VintageComics Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 This is a book you just never, ever see over Fine. Your book is in about the same shape as mine. One of my favourites! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sqeggs Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 I'm starting to wonder if this one is as rare as advertised. I thought there were only two extant, but just one the boards here, we've got at least three. Yes, but I only know of those three, plus one more- that copy that sold for about $700. on eBay last August, remember? Here's the census I've been keeping on this book: RICK STARR'S copy, my copy (which is the Crippen copy), the one that sold on eBay last Aug., and another copy owned by a member of the Yahoo Romance group (he sent me a scan, years ago). Those are the only four I've been able to confirm. Anyone else have one? Never had one, only ever saw one listed in - roughly - 15 years. Is it, then, the rarest of Bakers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29dukedog Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 (edited) I'm starting to wonder if this one is as rare as advertised. I thought there were only two extant, but just one the boards here, we've got at least three. Yes, but I only know of those three, plus one more- that copy that sold for about $700. on eBay last August, remember? Here's the census I've been keeping on this book: RICK STARR'S copy, my copy (which is the Crippen copy), the one that sold on eBay last Aug., and another copy owned by a member of the Yahoo Romance group (he sent me a scan, years ago). Those are the only four I've been able to confirm. Anyone else have one? Never had one, only ever saw one listed in - roughly - 15 years. Is it, then, the rarest of Bakers? Not by a long shot. This has got to be the rarest: (BTW, this is not my copy... it's actually the D Copy, and it's been photoshopped a little.) I believe there are only two copies confirmed, but ask Dr. Love about this one- he's the expert. Edited February 14, 2014 by 29dukedog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inaflash Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 I'm starting to wonder if this one is as rare as advertised. I thought there were only two extant, but just one the boards here, we've got at least three. Yes, but I only know of those three, plus one more- that copy that sold for about $700. on eBay last August, remember? Here's the census I've been keeping on this book: RICK STARR'S copy, my copy (which is the Crippen copy), the one that sold on eBay last Aug., and another copy owned by a member of the Yahoo Romance group (he sent me a scan, years ago). Those are the only four I've been able to confirm. Anyone else have one? I have a short box full of this issue. I'll try to scan them when I get a chance. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Love Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 Not by a long shot. This has got to be the rarest: (BTW, this is not my copy... it's actually the D Copy, and it's been photoshopped a little.) I believe there are only two copies confirmed, but ask Dr. Love about this one- he's the expert. Yup that's my copy. Or at least my copy as it looks photoshopped! It's a Crippen, but it's a 6.5 Crippen, and there's a reason for that. I'm planning to crack it, press it, and resub, even though it may replace the OW-W with a CR-OW. It's the only graded copy, but I'm pretty sure Bumble Kitty has one too. Other than that I haven't seen one around, but having said that, we'll probably get 3 more posted in the next 24 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Love Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 I'm starting to wonder if this one is as rare as advertised. I thought there were only two extant, but just one the boards here, we've got at least three. Yes, but I only know of those three, plus one more- that copy that sold for about $700. on eBay last August, remember? Here's the census I've been keeping on this book: RICK STARR'S copy, my copy (which is the Crippen copy), the one that sold on eBay last Aug., and another copy owned by a member of the Yahoo Romance group (he sent me a scan, years ago). Those are the only four I've been able to confirm. Anyone else have one? Never had one, only ever saw one listed in - roughly - 15 years. Is it, then, the rarest of Bakers? It could be the rarest of non-Bakers that is taken for a Baker. And don't yell at me, I'm only the messenger. Fantagraphics didn't even list it as questionable, or Baker-style. "The only St. John romance line-drawn cover not by Baker." I gather you guys would disagree? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29dukedog Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 I'm starting to wonder if this one is as rare as advertised. I thought there were only two extant, but just one the boards here, we've got at least three. Yes, but I only know of those three, plus one more- that copy that sold for about $700. on eBay last August, remember? Here's the census I've been keeping on this book: RICK STARR'S copy, my copy (which is the Crippen copy), the one that sold on eBay last Aug., and another copy owned by a member of the Yahoo Romance group (he sent me a scan, years ago). Those are the only four I've been able to confirm. Anyone else have one? Never had one, only ever saw one listed in - roughly - 15 years. Is it, then, the rarest of Bakers? It could be the rarest of non-Bakers that is taken for a Baker. And don't yell at me, I'm only the messenger. Fantagraphics didn't even list it as questionable, or Baker-style. "The only St. John romance line-drawn cover not by Baker." I gather you guys would disagree? Before I can take that claim at face value, I need the following questions answered: 1) Says who? 2) If Baker didn't do it, who did? 3) What documentation,or testimony, is there to back up the claim? My own opinion is that Baker may very well have drawn or inked part of the cover. Probably not the woman's hands, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Love Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 Before I take that claim at face value, I need the following questions answered: 1) Says who? 2) If Baker didn't do it, who did? 3) What documentation,or testimony, is there to back up the claim? My own opinion is that Baker may very well have drawn or inked part of the cover. Probably not the woman's hands, though. 