tth2's trip down memory lane

[frozentundraguy]

There wasn't much emphasis on grading or storage. There were infrequent references to the hobby being ruined by people who were paying or charging too much for their comics.

 

From 1969 RBCC, this is one of many examples

 

Was this some kind of ruse? It`s hard to imagine dealers wanting prices to go down, and $15 annual dues was pretty hefty in 1969. It sounds like the membership was the moneymaker (for the organizer).

 

The lament on rising prices from 1969 just shows that the more things change, the more they stay the same. So many collectors seem to have this impression that because prices are high at a particular moment in time, their lower prices in the past must have seemed cheap at that time. The reality, of course, is that comics have almost always been fully priced at any given moment in time and rarely ever seem like bargains. They only ever look like bargains in retrospect.

It's certainly possible that it was a ruse but the idealistic sentiment of the announcement was expressed on multiple occasions by others.

 

It's interesting that one of the membership guidelines was the not too subtle enforcement of the "book center price range list", so the member's list of comics for sale could be included in the newsletter.

 

If I recall my first encounter with old comics as a collectible occurred back in 71 or 72. In Minneapolis we had a magazine store by the name of Shinder's, which had been in business since around the start of WW I. It was the local equivalent of the corner magazine store, more frequently associated with what you would find in downtown New York. At any rate the book that caught my attention was a very early copy of Action Comics. (I had made this assumption on my own due to the large size of the book compared to S.A. books.) I can't recall the issue number, but do recall Shinders had a price of $100 dollars for the book.

[Sal]

Any time the issue of high pricing vis a vis the collapse of the hobby is ever mentioned, the top part of that letter should be immediately be posted as a rebuttal.

 

And I find Tim's comment about comics having always been "fully priced" to be very prescient and logical. Had never really thought about it that way, but I can absolutely agree with that perspective.

 

That is all

[tth2]

It's certainly possible that it was a ruse but the idealistic sentiment of the announcement was expressed on multiple occasions by others.

Very true, which is why I`m always skeptical any time I hear predictions that the collapse of the hobby is imminent, whether because of high prices or lack of collectors.

[adamstrange]

It's certainly possible that it was a ruse but the idealistic sentiment of the announcement was expressed on multiple occasions by others.

Very true, which is why I`m always skeptical any time I hear predictions that the collapse of the hobby is imminent, whether because of high prices or lack of collectors.

 

I've posted some examples in the GA Forum.

 

[adamstrange]

 

 

[namisgr]

This great thread has recently gotten even better. Love your stories, Tim, behind your acquisitions, love seeing the scans of so many hard-to-find gems, and enjoy seeing the early fandom materials as well.

[jimjum12]

The only thing that could make this thread better would be a 9.6 / 9.8 copy of one of those Royal Flush Gang covers. I never could have sold that GL 8.......GOD BLESS....

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

[tth2]

The only thing that could make this thread better would be a 9.6 / 9.8 copy of one of those Royal Flush Gang covers.

Okay jimbo, this one's for you!

 

Another PC beauty from the private collector who sourced it directly from Tom Hanlin. I think there is also at least one other PC double of this book, but I can't remember if it's a 9.8 or not.

 

 

 

The next JLA answers the age-old question, "how much more green could this be?" None. None more green.

 

This came from Acesilver on Heritage, and I believe it was one of the PCs that he acquired from the private collector through the Tom PC channel. This is one of the tougher JLAs from the 30s to find in NM or better. There is also at least one other PC copy of this book, which is a 9.4, I believe.

 

[Bronty]

There wasn't much emphasis on grading or storage. There were infrequent references to the hobby being ruined by people who were paying or charging too much for their comics.

 

From 1969 RBCC, this is one of many examples

 

Was this some kind of ruse? It`s hard to imagine dealers wanting prices to go down, and $15 annual dues was pretty hefty in 1969. It sounds like the membership was the moneymaker (for the organizer).

 

The lament on rising prices from 1969 just shows that the more things change, the more they stay the same. So many collectors seem to have this impression that because prices are high at a particular moment in time, their lower prices in the past must have seemed cheap at that time. The reality, of course, is that comics have almost always been fully priced at any given moment in time and rarely ever seem like bargains. They only ever look like bargains in retrospect.

 

Talk about unintentional hilarity in those old newsletters. True collector = broke collector = let's fix it with socialism. Especially funny for me as quickly escalating prices in my other hobby have led to this type of garbage being spewed everywhere.

 

I'm glad you said "almost always" though Tim. There were a couple points in time where anyone with a brain could recognize that certain material was in fact cheap. (which of course is usually when prices rise the fastest to correct that imbalance).

[JLA_ALL_THE_WAY]

OK Tim, as you get closer to the JLA mountain top, all I ask is...be gentle.

 

Ohh, if only you offered these to me now. Timing truly is everything!

 

I tip my hat to you, sir.

 

 

 

Well, I would if there was a hat-tipping graemlin.

 

This one's almost as good.

 

Rick

[tth2]

OK Tim, as you get closer to the JLA mountain top, all I ask is...be gentle.

 

Ohh, if only you offered these to me now. Timing truly is everything!

 

I tip my hat to you, sir.

 

 

 

Well, I would if there was a hat-tipping graemlin.

 

This one's almost as good.

