Aman619

pretty cool. I looked around to try and figure this out... and saw that the next issue, #97, also has a cover date of OCT. I charted all the cover dates for World's Finest issues 90 thru 110. And I think I found a clue to the double printing... Sept/Oct was the month that WF was bumped up from 6x a year (bi-monthly) to 8 issues a year. There might have been some confusion at DC due to the change, when to slot the extra issues within their distribution system which spread out 30+ titles with varying #s of issues a year.... into a shipping schedule to newsstands that was either weekly, or bi-weekly. When you ship by the week -- not the month -- but use a MONTHLY code on the cover, the actual printed dates are less meaningful than for 12x a year monthly periodicals. Possibly, due to a change in slotting the next issue, DC messed up the first issue #96. At the old 6x issues a year schedule it would have been OCT. Maybe someone mistakenly dated it with SEPT jumping the gun on the upgrade to 8x a year. Or vice versa: meaning it shipped with OCT first but they later decided to also ship it again with SEPT to set up the new 8x schedule (or caught the change while still on press and just shipped all the copies with different dates) ... (If they dod print and ship it twice wouldn't have been a total loss since it was kids summer vacation season, so they may not have minded shipping more Superman/Batman comics to the kids!). But, looking at the next issue #97, it gets more confusing. It also has an OCT cover date! No way they'd use the same date twice on purpose! This was an error, compounded by seeing that there is no NOV at all. Looking at the next years' issues, Worlds Finest was assigned their "2 months on, then skip a month" scheduling pattern. Therefore #97 should have been a NOV cover issue. DC used 2 different 8x a year schedules: "2 months on, one off" (World's Finest, Wonder Woman and others) and "3 months on, skip a month, then 3 months again" (Batman and others.) DC had a fairly complicated release schedule. Juggling their whole lineup into Monthly cover dates, and weekly shipments. (Marvel dealt with this too, but simplified it during the Marvel Age of comics in the Sixties, shipping all their titles in 2 batches, one every other week.) Wonder Woman came out 8x a year, with cover dates: JAN, FEB, (skip) APR, MAY, (skip) JULY, AUG, (skip) OCT, NOV. Batman also shipped 8x a year, but on a different cover date system: FEB, MAR, APR (skip) JUNE, (skip) AUG, SEPT, OCT (skip) DEC And here's the World's Finest cover dates: (clearly there was a brain fartt at DC between Sept and Dec cover dates) #90 OCT #91 DEC #92 FEB #93 APR #94 JUNE #95 AUG #96 SEPT and OCT #97 OCT !? (not NOV) #98 DEC #99 FEB #100 MAR #101 MAY #102 JUNE #103 AUG #104 SEPT #105 NOV #106 DEC #107 FEB #108 MAR #109 MAY #110 JUNE gee that was fun! Just wish I solved something with all this time and effort!

Only 3 episodes too long? They could have told this story in 5nepisodes. Nearly every one felt stretched with useless dialogue.

There's the Allentown and the Church lurking out there snug in their MyLars....

I have a question that may have been answered. Sorry. When opening a thread that you have already read but has a few new posts, it used to open y]to the first unread post. That doesn't seem to still happen? Or do I have to do something new?

Yeah but there's a 9.4 out there ... anyway closed at $80299. Very silly. Or was it shilly?

Your work is awesome... I hope they leave you alone. But they have always been johnny on the spot shutting down "violators", even well meaning homages.

D.C. Cease and desist letter in three, two, one..........

of course, Spidey's going to crash into the apartment building! but, heck.. I mean Ditko!

so I was curious what Ditkos cover might have looked at if colored same time as Kirby's ..and heres what I think it could have looked... doesn't look so bad now does it?

Actually, there Re now 4 9.6 AF15s. And 2 FF 1s in 9.6 And 2 Superman #1s at the top in 8.0 I saw these omissions on your new lists but never got around to sending you a note.

I agree with you based on the BW line art. Huge type everywhere etc. but if it were colored well, in deep muted colors like AF15 is that Spidey was more prominent, I bet it would look just fine as a cover.

