Aman619

by "popular" demand.... Brave and Bolds 1-24 (the #1 was elsewhere and could not make it to the photoshoot!)

well, yes and no. my 'hoard' both proves and disproves JC pet theories about vast hoards of SA books. YES he is correct that plenty of copies are nestled in mylars out there. ...and...NO (as MY collection illustrates) the true NM and NM- books are NOT there in the vast quantities he claims.

after much ado and hand wringing (not to mention some subtle neck wringing by certain parties over the past few months.) I took a few snapshots of some comics to show. I hope it was worth the wait.....

Well, all I can say is IT`S ABOUT FREAKIN` TIME!!!

 

In all seriousness, I had a feeling you were going to show some mind-boggling stuff when you finally got around to it. I`m highly impressed, for whatever THAT`s worth! I echo the sentiments that you should show the B&B 1-24, and I`d love to see closer up shots of the Showcase 8, 13 and 14.

 

Finally, interesting to see how different collectors` philosophies can be so divergent. The number of multiple copies you have is amazing, particularly of B&B 28. In contrast, I have rarely ever had doubles, let alone triples and quadruples, because I wanted to fill in the runs and would prefer to sell my duplicates to raise the money to buy more books.

I was bummed last night that you werent around as I put them up. As for multiple copies, I just kept buying, figuring if one copy was a good deal, two or more were even better long term.

heres Showcase 1-15. As before they all 'look' sharp, but arent nearly gonna be highest graded copies...

Ive upgraded a few of these since then...

 

Great books, Aman! I'd love to see close-ups of the Showcase 8, 13, and 14 too, since you hardly ever see those books in nice shape.

 

Also, how about some pix of the Brave and the Bold #1-25?

all in good time! maybe just 1 - 24 since youve already seen the 25! : )

thanx Adam! yeah, my 4 sure looks nice dont it? from afar! and Im into the rest a lot better than the Showcase 4. That book, as you know, got red hot for a while which shot the Guide up a lot back then, and it hasnt budged much since, or not as much as other keys.... So this was, of course, another "unimprovable, once in a blue moon" killer copy and was over Guide by a bit as I recall.

lets put it this way: it wasnt sold or stickered at VF Guide!!! At least noowdays, the only boooks that ARE priced at multiples ARE real 9.4 quality copies! Not the VFs like the "good old days!"

this pic just goes to show that even tough books are pretty easy to come by, if you keep buying them in whatever grade you see... One or two, maybe three are nice...but nothing like Dougs Vault copy! yikes!

I dont want to come off as one of those mint freaks who care only for perfection. Those of you who dont have copies and hear me complaining, dont worry, I am very happy to have these copies..... or any copies at all. Im with you. But as I say, its a rude awakening to have thought you were buying the best or near the best, and not to try to upgrade over the years because you felt you couldnt.... and later on realize the truth.

okay, on with the show..

heres a closeup of my Showcase 4. probably somewhere between 7 and 8, maybe ... its a poster child for everything I moan about on the boards since I got here, about how this was such a killer copy for years in my collection, but now that I see 9.2s and 9.4s it pales in comparison. Every time I look at it, I see more and more little things that make me go grrrrr.

heres Showcase 1-15. As before they all 'look' sharp, but arent nearly gonna be highest graded copies...

Ive upgraded a few of these since then...

I know - A Richie Rich Trifecta!

lets see, whats next?

another pretty tough book...

heres a book you dont see very often... this ones pretty nice, but no 9.2 either...

woof woof!

after much ado and hand wringing (not to mention some subtle neck wringing by certain parties over the past few months.) I took a few snapshots of some comics to show. I hope it was worth the wait.....

A group shot first, in no particular order.... still struggling to get the perfect size and res files..

no, they are not all 9.0 or better, but they looked real good when I bought them!

I'm always astounded in seeing a ten cent DC in NM. With the way these books were handled back in the day, coupled with the lack of air conditioning, dehumidifiers, bags and backing boards, these puppies are simply freaks of nature. Freaks, I say!

And that`s why I love NM books, because they are indeed freaks of nature for having survived in this kind of condition. It has actually made me very cynical about things like bags and backing boards. The pedigrees show that storage environment (cool and dark) and not moving the books around is vastly more important than any other storage factor, including bags and boards.

I agree. However, youre not really downplaying the role of bags and boards.. The HG collections were stored nocely and left untouched for decades perhaps. Buts its really just a question of WHEN the books were disturbed and stored in some kind of bag or mylar after sitting around untouched but not cared for. Whether that was from 1960 til 1970 when it was placed gingerly in a Bell bag. Or if they sat for another 20 years unmoved and made it into a mylar for th efirst time.

Its the UNTOUCHED factor that trumps the bags, board, mylar storage that is the secret to the preservation of NM 60s comics (or any comic. That and picking a NM off the racks.

signed: Aman the obvious who lately has spotted so few occasions to comment around here lately that he enjoyed writing this long essay of nothingness to clarify a small point of some interest.

they all look like that. Last minute replacement story I think was the reason... Could have been An Elongated Man by the length of the box..

boy. Sometimes people complain about todays computer coloring being too much. But look at that Conan cover - - it just SCREAMS for more tones, especially on Conan himself. By todays standards, it looks HALF finished! The only areas that were rendered with a WINK to realism are the armor!! Everything is solid paintbucket coloring book style

who wants to bet that store gets audited every year for a while???

I dunno. I picked a a bunch in the bodega around the corner. They looked pretty sharp to me.

yeah...around there. 75 to 150 maybe... hard to say..

i dont know, but back then, there WERE probably only 9 known copies. And probably only 90 known collectors!! Comics collecting was in its infancy. BTW - I was in college at the time and remember hearing about the big sale on the news. Sure seemed like a crazy amount of money for a comic book to ME too! I was still getting em for 5 for a dollar.

whatever happenned to Mehdy, and that copy??

hey Kermit. you price up those Spideys yet?

cause its stolen from DC?

what does the manufacturer say is the side to use? and why? perhaps they think we prefer a shiny board next to our comics and shiny-ing up ONE side is cheaper than pressing BOTH sides...

 

so Im guessing both sides may in fact have diferent ph-levels, but it's due to something else than pre-planning.

 

What do you mean, "pressing BOTH sides"? You can't press just one side of a piece of paper.

pressing is not the correct process or term... but the spray isnt why its shiny is it? Like oaktag and other forms of two-diffferent sided boards, you can heat-treat one side only to flatten the paper's rag content, thats what I was getting at.