't read. GOD BLESS...
-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u
The pre-hero collecting didnt take off until the about 93-94. It all started with some articles in the old Comic Book Marjetplace magazine that talked about "Marvel prototypes"...then the Price Guide started to list them and demand for these puppies just got greater and greater. It was then that collectors began to realize how rare they were in HG.
I got into them in the late 80s, but didnt really start collecting HG copies until the early 90s. Durign that time, I scooped up a bunch of them from the likes of Marnin Rosenberg, Conrad Escheberg, and Joe Krolik. I finally finished the entire run about 3 years ago.
Sure the stories have been recycled countless times, but each one is unique in its own way -- especially those Ditko 5 pagers!