What are the 5 top Comic Book Pedigrees?

[tth2]

My Fav's are

 

Church

Spokane

White mountain

Pacific coast

Aurora

Bethlehem

 

Someone please elaborate on this Spokane collection for me. This is my backyard but I had not heard of it.

 

A collection of high grade, mainly 1950s books from many publishers (but mainly focused on pre-code) that was brought to market by Vincent Zurzolo and Steve Fishler about 13 years ago. The collection as you surmised was bought from the OO in Spokane, Washington. Page quality and preservation are exceptional, and the collection contains the highest graded examples of many pre-code books. If you're a pre-code horror fan, it's up there.

Many knowledgeable GA collectors say that the Spokane books are rivaled/exceeded only by the Salida books in terms of whiteness and freshness.

 

every time i see a vancouver the pq is white.

 

The only problem with Vancouver is the books themselves. It's like the OO went out of her way to skip anything of exceptional future value.

Fixed that for you.

[rob_react]

My Fav's are

 

Church

Spokane

White mountain

Pacific coast

Aurora

Bethlehem

 

Someone please elaborate on this Spokane collection for me. This is my backyard but I had not heard of it.

 

A collection of high grade, mainly 1950s books from many publishers (but mainly focused on pre-code) that was brought to market by Vincent Zurzolo and Steve Fishler about 13 years ago. The collection as you surmised was bought from the OO in Spokane, Washington. Page quality and preservation are exceptional, and the collection contains the highest graded examples of many pre-code books. If you're a pre-code horror fan, it's up there.

Many knowledgeable GA collectors say that the Spokane books are rivaled/exceeded only by the Salida books in terms of whiteness and freshness.

 

every time i see a vancouver the pq is white.

 

The only problem with Vancouver is the books themselves. It's like the OO went out of her way to skip anything of exceptional future value.

Fixed that for you.

 

thanks. it's been a while so I forgot the details. I just remembered the weird selection of books.

[Dale Roberts]

The Gaines File Copies IMO are not pedigrees.

 

I don't care what you call them. The books are ridiculous and they are BY FAR the nicest group of books ever brought to market in terms of condition. I believe average grade on the Gaines Files is 9.5.

 

I had a couple of them in 9.8 that absolutely blew away any other 9.8s I have ever seen. Razor sharp corners, snow white, great colors. Without question the most beautifully conditioned Golden Age books ever.

[NewWorldOrder]

I wonder what CGCWorld would say is #1?

[sborock]

The Gaines File Copies IMO are not pedigrees.

 

Without question the most beautifully conditioned Golden Age books ever.

 

Dale, I have to disagree with this. Many have interior cover tanning around the edges. A couple of them have the worst "printers fade" I have seen on some EC's. Great books but not "the most beautiful conditioned GA books ever".

 

That said, I do think they deserve pedigree status.....

[Flash105]

For a Flash collector Western Penn and Pacific coast are the pedigrees to own. I prefer the Western Penn but it really is on a per issue basis which is better.

 

What good is an opinion without examples:

 

 

[Ted Knight]

The Gaines File Copies IMO are not pedigrees.

 

Without question the most beautifully conditioned Golden Age books ever.

 

Dale, I have to disagree with this. Many have interior cover tanning around the edges. A couple of them have the worst "printers fade" I have seen on some EC's. Great books but not "the most beautiful conditioned GA books ever".

 

That said, I do think they deserve pedigree status.....

 

+1. My Frontline Combat 8 has all the characteristics that Dale describes but the cover has slight interior tanning, It wasn't recognizable until I took it out of the case. Since virtually all that are sold are CGC'd, I guess people never see it.

 

And yes, it's definitely a pedigree. I'm not sure by what definition it wouldn't be.

[tth2]

For a Flash collector Western Penn and Pacific coast are the pedigrees to own. I prefer the Western Penn but it really is on a per issue basis which is better.

Can`t go wrong with either one! (thumbs u

 

The lustre and reflectivity of the raw Western Penns that I`ve owned was truly exceptional, although I`ve never owned any of the WP Flashes unslabbed. I`ve only owned a couple of raw Pacific Coasts (again, no Flashes), one of which ended up grading as a 9.8, but they weren`t quite as lustrous in my opinion. But still gorgeous.

