1935-1940: The GOLDEN AGE of Golden Age

[CentaurMan]

Next up, Feature Comics #30, with the first Doll Man cover. The earliest Doll Man issues (27-30) seem particularly hard to find. There are no copies of this issue in the CGC census, restored or otherwise. Not that it's in high demand or anything, but supply seems particularly low.

 

[PovertyRow]

Man, where did you come up with these books? Just wonderful to see!

[jimm94]

All I can say is WOW! I've been browsing the Gold Forum lately for a change of pace (I'm primarily a Marvel silver collector), and it has been an absolutely eye-opening experience. I can't express how great it is to see these comics. It has really made me eager to learn as much as possible about the entire history of comics, not just the 1960's to the present. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to scan and post!

 

POV - Can I come over and play with your pre-codes?

 

Cheers,

 

-Jim

[PovertyRow]

It has really made me eager to learn as much as possible about the entire history of comics, not just the 1960's to the present.

 

If you don't have them yet, get the Gerber Photo Journals Vol 1 and 2. A whole education in two rather heavy and large volumes! They are a bit pricey but folks here can tell you if any deals are around!

 

Thanks for the kind words on my pre-codes!

[RareHighGrade]

Here's the first MLJ comic ever, Blue Ribbon Comics # 1, from November 1939:

 

[tb]

What a joy it is to see your books.

[PovertyRow]

Here's the first MLJ comic ever, Blue Ribbon Comics # 1, from November 1939:

 

Does that have a "pulp feel" or what? Most intriquing!

[Mephisto]

Next up, New Adventure Comics #28. Great Flessel cover.

 

No real story behind this one, although as Ian can attest, this run of DC's is virtually impossible to complete.

 

 

I can definately see the sailor being given a fedora, whip, and brown jacket, with about 3 days of bead and then you have a great Indiana Jones story.

[CentaurMan]

Great Blue Ribbon #1!! Those early Blue Ribbons are hard to find. I have a copy of #1, but it's brittle along the spine (one of the few brittle books I have), and because of that I haven't really read through it.

 

That cover definitely has a different feel than most other 1939 books. A bit more realistic or something.

[CentaurMan]

This next book is on the later edge of my self-imposed 1935-1940 time frame. It's the 2nd issue of the 3-issue Arrow series, which consisted of reprints from earlier Centaurs.

 

There were far too few Arrow covers produced before Centaur went under. Everyone loves the Arrow, and therefore these books generally sell much better than guide would suggest.

 

[dgillock]

Man, you guys are killing me with your collections... In a good way.

Centaurman, RareHighGrade, and the rest of you who are making me feel really inferior... How long have you been collecting?

[CentaurMan]

Centaurman, RareHighGrade, and the rest of you who are making me feel really inferior... How long have you been collecting?

 

I bought my first comic of the newsstands in the late 1970's, Batman #316. I started seriously collecting Golden Age stuff around 1997, but didn't really ever have the kind of career that would allow me to afford decent size purchases until 2000. And if I can put together this collection on a limited budget (and trust me, it's still limited), anyone can do it. It's just a matter of having focus. I've found that when I get spread too thin, wanting to collect too many genres at once, I don't end up being satisfied at all with my results.

 

Next up, New Comics #9 from 1936. Typical silly early DC cover, but obviously from a historically important series.

 

[Timely]

Staying focused is the key to collecting. Also you have to have realistic short/long term goals.

 

When I was collecting DC Mile Highs my long-term goal was to get every one! I came close , getting 15% of the DC superhero Mile High copies, which is over 200 out of the 1400 that exist. I soon came to realize that there wasn't enough money to make it happen, not to mention certain people will never sell and I'd actually have to wait for them to die before I'd get a chance, so even if I won the lottery my goal could never happen. Collecting one-of-a-kind items like that is definately 1000 times tougher than just finding "any" copy to fill in your run.

 

Point is... make your 10 year goal lofty, but not completely out of reach!

 

Timely~West

[PovertyRow]

Point is... make your 10 year goal lofty, but not completely out of reach!

 

I agree. Trying to obtain one copy of every pre-code horror TITLE (as oppsoed to issue) is an obtainable goal but not as easy as one may think! But it IS obtainable and that is what keeps me going!

[DCman]

photo

 

 

Here's my first scanned pic...Hope it works

[Apotheosis]

DCman's pic....

