Comic book collecting with a foreign variant focus 20 20

[James J]

Thanks (thumbs u

[lscomics]

I got this in today. It was a gift from TheAmazing R.J.S. and it proves he lives up to his board name. (thumbs u

[kav]

Showcase #22 German NM $45:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/9-2-NM-NEAR-MINT-SHOWCASE-22-EURO-VARIANT-1ST-GREEN-LANTERN-SDCC-/160973570987?pt=US_Comic_Books&hash=item257ac5c3ab

I think it's a scam because:

Says item location Des Moines but under FB page says Germany

Too cheap

Stock pic

Private FB

FB looks canned, suspicious

Other items for sale just look suspicious

Edited March 30, 2014 by kav

[solarcadet]

Showcase #22 German NM $45:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/9-2-NM-NEAR-MINT-SHOWCASE-22-EURO-VARIANT-1ST-GREEN-LANTERN-SDCC-/160973570987?pt=US_Comic_Books&hash=item257ac5c3ab

I think it's a scam because:

Says item location Des Moines but under FB page says Germany

Too cheap

Stock pic

Private FB

FB looks canned, suspicious

Other items for sale just look suspicious

 

no that seller is legit I know him...

 

He has some pretty good stuff

[kav]

In that case that's a great deal.

[James J]

 

I really like this small run and low print Walking Dead series

[solarcadet]

 

I really like this small run and low print Walking Dead series

 

 

Did you source this out of Serbia??

 

I sourced my ASM129 from the same country but back then it was still called Yugoslavia. ..

 

Great book

[James J]

No.......got it here on the boards. I have all cgc 1-13 plus 2 and 10 B&W versions.

 

And some poor grade raws.

The story is that 1-3 were released in Serbian and did not sell well.Most of 4-13 were sent to and dumped in the US. I have no proof of this,just the word on the street.

 

Edit: I added the Serbian registry set in my signature below. I just got done adding all the picture. (thumbs u

 

 

 

Edited March 31, 2014 by James J

[XXXPHOENIX]

I have just published a new journal that I thought you may enjoy ...:

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=7569393#Post7569393

 

MY FIRST NOGRADE (NG)... and the strange story of the mysterious UOMO RAGNO (Spider-Man) #59

 

While I am still waiting for CGC to award me with my first 9.9 (almost 1000 books submitted and no 9.9 to date ), I would like to entertain you with the strange story of the misterious UOMO RAGNO (Second Series) #59 italian edition.

 

Spider-man and all other Marvel Heroes were published in Italy from April 1970 (almost 8 years after AF15!) by a publisher named EDITORIALE CORNO. Marvel comics flooded italian newsstand with print runs of over 200.000 copies in mid 70s... But the advent of MANGAs and ANIMEs and the low quality of the late 70s' Marvel stories quickly lead EDITORALE CORNO to bankrupt.

 

UOMO RAGNO (First Series) terminated with issue #283 in March 1981 but the publisher attempted to relaunch the character with SETTIMANALE DELL'UOMO RAGNO (3/1981-1/1982) and finally with UOMO RAGNO Second Series. The Second Series resisted a couple of years (3/1982-2/1984) until issue #58, due to EDITORIALE CORNO bankrupt.

But, for many years a real mistery fascinated italian collectors: somebody claimed that #59 had been printed but never distributed. In fact, the last page of #58 had a preview of the #59 cover (the same of Spectacular Spider-Man's #58 "Ravaged by the Ringer" in the original USA version).

 

The "Golden Age" of Italian superheroes had ended leaving all italian Marvel Fans orphans...for years! Later somebody found some of the printing plates of issue #59, but other sources later confirmed that it never made it to the printer...

 

Three years passed and in 1987, STAR COMICS restarted to publish Marvel Comics (after another unsuccesfull attempt by LABOR COMICS in 1985), but guess what... issue #1 of UOMO RAGNO Third Series came out with the same cover (Spectacular Spider-man #58) that should have had to be used for #59 Second Series...

 

The demand for #59 Second Series remained high, also because a collector (and friend of mine) kept maintaining the mistery alive by claiming he had some copies...

 

His hoax continued until 2004, when that same guy produced issue #59....in 59 copies (could it be otherwise??). The uniqueness of this production is the total originality of this book: not to be confused with a reprint as it is not the reproduction of something that already existed. The book, instead is a recreation with the same graphic, structure (stories of Spider-Man and Captain America, Fan Club insert, central poster, ads)and paper of a 1984 book that was never published.

 

The big hype created by this event is still alive today, some people love and other people hate this initiative but perpetrating a joke like this to us collectors for 20 years has been devilishly ingenious!!!

 

I submitted my #59 (37/59) in 2013 and CGC sent it back to me...slabbed but with a nefarious NG (NO GRADE)... probably the fame of this story had already reached the atlantic too!!!

 

CIAO!

FEDERICO - ITALY

 

UOMO RAGNO Second Series #59

 

UOMO RAGNO Second Series #59 before being graded

 

UOMO RAGNO Third Series #1

 

Spectacular Spider-Man #58

 

 

[lscomics]

Interesting.

