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1930's Cereal Premium Comics

Started by lighthouse,

12 posts in this topic

lighthouse

lighthouse

Posted
Posted

Greetings.

 

I have been trying unsuccessfully to gather information about these for the last few weeks. I figured I would see if anyone here might be able to help.

 

A couple months ago, an elderly gentleman came into the shop wanting to talk to me about some comics he had from the 30's. Naturally I was quite excited over what I expected to be a stack of low-grade Archies from 1963. Memory tends to exaggerate the age of collectibles.

 

Well after a couple nice visits to the shop, he finally brought them in, in a tiny jewelry box...

 

Based on his limited recollection, and the paltry bits of information I have found so far, they are 26 cereal premium mini-comics from the 1930's. I have done google searches for all the titles and every one comes up completely empty, except for "Yip Roper" which has a single match. That page is another collector looking for info about what he believes to be a cereal comic from the 1930's.

 

I have scanned nine of them below, including the back cover of one which mentions The Silver Streak. All are in nice shape other than the one picture below with a corner missing. They are eight-page storybooks with four panels of art including the cover.

 

If anyone has any information they can provide I would greatly appreciate it. And if you don't personally, but can suggest someone for me to contact, that would be great...

 

1040595994815_cereals.jpg

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Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

Try a SPORTS/MEMORABILIA dealer as well, such as Bill Mastro (Mastronet), All Star Sportscards, BMW, etc.. I've seen these before in SPORTS motifs (story of Jim Thorpe, Knute Rockne, etc.).

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Guest

Posted
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Also, try searching internet Sportsmemorabilia auctions and sellers on Internet search engines. You may see similar items show up in catalogs giving you a better idea as to their origins.

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lighthouse

lighthouse

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No new info yet... but I will be happy to share the news when I have some...

 

The owner offered me the entire set for $100 when he first walked in the door, but I told him there was no way I could sleep at night if I did that. Now it's become a quest for me.

 

I suspect that the eventual owner will be either a museum or a cereal company, as these have more value as antiquities than as collectibles. The trick is figuring out which cereal company released them and whether their legacy is still around...

 

We will see...

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NativeNewYorker

NativeNewYorker

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You may be getting your hopes up if you are thinking about selling it to some ceral company for big $$. Mickey Mouse published by Bibo Lang is the first licensed Disney publication and undoubtedly the most important Mickey Mouse item in the comic collecting hobby. There are roughly 60-80 copies estimated to exist, and a 1/3 are probably missing the cut-out puzzle on pgs 9-10. Overstreet values this book at roughly a measly $10,000 in VF. Yet the book has appeared on eBay several times and affordable copies can be had for less than $1000. You would think that Disney with their billions of dollars would be hoarding these, but that is simply not the case. IMO, these early Disneys are greatly undervalued.

 

I'm sure Hans agrees with me.

 

Ted

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lighthouse

lighthouse

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You may be getting your hopes up if you are thinking about selling it to some ceral company for big $$

 

Not expecting big bucks by any means...

 

But I have sold comics to museums several times over the years for various 'theme' exhibits, and I would not be surprised if that is where these comics eventually wind up. But in order to do so, I need to be able to establish the origin of the comics. The last thing I need is for a docent to be describing them as General Mills' to someone from Kellogg's who knows their true origin.

 

A random Vietnam-era Bronze Star sells for $100, but when you can establish that it was from a KIA veteran, it's suddenly a $1000 collectible. It's all in having the story to tell...

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tb

tb

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> IMO, these early Disneys are greatly undervalued.

 

Overstreet raised the value of the Bibo and Lang book & the first

MM Mag a lot during the 90s. These books are extremely rare in

decent grades (FN up): I've only seen one of each offered for

sale in FN/VF or better during the last decade (Sotheby's &

Christies' auctions). They are quite common in the lower grades

though, and IMO overvalued by a factor of >=2 in the guide. I

wouldn't personally rate either book as a holy grail for Disney

collectors, at least not below FN. There are a few other books

that are much rarer and should be valued higher. I get

excited when I see any of the first series (1933) MM Mags or

an early high grade WDCS, for example.

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