 

[Rob]

And if I can put together this collection on a limited budget (and trust me, it's still limited), anyone can do it. It's just a matter of having focus. I've found that when I get spread too thin, wanting to collect too many genres at once, I don't end up being satisfied at all with my results.

 

I'm starting to find my focus. I'm returning after a brief haitus (of which I sold most my comics), I've been lurking in the hobby, but not sure where I wanted to get restarted. After seeing these great Golden Age books, I've realized that Golden Age is my real passion. Being born in 1974, it's not due to personal memories of the books, but just the classic aura that Silver and Bronze books just don't have. I considered high grade Bronze, but for the same price as a NM 70's Batman, I'd rather have a VG 40's Batman.

 

I'm concerned about budget. My wife and I both have well paying jobs, but it's the "wife" part that limits my comic budget. She can't understand spending more than $20 on some old paper, let alone hundreds of dollars. You mention your budget is limited. Can you get more specific? What's an average range you pay for some of these great books you've scanned? I think I might be limited to G-VG books, which I don't mind. The thought of having 40's Batman's and Detective's in even G gets me excited.

 

I agree about preferring non-slabbed, but I really worry about restoration. Mainly trimming. I like the idea of buying on eBay risk-free. And I'm not sure I could break one out after it's already been slabbed. Anyway, I really appreciate the scans. Keep them coming. They've helped me realize where my collecting passion lies.

[CentaurMan]

Great book, DCMan!

 

Thanks for posting it!

[CentaurMan]

I'm starting to find my focus. I'm returning after a brief haitus (of which I sold most my comics), I've been lurking in the hobby, but not sure where I wanted to get restarted. After seeing these great Golden Age books, I've realized that Golden Age is my real passion. Being born in 1974, it's not due to personal memories of the books, but just the classic aura that Silver and Bronze books just don't have. I considered high grade Bronze, but for the same price as a NM 70's Batman, I'd rather have a VG 40's Batman.

 

I'm concerned about budget. My wife and I both have well paying jobs, but it's the "wife" part that limits my comic budget. She can't understand spending more than $20 on some old paper, let alone hundreds of dollars. You mention your budget is limited. Can you get more specific? What's an average range you pay for some of these great books you've scanned? I think I might be limited to G-VG books, which I don't mind. The thought of having 40's Batman's and Detective's in even G gets me excited.

 

I agree about preferring non-slabbed, but I really worry about restoration. Mainly trimming. I like the idea of buying on eBay risk-free. And I'm not sure I could break one out after it's already been slabbed. Anyway, I really appreciate the scans. Keep them coming. They've helped me realize where my collecting passion lies.

 

I worry about restoration too on the non-slabbed stuff, not because I'm anti-restoration (on the older books it's frequently a necessary evil), but because I don't want to pay unrestored prices for a restored book. I bought some slabbed restored books for pretty cheap, then broke them out of the slabs and tried to detect the restoration myself, using a black light, a jeweler's loupe, and the grader's notes as an answer key. Eventually, I've reached a point where I feel as though I can spot most restoration. And that's all I'm looking for. If there's a tiny bit of glue somewhere that I'm missing, so be it. I don't want to know. I'm not selling my books any time soon anyway, and I can't allow myself to get too stressed about it.

 

As for the budget, there are a lot of Golden Age books available in G/VG for under $100. Not early DC's or Timely's, but most other publishers (Fox, Fawcett, MLJ, Centaur, Lev Gleason) don't run up into super high prices at those grades. I started there with my collection, and patiently put in my bids, allowing myself to get outbid 80%+ of the time. There's no rush. More books come available every day. These early relatively inexpensive purchases allowed me to get a better sense for exactly what I liked and what I didn't.

 

Now I've got a better job, and money is less of an issue. As far as budgets go, I'll allow myself to spend 5% of so of my after-tax income on comics, if the books I want are available. I have paid "crazy collector" money for a few books that I'll be posting. But the vast majority of my core collection was assembled at a value price, over time. Don't be discouraged by the big ticket stuff that's currently out of your grasp.

 

For example, here's a very hard-to-find early issue of Funny Pages (#10, from 1937) that I got for under $100. The challenge here was actually finding a copy, not affording it once it was discovered.

 

[Rob]

As far as budgets go, I'll allow myself to spend 5% of so of my after-tax income on comics, if the books I want are available.

 

That sounds like a reasonable budget, but still not enough to allow for expensive books (very often, at least). You're not buying $500 books once a month unless you make $180,000/yr. 5% of my budget after taxes allows for about $250/mo. I'd be happy with that.