 

Rick

Thanks Rick. And don't worry, of course I'll be gentle. I won't mention the raw NM B&B 28 that you sold to Metro once!

[tth2]

The JLAs, and the PCs in particular, have generated a bit less interest than I expected, so I'll go ahead and wrap up the rest of the JLAs in one fell swoop.

 

First up is #35, a real fan favorite. Part of the Acesilver/private collector/Hanlin/PC OO set of books. The pale blue background looks fantastic in person.

 

 

 

Next up is a real personal favorite, if for no other reason than the fact that I won it raw on eBay from Roter/PCE way back in 2000 for the princely sum of $355. It was listed by Robert as something like NM+++, and it was as good as advertised. Actually, to be honest I thought it was going to get a 9.6 from CGC and was pleasantly surprised when it came back as a 9.8. Fortunately Roter didn't slab it otherwise he probably would've been asking $20K for it.

 

It's also a real personal favorite because it's such an incredibly difficult book to find in NM, ranking up there with 19, 22 and 29 among the later books. For a very long time, there was nothing above 9.2 in the Census except for this PC outlier. There is a PC double, but it was like a 9.0 or 8.5. Robert never could answer why he sold this copy instead of the lesser copy.

 

This one didn't pass through the Hanlin channel, so the other thing I like about this book is that it's got the shortest chain of ownership of any of my PCs--from the OO to Roter to me.

 

 

 

Last but not least is the PC #23, which I picked up in a trade with Josh Nathanson back in 2002. I never confirmed this, but I'm pretty sure it came through the Hanlin channel to the private collector, who had either traded or sold a few DCs to Josh. So a number of its brothers ended up eventually being reunited with it.

 

[JLA Brad]

Tim,

 

That #24 is awesome - I wish you hadn't already sold it so you could sell it to me! That particular issue is still hard to find in HQ, never mind a 9.8!!!

 

I have to agree with Rick's earlier comment - timing is everything - I could've been the recipient of all those great issues - had I been ready to buy when you were ready to sell.

 

Brad

[tth2]

I have to agree with Rick's earlier comment - timing is everything - I could've been the recipient of all those great issues - had I been ready to buy when you were ready to sell.

This is true. I was very active from 2002 to 2004, and then the SA DC market in general seemed to dry up for a few years.

 

The good news is that the rate of turnover of books has definitely increased over the last few years, so in addition to truly new books to the market, I'm sure many nice books that were previously sold will be coming back on the market over the next few years--you just have to remain vigilant. (this is not based on any insider info, just an educated guess)

[JLA Brad]

Would you say the market dried up at both ends? Meaning, not only did the supply of HG JLA's (and SA DC in general) dry up, but so did the demand? Or has demand always been strong but there was just less opportunity to add to one's collection?

 

 

[tth2]

Would you say the market dried up at both ends? Meaning, not only did the supply of HG JLA's (and SA DC in general) dry up, but so did the demand? Or has demand always been strong but there was just less opportunity to add to one's collection?

 

The demand was clearly there, as evidenced by the great prices that I got when I started selling from late 2006 onwards. But supply was close to non-existent.

 

For example, between the time I picked up the Western Penn Flash run in 2003 through late 2006, a grand total of two early 9.4 Flashes (the Western Penn #123 and non-pedigree #125) came on the market that I can recall, and both sold for very strong prices (over 10X Guide for the #123, which was pretty hefty considering that translated into around $25K, and I think the #125 went for almost 15X).

[Hepcat]

Next up is a real personal favorite, if for no other reason than the fact that I won it raw on eBay from Roter/PCE way back in 2000 for the princely sum of $355. It was listed by Robert as something like NM+++, and it was as good as advertised. Actually, to be honest I thought it was going to get a 9.6 from CGC and was pleasantly surprised when it came back as a 9.8. Fortunately Roter didn't slab it otherwise he probably would've been asking $20K for it.

 

It's also a real personal favorite because it's such an incredibly difficult book to find in NM, ranking up there with 19, 22 and 29 among the later books. For a very long time, there was nothing above 9.2 in the Census except for this PC outlier. There is a PC double, but it was like a 9.0 or 8.5. Robert never could answer why he sold this copy instead of the lesser copy.

 

This one didn't pass through the Hanlin channel, so the other thing I like about this book is that it's got the shortest chain of ownership of any of my PCs--from the OO to Roter to me.

 

 

Wow! Incredible - a 9.8 from 1963 that cost you only $355! But you know I can't see that it's in any better condition than the 9.6 JLAs you've been posting. Could you actually see the difference?

 

[JLA Brad]

A little off topic, but what are thoughts on this:

 

Is it better to have, say a Pacific Coast JLA#24 9.8 with off-white pages or a JLA#24 9.8 with white pages (no pedigree)? Does the pedigree offset the lower PQ?

 

That's assuming all other things (ie. centering) are about equal of course. I would have to go with the non-pedigree copy in the case above. Now, I just have to find one...

[supapimp]

if it's at the same price, i'd take the pedigree every time. but that's just me.

[paperheart]

if it's at the same price, i'd take the pedigree every time. but that's just me.

 

+1 especially since in this case the old label off-white pages most likely would translate to off-white/white at worst in a new label book and the new label 9.8 was probably massaged between the fat lady's thighs to achieve the grade