Curator FF's!

[tth2]

I think there's a good chance the North Stars and Curators are one and the same. The consignor's name was accidentally listed on a sticker of one of the back cover scans. I pointed it out to Heritage and they replaced the scan. I was hoping to keep that quiet, but alas...

 

The collector may have had duplicates of some issues, but I'd bet most of the North Star FFs are Curators.

That would actually explain the fabulous quality of the North Stars, but I'd be really curious why the non-pedigreed books couldn't be verified as Curators, since they should be able to get verification from either Hauser or the artist who bought the run.

 

Since SA collectors pay a premium for Curators (although not sure how much additional premium these books can command, given their already uber-high grades), I would have thought it'd be worth either Heritage's or the consignor's while to go the extra mile to get whatever was a Curator to be designated as a Curator by CGC.

So now that we know the consignor is Dan Jurgens, who was indeed the artist who acquired the #2-up run, it's curioser and curioser why the initial batch of books weren't identified as Curators. Clearly he knew the books were Curators, and must have known that he'd be leaving money on the table by not identifying them as such.

 

Yes, the unidentified books already had potential buyers in a tizzy, but I think it'll be even crazier now, now that it's known that these may very well be the freshest, prettiest FFs on the planet (even if not necessarily always with the best structural grade, although there's a lot of those too) from the pedigree that many of the cognoscenti believe to be the best SA pedigree in existence, on a book for book basis.

[drdonaldblake]

too late for a quick label change @ CGC b4 the auction??

[Spiderphill]

http://comics.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=7054&lotIdNo=91001

 

 

is this the Curator or the Northstar ff 1??

 

 

Best looking 5.5 on the planet??

Looks like a solid 7.5 to me.

[Ghost Town]

So now that we know the consignor is Dan Jurgens, who was indeed the artist who acquired the #2-up run, it's curioser and curioser why the initial batch of books weren't identified as Curators. Clearly he knew the books were Curators, and must have known that he'd be leaving money on the table by not identifying them as such.

 

Yes, the unidentified books already had potential buyers in a tizzy, but I think it'll be even crazier now, now that it's known that these may very well be the freshest, prettiest FFs on the planet (even if not necessarily always with the best structural grade, although there's a lot of those too) from the pedigree that many of the cognoscenti believe to be the best SA pedigree in existence, on a book for book basis.

I think it's possible Jurgens didn't know what a big deal the Curators are. We comic geeks on the boards know, but the rest of the world... maybe not. And because of that, I think it's also possible that Heritage didn't know just what they were getting either.

 

But once Heritage was alerted that Jurgen's name could be seen on one of the back cover stickers and that these were most likely the Curators, the rest of the FFs are suddenly getting the pedigree designation. Kind of makes me think they didn't know.

[drdonaldblake]

watch for the northstars getting a label change!

 

I beleive Ed jaster and Lon Allen found the northstar books- these guys are pretty cluey about pedigrees, no?

[markseifert]

now this is where it gets interesting because in Doug Schmell's Grand auction there are some FF's being consigned by a comics artist- but those are no where as nice as these northstar books

 

Huh. Why on earth go into that level of detail on this inker's list of credits and then not name him? Not like it's hard to figure out from all of that!

[MrBedrock]

http://comics.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=7054&lotIdNo=91001

 

 

is this the Curator or the Northstar ff 1??

 

 

So much for any secrecy on who the artist is.

I think it's been fairly well known for a while now that Dan Jurgens was the owner of the Curator FF #2-up run.

Well known for at least the last twelve hours (thumbs u

[markseifert]

Someone remind me what the story is on the Curator FF #1. It sold when it was consigned at a local shop (where Dan bought his run) before Dan got his shot at it? It is unknown whether any of the 9.4 copies are the Curator at this point?

[Ghost Town]

Someone remind me what the story is on the Curator FF #1. It sold when it was consigned at a local shop (where Dan bought his run) before Dan got his shot at it? It is unknown whether any of the 9.4 copies are the Curator at this point?

