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Tecs 1-26 In Grade -- The Quest Is Finally Over

Started by RareHighGrade,

546 posts in this topic

1koko

1koko

Posted
Posted
What turned out to be the most elusive issue? It was the #3. The few copies that were graded by CGC were below 6.0 and thus ineligible. But for this issue, I could have completed the run 2 years ago.

 

I will be forever grateful to Mr. Berk for this one.

 

 

(worship)

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G.A.tor

G.A.tor

Posted
Posted
What turned out to be the most elusive issue? It was the #3. The few copies that were graded by CGC were below 6.0 and thus ineligible. But for this issue, I could have completed the run 2 years ago.

 

I will be forever grateful to Mr. Berk for this one.

 

 

(worship)

i remember 1koko had Tec 1-26 but not higher grade hm
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MrBedrock

MrBedrock

Posted
Posted
What turned out to be the most elusive issue? It was the #3. The few copies that were graded by CGC were below 6.0 and thus ineligible. But for this issue, I could have completed the run 2 years ago.

 

I will be forever grateful to Mr. Berk for this one.

 

Awesome (thumbs u

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esquirecomics

esquirecomics

Posted
Posted
It took me over 20 years, but I finally did it.

 

As many of my fellow board members know, although I collect a wide range of GA books, my sweet spot has been 1930's pre-hero DCs. And I've always felt that the crown jewel of those early DCs is the Detective Comics 1-26 run. Unlike other books published between 1937 and 1939, which often had humorous or light-hearted covers, the covers of the early Tecs were consistently dark, gritty and pulp-like. And they were drawn by some of the best GA artists, such as Creig Flessel, Leo O'Mealia and Fred Guardineer.

 

I first got interested in the run after seeing many of the Church copies lined up in Gary Carter's booth at the San Diego Comic-Con. I was able to pick up two of the Church copies, but before I could get any others, Danny Kramer swooped in and bought the rest of them in a single purchase in the early 90's.

 

Nevertheless, I made it my primary collecting goal to acquire the entire run in unrestored high grade condition. My initial objective was to collect the run in vf condition or better. But that goal proved to be unattainable because some of the issues do not exist in that grade. Nor did it help that, for many years, most of the Church copies resided with Kramer. I therefore lowered my grade requirement to 6.0. Yet even with this modification, it still took over 20 years to finish the quest.

 

Over the next couple of weeks, I will post the run in sequential order. For those (such as Mr. Zaid) who like such things, here are some of the statistics:

 

18 of the books are pedigrees, 11 of these are Church copies.

17 of the books are in vf- or better grade.

22 of the 26 are CGC graded. Of those, 14 are top of the census.

 

As a final note, I'd like to express special thanks to Jon Berk, without whom this odyssey would never have ended. Jon's gracious generosity allowed me to acquire the last and most elusive book in the run.

 

So, after that long-winded build-up, here is the first issue in the run. Tec #1 (CGC 6.5):

 

Peter, this is fantastic news and I applaud the tremendous effort you expended over all these years. Your achievement couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. (thumbs u :applause:

 

BTW, I patented the formula for creating those statistics of which you now infringed. No worries, I'll take your #18 as compensation and allow you to continue with the show! ;):baiting:

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lb jefferies

lb jefferies

Posted
Posted

So are you completely done now? Tag on the toe and close the drawer? Or will you still look for potential upgrades to some of these?

 

Follow up question: If you do upgrade, would you sacrifice a pedigree to get an obviously higher graded example?

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RareHighGrade

RareHighGrade

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So are you completely done now? Tag on the toe and close the drawer? Or will you still look for potential upgrades to some of these?

 

Follow up question: If you do upgrade, would you sacrifice a pedigree to get an obviously higher graded example?

There are some issues that I would consider upgrading with the Church copy if it became available and economically feasible. But there are several issues for which the best known copy is not a pedigree; specifically, nos. 1, 3, 4, 8 and 11.

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40sJohn

40sJohn

Posted
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Excellent! I also like the pre hero runs for a number of titles, especially Adventure Comics. Great job of staying true to the dream of putting together this incredible run. Even more kudos for posting them here for us to see...I love seeing runs like this.

(worship) (worship) (worship)

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RareHighGrade

RareHighGrade

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Peter, this is fantastic news and I applaud the tremendous effort you expended over all these years. Your achievement couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. (thumbs u :applause:

 

BTW, I patented the formula for creating those statistics of which you now infringed. No worries, I'll take your #18 as compensation and allow you to continue with the show! ;):baiting:

The Tec 18? I figured you'd want a Church More Fun.

 

Roulette44: those are some nice books in your tagline.

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esquirecomics

esquirecomics

Posted
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Peter, this is fantastic news and I applaud the tremendous effort you expended over all these years. Your achievement couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. (thumbs u :applause:

 

BTW, I patented the formula for creating those statistics of which you now infringed. No worries, I'll take your #18 as compensation and allow you to continue with the show! ;):baiting:

The Tec 18? I figured you'd want a Church More Fun.

 

Ok, you persuaded me!! (thumbs u

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jgallo

jgallo

Posted
Posted

Holy Wow that is amazing. I love that run and have owed several low grade copies of various books over the years. Just to get that run is nuts but in grade is crazy. These books just can't be found regardless of the money you have.

 

Big massive congrats on this one. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the books.

 

Do you intend to slab the raw books?

 

James G

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Timely

Timely

Posted
Posted
Peter, this is fantastic news and I applaud the tremendous effort you expended over all these years. Your achievement couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. (thumbs u :applause:

 

BTW, I patented the formula for creating those statistics of which you now infringed. No worries, I'll take your #18 as compensation and allow you to continue with the show! ;):baiting:

The Tec 18? I figured you'd want a Church More Fun.

 

Roulette44: those are some nice books in your tagline.

 

Well, since you are handing out More Funs, I'll take your #94.. Pretty please!?!? :foryou:

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Silver Surfer

Silver Surfer

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Posted
What turned out to be the most elusive issue? It was the #3. The few copies that were graded by CGC were below 6.0 and thus ineligible. But for this issue, I could have completed the run 2 years ago.

 

I will be forever grateful to Mr. Berk for this one.

 

 

WOW! :o Congrats on a great run of books.

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