Pacific Coast Structure Q's?

[murph0]

This question stems from looking at all the PC books that have gone up on Comiclink, including the most recent batch that went up earlier today. It appears as those most of these books are structurally perfect. The registration, cut, and centering of these books appear almost always dead-on. Is this a common thread throughout all the PC books? Did the original buyer selectively purchase books featuring these traits or was it luck of the draw? Anyone know?

 

Brian

[Bonds25]

[linmoth]

I agree. You think that they look good in the slabs you should see them raw. I can only imagine what went thru RR's mind when his brain tried to process what his eyes were seeing. I know what I thought but on a much smaller scale.

 

The OO picked the nicest books as far as centering and eye appeal that I have seen in a SA Pedigree. I have 9.2's from the PC that I wouldn't trade for some of the 9.6's that I've seen.

 

Tom

[sborock]

" I can only imagine what went thru RR's mind when his brain tried to process what his eyes were seeing."

 

I think it was something like this:

 

---$$$$---

[sfilosa]

The only issue I see with the Pacific Coast books is page quality.

 

Most seem to have only Off-White (which is not bad) but some, including the Avengers #57 have Cream to Off-White.

 

If you go back 10-15 years and read about pedigrees, almost the first attribute that is mentioned is page quality (White pages).

 

Here is a perfect example:

 

Avengers #79

 

The seller is only asking for $150 in 9.6 but the issue before is only a 9.4 and they are asking for $160.

 

 

 

 

[blazingbob]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[sborock]

The only issue I see with the Pacific Coast books is page quality.

 

Most seem to have only Off-White (which is not bad) but some, including the Avengers #57 have Cream to Off-White.

 

If you go back 10-15 years and read about pedigrees, almost the first attribute that is mentioned is page quality (White pages).

 

Here is a perfect example:

 

Avengers #79

 

The seller is only asking for $150 in 9.6 but the issue before is only a 9.4 and they are asking for $160.

 

 

 

 

Many PC copys have white and off-white to white pages. The early stuff has great PQ but as the collection gets into the bronze age the paper becomes worse for some reason.

 

[linmoth]

I didn't even think about that $$$$$$$$$ before I posted. Funny, I was approaching it from a collector's view, but I would assume that thought may have crossed his mind.

 

I think the page quality is better in the earlier issues because the books were stacked much like the Church books. Amazingly, the OO read them and could recite the stories from most of the comics, so I've been told.

 

Tom

 

[sfilosa]

Quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The only issue I see with the Pacific Coast books is page quality.

 

Most seem to have only Off-White (which is not bad) but some, including the Avengers #57 have Cream to Off-White.

 

If you go back 10-15 years and read about pedigrees, almost the first attribute that is mentioned is page quality (White pages).

 

Here is a perfect example:

 

Avengers #79

 

The seller is only asking for $150 in 9.6 but the issue before is only a 9.4 and they are asking for $160.

 

 

 

 

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

Many PC copys have white and off-white to white pages. The early stuff has great PQ but as the collection gets into the bronze age the paper becomes worse for some reason.

 

Thanks for the info. Very Interesting.

 

 

[Captain Tripps]

I'm almost positive that every book the original PC owner purchased

from the newstand/stationery store/drug store, etc. was purposely

selected so as not to have a mis-cut, mis-wrap, distributor stripe, etc., etc.

 

I've never seen a PC book (and I have owned, and still own, a lot) that wasn't an

almost perfect cut. The pages would vary from ow to w (with average being ow/w)

and they are all flat with immaculate spines!!! This lead me to believe that our friend

never ever read these books. He bought them and neatly stacked them, alternating spines and positions, most likely (not one PC book I've seen has a spine roll).

 

I believe this is also why you can see the back cover ad a little onto the back cover. This transfer is also most likely from the detailed and careful manner in which these books were stacked. This isn't even a defect, but is the only possible "issue" with the PC books. Everything else is practically perfect and easilly warrants this collection to be the single greatese Silver Age pedigree ever (especially when taking into consideration the killer high grades on the PC Gold Keys and DC's - truly impressive).

