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Detective Comics 168: Why So Scarce?

Started by TSwift25,

67 posts in this topic

Silver

Silver

Posted
Posted

As others have stated, all DC's from this time frame can be a challenge to get. I collect Superboy, and just try to get a 21 in better than good. 1952 is a tough tough year for DC collectors who want fine or better copies.

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Primetime

Primetime

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Posted
I would agree on demand..........but disagree on supply

 

 

 

if you are not picky on condition, plenty of supply relative to demand... there was a thread not too long ago where someone said action 101-200 was harder to put together than 1-100 and would take years... I found 99 of the 100 issues for sale (between 101 and 200) in 10 minutes... and found the 100th, the next day... again, it is "easier" if you are just looking for "any" copy... tougher if you want anything above vg or so
and of course some of the WFC's are tough in the 50s era as well....Adventure # 210 (1st Krypto the Superdog) does not seem to come up often either (publicly).
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G.A.tor

G.A.tor

Posted
Posted
I would agree on demand..........but disagree on supply

 

 

 

if you are not picky on condition, plenty of supply relative to demand... there was a thread not too long ago where someone said action 101-200 was harder to put together than 1-100 and would take years... I found 99 of the 100 issues for sale (between 101 and 200) in 10 minutes... and found the 100th, the next day... again, it is "easier" if you are just looking for "any" copy... tougher if you want anything above vg or so
and of course some of the WFC's are tough in the 50s era as well....Adventure # 210 (1st Krypto the Superdog) does not seem to come up often either (publicly).

now there is a challenge...try to put a World's Finest run, say from 50-71 together (mine goes through 80, but 72-80 are pretty available)...took me 5 years to do it (unrestored, that is)

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Silver

Silver

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Posted

There are a handfull of WF's that are really tough, but others in the same number range that show up more often. Collecting full runs then being on the lookout for upgrades gives you real insight to the true raraties.

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G.A.tor

G.A.tor

Posted
Posted
There are a handfull of WF's that are really tough, but others in the same number range that show up more often. Collecting full runs then being on the lookout for upgrades gives you real insight to the true raraties.
(thumbs u
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adamstrange

adamstrange

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Posted
There are a handfull of WF's that are really tough, but others in the same number range that show up more often. Collecting full runs then being on the lookout for upgrades gives you real insight to the true raraties.
High grade and sometimes even attractive mid grades can be very tough.
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G.A.tor

G.A.tor

Posted
Posted
There are a handfull of WF's that are really tough, but others in the same number range that show up more often. Collecting full runs then being on the lookout for upgrades gives you real insight to the true raraties.
High grade and sometimes even attractive mid grades can be very tough.
indeed...I have maybe 5 copies that are VF and above, with the majority in the vg range
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RockMyAmadeus

RockMyAmadeus

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What are those "myriad reasons"? Low print run because heroes were on the way out with sci-fi and westerns the way to go? Or is there something more specific to the Tecs, which seem disproportionately scarce in the Atom age?

 

:popcorn:

 

1. Print runs for 1950-1953 superhero books were lower than average (though not by much.)

 

2. Sell-through (this is where the true scarcity comes from) for the same was very, very low. Who would buy silly Batman when you have Barks Ducks in WDC&S on one end (the highest selling comic of the early 50's), and Tales from the Crypt, et al, on the other? The DC books were stripped and returned for credit/destroyed by the thousands.

 

3. When collecting formally began in earnest in the early 60's, they focused on Golden Age books, and disdained "modern" (believe it or not, it was true once) books like these. There was no dedicated effort to save these atom age books, especially with the new focus on the hot moderns like Fantastic Four and Spiderman.

 

4. Because Batman is the most popular DC character (as far as collecting comics goes), there are more collectors of 'Tecs than anything else from that period from DC. This wasn't always true.

 

They suffered a lot of neglect for decades, and weren't really collected 'en masse' until the 80's.

 

That said...the entire run of #100-#200 is incredibly difficult to find. It is MY contention, though others have disagreed, that 'Tec #100-#200 is harder to assemble than Action #100-#200, but that's questionable. ;)

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G.A.tor

G.A.tor

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That said...the entire run of #100-#200 is incredibly difficult to find. It is MY contention, though others have disagreed, that 'Tec #100-#200 is harder to assemble than Action #100-#200, but that's questionable. ;)

I agree with this...

 

as previously mentioned, if not condition sensitive, one could (could have) put together an action 1-100 in a matter of minutes (just some phone calls)...

