Curator FF's!

[DiceX]

It doesn't say anything about him slicing his wiener off.

 

Does this disappoint you?

 

Besides, I'm betting he didn't do it himself.

Not willy, but it is an integral part of the story.

 

Did this really happen or is this some cooky Watson tale?

 

 

Hauser himself told it to me it was true. Hauser was the guy that brought the books to market.

 

He told me he sold the books because the museum was being remodelled and used the proceeds to fund the sex change.

 

The guy stayed married to his wife after the sex change and apparently they lived happily ever after.

 

 

Oh hell. I thought he just took a knife and cut his off.

 

 

And you wanted photos?

 

You sick *spoon*

 

 

I've seen photos of that before. It almost made me hurl.

 

 

[VintageComics]

I've seen photos of that before.

 

Somehow I knew that.

 

 

[DiceX]

I've seen photos of that before.

 

Somehow I knew that.

 

 

You can see lots of things on the internet. Some you wish you hadn't.

 

 

[VintageComics]

I've seen photos of that before.

 

Somehow I knew that.

 

 

You can see lots of things on the internet. Some you wish you hadn't.

 

 

Yes, you've shown me most of the things I wish I'd never seen.

 

[DiceX]

I've seen photos of that before.

 

Somehow I knew that.

 

 

You can see lots of things on the internet. Some you wish you hadn't.

 

 

Yes, you've shown me most of the things I wish I'd never seen.

 

 

Somebody has to do it.

 

 

[lou_fine]

So the Heritage catalog arrived today, featuring some full page pix of Curator FFs 2,3,4,5,10, and 12. Yowza.

 

Their description of the origin of the pedigree is interesting:

 

"The Curator collection originated with a boy in Minnesota whose father worked at a grocery store. The boy purchased two copies of every comic that interested him, and to preserve one copy of each for long-term, he would wrap it in material readily available to him, namely butcher paper. In the early 1980s the collection was sold to a local dealer. Our consignor [my addition: now revealed to be Dan Jurgens] got a look at the books in 1983. The price stickers were very aggressive for the time, but given the incredible quality of the books our consignor quickly struck a deal to purchase as many Fantastic Fours as he could afford, and has kept them in storage ever since."

 

where's the part about keeping them in the vault at the museum he worked at?

 

+1

 

Yes, I found Heritage's description to be totally confusing as it left out the key reason why the collection was given the Curator pedigree.

 

Based upon their written description, it really should have been called the Grocery Store Collection.

[tth2]

I don't get the catalogs anymore. Did they really say that Jurgens was the consignor?

 

No, Heritage is too professional for that. The addition between the brackets is mine.

But apparently not too professional to avoid posting scans that showed Jurgens' name on the books!

[Drummy]

I too found their description of the pedigree to be both educational and perplexing...never knew about the butcher paper and the Minnesota connection, for instance, so as a native Minnesotan I feel even more connected to the collection. But not to mention at all the reason for the name "Curator" as opposed to, say, "Food Mart", seems bizarre.

 

Some of the books already seem to be going nuts...should be wild at the finish!

 

Dan

[fantastic_four]

"The Curator collection originated with a boy in Minnesota whose father worked at a grocery store. The boy purchased two copies of every comic that interested him, and to preserve one copy of each for long-term, he would wrap it in material readily available to him, namely butcher paper. In the early 1980s the collection was sold to a local dealer. Our consignor [my addition: now revealed to be Dan Jurgens] got a look at the books in 1983. The price stickers were very aggressive for the time, but given the incredible quality of the books our consignor quickly struck a deal to purchase as many Fantastic Fours as he could afford, and has kept them in storage ever since."

 

All of that generally checks out with the info Hauser tells people about the collection, but I'm guessing he hadn't heard of those details about the butcher paper or the exact date of the sale of the Fantastic Fours. From Jurgens' perspective, this is likely to be all the information he knew as of 1983, so it makes sense that the more complete account of what happened to the collection isn't here, although surely they could have added more detail by asking CGC or probably even Steve Borock about it. By the time Hauser got to the remaining books in the late 1990s, there were in the museum vault and stored in polybags, five comics packed into what he described as "bricks" per polybag.

