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Anyone heard of "Big Little Books"?

Started by USArmyParatrooper,

38 posts in this topic

USArmyParatrooper

USArmyParatrooper

Posted
Posted

I'm back in Calfiornia on leave and yesterday my mother and I visited my step-grandfather at his work.

 

He's an MD with an office for his private practice. If anyone is into antiques this place is essentially a museum of old trains from the 30's, model air planes that are (I think from the 50's), furniture, medical tools and supplies, ALL sorts of different things from the late 1800's - early 1900's.

 

One of the things he showed me was two book shelves filled with "Big Little Books", of various characters like Flash Gordon, several different Buck Rogers, and many others - all from the 1930's.

 

He also had two different toy Buck Rogers guns from the 30's made completely out of metal.

 

Basically his office suite is just wall to wall, really old nostalgia that even hangs down from the cealing everywhere you walk.

 

If you haven't seen a 'Big Little' book before here's an example of one.

 

84818_217886_7.jpg

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the blob

the blob

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I'm a fan of them, but they're rather common/not as rare as say, a Batman 1.

 

lol You're not exactly correct.

 

The correct answer (as it always is) is: it depends on which ones you're talking about.

 

With that said, equally rare vs. equally rare, the comics are generally more "valuable"...bigger group of motivated collectors I guess.

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paperheart

paperheart

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I believe the Overstreet Comic Price Guide actually has a section for BLBs.

 

Yes, it's the biggest waste of ink and paper in the entire guide. Just don't tell Arnold Blumberg I said so!

 

no, that would be the Platinum Age

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BaltimoreLauren

BaltimoreLauren

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I believe the Overstreet Comic Price Guide actually has a section for BLBs.

 

Yes, it's the biggest waste of ink and paper in the entire guide. Just don't tell Arnold Blumberg I said so!

 

no, that would be the Platinum Age

 

Hey now. Don't hate on the Platinum Age!

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the blob

the blob

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I dunno if it is a waste or not. I've never used it (don't own any BLBs), but it's good to have in case I do. And it's nice to see a list of them, what might stand out about them, etc. As for the values, I will assume they're pulled out of a hat/arse.

 

With that said, it would be nice if they could also (or replace it or victorian) have an underground section. It need not be as comprehensive as the one that comes out every 10 years, but honestly, "regular" comic collectors, i'd think, are a heck of a lot more likely to have a sub-interest in undergrounds (or pulps for that matter) than BLBs (or victorian), or so it seems. many of us here at least dabble in undergrounds and pulps. seriously, crumb, the fabulous freak brothers, cherry poptart... these are hardly obscure items.

 

Not to mention, with the OPG comic pricing becoming a little less relevant every day to many interweb-based comic collectors, having more useful "information" in the OPG will provide more of a reason to buy it.

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shadroch

shadroch

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I suspect that the BLB section of the guide is good for several thousand sales per year. While most comic collectors have little use for it, those sales keep the overall price down.

As far as the Victorian section, every other year or three would be fine by me.

Including an Underground/ Adults only section might lead to sales restrictions in certain regions.

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the blob

the blob

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I suspect that the BLB section of the guide is good for several thousand sales per year. While most comic collectors have little use for it, those sales keep the overall price down.

As far as the Victorian section, every other year or three would be fine by me.

Including an Underground/ Adults only section might lead to sales restrictions in certain regions.

 

How would listing titles/artists and purported values possibly result in sales restrictions? It's not like the market reports don't occasionally mention undergrounds.

 

You really think there are a few thousand BLB collectors buying OPG every year just for that section? Are the prices really moving much year to year?

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shadroch

shadroch

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I suspect that the BLB section of the guide is good for several thousand sales per year. While most comic collectors have little use for it, those sales keep the overall price down.

As far as the Victorian section, every other year or three would be fine by me.

Including an Underground/ Adults only section might lead to sales restrictions in certain regions.

 

How would listing titles/artists and purported values possibly result in sales restrictions? It's not like the market reports don't occasionally mention undergrounds.

 

You really think there are a few thousand BLB collectors buying OPG every year just for that section? Are the prices really moving much year to year?

 

 

Listings wouldn't, but pictures of some of the covers might, as well as just the titles of some of the books..

As far as the sales go, I've seen Overstreet offered in places that don't cater to comics but that sell BLBs. If they weren't pulling their weight, I'd imagine they would be gone.

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Comics-n-ERB

Comics-n-ERB

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I collect Tarzan BLB's, have them all been upgrading for the last 20 years. The guide doesn't help me very much since my focus is so small in the BLB world.

 

As far as being common there are quite a few that are difficult to track down, especially in any type of higher grades.

 

This one is a very hard copy to find. It took me several years to find it. It is a soft cover version.

 

 

scan0003-4.jpg

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ComicConnoisseur

ComicConnoisseur

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I collect Tarzan BLB's, have them all been upgrading for the last 20 years. The guide doesn't help me very much since my focus is so small in the BLB world.

 

As far as being common there are quite a few that are difficult to track down, especially in any type of higher grades.

 

This one is a very hard copy to find. It took me several years to find it. It is a soft cover version.

scan0003-4.jpg

That`s what makes these fun to collect,as they are a challange. Anytime I want a Uncanny X-men #94 or New Mutants #98 I can have one with a click of a mouse. 2c
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