Mound City Comic Collection Details on original owner revealed

[MoundCityAuctions]

It took him a while before the idea caught on of a comic pedigree. Nothing like this had ever existed. Chuck did it.

 

The people told him what the price was and he paid it. They were throwing them out if he didn't buy them. This was not today where people regularly pay stupid money for them. This was a gamble for him and it paid off.

 

Your Woman's Day metaphor confounds me. I don't know much about the Woman's Day back issue market, but I'm guessing it's nowhere near as big as of 2009 as comics were even in 1977. Correct me if I'm mistaken.

 

Chuck absolutely did innovate the hobby, but that doesn't lessen the fact that he screwed the Churches over in doing it. And it's utter wildly_fanciful_statement to say that this collection was a gamble at the price he paid, or that he ever really believed it was a gamble at that price. Yes, it stretched his own personal finances, no doubt, so it was an absolutely ballsy thing for a guy as young and poor as he was to do. But he knew it was worth far, far more than he was paying, FAR more. Laughably, OMG WTF I'm the luckiest-sumperson_without_enough_empathy-I-know-my-lifes-about-to-change kinda lucky. Which is why he was able to secure loans from other collectors just by negotiating quite specifically that they'd get a tiny, TINY slice of the overall collection, albeit an quite primo tiny slice.

 

In summary, Church's wife quotes Chuck a price. He jumps on it and declines to divulge the actual value. Mound City gets a similar offer this year, and decides to inform the family that the books are worth more. You can't see both the ethical and moral superiority in Rob's actions and why people have a problem with Chuck doing the opposite? It would be even easier to forgive Rob in 2009 than Chuck in 1977 because there's a LOT more common knowledge out there that the Mound City original owners could have drawn from to know the books were worth more than $5K...yet Rob still knew the high road and took it. And still made out like a bandit.

In my family we call it a blessing.

[MoundCityAuctions]

I first met Chuck and his then girlfriend Nanette at a small convention in Sacramento in early 1978. They had brought about half of the Church books with them. No name to the collection, and no hype. He was asking double guide for the stuff I was interested in, but he ultimately accepted far less. Only one other person stopped by his booth during the two hours I was there.

 

That being said, I believe that either the 5th or 6th edition of Overstreet was in effect when Chuck purchased the Church books in early 1977. He paid far less than 1% of 1976 OPG “fair market value” for the collection. These are the facts.

 

Savvy young businessman or rip-off artist? You decide. But I’d sure like to know which collector/dealer offered $50k for the $1 million MCA collection, so that I can avoid him.

There were two offers, and I don't think it is my place to name names. I can't make it brighter by blowing out someone elses candle.

[Sqeggs]

I first met Chuck and his then girlfriend Nanette at a small convention in Sacramento in early 1978. They had brought about half of the Church books with them. No name to the collection, and no hype. He was asking double guide for the stuff I was interested in, but he ultimately accepted far less. Only one other person stopped by his booth during the two hours I was there.

 

That being said, I believe that either the 5th or 6th edition of Overstreet was in effect when Chuck purchased the Church books in early 1977. He paid far less than 1% of 1976 OPG “fair market value” for the collection. These are the facts.

 

Savvy young businessman or rip-off artist? You decide. But I’d sure like to know which collector/dealer offered $50k for the $1 million MCA collection, so that I can avoid him.

 

Agreed. Collecting was a lot different than now but there were collectors, conventions, back issue stores, mail order dealers, fanzines and prozines and an established price guide. Any dealer offering 1% of the value of a collectible is screwing the owner. In Chuck's defense, the owner's of the collection weren't listening and Chuck knew that if they did listen he couldn't afford the books and would lose out on the deal. Chuck had a tough time raising what he did pay them.

Was 1800 dollars that big of a deal in 1977?I know I was working a little and could have come up with that.

 

Found a handy calculator on line.

$1800 in 1977 would be worth aproximately:

 

$6,394.08 using the Consumer Price Index

$5,172.56 using the GDP deflator

$7,083.33 using the value of consumer bundle

$5,980.04 using the unskilled wage

$9,262.48 using the nominal GDP per capita

$12,804.55 using the relative share of GDP

 

I know Chuck repeatedly mentioned hauling the comics in his broken down van and I suspect he was a starving hippy with hardly a penny to his name before he found this collection. It wasn't that much $$ but to him it was a lot. I would happily pay what he paid for the collection in today's dollars. He was one lucky guy to say the least.

