jbcomicbox

2 hours ago, lou_fine said:

Hey Jon;

So, you was one of the lucky collectors who managed to hook up with John early enough to acquire some of the beautiful Church books he had managed to acquire during his days as a comic book broker. 

As you had correctly stated, John was a perfect mentor for an early collector such as myself when I first hooked up with him back in 1987.  I was lucky enough to answered his one and only ever ad in the CBG and also the first ad I ever responded to since he had listed both Bob Overstreet and Steve Geppi as references in his ad.  I called him up and ask about the Mint or NM copy of Playboy #1 he had listed for $1,000 and was told by John that it was already gone.  Same for the uber HG set of Hawkman #1 - #10 which he had listed for $110 .  He then said that I should probably try something earlier as he still had a VF/NM copy of New Book of Comics #2 with blazing snow white pages which was apparently nicer than the Mile High Copy (at that point I did not even know what a Mile High was) and even higher than Overstreet's top of guide listing for the book which was only a VF at the time.  Needless to say, I was absolutely astounded by the book when I received it in the mail.  An absolutely gorgeous squarebound cardboard cover book with 100 pages and my first GA book which was a perfect fit since I had always wanted to acquire some of the pre-hero DC books after reading that amazing article by Gary Carter a few years earlier in the Overstreet guide. 

Although I did acquire other wonderful GA books from John over a period of time after that first transaction, the thing I would remember and treasured the most were the hours we would spend talking on the phone.  He would tell me about some of the different pedigrees that were in existence at the time including all of the Church DC keys he had acquired directly from Chuck.  In addition, he would also tell me fun and interesting stories about some of the early pioneer collectors such as Overstreet, Geppi, the Carter brothers, Anderson, Rozanski, etc. and some of the books he had transacted with them.  Since he knew that I had only a very limited budget, he would emphasized the importance of building a collection focusing on keys, classic covers, and the highest grades possible whenever they became available.  It would have been easy to spend your entire budget on mid-grade mid-run books, only to find out that you had no money left when the right books did come along.  And this was all at a time before the Gerber was out there, CGC was still well over a decade away,  and also when the spread between bottom and top of guide was only 1 to 6 or something small like that.  He constantly emphasized to me that the marketplace would one day realize how truly rare the high grade books were and that I should be targeting these copies because the current 1:6 spread will be a fraction of what they would one day be in the future.

As you have already stated, John was always an absolute  true gentleman and I cannot say enough about the guidance and patience which he showed me in helping me to build my collection based upon the tenets he taught me.  The only collecting mistake I ever made with John was entirely my fault and one that I still regret to this day.  During one of our phone conversations around 1988, he mentioned to me that he had just acquired a high grade set of Spidey 2 - 10 from a long-time private collector who had slowly and meticulously upgraded it over the years into this final compilation and that I could have it for the grand sum of only $1,000.  Even after thinking about it for 2 whole weeks, I still said NO for various reasons not worth mentioning at this point, except it turned out to be my greatest collecting regret in terms of passing up on a set of books.    Especially when you considered all of those key "firsts" in that short run as you must know since you are still keeping your own Spidey 1 - 11 run, even after selling your other quality books off.

For me, John was my fountain of knowledge and someone who opened my eyes into the world of vintage investment quality comic book collecting and for that, I will be forever indebted to him.  When I look at some of the books in my small collection, I still can't help but to think of John.  It's rather sad that John is no longer active in the hobby after retiring from Diamond Int'l Galleries, as I am sure he would have been a wonderful mentor to some of the new and younger collectors starting up in the vintage comic book market today, like he was with some of the new collectors of decades past. 

 

Well stated.

 John lectured me about you could buy comics and sell them for more money. He maintained, of course, was the only thing you would have is "money".  I guess I did not listen hard enough to him.......Jon

On 7/11/2017 at 2:11 AM, Crowzilla said:

With the news of Bob Lubbers passing away this past weekend, I thought it would be a good time to have a dedicated thread to this very talented artist, should be easy with all the Centaur and Fiction House fans we have here.

Thanks for the fantastic imagery, Bob.

I am looking now at the Arrow recreation Bob did for me......Nice individual.....Jon

3 hours ago, Gotham Kid said:

Hello Jon,

lou_fine showed me some pics taken of your books in a PM thread (prior to the start of the CC auction) and I noticed one with a Detective 38. I am happy to have won your copy of Detective 29.

