Rusty staples and sunken treasure! by Hibou

[Hibou]

And sometimes my best laid plans backfire...

 

A couple of months ago, I decided to sell my 7.0 copy of Detective Comics 70. I loved that book but I figured I could use the money to put into a couple of other books that were coming up and I saw that there were a couple of Tec 70's on deck that I could bid on to fill the void.

 

So I sold my 7.0 copy and bought a few books that I was looking at but when it came around to repurchasing a Tec 70... well, that's when things sort of fell apart.

 

As nice as that 7.0 looked, the one thing that bothered me was the taped centerfold. I wonder what it was about the centerfold in this issue? I've seen numerous copies with taped or missing centerfolds. Hopefully soon, I'll have my answer. Anyways, there was a 2.0 copy on Clink that I tried to get with a matching date stamp as my Batman 227. The cover was gorgeous on that copy but it had Brittle Pages. I wasn't thrilled about that, but with the condition the cover was in, I figured it would make a nice fill in. I guess someone else really liked that book as well. I put in a bid which I thought was much higher than it would go for, only to find out that the last minute bid I put in wasn't enough to win the book.

 

I was a bit surprised.

 

But I knew that there was a nice 6.5 copy coming up for sale at Heritage Auctions and so I set my sights on that copy. This book had a nice cover as well but the pages on this one were Light Tan to Off White... a pretty wide spectrum.

 

After watching it for what seemed like a while, the day came where the Internet bidding ended and the live bidding started up. This was where I figured I would make my move. Well, once the book came up on the live auction, I submitted my bid and thought for sure that I had got the book at my maximum bid. Unfortunately, it seems like there was a transmission problem when I submitted my bid as it was never received by HA and so I lost out on that book as well.

 

 

And so I felt at a loss... I didn't have one of my favorite books in my collection any more and I couldn't seem to find a replacement.

 

And then just recently, here on the boards, I woke up one morning to see that someone had listed a 2.0 copy for sale overnight.

 

When I saw the book and the price, I quickly jumped on it. The fact that it had nice PQ and no mention of tape anywhere was certainly a nice little bonus!

 

And now it feels nice to have this book back in my collection even if it is a little rough. This will serve as a 'place holder' until I can once again find a copy with a nice grade worthy of the title of 'My Favorite Underwater Cover'!

 

And then, once I do find that copy, I'll most likely crack this one open to take a look at the interior and especially that centerfold! (thumbs u

 

 

 

 

 

 

This book was originally discussed here:

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=6900799&fpart=4

 

And the 7.0 discussed here:

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=6900799&fpart=9

 

[Brandon Shepherd]

Great cover, I didn't realize it was labeled a "classic." I like the sunken wooden vessel in the background, as well as the treasure chest nearby. This makes me want to call Robert Ballard or James Cameron to do underwater exploration.

[n2wdw]

Ha! I saw the tec 70 and thought about PMing you, but I figured you already had a nicer copy. Glad you saw it in time to buy.

[Hibou]

Thank goodness for time...

 

 

 

 

 

...payments, that is!

 

 

My first down payment was applied to a book I won in auction and hopefully within the next month or so, I'll have a true 'mini grail' in hand!

 

 

 

 

 

[Hibou]

Another Saturday night falls upon me...

 

 

 

 

 

I have a lot to discuss in terms of comics and such but I have to wait.

 

While I wait, I turn to music as I very often do.

 

Daredevil has been on my my mind... "The Man Without Fear".

 

I digress...

 

I joked with my friend Rob recently, that I would be finding a way to incorporate 'Erasure' into this journal soon enough.

 

Well.

 

Maybe not right now.

 

Instead, as I continue to back-track into time, I'm captivated by another...

 

A Canadian by the name of Loreena McKennitt.

 

And from 1991...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Her lyrics have entranced me like none other although some of Robert Plant's would be a close second.

 

Still, how much have they captured my imagination and fueled some of my directions?

 

Well...

 

 

 

 

 

I had this done a week before my 45th birthday.

 

It pretty much sums up my life in 5 words.

 

A reminder of another time.

 

 

...

 

 

And my favorite Plant tune...

 

 

 

 

That song has been with me for many, many years.

 

As the end of the year approaches, I'm finding myself tying up some (actually, many) loose threads.

 

How I love(d) Saturday Night(s).