 

 

Actually, Chuck was in his early 20s, rather than a teenager in 1977. One key fact about the market to keep in mind is that comics, even high grade key issues, were not nearly as liquid then as they are today. The Mound City collection was discovered and disposed of in, what, a few months? Chuck knew that getting his money out of the Church collection was going to be, at best, a long drawn out process, as in fact it was. Selling a sizable collection then meant running ads in fanzines, setting up booths at conventions, and -- in Chuck's case -- having issues available in his store. No eBay, Heritage, or Clink available. In fact, no way to get anything near to Overstreet, much less multiples of Overstreet, on all but the hottest issues, except by patiently convincing people over time that the collection was special and gradually selling issues off.

[Timely]

I first met Chuck and his then girlfriend Nanette at a small convention in Sacramento in early 1978. They had brought about half of the Church books with them. No name to the collection, and no hype. He was asking double guide for the stuff I was interested in, but he ultimately accepted far less. Only one other person stopped by his booth during the two hours I was there.

 

That being said, I believe that either the 5th or 6th edition of Overstreet was in effect when Chuck purchased the Church books in early 1977. He paid far less than 1% of 1976 OPG “fair market value” for the collection. These are the facts.

 

Savvy young businessman or rip-off artist? You decide. But I’d sure like to know which collector/dealer offered $50k for the $1 million MCA collection, so that I can avoid him.

 

Agreed. Collecting was a lot different than now but there were collectors, conventions, back issue stores, mail order dealers, fanzines and prozines and an established price guide. Any dealer offering 1% of the value of a collectible is screwing the owner. In Chuck's defense, the owner's of the collection weren't listening and Chuck knew that if they did listen he couldn't afford the books and would lose out on the deal. Chuck had a tough time raising what he did pay them.

Was 1800 dollars that big of a deal in 1977?I know I was working a little and could have come up with that.

 

Found a handy calculator on line.

$1800 in 1977 would be worth aproximately:

 

$6,394.08 using the Consumer Price Index

$5,172.56 using the GDP deflator

$7,083.33 using the value of consumer bundle

$5,980.04 using the unskilled wage

$9,262.48 using the nominal GDP per capita

$12,804.55 using the relative share of GDP

 

I know Chuck repeatedly mentioned hauling the comics in his broken down van and I suspect he was a starving hippy with hardly a penny to his name before he found this collection. It wasn't that much $$ but to him it was a lot. I would happily pay what he paid for the collection in today's dollars. He was one lucky guy to say the least.

 

 

Actually, Chuck was in his early 20s, rather than a teenager in 1977. One key fact about the market to keep in mind is that comics, even high grade key issues, were not nearly as liquid then as they are today. The Mound City collection was discovered and disposed of in, what, a few months? Chuck knew that getting his money out of the Church collection was going to be, at best, a long drawn out process, as in fact it was. Selling a sizable collection then meant running ads in fanzines, setting up booths at conventions, and -- in Chuck's case -- having issues available in his store. No eBay, Heritage, or Clink available. In fact, no way to get anything near to Overstreet, much less multiples of Overstreet, on all but the hottest issues, except by patiently convincing people over time that the collection was special and gradually selling issues off.

 

Chuck has said in the past that he was offered $200,000.00 for the Church collection months after he bought it, and turned it down, so he could have sold it all at once if he wanted to.

 

West

[capt_comics]

I first met Chuck and his then girlfriend Nanette at a small convention in Sacramento in early 1978. They had brought about half of the Church books with them. No name to the collection, and no hype. He was asking double guide for the stuff I was interested in, but he ultimately accepted far less. Only one other person stopped by his booth during the two hours I was there.

 

That being said, I believe that either the 5th or 6th edition of Overstreet was in effect when Chuck purchased the Church books in early 1977. He paid far less than 1% of 1976 OPG “fair market value” for the collection. These are the facts.

 

Savvy young businessman or rip-off artist? You decide. But I’d sure like to know which collector/dealer offered $50k for the $1 million MCA collection, so that I can avoid him.

 

You should have bought em all Jay

 

 

[DiceX]

I first met Chuck and his then girlfriend Nanette at a small convention in Sacramento in early 1978. They had brought about half of the Church books with them. No name to the collection, and no hype. He was asking double guide for the stuff I was interested in, but he ultimately accepted far less. Only one other person stopped by his booth during the two hours I was there.

 

That being said, I believe that either the 5th or 6th edition of Overstreet was in effect when Chuck purchased the Church books in early 1977. He paid far less than 1% of 1976 OPG “fair market value” for the collection. These are the facts.

 

Savvy young businessman or rip-off artist? You decide. But I’d sure like to know which collector/dealer offered $50k for the $1 million MCA collection, so that I can avoid him.