As I did not see the 38 go to auction, was wondering if you kept it or if it eventually will go to auction at a later stage.

Thank you.

- Peter

The 29 is special book with a great cover..No I am on the bottom of the barrel with 'Tec books..........

20 hours ago, jbcomicbox said:

Scanner is down.  However as you know.....there was a little mouse that found the Larson books tasty including the Action 20   Others that I kept was Thrilling 4 chewed Larson, Speed 10. Larson

Mysterymen 26 Larson. Wonder world 27 Larson;  Victory 3 "Lost Larson". (In my Larson article, I got a note from his childhood buddy and sold me the Larson that came from his friend and not from his home.  The rest of the Lost Larsons were in the Auction

Finally almost done being "selective, I kept Silver Streak. no number

Eagle 4, Flame 7

Switching issues I still have three Fine pages from Wonderworld 10,  Crack Comics 17 Black Condor, page from issue  Smash 31 with The Ray

That is getting pretty close to the bottom of the barrel.........There always is my current favorite art page that I kept....but that is for another day.  That is enough stuff for you guys......Thank you for letting me bore you......  (Yes I know this is not the art forum).  jb

AS TO THE"LOST LARSONS" HERE IS MY BLURB"

Epilogue

            After my article came out in late 1994, Larson’s hometown newspaper in Nebraska asked if they could reprint it.  I naturally gave my permission.  About two weeks after the newspaper articles appeared, I received a letter from a boyhood friend of Larson’s (Larson had even been his best man.).  He had read with much interest my articles.  It prompted an old memory.  Recently, he had cleaned out his mother’s house and discovered a box of his old comics.  He remembered as a boy that Larson had given him comics after he was done with them.  Sure enough he found six books with “Lamont” or “Larson” on them.  He “wondered” if I “might” be interested in them.  MIGHT BE!  

             As described none of the books sounded like they were in particularly good condition.  However, driven by curiosity and this incredible quirk of luck that these books even existed, I dickered over a price and purchased the books.   These books are, for the record, Smash Comics 8 (March 1940), Feature Comics 34 (July 1940), Minute Man Comics 2 (September 5- December 5, 1941), Super Mystery 2/4 (October 1941), Victory Comics 3 (November 1941) and Star Spangled Comics 2      (November 1941).  As testament to the uniqueness of the storage condition of the original collection,  the “lost Larsons” are of variable condition with none grading better than VG+ and none displaying the  page whiteness of the original collection.

            These “lost Larsons” prompt several thoughts and observations.  There are, obviously, “Larsons” that were purchased after the September 1941 cover date.  However, it is clear that at this point Larson lost interest.  Of the six “lost Larsons” four are from the very end of his comic reading career.  The fact that he gave away the books is evidence of that.  He may have been more willing to part with his comicbooks at this point. However, since two of the books are from 1940, the “gaps” in the Larson collection may be attributed as much to the common boyhood trait of sharing books as to the possible distribution quirks of the comicbooks themselves.  The more intriguing question is if Larson gave away any other books.  Are there more “lost Larsons” out there waiting to be found?

53 minutes ago, jbcomicbox said:

My copy was  purchased in July 1985 (yes 1985) as the Denver copy from Steve Fishler. Does that help?

Many of my Centaurs were collected years ago.  I would think Jim Payette would be the best to ask on the book.  I was just lucky to get a copy at all.  There are no markings that I know of and do not have that book any longer.

6 hours ago, lou_fine said:

That's is certainly one of the problems with the Denver books since they do not have any distinguishing marks or identification codes on them. 

Not sure if there would be more than 1 copy of a particular book in the Denver Collection since it was such a small collection as it is made up of only about 153 individual books.  I assume the best person to check with would be Payette since he was the guy who discovered the original collection and might have notes for the individual books.

I believe there is a similar thing with the Denver Mystery Men 1 since Steve Carey owns the Denver 1 and yet the Overstreet copy which was pictured as part of the Diamond Int'l Galleries Grand Opening brochure also identifies that copy as being the Denver copy.  With Bob and Geppi though, they just had so many books at the time that they probably simply mixed it up with one of the other pedigrees.   

My copy was  purchased in July 1985 (yes 1985) as the Denver copy from Steve Fishler. Does that help?

21 minutes ago, G.A.tor said:

Feel free...to send to me here.   I did nor see the PM

21 minutes ago, G.A.tor said:

Jon. I had sent a pm with a question

Not sure if you saw or are going to answer, but I can post here if you prefer?

