Ask Gator 13 13

[SushiX]

Do you think with the recent popularity of centaurs, will it be even more harder to get copies than they already are? 

[G.A.tor]

5 hours ago, SushiX said:

Do you think with the recent popularity of centaurs, will it be even more harder to get copies than they already are? 

They've always been tough

increased demand lots of times lead to increases in prices that sometimes serve to shake more copies free due to some cashing in

 

years ago Berk made a comment that centaurs aren't more widely collected bc lots of folks never see them. That appears to be changing. 

[PopKulture]

HI GAtor, the other day I picked up my third copy of The Flying Marvels paper dolls and the solo version, Flying Captain Marvel. I know these are fairly plentiful, along with several others like Captain Marvel Jr's Ski Jump and Musical Evening with Hoppy, as well as a few non-Marvel Family titles like Fun Farm and Comic Capers. I had always heard that they were part of a warehouse find many years ago. Do you know anything about the backstory? How many do you guess were found of each - hundreds? Thousands?

I wonder what the Flying Marvels would fetch had they NOT been found in quantity. It's a pretty cool display piece for something so widely available.

Thanks!

Edited July 27, 2017 by PopKulture

[G.A.tor]

7 hours ago, PopKulture said:

HI GAtor, the other day I picked up my third copy of The Flying Marvels paper dolls and the solo version, Flying Captain Marvel. I know these are fairly plentiful, along with several others like Captain Marvel Jr's Ski Jump and Musical Evening with Hoppy, as well as a few non-Marvel Family titles like Fun Farm and Comic Capers. I had always heard that they were part of a warehouse find many years ago. Do you know anything about the backstory? How many do you guess were found of each - hundreds? Thousands?

I wonder what the Flying Marvels would fetch had they NOT been found in quantity. It's a pretty cool display piece for something so widely available.

Thanks!

I too have heard that cases were found but I don't recall any specifics I'm afraid

[Larryw7]

16 hours ago, G.A.tor said:

I too have heard that cases were found but I don't recall any specifics I'm afraid

It was when Fishler emptied the files at Fawcett in the nineties.

[lou_fine]

With so many of the books in the recent Berk auction either being labelled as Conserved or Restored (Slight) and still being able to fetch a premium or in some cases, even multiples to guide, do you believe this is an one-time occurrence due to the rarity of some of these books or the start of a slow shift towards the acceptance of Conserved/Slight Restored books? 

In the past, the only types of books that seem to be able to fetch over guide for restored copies were in-demand books and HTF books such as Action 13, A-Man 26, and the likes.  With the Berk auction, it seems to have spread a little further out beyond these few books to cover a  wider swath of books.

Any idea what the discount factor would be for current Conserved books and in particular, for some of the early centaurs since you would be the best person to ask about this publisher?  Would Conserved copies be selling in the neighborhood of only 50% of the market value of an universal copy or would it now be more than 50%, and then the Slight restored copies would be in the range of half of the Conserved?  I am sure that availability and supply would be a significant factor in the determination of these discounts to market price. 

[G.A.tor]

1 hour ago, lou_fine said:

With so many of the books in the recent Berk auction either being labelled as Conserved or Restored (Slight) and still being able to fetch a premium or in some cases, even multiples to guide, do you believe this is an one-time occurrence due to the rarity of some of these books or the start of a slow shift towards the acceptance of Conserved/Slight Restored books? 

In the past, the only types of books that seem to be able to fetch over guide for restored copies were in-demand books and HTF books such as Action 13, A-Man 26, and the likes.  With the Berk auction, it seems to have spread a little further out beyond these few books to cover a  wider swath of books.

Any idea what the discount factor would be for current Conserved books and in particular, for some of the early centaurs since you would be the best person to ask about this publisher?  Would Conserved copies be selling in the neighborhood of only 50% of the market value of an universal copy or would it now be more than 50%, and then the Slight restored copies would be in the range of half of the Conserved?  I am sure that availability and supply would be a significant factor in the determination of these discounts to market price. 