 

The average grade on a PC Marvel is probably 9.5!!!! Even more impressive is that the early booksd are the higher graded. As the stacks became higher, the ones on top were more haphazardly handled and exposed to light, etc. That's why the early runs of Avengers, X-Men, ASM, TOS, Daredevil, FF, JIM, Strange Tales, etc.

are so killer.

 

Do you think I like this collection or what???

 

Captain Tripps

[linmoth]

Dear Capt Tripps: I read them, only the Marvels of course , as I didn't want to touch the beautiful DC's. Even with the cheap paper that Marvel used it didn't seem to affect the grade when they were slabbed.

 

So I think the OO could have read them. He sure did know what he was looking for when he chose the books that he did. He picked them like he was looking at works of art. He only wanted to see the art nothing else. It's an amazing story is it not.

 

Tom

[namisgr]

Of the relatively small number of PC books I was fortunate to purchase, the structure and registration on most is impeccable, but there is a minor loss of "whiteness" from the covers and pages that seems to me to be more noticable than for some other Silver Age pedigrees. In my admittedly limited experience, I have found pre-1965 Northland and Massachusetts copies to generally have superior "whiteness" preservation of covers and pages. Also, some of the oldest PC Marvel keys are below the VF/NM range, usually owing to varying degrees of Marvel chipping and tearing. Others have minor amounts of spine roll. With that being said, it seems that by 1963, the collector had a system down pat for buying and storing, and books from that time onward that I have owned or seen for auction are structurally unsurpassed.

"Believing is seeing"

[rube11]

Hey Mike,

 

Welcome to the boards! I am sure you could share a quality book or 2 you might have!.

 

Steve

[namisgr]

I ain't Mike, if its my post you're responding to. As far as selling books, I doubt I've got doubles that you or any of the other heavy-hitters on these boards would be interested in. I'm one of those buy-and-hold collectors that only sells books after getting upgrades of them. The PC books I was fortunate to buy were most definitely upgrades...

[/"Believing is seeing"]

[rube11]

Oops, my bad. Sorry bout dat.

[Captain Tripps]

Tom,

 

I sure hope he read them, as buying and reading comics is what makes the collecting process so much fun. But I tell you, he had to have turned the pages so carefully and read them on a flat surface (table, etc.) with the book being stuck inside a magazine. That's because NO PC book (o.k. maybe 1 or 2) has any spine wear or strees lines. THE SPINES ARE SO PERFECT!! If you saw some of the early PC run I have (especially DD, Avengers, FF, ASM, Strange Tales & X-Men)

you'd be overwhelmed by the spines and overall flatness.

 

I don't have a scanner, but would be willing to share any of these books with you (see you in N.Y.)!!

 

Doug

[linmoth]

Hi Doug: I owned the DD 1-21 PC, I read them, not like I did when I was 8 or 9, but with caution. The OO had the foresight to chose the books he did, to save them and buy multiples of many. I think that he would read them as carefully as he stored them. The OO of the Western Penn had reading copies of his books and they have graded pretty high ie: TOS 40 on Comiclink. I know that it is hard to believe but some collectors early on were condition conscious.

 

On another note, the early PC books were pressed, not by design but by the way they were stored, in stacks.

 

Tom

[namisgr]

Are you certain that there are multiples of some PC books? PCEI has, to my knowledge, never listed more than a single copy of each, but as a onetime owner of many of the books, perhaps you know of examples?

 

Thanks in advance.

["Believing is seeing"]

[tth2]

" I can only imagine what went thru RR's mind when his brain tried to process what his eyes were seeing."

 

I think it was something like this:

 

---$$$$---

 

Given that he sold most of it raw only a year or so before CGC came into existence, here's my best guess as to what went through his mind after the first big post-CGC Greg Manning auction:

 

$$$$$$$$$$$$$!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tth2]

Great thread, and it's great hearing all these insights from all the big boys!

 

Can someone start a thread on the Western Penn pedigree?