!!! thats why it sounded so familiar! my bad

heck, lets just keep it to Metal Men characters from now on. that will last until it doesn't matter anymore. METAL MEN: Gold, Lead, Iron, Platinum, Mercury, Tin. EXISTING ERAS Gold Silver Bronze Copper NEXT ERAS: Lead or Platinum (because while Lead is cheaper, Platinum relates to 90s cover gimmicks well Iron Lead (if not used yet) Tin (Mercury doesn't really apply too well, being a liquid at room temperature.) AND, Finally -- because its already 2050... Turn out the lights!

After bronze everything was labeled Modern. But too many decades passed so Copper was born. Clearly, as even more time has elapsed and -- NEWSFLASH -- will continue to fly by, we just need to follow the progression to an even cheaper metal.. No need to switch to denigration titles. We are collectors and stewards of the hobby, so respect must or should be paid. After all, many of us have already sneered at Bronze and newer books as cheese, and seen that over time, that that indeed come into their own as viable eras in the continuity. But, ok, if we truly are ridiculously beyond the earlier Gold Silver Bronze etc. metal nomenclature for good, because it's all practically worthless, with only a handful of noteworthy books per decade nowadays, naming by decades is a good alternative labeling system.

150 is highly likely still too low. 200-250 is highly probable imo. And my opinion is based on a myriad of factors 1) certified copies ( not just cgc but cbcs and , gulp, even pgx) 2) known raw copies (that's the number the avg person likely has no clue, and the reasons I believe many estimates low ) 3) some "common" sense to me. I've owned 15+ copies of each book. My experience tells me it is highly unlikely that iVe owned 10% of all existing copies 4) extrapolating from fellow collectors /dealers that know of copies I don't, etc Your modesty is understandable, maybe even spot on. But, this is far from a random sampling effect. As a dealer who specializes in such books, it makes the idea that you or Metro and a few others may have indeed touched 15% or more of these two books as they came up for sale logical, even probable. Then again, the math would be trickier than simply counting copies owned or sold by any one of you since your 15 copies had in all likelihood been also sold by some of the others too at one time.

Yes I know.. that's why I hoped I phrased my comments carefully. I passed on this book 20 years ago for 10K. Not this copy, but a fairly high grade raw copy. I was tempted, cause it's cool, and very early and scarce. but finally decided to buy pre Robin Tecs with the money. Hope I made the right decision... : )

at the risk of being Debbi Downer, this is one of the very early comics, one that used to be held if far greater esteem than it is today. They have a high historical cache to them, but few admirers willing to pay interesting sums. just my opinion.

Ha. No it wouldn't. Add a box on the right of each row and add the # in red. You could delete the years too since they are all listed in the top 50 column on the left.

hey, how about added the # of copies slabbed too! Im wondering how those Playboys made the top 10 in 2013, whether it was 20 copies or only say 3 ... but actual numbers (which you must have in order to populate the charts would be an interesting missing piece of info, no?

Uncheck what box?

nearly everything looks restored.... its a choice. But the books shouldn't be referred to as "One of the X best copies" just by grade while ignoring the restored part.

someone should go to a "Deli" right about now and get a second opinion

if the comics market went into freeful, all those who claim they'd jump in and buy would sit on their wallets, probably start selling too. Everybody talks about what they'll do in a financial crisis when prices pull back dramatically, but 99% of us would run for the hills, not back into a collapsing building, trying to catch falling knives etc just like in a stock market crash. another thing: why wait for HG prices to fall if you just want the comic for itself? Wanting a HG copy runs 180 degrees against that stated goal of just loving the hobby, investment be dammmned. Just buy a copy thats affordable now to plug that hole and scratch that itch.

To clarify, sure there will still be run builders.... Because that's what collectors do. But in the long run it will have turned out to be less profitable than concentrating on only keys. ( And affordable too) Which is fine right? Because most of us always advise against comics for investment. And to,enjoy the hobby without seeking a financial windfall.

We'll, I agree about cycles, but that refers more to the good old days. Back then there were far fewer Outside stimulants that caused mad rushes to dead cold books and titles. There were only cycles related to genre fatigue leading collectors to focus on books that suddenly seemed cheap compared to the ones that had moved up. Today however outside forces dictate the cycles far more. Keys are huge now, including all the suddenly hot movie and tv tie ins. This is the strongest market mover ever. When this mass histeria can propel Rocket Raccoon mini series etc to sales of 100s of dollars, then plummet, but retain a still elevated price point. Personally I don't see run collectors ever coming back, too expensive in grade to chase, so a cycle away from keys to common books in the titles run feels very unlikely to me.