 I believe that high demand and very rare books that have previously been restored or conserved have  pretty much always  sold at a premium compared to more commonly available restored books 

 What we had with the Berk  auction was an unusual situation where so many of these type of books were made available in one offering 

 As is the case with many rare centaurs and other publishers ,  it's really less about the grade and more about the opportunity to obtain a copy 

 But in the market for more readily available books  I believe folks will always gravitate to unrestored versus restored or conserved  until the point at which unrestored becomes financially restricted and then we'll see a stronger movement towards the so-called lesser copies 

Edited July 31, 2017 by G.A.tor

[lou_fine]

2 hours ago, G.A.tor said:

As is the case with many rare centaurs and other publishers ,  it's really less about the grade and more about the opportunity to obtain a copy 

 But in the market for more readily available books  I believe folks will always gravitate to unrestored versus restored or conserved  until the point at which unrestored becomes financially restricted and then we'll see a stronger movement towards the so-called lesser copies 

+1

Well said and definitely the words of a wise and astute man. 

[domuhnator]

Mr Gator,

Will you be attending Baltimore comic con? A good friend had the pleasure of meeting you over the weekend, and I was curious if I would get the chance to buy some books from you at Baltimore.

 

- Dom

[G.A.tor]

57 minutes ago, dom_uh_nator said:

Mr Gator,

Will you be attending Baltimore comic con? A good friend had the pleasure of meeting you over the weekend, and I was curious if I would get the chance to buy some books from you at Baltimore.

 

- Dom

I will indeed...please introduce yourself

[domuhnator]

59 minutes ago, G.A.tor said:

I will indeed...please introduce yourself

 

I certainly will! I'm looking  forward to it. 

[lou_fine]

Rick;

Since you seem to have so much free time to spend with us and to share your knowledge, is there any reason why you do not bother to do up a merket report for the Overstreet price guide? 

Or do you think it might simply be a waste of time since they might just end up losing yours like they did a few years ago? 

[G.A.tor]

24 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

Rick;

Since you seem to have so much free time to spend with us and to share your knowledge, is there any reason why you do not bother to do up a merket report for the Overstreet price guide? 

Or do you think it might simply be a waste of time since they might just end up losing yours like they did a few years ago? 

I will have a market report for next years issue. 

 

[lou_fine]

15 hours ago, G.A.tor said:

15 hours ago, lou_fine said:

Rick;

Since you seem to have so much free time to spend with us and to share your knowledge, is there any reason why you do not bother to do up a merket report for the Overstreet price guide? 

Or do you think it might simply be a waste of time since they might just end up losing yours like they did a few years ago? 

I will have a market report for next years issue. 

You sound pretty confident about being able to put one out for next year since we still have another 5 months to go before year end.

Or is it because you are already pretty well into it based upon the active market we've had so far this year? 

Either way, looking forward to seeing it in next year's guide. 

I guess that little shout out that Bob gave to you on Page 95 of this year's guide was just a little teaser to us for what's coming next year then. 

Edited August 5, 2017 by lou_fine

[G.A.tor]

Been adding to it after each con/auction. After nycc I will email it to mark h 

[lou_fine]

As far as you know, is that CGC 8.5 graded copy of Rawhide Kid 17 that sold on Heritage on Sunday the first Western comic book to actually go for over $10K in the marketplace? 

[PopKulture]

13 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

As far as you know, is that CGC 8.5 graded copy of Rawhide Kid 17 that sold on Heritage on Sunday the first Western comic book to actually go for over $10K in the marketplace? 

What, what, what??!

[Aman619]

Yes it did break 10k but I'm told it was the age old situation of two I want it any any price Internet bids colliding in mid air. Winner and loser come away happy.

[G.A.tor]

53 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

As far as you know, is that CGC 8.5 graded copy of Rawhide Kid 17 that sold on Heritage on Sunday the first Western comic book to actually go for over $10K in the marketplace? 

First public I've seen

[Eggman]

Gator - Good afternoon.  Thanks for sharing your insights.

Re: Fantastic Comics in general, and Fantastic Comics #1 specifically.   What is your outlook on these?  Your opinion on the current state of demand?  How does Fantastic Comics fare vs other Fox titles?  I have a 4.5 restored version of #1 (pic enclosed).  Anything to consider or look out for regarding the run and #1 in particular?  Thanks again for your feedback.