[rob_react]

The Gaines File Copies IMO are not pedigrees.

 

Without question the most beautifully conditioned Golden Age books ever.

 

Dale, I have to disagree with this. Many have interior cover tanning around the edges. A couple of them have the worst "printers fade" I have seen on some EC's. Great books but not "the most beautiful conditioned GA books ever".

 

That said, I do think they deserve pedigree status.....

 

+1. My Frontline Combat 8 has all the characteristics that Dale describes but the cover has slight interior tanning, It wasn't recognizable until I took it out of the case. Since virtually all that are sold are CGC'd, I guess people never see it.

 

And yes, it's definitely a pedigree. I'm not sure by what definition it wouldn't be.

 

People might think of them the same way they think of "File Copies"

[Icculus308win]

 

Pacific Coast

White Mountain

Curator

Church

Bethlehem

 

(in my limited experience)

[namisgr]

The Gaines File Copies IMO are not pedigrees.

 

Without question the most beautifully conditioned Golden Age books ever.

 

Dale, I have to disagree with this. Many have interior cover tanning around the edges. A couple of them have the worst "printers fade" I have seen on some EC's. Great books but not "the most beautiful conditioned GA books ever".

 

That said, I do think they deserve pedigree status.....

 

+1. My Frontline Combat 8 has all the characteristics that Dale describes but the cover has slight interior tanning, It wasn't recognizable until I took it out of the case. Since virtually all that are sold are CGC'd, I guess people never see it.

 

And yes, it's definitely a pedigree. I'm not sure by what definition it wouldn't be.

 

People might think of them the same way they think of "File Copies"

 

Seems to me they're precisely file copies. They never made it to the newstand and were never sold.

 

The Mad mag from 1977 posted earlier is presumably also one that Gaines pulled off the presses and kept unsold.

[rob_react]

The Gaines File Copies IMO are not pedigrees.

 

Without question the most beautifully conditioned Golden Age books ever.

 

Dale, I have to disagree with this. Many have interior cover tanning around the edges. A couple of them have the worst "printers fade" I have seen on some EC's. Great books but not "the most beautiful conditioned GA books ever".

 

That said, I do think they deserve pedigree status.....

 

+1. My Frontline Combat 8 has all the characteristics that Dale describes but the cover has slight interior tanning, It wasn't recognizable until I took it out of the case. Since virtually all that are sold are CGC'd, I guess people never see it.

 

And yes, it's definitely a pedigree. I'm not sure by what definition it wouldn't be.

 

People might think of them the same way they think of "File Copies"

 

Seems to me they're precisely file copies. They never made it to the newstand and were never sold.

 

IIRC, they were actually kept in filing cabinets.

[jbud73]

My opinion for SA peds

 

Curator

Pacific coast

Northland

Mass

White Mountain

 

Basically I concur with your list but in all fairness maybe we should consider some of the 'newer' pedigrees coming to market. From what I've seen I think the Rocky Mountain should be included but I can't figure out which of your listed 5 to replace.

Possibly the White Mountain.

 

Really? White Mountain is unmatched in SA pedigrees for breadth, depth and quality. Some of the PC and Curator books might be nicer, but White Mountain books are still pretty sweet and the collection encompasses such incredible depth in addition to quality. Northland and Mass, in my mind, aren't even in the same conversation.

 

Rocky Mountain is nice (i've been chasing them), but aren't the keys a little weak?

 

This is even more accurate when you consider the WM DC's.

[Ted Knight]

The Gaines File Copies IMO are not pedigrees.

 

Without question the most beautifully conditioned Golden Age books ever.

 

Dale, I have to disagree with this. Many have interior cover tanning around the edges. A couple of them have the worst "printers fade" I have seen on some EC's. Great books but not "the most beautiful conditioned GA books ever".

 

That said, I do think they deserve pedigree status.....

 

+1. My Frontline Combat 8 has all the characteristics that Dale describes but the cover has slight interior tanning, It wasn't recognizable until I took it out of the case. Since virtually all that are sold are CGC'd, I guess people never see it.