 

 

 

 

 

[Hibou]

I forgot to mention that I received my secret Santa CGC gift on Friday evening... I can't wait to see who it's from and what's inside!

 

 

 

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[Hibou]

I mentioned Daredevil last night as I just finished reading this today...

 

 

 

 

 

I have been wanting to go back and re-read the Miller Daredevil books and I thought that this would be the quickest way to get back to that.

 

Of course that has left me wanting to seek out more issues as this volume covers DD 158-167... I forgot how much fun issue 163 was! That one features Daredevil against the Hulk.

 

Anyways, I'll have a lot more to add on this later as Frank Miller's Daredevil had a profound effect on me through high school which is where I'll be taking this journal back to pretty soon!

 

 

 

[Hibou]

Merry Christmas!

 

Hopefully everyone is enjoying (or has enjoyed) a wonderful Christmas and Holiday Season!

 

This Christmas has been a bit different for me but I think that it just might be the best Christmas ever.

 

I believe I got the one thing that I wanted for Christmas...

 

 

 

(This was put together by my wife... yes, it's an absolutely huge birdcage! I have no idea what kind of bird was originally in it, but we found it a few years ago while 'antiquing' and the price was too good on it to pass up. It stands almost 8 feet in height! Those are dried hydrangeas in the bottom.)

 

 

 

 

And it seems that sometimes the biggest of gifts can be found in the smallest of packages.

 

I can't explain why or how, but it seemed to be embodied in this little guy who only sits to be about 3 inches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

...

 

 

 

 

 

So before I get to my 'time travel' episode where I take this journal back to my high school days and before, I just wanted to share this little piece that I bought from Catskill Comics...

 

http://www.catskillcomics.com/

 

I didn't attend this years NYCC and it seems like one of my favorites, Ramona Fradon, wasn't there either.

 

But thanks to Scott at Catskill, I found this little 6x6 piece that was done by her that fits my other themed focus.

 

 

 

 

 

The contrast on this new scanner I'm using is a bit off... the piece looks much nicer than this scan and here is the picture as it appeared on Catskill's website.

 

 

 

 

 

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

 

[Griff]

Merry Christmas Hibou

[Hibou]

Merry Christmas, Griff and congratulations on the DWoTN #1!

[Griff]

Thanx Hibou it was one heck of a way to end the year

[Brandon Shepherd]

I'm glad you had a Happy Holiday and I wish you a Happy New Year Hibou!

[Hibou]

And nothing says 'the Holidays' like closing out the year with an old friend...

 

 

 

 

 

I remember seeing this concert (on HBO in 1981?) and having to get the LP when it came out. My parents were definately instrumental in my appreciation of Simon and Garfunkel... my mom especially.

 

Anyways, today was certainly that kind of day.

 

It was 'that time of year' and one in which my friend Rob and I would meet up at the nearby Tim Horton's (affectionately known as 'Timmy's).

 

With my daughter, we met up for coffee, laughs, stories and the ubiquitous exchange of gifts. It seems that whenever we get together, we're always exchanging gifts.

 

Anyways, after talking about all the funny threads on these boards, we exchanged gifts and I got the best laugh out of one in particular... and perhaps it was just that.

 

The laugh... the best gift of all!

 

But this was it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The humor in this was the reference to one of the more funnier things we had shared over the years and that was Twisted Mego Theater's (from Wizard Magazine) treatment of Iron Man.

 

Here's a small example...

 

 

 

 

 

 

And why was he treated that way from TMT in Wizard?

 

Well, that would be because of Iron Man 128 of course!

 

 

 

 

 

So what was inside this tipsy Iron Man wine bottle / box?

 

 

 

 

Well...

 

Something he had recommended to me a couple of years ago but I never tried.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now I get to try it and yes, I like it a lot!

 

Merry Christmas, Rob!

 

 

 

(By the way, he used glow-in-the-dark paint for the bubbles, eyes and chest beam... and yes, they do glow VERY nicely!)

 

 

 

But this day didn't end with a top quality bottle of Bourbon...

 

 

 

 

 

No, there was more!

 

An awesome print by Tim Lee....

 

 

 

 

And then these two Creature from the Black Lagoon items...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, an awesome Pulp repro from 1935!

 

 

 

 

 

What a great assortment of gifts!

 

I hope he liked my sampler box of Russell Stover Chocolates I got him!

 

And once again... Happy Holidays, everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Brandon Shepherd]

Nice post, nothing like enjoying a glass of good bourbon with a friend, especially if it come in an Iron Man wrapper.