I think you've basically got it. Although I never heard where or how the FF #1 was sold, only that it was sold before the rest of the run. And the last I heard, it's unknown whether any of the 9.4s is a Curator or not. That's not a lot of help, I know.

[tth2]

http://comics.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=7054&lotIdNo=91001

 

 

is this the Curator or the Northstar ff 1??

 

 

So much for any secrecy on who the artist is.

I think it's been fairly well known for a while now that Dan Jurgens was the owner of the Curator FF #2-up run.

Well known for at least the last twelve hours (thumbs u

I knew, so I figured if a nobody like me knew, then it must be pretty common knowledge.

[tth2]

watch for the northstars getting a label change!

 

I beleive Ed jaster and Lon Allen found the northstar books- these guys are pretty cluey about pedigrees, no?

Well, apparently they didn't realize, which kind of shocks me.

 

Seriously, even if they didn't know it was Jurgens, it definitely was commonly known that most of the Curator FF run was owned by one comic artist, and I would have expected guys whose business is to know the business inside out to have known that. So when Jurgens suddenly started consigning these uber-HG FFs to them, even if he didn't tell them they were Curators, they should've put two and two together, particularly if putting all the pieces together meant more $$$.

[chrisco37]

I have a hard time thinking that the designation was missed. Maybe the non-Curators are "just" some uber-HG books.

 

Borock works for Heritage. Don't you think that if this sort of collection came thru Heritage's doors, they'd have Steve look at them? He'd be able to identify them as such, I would think. If the designation was missed, I'm fairly certain the books would be back on their way to CGC for a reholder.

 

As Tim said, even though the books are UHG to begin with, you'd be leaving a premium on the table by not having the Curator designation on there.

 

 

[namisgr]

Dan Jurgens was born in 1959 (in Minnesota, where in the sixties the 'North Stars' were an NHL expansion team), so being two years old when the FF run began he's not the original owner of the 'North Star' books. Between his being the secondary owner of this extraordinary FF run, the white page quality and blinding back cover whites of nearly every issue, the knowledge that he owns the Curator FF SA run (perhaps sans ish 1), and the coincident submission with FFs designated as Curators (0916018XXX = North Star, while 0916019XXX = Curator), it's probably a safe bet that these comics all came from the same collection.

 

I think it's important for the hobby for Heritage and CGC to sort out and maintain the provenance of these comics prior to the auction. If they don't want to go through the hassle and time to re-label the 'North Stars', they could at least create a certificate of authenticity identifying them as from the Curator pedigree.

[BEAUMONTS]

Dan Jurgens was born in 1959 (in Minnesota, where in the sixties the 'North Stars' were an NHL expansion team), so being two years old when the FF run began he's not the original owner of the 'North Star' books. Between his being the secondary owner of this extraordinary FF run, the white page quality and blinding back cover whites of nearly every issue, the knowledge that he owns the Curator FF SA run (perhaps sans ish 1), and the coincident submission with FFs designated as Curators (0916018XXX = North Star, while 0916019XXX = Curator), it's probably a safe bet that these comics all came from the same collection.

 

I think it's important for the hobby for Heritage and CGC to sort out and maintain the provenance of these comics prior to the auction. If they don't want to go through the hassle and time to re-label the 'North Stars', they could at least create a certificate of authenticity identifying them as from the Curator pedigree.

 

(thumbs u

[Ghost Town]

I have a hard time thinking that the designation was missed. Maybe the non-Curators are "just" some uber-HG books.

 

Borock works for Heritage. Don't you think that if this sort of collection came thru Heritage's doors, they'd have Steve look at them? He'd be able to identify them as such, I would think. If the designation was missed, I'm fairly certain the books would be back on their way to CGC for a reholder.

 

As Tim said, even though the books are UHG to begin with, you'd be leaving a premium on the table by not having the Curator designation on there.

 

The books that are getting the Curator designation are the books that are just being listed now like the #23, 47, 33, 39, and 69. These numbers weren't listed 3 weeks ago when the FFs started appearing. But super high grade FFs on either side of these numbers were.