1) John Benson 2) he doesn't say 3) none Benson, from the St. John's Checklist: "Identification of the artists was done many years ago. All art identification is by Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. for other than for Baker and Baker-style stories. The latter, where Jim and I worked together on identification, require some special comments. One would think that Baker's dominance in the line and his distinctive style would make identi-fication of his stories a snap. But, as Jim noted, "My quick review of these stories reinforces my belief that Baker had four inkers, and that there were two people imitating him." So far as we know, all Baker stories were inked by others. We haven't attempted to guess which stories were inked by Ray Osrin or John Baker (the inkers whose names we know), and for clarity, we haven't put a "/?" after every Baker entry." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tri-Color Brian Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 He either changed his style dramatically between issue 1 and 2 (this one) or it isn't all by Matt. That's my opinion... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sqeggs Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 The checklist in the recent Matt Baker: The Art of Glamour book does credit Baker with the cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sqeggs Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Leads me to wonder how many Bakers there are with fewer than 10 known copies. We would have to guess, of course, because there are many Bakers with fewer than 10 copies in the CGC census. We can reasonably suspect, though, that there are more than 10 raw copies of most of those. So far, we have Diary Secrets nn All-Picture All-True Love Story 2 What about: GCE 12 Romance Confession Stories Record Book of Famous Police Cases (dubious about this one) I'm probably forgetting some obvious candidates .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Love Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 The checklist in the recent Matt Baker: The Art of Glamour book does credit Baker with the cover. Really? I don't own that book (yet). That is very interesting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Love Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Leads me to wonder how many Bakers there are with fewer than 10 known copies. We would have to guess, of course, because there are many Bakers with fewer than 10 copies in the CGC census. We can reasonably suspect, though, that there are more than 10 raw copies of most of those. So far, we have Diary Secrets nn All-Picture All-True Love Story 2 What about: GCE 12 Romance Confession Stories Record Book of Famous Police Cases (dubious about this one) I'm probably forgetting some obvious candidates .... That Secrets of True Love is tough. and I would include the Teen-Age Diary Secrets 9. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tri-Color Brian Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 GCE 12? What is GCE? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Love Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Giant Comics Editions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tri-Color Brian Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Oh...thank you...I hate those abbreviations sometimes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sqeggs Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 How about Authentic Police Cases 18? Supposedly a Gerber 8. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sqeggs Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Leads me to wonder how many Bakers there are with fewer than 10 known copies. We would have to guess, of course, because there are many Bakers with fewer than 10 copies in the CGC census. We can reasonably suspect, though, that there are more than 10 raw copies of most of those. So far, we have Diary Secrets nn All-Picture All-True Love Story 2 What about: GCE 12 Romance Confession Stories Record Book of Famous Police Cases (dubious about this one) I'm probably forgetting some obvious candidates .... That Secrets of True Love is tough. and I would include the Teen-Age Diary Secrets 9. There's that copy on eBay ... for $3,300. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sqeggs Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 The checklist in the recent Matt Baker: The Art of Glamour book does credit Baker with the cover. Really? I don't own that book (yet). That is very interesting... I like it. I don't think there is enough information surviving to write a true biography of Baker, but this book has some very interesting material, including interviews with his relatives and with Frank Giusto. When asked "Did Matt ever get any fan mail or compliments from his peers?" Giusto said: "Not that I recall. Just the fact that he could get work anytime he needed was a testimony to his ability." Sad that he didn't receive more recognition in his time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tri-Color Brian Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 (edited) Not to slam a fellow boardie...but geez, Lexcorp in Spokane sure wants a lot of money for his Bakers on eBay...too much in my opinion...too much for everything he has slabbed on there. Unbelievable...I think we should protest by not buying any of it. This is out of control. Edited February 15, 2014 by tricolorbrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...