Extant copies estimates?

[He11blazer]

Does anybody know where I can find estimates of the number of extant copies of any particular comic?

 

For example, I occasionally read that there are 'less than 100' copies of Action 1 out there. What about Action 2, 3 etc?

 

And what about Batman 36? I'm curious because I recently picked up a half-eaten copy of this comic. I'm not a wealthy man, so I picked this one up just so I could have at least 1 early GA Batman, whatever the condition!

 

Here's a pic for the curious. Note the upper spine and bottom corners. What kind of insidious creature does that to a comic?! Woodworm?

 

 

[showcase4]

the best way for a fairly / most cases accurate estimate of copies in existence would be the Gerber Photo Journal Guide, which has a scarcity rating / estimated copies rating for just about any GA book you can think of.......plus it has the coolest pics you have ever seen

 

PS....as for the bite marks on your Bat.....looks like the Detective27Kid did it....he gets hungry alot when sorting his Bat collection

[Kakapo]

Although the Gerber Photo Journals are the best starting point, the accuracy of some of the numbers it gives has been extensively debated on these boards over the years. If memory serves, the consensus is that most of the numbers given by Gerber underestimate the actual number of copies out there. There are certain individual issues in runs that seem, in the Age of the Internet, to be particularly scarce, and they aren't always singled out by Gerber. And how much time would we really have expected him to spend studying the abundance of Buzzy #70, anyway?

 

What Gerber did was a huge undertaking, but perhaps there were a few dozen golden age collections lying dormant in the years when he was asking every collector he knew, which cool books they had. Some of those collections have since resurfaced and come onto the market, so in the case of one book, I seem to remember Gerber estimated 10 extant copies, but one of the experts on here said he knew where 12 copies were, with who knows how many more in the hands of people he wasn't friends with.

 

Long answer to a short question, sorry! And, nice Batman cover, by the way!

[He11blazer]

The Photo Jounal Guide looks like a book I could spen all day leafing through. Have added it to my Amazon wish list!

 

Your comment reminded me of something. Had to scratch my head for a bit but finally it came to me! An appropriate panel from Hellblazer #1:

 

 

[Timely]

The Photo Jounal Guide looks like a book I could spend all day leafing through.

 

All year is more accurate!

 

West

[G.A.tor]

the best way for a fairly / most cases accurate estimate of copies in existence would be the Gerber Photo Journal Guide, which has a scarcity rating / estimated copies rating for just about any GA book you can think of.......plus it has the coolest pics you have ever seen

 

PS....as for the bite marks on your Bat.....looks like the Detective27Kid did it....he gets hungry alot when sorting his Bat collection

yum....batman....

[ft88]

Trying to figure out how rare a book you own is half the fun, and who has more motivation to research than an owner such as yourself. Go to the major dealer sites and ebay and heritage history to get a good idea of the number that are on the market. CGC census too of course. My rule of thumb is to multiply by 4 on Golden Age books and that might be a good number of copies that people are at least aware of.

 

The number is probably higher but its what I use.

[He11blazer]

...My rule of thumb is to multiply [census] by 4 on Golden Age books and that might be a good number of copies that people are at least aware of.

 

The number is probably higher but its what I use.

 

Well the census for Batman 36 is 49 copies. ALL of which are in better condition than mine I might add! By your guesstimate that would make about 200 copies? Sounds low.

 

Would some helpful person with a copy of the Photo Journal handy tell me what Gerber's estimate is? I'm intrigued!

 

 

[The Black Hand ®]

While the Journals are great books, the scarcity index is no longer relevant. Because of factors such as ebay and online comic sales, books once thought to be scarce have come out of the wood work. Although most GA comics are not what one would call abundant or common, they are easier to locate in this age of the internet.

[ft88]

200 copies is low but there are probably 200 reasonably available copies of the book which is what I'm looking at when trying to establish what the market for a particluar book might be.

[rodan57]

Here's a pic for the curious. Note the upper spine and bottom corners. What kind of insidious creature does that to a comic?! Woodworm?

 

 

Mice.

 

Dennis