Feel free...to send to me here.   I did nor see the PM

36 minutes ago, woowoo said:

What issue of Hulk was your post to marvel.

36 minutes ago, woowoo said:

What issue of Hulk was your post to marvel.

Issue 188.  The letter and response are in the third page of the catalogue.  jb

On 7/11/2017 at 1:05 AM, lou_fine said:

And I think Jon would agree with all of you gents here, as I believe this is another one of the books which he held back from the auction to keep for himself. 

I do agree!  I did hold it back. Fun cover.  Rockford copy spine split but nice book.  I had early access to the Rockford books which were a great group of books that Mark Wilson uncovered.

24 minutes ago, woowoo said:

Who is this John guy  . I fixed that for you jb.

I forgot to tell you that you have/had a great collection. Glad you still have a lot of books left.  Action 20 Larson would love to see a pic

I loved  your post to marvel comics i read a lot of that stuff 40 years ago.

"A lot" would be a vast overstatement.  "Selective" may work...........

10 minutes ago, Pat Calhoun said:

Hi, Jon, was a fun show - thanks and congrats -Pat

Hey Pat.....good to hear from you...You are a hidden treasure in the hobby.    Jon

13 minutes ago, adamstrange said:

Jon,

The question was asked a couple days back whether you had collected pulps?

No pulps ever........

17 hours ago, lou_fine said:

I imagine it must be the same situation with your Larson copy of Funny Pages #11 since it was not included with the rest of the FP run in the auction?

It's just so hard to stay away from the beautiful colors on some of these Larsons. 

I love that cover,   Yes another one I kept.  You have excellent taste.   Jon

20 hours ago, G.A.tor said:

Jon...metro confirmed you are keeping the fp4/1 Larson too, correct?

20 hours ago, G.A.tor said:

Jon...metro confirmed you are keeping the fp4/1 Larson too, correct?

Correct

21 hours ago, gino2paulus2 said:

JB!!

Hey brother as someone who is a HUGE fan of your eclectic tastes that has now rubbed off on me you know the Our Flag 5 is cherished and I am so blessed to have a copy. My question to you is did you keep your copy? I heard you kept a handful of books and am dying to know what books they were brother!! Any chance a little guy like me in this great hobby gets a list if what couldn't be parted with at the moment. Btw i am finally getting a catalog and am super psyched to page through it MANY TIMES!! 

I did keep the Our Flag 5 of mine for nostalgia. I did not keep many others, and will let you know once I get things straightened out.  (As I affirmed earlier, I had long standing plans to keep Mystery Men 3 (the "Larson copy".)  It was and is my favorite GA book. (Keeping the Larson did not break any of the Church Runs).  jb

14 hours ago, O. said:

OA Aficionado Article - 23/6/17

Part 1 of the report on ComicConnect's Jon Berk Auction is up, with a focus on Jack "King" Kirby OA!

https://comicbookinvest.com/2017/06/23/market-report-june-2017-comicconnect-event-auction-part-1-jack-kirby/

 

2 hours ago, Mmehdy said:

very nice write up

Well done!

On 6/14/2017 at 11:57 PM, sagii said:

Me too (but almost midnight, then we get a new days batch of likes )

Hi Guys-  There were a diverse spectrum of booksl offered.  Were there books that were not on your radar that you gave a hard second look at that you purchased or would consider purchasing, giving it a hard "second look" for purchasing like The Romances of Nurse Helen Grant (kidding) or Whirlwind Comics #2? Our Flag 5?

You can spread it to platinum and other less visible comicbooks .  Surely you have such a book waiting to become YOURS! Or, missed being YOURS!  Inquring minds want to know?    

Alan?

Richard?

Steve?

jbcomicbox

Thanks for all the nice comments and support......

21 hours ago, gino2paulus2 said:

SPECTACULAR!!!! Another one of the Gems of the auction imo. You just don't see these and for such a rare book what a cover too it's so darn cool!! HUGE CONGRATS on this one bro!!

okay I lied. Gotta give you a fact....  For esoteric about about Green Giant  and it relation to MPFW  read page 158 of the Auction Catalogue for some interesting trivia of these early  early books.  jb

21 hours ago, gino2paulus2 said:

SPECTACULAR!!!! Another one of the Gems of the auction imo. You just don't see these and for such a rare book what a cover too it's so darn cool!! HUGE CONGRATS on this one bro!!