Pedigree Fever!

[SW3D]

Is Golden State a Legitimate Pedigree Collection?

If so... Why isn't Golden State a Recognized Pedigree by CGC?

 

Last week, I won my first legitimate comic book auction! This actually purely accidental since I threw a maximum bid never really thinking it would win... but sure enough it did. Although I've won a number of auctions from eBay... I've never won an item on auction from an auction site soley dedicated to comic book auction like: CommicConnect, Pedigree Comics, Metropolis Comics, Heritage, or Comiclink. This was my first and quite frankly I'm bemused considering its taken me close to over 7 years to do so.

 

Anyway... the item I won was a CGC 9.6 of Swamp Thing Volume 1, Number 1. This is actually my third copy of the comic at 9.6 and my sixth overall (still trying to corner that market... one ST at a time). The real reason I even bothered to bid on the item was simply because I've fallen victim to "Pedigree Fever".

 

After recently purchasing a Mass Copy of FF#66, and Suscha News copies of Showcase 80, Marvel Premiere's #1 & #2, and Swamp Thing #8... I've suddenly got a thing for Pedigree's. Deep down inside, I honestly don't feel pedigrees are any better than any other comic that has been well preserved and cared for by your average fan boy or collector... and there a plenty of comics which achieve a high grade that are not associated with a pedigree. However, in the collecting world and in the outside world, a "Pedigree" is accepted as distinguishing stamp of considerable achievement... a "cut above the rest"... akin to an "elitist" concept. Now who wouldn't want to own "the best of the best"... I know I do.

 

Well... according to the details of the auctioned item I won... it has a sticker on the outside label with a pedigree name "Golden State". After doing a bit of research, I came up empty about any information about a "Golden State" pedigree. I also have come to understand the CGC doesn't recognize this particular ST#1 a pedigree.

 

So my questions to anyone with knowledge of pedigrees:

Is Golden State a Legitimate Pedigree?

If so... Why isn't Golden State a recognized pedigree by CGC?

And... Could you provide some details about the Golden State collection or point me to the right direction?

 

I greatly appreciate anyone's feedback on this.

 

Many thanks for reading and Happy Collecting.

 

See more journals by screenwriter3d

[Ronnylama]

great question, it seems to have to be authentic if it has a Golden State (isn't that CA?) I deal with WW Comics as well and have submitted a few books with their Pedigree. I will let you know if they honor it

[Brandon Shepherd]

There used to be an article on wwcomics.com about the Golden State collection, it mentioned that the original owner began collecting in the '60s and continued to do so well into the '90s. The article also mentioned that a majority of the Silver Age portion was sold off and never documented prior to World Wide purchasing the rest of the collection. I believe World Wide began listing the collection in the summer of 2009. Sometime last year I emailed Stephen Ritter to ask him about the Further Adventures of Indiana Jones title and if there would be any Golden State copies on the way. He sent a nice reply and explained that he went to back to the original owner's home to sort through the last of the collection and also explained that the collection was still in the order that the issues were originally purchased in and not by title and number, so it took a while to find certain titles.

 

It is hard for me to say if this is a legitimate pedigree or not, I have come to respect the opinion of those who say the real pedigree collections are pre-1965. With that said, I have a number of pedigree examples from the '70s and '80s and I would not want to have those notations on the labels erased. The pedigree pieces I have, especially my Rocky Mountain examples exhibit superior structure and cover gloss over my non-pedigree examples, but I'm also biased because these are my pieces. I think that what Golden State has going for it is the number of 9.8 examples from the titles that may not have been hoarded, titles like Red Sonja, Vol. 2 and 3 for example, where the lone 9.8 appears in the New Arrivals section and has the red "Sale Pending" notification within the hour of being listed. So, if the characteristic of a large collection containing complete runs of several titles with lower print runs, or the forgotten titles if you will, that are consistent in high grade, qualify for a pedigree designation, then I would say it is a legitimate pedigree.

[Doc Joe]

It depends how you define " legitimate "

 

If it is "cgc recognized" then the answer is no.

 

For them to recognize it they need a complete list of all the books and bunch from this ole toon were sold or traded prior to cgc existence, so the owner ever had a official complete list. Many of them are great books, Stephen and Matt acquired the 'remains' of the collection a few years back - they are still getting graded to this dy!

 

To my mind its a pedigree (way way way back it was questioned if 'silver age books' could be a pedigree , pedigrees were just or golden. )

 

Enjoy your book

[Tnerb]

First off, great acquisition. I might have to purchase one just so you don't have the monopoly on the book. As far as "Golden State" being a pedigree or not. I wrote a journal about it before because I do thought it was a true pedigree. To my knowledge it is not. Although the collection was large and might have been purchased from an individual collection, I think that individual collection was from a larger stock itself. In the eighties when ads for selling and buying comics ran rampant, there was a classified ad from "Golden State Comics" This along with the more widespread Mile High Comics that would take up two full pages, mostly in the center were companies hoping to attack customers and although you do have a Mile High Pedigree and Mile High II pedigree, Golden State did not get pedigree status from CGC...Yet.

 

I don't know about a complete list being needed, I'll leave that comment up to Brandon and Dr. Joe, they seem more knowledgeable than me in this regard, but the community at large also has to acknowledge the pedigree as well and the comics have to be of pristine condition. Who knows maybe a third party company will start and dub a collection a pedigree. Maybe we can start with the Tnerb collection....oh wait, I said pristine condition.

 

Tnerb

[the420kid]

I believe its one of those "should have been a pedigree" but as Doc alluded to, it was spread to the 4 winds before it could be recognized. According to WW, if memory serves, some books actually have the Golden State notation on the label though I've never seen one.

[SW3D]

Thanks for everyone's feedback and support! That's one of things I truly love about this community!

 

As for the topic at hand... I won't stress about it any further regardless of whether it ever gets recognized as a pedigree. I know the jury is still out on Golden State's pedigree status, but from the comics I've seen labeled with the golden sticker, the majority if not all are in very high grade which for me will always be the grabber... pedigree or not.

 

Once again thanks for everyone's support!

 

SW3D

[kaholo1256]

This is yet one milestone I have yet to achieve. One day I'll have to go out and find something that appeals to me that's pedigreed as well. Until that day I guess I'll simply keep collecting. That’s an amazing copy and should go well with his brethren.

[wizardseye311]

Brandon, it was I that grabbed all those Golden State Red Sonja Vol. 3 copies. I think two had been listed when I grabbed those, and Mr. Ritter sent me an email saying he had a bunch more. So they were actually sold before they were even listed. Here's the #4 which seems to be very popular over at myslabbedcomics.com. I don't know why. All were pristine examples though. I don't mind about the Golden State sticker except when they place it over the CGC emblem like they did on my Warlord of Mars #11. As far as World Wide goes, I have to say they are a great company to deal with. Never a hassle, and they always answer emails.

 

 

 

 

 

[Brandon Shepherd]

Neat book wizardseye311, you're absolutely right about their service, they're fantastic.

[wizardseye311]

Thanks. Yeah, they really are. I've spent years trying to complete my 9.8 Red Sonja Vols. 1,2, and 3 collection, and more than a few came from them. My Vol. 1 #10 is a Golden State copy too.