 

Agreed. Collecting was a lot different than now but there were collectors, conventions, back issue stores, mail order dealers, fanzines and prozines and an established price guide. Any dealer offering 1% of the value of a collectible is screwing the owner. In Chuck's defense, the owner's of the collection weren't listening and Chuck knew that if they did listen he couldn't afford the books and would lose out on the deal. Chuck had a tough time raising what he did pay them.

Was 1800 dollars that big of a deal in 1977?I know I was working a little and could have come up with that.

 

Found a handy calculator on line.

$1800 in 1977 would be worth aproximately:

 

$6,394.08 using the Consumer Price Index

$5,172.56 using the GDP deflator

$7,083.33 using the value of consumer bundle

$5,980.04 using the unskilled wage

$9,262.48 using the nominal GDP per capita

$12,804.55 using the relative share of GDP

 

I know Chuck repeatedly mentioned hauling the comics in his broken down van and I suspect he was a starving hippy with hardly a penny to his name before he found this collection. It wasn't that much $$ but to him it was a lot. I would happily pay what he paid for the collection in today's dollars. He was one lucky guy to say the least.

 

 

Actually, Chuck was in his early 20s, rather than a teenager in 1977. One key fact about the market to keep in mind is that comics, even high grade key issues, were not nearly as liquid then as they are today. The Mound City collection was discovered and disposed of in, what, a few months? Chuck knew that getting his money out of the Church collection was going to be, at best, a long drawn out process, as in fact it was. Selling a sizable collection then meant running ads in fanzines, setting up booths at conventions, and -- in Chuck's case -- having issues available in his store. No eBay, Heritage, or Clink available. In fact, no way to get anything near to Overstreet, much less multiples of Overstreet, on all but the hottest issues, except by patiently convincing people over time that the collection was special and gradually selling issues off.

 

Chuck has said in the past that he was offered $200,000.00 for the Church collection months after he bought it, and turned it down, so he could have sold it all at once if he wanted to.

 

West

 

Chuck has also said that space aliens have tried to abduct him.

 

...monthly...

 

 

 

[Sqeggs]

I first met Chuck and his then girlfriend Nanette at a small convention in Sacramento in early 1978. They had brought about half of the Church books with them. No name to the collection, and no hype. He was asking double guide for the stuff I was interested in, but he ultimately accepted far less. Only one other person stopped by his booth during the two hours I was there.

 

That being said, I believe that either the 5th or 6th edition of Overstreet was in effect when Chuck purchased the Church books in early 1977. He paid far less than 1% of 1976 OPG “fair market value” for the collection. These are the facts.

 

Savvy young businessman or rip-off artist? You decide. But I’d sure like to know which collector/dealer offered $50k for the $1 million MCA collection, so that I can avoid him.

 

Agreed. Collecting was a lot different than now but there were collectors, conventions, back issue stores, mail order dealers, fanzines and prozines and an established price guide. Any dealer offering 1% of the value of a collectible is screwing the owner. In Chuck's defense, the owner's of the collection weren't listening and Chuck knew that if they did listen he couldn't afford the books and would lose out on the deal. Chuck had a tough time raising what he did pay them.

Was 1800 dollars that big of a deal in 1977?I know I was working a little and could have come up with that.

 

Found a handy calculator on line.

$1800 in 1977 would be worth aproximately:

 

$6,394.08 using the Consumer Price Index

$5,172.56 using the GDP deflator

$7,083.33 using the value of consumer bundle

$5,980.04 using the unskilled wage

$9,262.48 using the nominal GDP per capita

$12,804.55 using the relative share of GDP

 

I know Chuck repeatedly mentioned hauling the comics in his broken down van and I suspect he was a starving hippy with hardly a penny to his name before he found this collection. It wasn't that much $$ but to him it was a lot. I would happily pay what he paid for the collection in today's dollars. He was one lucky guy to say the least.

 

 

Actually, Chuck was in his early 20s, rather than a teenager in 1977. One key fact about the market to keep in mind is that comics, even high grade key issues, were not nearly as liquid then as they are today. The Mound City collection was discovered and disposed of in, what, a few months? Chuck knew that getting his money out of the Church collection was going to be, at best, a long drawn out process, as in fact it was. Selling a sizable collection then meant running ads in fanzines, setting up booths at conventions, and -- in Chuck's case -- having issues available in his store. No eBay, Heritage, or Clink available. In fact, no way to get anything near to Overstreet, much less multiples of Overstreet, on all but the hottest issues, except by patiently convincing people over time that the collection was special and gradually selling issues off.

 

Chuck has said in the past that he was offered $200,000.00 for the Church collection months after he bought it, and turned it down, so he could have sold it all at once if he wanted to.

 

West

 

Interesting. I wonder how long it took him to get to $200K in sales. Maybe he should have taken the offer.