Why is Four Color 402 going for this much?

[OtherEric]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Four-Color-402-VG-1952-Mary-Jane-and-Sniffles-/321025900924

 

A VG copy is up to $46 right now; I'm the current underbidder but for as much as I want this book I'm not going to to go any higher. But the price baffles me; it's not that the Mary Jane & Sniffles appearances in Looney Tunes are in high demand right now.

 

I know part of the answer is if I'm willing to pay something around that why wouldn't others be; but it still seems odd.

[El Toro Rojo]

Hmm.

 

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBidderProfile&mode=1&item=321025900924&aid=s***l&eu=7qofOybKQQPgnWV2%2Fr0cxHkpwZeFk36S&view=NONE&ssPageName=PageBidderProfileViewBids_None_ViewLink

[OtherEric]

Hmm, indeed! Although they're NOT the current high bidder, so even if there's something fishy with them it still means there's more than one of us out there looking for the book at a very high premium.

[catrick339]

I think that out of the mid-run FC's, the two Mary Jane and Sniffles appearances must be a fair piece scarcer than some the other numbers. Out of all the hundreds (thousands?) of FC's I've had over the last 40 years I've only ever had the two once each, and they both came out of the same collection.

 

I suspect that they're very tough to find, especially in grade.

 

Good luck and keep looking!

[Sqeggs]

I think that out of the mid-run FC's, the two Mary Jane and Sniffles appearances must be a fair piece scarcer than some the other numbers. Out of all the hundreds (thousands?) of FC's I've had over the last 40 years I've only ever had the two once each, and they both came out of the same collection.

 

I suspect that they're very tough to find, especially in grade.

 

Good luck and keep looking!

 

Low print runs, maybe?

[Scrooge]

Which leads to an interesting question and I hope there is an answer out there.

 

Were all the Four Colors appearing side by side printed to the same degree or. let's say a FC Donald Duck earned a larger print run than a FC The Little Scouts which could appear in the same month?

 

For the record, the auction ended @ $50 + $10 shipping

[Sqeggs]

Which leads to an interesting question and I hope there is an answer out there.

 

Were all the Four Colors appearing side by side printed to the same degree or. let's say a FC Donald Duck earned a larger print run than a FC The Little Scouts which could appear in the same month?

 

For the record, the auction ended @ $50 + $10 shipping

 

I don't know but I think the main Disney characters would have received larger print runs. By the time this book was published, I think the print runs of WDC&S were very large. It would make sense for FCC 408 (DD and the Golden Helmet) to have a much larger print run than FC 402.

 

Catrick's experience may indicate that FC 402 had a particularly low print run. Or maybe no kid who read it saved it to read again.

[thehumantorch]

Which leads to an interesting question and I hope there is an answer out there.

 

Were all the Four Colors appearing side by side printed to the same degree or. let's say a FC Donald Duck earned a larger print run than a FC The Little Scouts which could appear in the same month?

 

For the record, the auction ended @ $50 + $10 shipping

 

Seems high for a FC containing low demand characters. I don't think any of the FCs in this issue range are close to rare.

[catrick339]

Not necessarily rare, just considerably less common than other numbers nearby.

 

Obviously both issues tanked, there was never another appearance, let alone a series. Keep in mind that Four Color was a tryout venue for potential regular series.

 

Possibly many were also remaindered and destroyed back when such things happened,