 

If the Fantastic Fours were really sold that long ago, that means they may never have been stored in a museum vault and certainly haven't been for the last 28 years, which begs the question--why are they still all so white-paged?

[Drummy]

Well, clearly someone stored them well, even if not in a museum vault...the cover colors on these issues are actually newsstand fresh. Even with the nuclear Heritage scans, you can tell they're superb.

 

Some new Curators have also shown up for auction starting on the 19th -- a #58 in 9.4, a #60 in 9.4, etc. There's also a lot of eight or so raw books (including #57, 64, 65, and others) that range from VF to NM- and were probably not thought to be worth slabbing.

 

Such "pedestrian" books takes a little of the wind out of the sails regarding the run as a whole, I suppose, but it's good to know that the lot is still largely complete.

 

I do wonder, however, where the #7 and #8 are...conspiculously absent in the auction thus far. Or the #16 and #37? Sold already? Not worth listing due to lower condition? Missing from the run?

 

Dan

 

 

[VintageComics]

The "pedestrian" books give everyone an opportunity to own a piece of the pedigree.

 

Hauser still has moderns from that collection...at least he did a year or so ago, and people were scooping them up for sig series, to own a book from the Curator pedigree, etc.

 

One of the more eccentric stories behind a comic book pedigree, to be sure.

[trmoore54]

I’m finally grooving on the Curator FFs in the upcoming Heritage Auction as I just received my Heritage catalogue in the mail…the #2 is absolutely stunning …and the #31 9.8 is a real eye-popper! Ah hell, there’s a lotta nice ones…did I mention the super tough #18 9.4 …etc...etc…

 

Oh…and btw…there’s an ASM 11 9.4! (not a Curator) OMG!

 

[namisgr]

I’m finally grooving on the Curator FFs in the upcoming Heritage Auction as I just received my Heritage catalogue in the mail…the #2 is absolutely stunning …and the #31 9.8 is a real eye-popper! Ah hell, there’s a lotta nice ones…did I mention the super tough #18 9.4 …etc...etc…

 

 

Check out the staples on the #2, they look rusted to me.

[DR.X]

I’m finally grooving on the Curator FFs in the upcoming Heritage Auction as I just received my Heritage catalogue in the mail…the #2 is absolutely stunning …and the #31 9.8 is a real eye-popper! Ah hell, there’s a lotta nice ones…did I mention the super tough #18 9.4 …etc...etc…

 

 

Check out the staples on the #2, they look rusted to me.

 

 

They look rusty to me too. You can actually see it in the front scan on the lower staple. The book is really sharp, but not a 9.4 to me. That lower right corner on the F.C. is rounded and the right edge looks like it has quite a few color fleks.

[trmoore54]

I’m finally grooving on the Curator FFs in the upcoming Heritage Auction as I just received my Heritage catalogue in the mail…the #2 is absolutely stunning …and the #31 9.8 is a real eye-popper! Ah hell, there’s a lotta nice ones…did I mention the super tough #18 9.4 …etc...etc…

 

 

Check out the staples on the #2, they look rusted to me.

 

 

They look rusty to me too. You can actually see it in the front scan on the lower staple. The book is really sharp, but not a 9.4 to me. That lower right corner on the F.C. is rounded and the right edge looks like it has quite a few color fleks.

 

I'm just looking at the catalogue FC scan and you can't see the top staple...I guess I'm just blinded by that yellow...I guess that bottom staple may be rusted but I can't tell for sure... Anyone seen it in hand?

 

Oh yeah...and the 52 9.8!

[DR.X]

Those are really nice books, but that buyers premium is crazy. I think I may start charging a .10 cent buyers premium on my dollar book threads.

[trmoore54]

Those are really nice books, but that buyers premium is crazy. I think I may start charging a .10 cent buyers premium on my dollar book threads.

 

Plus if you're in CA or TX add another 9% sales tax...

[MrBedrock]

I have a Jeff Jones painting. I have a few Curator books. I've read all of Michelle Nolan's articles. Is there anything else I need to complete my collection?

[DrWatson]

Pictorial proof that it is actually better than Mitch Mehdy's.

[MrBedrock]

Pictorial proof that it is actually better than Mitch Mehdy's.

That photo would include something that the others apparently do not.