 

And yes, it's definitely a pedigree. I'm not sure by what definition it wouldn't be.

 

People might think of them the same way they think of "File Copies"

 

Seems to me they're precisely file copies. They never made it to the newstand and were never sold.

 

The Mad mag from 1977 posted earlier is presumably also one that Gaines pulled off the presses and kept unsold.

 

Of course, they are file copies. Hence the name. I'm just wondering how you guys define pedigree. It seems to me that this is a sort of mammals and animals thing. All file copies are pedigrees. Not all pedigrees are file copies. After reading the definition of pedigree a few times over the years, I fail to see the distinction.

 

Maybe somebody has an alternative definition of pedigree?

[namisgr]

Of course, they are file copies. Hence the name. I'm just wondering how you guys define pedigree. It seems to me that this is a sort of mammals and animals thing. All file copies are pedigrees. Not all pedigrees are file copies. After reading the definition of pedigree a few times over the years, I fail to see the distinction.

 

Maybe somebody has an alternative definition of pedigree?

 

I don't know of any file copy collections that meet the criteria of a pedigree, which include single ownership (i.e., after purchase in the marketplace), depth, breadth, and representation of key issues among others.

Comic book pedigrees from Nelson, Ritter et al.

 

[Ted Knight]

Of course, they are file copies. Hence the name. I'm just wondering how you guys define pedigree. It seems to me that this is a sort of mammals and animals thing. All file copies are pedigrees. Not all pedigrees are file copies. After reading the definition of pedigree a few times over the years, I fail to see the distinction.

 

Maybe somebody has an alternative definition of pedigree?

 

I don't know of any file copy collections that meet the criteria of a pedigree, which include single ownership (i.e., after purchase in the marketplace), depth, breadth, and representation of key issues among others.

Comic book pedigrees from Nelson, Ritter et al.

 

Gaines File Copies meet all criteria on the website (not that Matt Nelson and co. are the only experts on these things), however, the criteria you listed would exclude the Allentown collection and others... depth? breadth? There were only 135 comics in that collection. I personally do think the Allentown qualifies (as I think everyone else does). I'm just saying some of your criteria would exclude it.

[Straw-Man]

billy's top 5:

 

mile high

'frisco

chicago

larson

crippen, since i have so many of them.

[fantastic_four]

Silver Age opinion, with depth, breadth, and quality of keys all being factors:

 

1. Pacific Coast

2. Curator - by reputation only, as not many have made it to market

3. White Mountain

4. Massachusetts

5. Northland

 

I'd make one small change...

 

1. Pacific Coast

2. Curator - by reputation only, as not many have made it to market

3. White Mountain

4. Massachusetts

5. namisgr pedigree

 

 

Moving Curator up is tempting but unrealistic--you may as well stick Golden State up there if you're going to rank them by rumored whisperings. The Curators John Hauser bought were only a fraction of the collection and those are the only ones that were tracked that we can tie to the pedigree, the other Marvels and all of the DCs got spread out to the wind with no tracking with the exception of FF 2 to 100--and the owner of those could easily spread them to the wind without us knowing as well, he's not really a part of the back-issue community that I can tell.

 

My age-independent rankings would be 1) Church 2) Reilly / 'frisco 3) Pacific Coast. I can't decide on the fourth and fifth spots.

[Primetime]

Church

Reilly (SF)

Allentown

Larson

White Mtn/Pac Coast (for SA)

[fantastic_four]

Pacific Coast blows White Mountain away for average preservation quality, page quality, and breadth of material. Pacific Coast is probably the only Silver collection directly comparable to the Church collection--it's massive, spanning Marvel, DC, and other publishers. White Mountain doesn't contain as much material, and the average preservation of each item is slightly lower than Pacific Coast.

 

Plus for the half of collectors who care, Pacific Coast lacks the cover writing found on White Mountains. I own one White Mountain book, and I only bought it because it lacks the cover writing, presumably because it's an annual so the original owner didn't write the year on the cover as he normally does because Marvel already had it printed on there--although I have seen other WM annuals that he did redundantly write the year on for whatever reason. I won't touch the handwritten White Mountains myself.