 

now, the same is not true for detective 100-200... right now, I only can "readily" find 78 of the 100 issues... and I spent the same time and search locations as I did for the action "test"... and, having collected tec 27-225, I can always speak from experiences that a few gave me some trouble (thumbs u

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RockMyAmadeus

RockMyAmadeus

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I would agree on demand..........but disagree on supply

 

 

 

if you are not picky on condition, plenty of supply relative to demand... there was a thread not too long ago where someone said action 101-200 was harder to put together than 1-100 and would take years... I found 99 of the 100 issues for sale (between 101 and 200) in 10 minutes... and found the 100th, the next day... again, it is "easier" if you are just looking for "any" copy... tougher if you want anything above vg or so

 

:hi:

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RockMyAmadeus

RockMyAmadeus

Posted
Posted
I would agree on demand..........but disagree on supply

 

 

 

if you are not picky on condition, plenty of supply relative to demand... there was a thread not too long ago where someone said action 101-200 was harder to put together than 1-100 and would take years... I found 99 of the 100 issues for sale (between 101 and 200) in 10 minutes... and found the 100th, the next day... again, it is "easier" if you are just looking for "any" copy... tougher if you want anything above vg or so
and of course some of the WFC's are tough in the 50s era as well....Adventure # 210 (1st Krypto the Superdog) does not seem to come up often either (publicly).

now there is a challenge...try to put a World's Finest run, say from 50-71 together (mine goes through 80, but 72-80 are pretty available)...took me 5 years to do it (unrestored, that is)

 

68....impossible.

 

And I'm a lowwwww grade collector. I've seen all of #71-up on sale on eBay (granted, they sold for very strong amounts), but I have yet to see a #68 in 12 years. Doesn't mean it hasn't shown up, but if it has....

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G.A.tor

G.A.tor

Posted
Posted
I would agree on demand..........but disagree on supply

 

 

 

if you are not picky on condition, plenty of supply relative to demand... there was a thread not too long ago where someone said action 101-200 was harder to put together than 1-100 and would take years... I found 99 of the 100 issues for sale (between 101 and 200) in 10 minutes... and found the 100th, the next day... again, it is "easier" if you are just looking for "any" copy... tougher if you want anything above vg or so
and of course some of the WFC's are tough in the 50s era as well....Adventure # 210 (1st Krypto the Superdog) does not seem to come up often either (publicly).

now there is a challenge...try to put a World's Finest run, say from 50-71 together (mine goes through 80, but 72-80 are pretty available)...took me 5 years to do it (unrestored, that is)

 

68....impossible.

 

And I'm a lowwwww grade collector. I've seen all of #71-up on sale on eBay (granted, they sold for very strong amounts), but I have yet to see a #68 in 12 years. Doesn't mean it hasn't shown up, but if it has....

funny, I sold my under copy 68 here on the boards to a boardie just a few months ago...

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RockMyAmadeus

RockMyAmadeus

Posted
Posted
I would agree on demand..........but disagree on supply

 

 

 

if you are not picky on condition, plenty of supply relative to demand... there was a thread not too long ago where someone said action 101-200 was harder to put together than 1-100 and would take years... I found 99 of the 100 issues for sale (between 101 and 200) in 10 minutes... and found the 100th, the next day... again, it is "easier" if you are just looking for "any" copy... tougher if you want anything above vg or so
and of course some of the WFC's are tough in the 50s era as well....Adventure # 210 (1st Krypto the Superdog) does not seem to come up often either (publicly).

now there is a challenge...try to put a World's Finest run, say from 50-71 together (mine goes through 80, but 72-80 are pretty available)...took me 5 years to do it (unrestored, that is)

 

68....impossible.

 

And I'm a lowwwww grade collector. I've seen all of #71-up on sale on eBay (granted, they sold for very strong amounts), but I have yet to see a #68 in 12 years. Doesn't mean it hasn't shown up, but if it has....

funny, I sold my under copy 68 here on the boards to a boardie just a few months ago...

 

Well, then, time to sell your over copy to another boardie.... :baiting:

 

 

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G.A.tor

G.A.tor

Posted
Posted
I would agree on demand..........but disagree on supply

 

 

 

if you are not picky on condition, plenty of supply relative to demand... there was a thread not too long ago where someone said action 101-200 was harder to put together than 1-100 and would take years... I found 99 of the 100 issues for sale (between 101 and 200) in 10 minutes... and found the 100th, the next day... again, it is "easier" if you are just looking for "any" copy... tougher if you want anything above vg or so
and of course some of the WFC's are tough in the 50s era as well....Adventure # 210 (1st Krypto the Superdog) does not seem to come up often either (publicly).

now there is a challenge...try to put a World's Finest run, say from 50-71 together (mine goes through 80, but 72-80 are pretty available)...took me 5 years to do it (unrestored, that is)

 

68....impossible.

 

And I'm a lowwwww grade collector. I've seen all of #71-up on sale on eBay (granted, they sold for very strong amounts), but I have yet to see a #68 in 12 years. Doesn't mean it hasn't shown up, but if it has....

funny, I sold my under copy 68 here on the boards to a boardie just a few months ago...

 

Well, then, time to sell your over copy to another boardie.... :baiting:

 

here was my undercopy (yep, best I could find for years)

wf68r2-1-1.jpg

then I lucked into this copy :cloud9:

wf68cgc.jpg

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