 

Thanks for sharing. (thumbs u

[TheLiamSturgess]

Indeed!

[solarcadet]

XXXPHOENIX,

 

this is very interesting....

 

so was this book in fact a color copy made or actually published?

 

what is the "street" value of this book over in Italy?

 

i love rare and odd books like this thanks for sharing my friend

 

 

Typically CGC gets foreign labeling incorrect due to lack of review/knowledge

 

perfect examples of a Spain GL76 labeled as "Mexican" and several ASM300s labeled as "Finnish Edtion" when the language is clearly not Finnish

[vaillant]

XXXPHOENIX,

 

this is very interesting....

 

so was this book in fact a color copy made or actually published?

 

what is the "street" value of this book over in Italy?

 

i love rare and odd books like this thanks for sharing my friend

 

I reply for Federico.

L’Uomo Ragno v2 #59 never saw the light, because the publisher went bankrupt – the last issue is #58 which has an internal ad announcing the #59.

The cover of what should have been v2 #59 was ultimately used as the cover of v3 #1 when Star Comics (not related to Marvel’s US children imprint) restarted to publish Marvels in Italy in 1987.

 

What I knew is that a group of collectors made, mostly as an homage, the #59 as Federico has shown, in that limited number of copies, but Federico seems to know more.

I have no clue on the "street" value, but being more an homage than an actual book I think it’s more a curiosity than a collectible.

[marmat]

 

I really like this small run and low print Walking Dead series

 

italian edition

 

 

 

[marmat]

Showcase #22 German NM $45:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/9-2-NM-NEAR-MINT-SHOWCASE-22-EURO-VARIANT-1ST-GREEN-LANTERN-SDCC-/160973570987?pt=US_Comic_Books&hash=item257ac5c3ab

I think it's a scam because:

Says item location Des Moines but under FB page says Germany

Too cheap

Stock pic

Private FB

FB looks canned, suspicious

Other items for sale just look suspicious

 

I believe it's not too cheap.

the trick with foreign editions is that many of them are recent publications (this german Showcase 22 is from 1999), the real problem is to find mid-high grade copies of the foreign editions published in the 60's and 70's.

For example, it's pretty easy to fins an italian ASM 129 (from 1976), but it's VERY VERY hard to find one like this:

 

[solarcadet]

Showcase #22 German NM $45:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/9-2-NM-NEAR-MINT-SHOWCASE-22-EURO-VARIANT-1ST-GREEN-LANTERN-SDCC-/160973570987?pt=US_Comic_Books&hash=item257ac5c3ab

I think it's a scam because:

Says item location Des Moines but under FB page says Germany

Too cheap

Stock pic

Private FB

FB looks canned, suspicious

Other items for sale just look suspicious

 

I believe it's not too cheap.

the trick with foreign editions is that many of them are recent publications (this german Showcase 22 is from 1999), the real problem is to find mid-high grade copies of the foreign editions published in the 60's and 70's.

For example, it's pretty easy to fins an italian ASM 129 (from 1976), but it's VERY VERY hard to find one like this:

 

 

Marmat you should send that to CGC...

 

A press would also help the top right corner

 

It would be highest in census for a long time to come...Beautiful!!!!!

[vaillant]

Marmat you should send that to CGC...

 

A press would also help the top right corner

 

It would be highest in census for a long time to come...Beautiful!!!!!

 

The copy I sent to Matthew is pretty remarkable too, I think a 9.0 or so.

 

I’m not sure about pressing. Federico (XXXPHOENIX) told me he pressed some books, but I don’t know if he was talking about US books or italian ones.

YKOil told me he wished to press a pair of Corno books I sent him, but from what I recall I think he had them graded without pressing because they are structurally different and the person who should have pressed them advised him to leave them as they were.

 

I think the highest grade I have among Corno books (so far) is my Fantastici Quattro #12, which I tentatively graded as a NM. One of the few I am keeping.

 

[solarcadet]

wow that is very nice Valliant!! great book!

[vaillant]

This one will be in the hands of Tim soon… but it’s about a VF in my grading.

I still miss the original one, and must remember to locate a decently priced copy after Easter. I have the #121 but not the #122.

 

[XXXPHOENIX]

HI!

It's not a color copy...because the original doesn't exist...it's a re-creation of a book that was never published!

CGC can be very unprecise...

 

Actually the technical realization is incredibly professional.. it's not a cheap amateur production, because this friend of mine works in a typography.

 

And it's not cheap...if you can find somebody willing to sell a copy, expect to pay anywhere between €350 to €500... !!

 

CIAOOO

FEDERICO

 

XXXPHOENIX,

 

this is very interesting....

 

so was this book in fact a color copy made or actually published?

 

what is the "street" value of this book over in Italy?

 

i love rare and odd books like this thanks for sharing my friend

 

 

Typically CGC gets foreign labeling incorrect due to lack of review/knowledge

 

perfect examples of a Spain GL76 labeled as "Mexican" and several ASM300s labeled as "Finnish Edtion" when the language is clearly not Finnish