 

For example, there were killer copies of FF #10 to 25 listed, but no #23. Yesterday, the Curator #23 shows up in the auction. Most of the other Curators just listed filled in holes in the run.

 

Steve didn't bring in this collection and since he doesn't live in Texas, he probably never saw the books. The Curator designation only just starting appearing on books yesterday. And this was well after Heritage was alerted that Jurgens' name could be seen on one of the back cover stickers and that these were probably the Curators.

 

So I'm thinking there are 2 possibilities: One, they didn't know until they were told. After that, they contacted CGC to add the pedigree designation to the books still at CGC.

 

Two, they were trying to keep it quiet that Jurgens was the consignor. But once they were alerted that someone knew he was the seller, they figured the cat's out of the bag and might as well take advantage of it. Although initially leaving the pedigree notation off the books would be leaving a lot of money on the table. And I'm not sure why they would do that.

 

 

[chrisco37]

I was just throwing out a possible theory.

 

Your's and Bob's make more sense. I know that Steve lives in FL, but you would think that they would consult him if something of this magnitude came thru their doors.

 

Do the Curators have any sort of distinctive markings (ala Church)? They don't, right? So I guess it could've been missed at CGC.

 

 

[namisgr]

watch for the northstars getting a label change!

 

I beleive Ed jaster and Lon Allen found the northstar books- these guys are pretty cluey about pedigrees, no?

Well, apparently they didn't realize, which kind of shocks me.

 

Seriously, even if they didn't know it was Jurgens, it definitely was commonly known that most of the Curator FF run was owned by one comic artist, and I would have expected guys whose business is to know the business inside out to have known that. So when Jurgens suddenly started consigning these uber-HG FFs to them, even if he didn't tell them they were Curators, they should've put two and two together, particularly if putting all the pieces together meant more $$$.

 

Where's your requisite post yawning over the release of still another boring ultra high grade SA Marvel run?

[Drummy]

I don't think the Curators have any distinctive marks besides their unusual "fresh" quality. CGC wouldn't know to designate them without evidence and provenance, which I presume would have to have been supplied by Dan Jurgens or his agent?

 

Anyway, it could be that Jurgens had some amazing FF's outside of the Curator run and consigned them at the same time, but more likely that these 9.4/9.6 books are all part of the Curator collection. Somebody let me know if I'm wrong, but here's the early FF run so far in this auction:

 

#1 -- 5.5 white

#2 -- 9.4 oww

#3 -- 9.2 oww

#4 -- 9.6 white

#5 -- 9.4 white

#6 -- 9.2 white

#7 -- none yet

#8 -- none yet

#9 -- 7.5 white (marked as Curator)

#10 -- 9.6 white

#11 -- 9.0 white

#12 -- 9.6 white

#13 -- 9.4 white

#14 -- 9.6 white

#15 -- 9.8 white

#16 -- 9.4 oww

#17 -- 9.6 white

#18 -- 9.4 white

#19 -- 9.6 white

#20 -- 9.6 oww

#21 -- 9.6 white

#22 -- 9.8 white

#23 -- 9.2 white (marked Curator)

#24 -- 9.6 white

#25 -- 9.6 oww

#26 -- 9.4 white (Curator)

#27 -- 9.0 white (Curator)

#28 -- 9.4 white (Curator)

#29 -- 9.6 white

#30 -- 9.6 white

#31 -- 9.8 white

#32 -- 9.8 white...and the list goes on and on!

 

Sure sounds like the Curator run to me!

 

Dan

[Ghost Town]

I was just throwing out a possible theory.

 

Your's and Bob's make more sense. I know that Steve lives in FL, but you would think that they would consult him if something of this magnitude came thru their doors.

 

Do the Curators have any sort of distinctive markings (ala Church)? They don't, right? So I guess it could've been missed at CGC.

 

It is kind of a head scratcher, I know.

 

Many of the Curators have overspray/distributor ink but that's not very distinctive.

 

 

[namisgr]

Thanks Dan, for the great compilation. It's an amazing list of comics that I won't be able to afford.