[Hibou]

Starting over...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year everyone!

 

 

Yes, I'm a little late...

 

 

 

So why Landslide?

 

Well, for many reasons... a beautiful song... deep meanings... and I'm just a huge fan of Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks. I finally got to see her twice a few years ago with my wife and it was awesome to hear this tune live.

 

This particular version features Waddy Wachtel (her long time solo guitarist) instead of Lindsey Buckingham who is a very integral part of the story behind this song.

 

Anyways.

 

It's funny... I guess I didn't realize how often I listened to this song but one afternoon, about 3-4 years ago, I was driving home and with my daughter in the backseat... this song was playing.

 

At the time, she was around 8 and from the backseat I could hear her singing along with Stevie and doing a darn good job. I quickly grabbed my phone and hit record and still have it saved... maybe I'll upload it soon but the quality isn't that great.

 

And so...

 

Starting over.

 

I've marked 2015 as a year I start over in my collecting habits and such.

 

I pretty much liquidated everything from my old collection last year and have found new inspiration in where I want to go with this hobby.

 

I feel like I'm being pulled back to my Underwater books but I like the decision that I made to loosen up the time period restraints.

 

And it's no surprise to me that I find myself seeking out Aquaman books now!

 

And as for the Moon books... there are still plenty that I have in mind but I've also decided to focus on a small collection where the books have personal meaning or stories to me.

 

In other words, even more loosening up of a particular focus.

 

These books have been a huge part of my life and I really, really like that.

 

And to be true to myself I have to recognize that.

 

And so...

 

I'll be branching off into more areas but still trying retain a concentration of themed books around the moon and underwater motifs.

 

Earlier, I had mentioned that I was going to go back further in time and start to look at some more specific events that formulated my interests and habits in collecting the books that I do, but I'm still tinkering with the controls on that one.

 

 

 

 

But in the meantime, I can talk about what I've been seeking out.

 

Ever since my decision to break out of strictly GA for the underwater books, I've been looking more and more at the Aquaman books that I had been ignoring.

 

Like I said earlier, issue #18 was always a favorite... Aquaman marries Mera... but the closer I looked, the more I saw!

 

And I suppose the timing couldn't be better (or worse).

 

As it is, Aquaman 'keys' are hitting a peak and it's getting next to impossible to find anything without paying a hefty fee.

 

Issues like numbers 11, 29, 35 and 42... and #1 or course!

 

So I've been trying to find (and buy) whatever I can.

 

And so it appears that I'm trying to rebuild an Aquaman reader collection that I had once before (minus all the keys).

 

I've been doing pretty well but here's one story that needs to be told.

 

Check your books before buying and selling!

 

Just a couple of weeks ago, the family and I went on a small road trip about an hour west of here. I found a quaint (but well stocked) LCS there and was pretty pleased at their assortment of books.

 

As I made my way through their back issue bins, I found (what looked to be) a nice copy of Aquaman 29 for sale with a sticker price of $26.00.

 

It looked like a F/VF (7.0) but it also looked like the bottom staple was popped, so I asked the owner if he could remove it from the bag so I could look through it.

 

After he opened it, I started to gently flip through the book... the bottom staple was indeed popped from the cover. But when I got to the centerfold, that's where the trouble really was.

 

It seemed like that bottom staple had popped through the ENTIRE book and there was dried tape underneath BOTH staples at the centerfold.

 

The shop owner said he didn't know that there was tape inside and wondered how it got under the staples. Obviously we concluded that the staples were opened and then closed up after the addition of the tape.

 

Through this whole discussion, I thought he would offer the book at a lower price but he didn't.

 

I'm guessing he bought the book under the impression that there was nothing wrong internally but that just goes to show you the importance of looking over the interior thoroughly!

 

And so, needless to say, I didn't leave with the book.

 

I have found a few nice books on here though and this one in particular was a nice surprise...

 

Aquaman 14.

 

Not a key or anything of any significance but it is a Big Apple copy which is my first exposure to that pedigree.

 

The PQ has me wondering what's going on here but I'll look this one up in the next few days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll have more to add later!

 

[Brandon Shepherd]

Great write-up, Hibou. Good luck with your refined focus this year. I really like that Aquaman cover, nothing like a good Nick Cardy cover, I also didn't realize the Big Apple pedigree had Silver Age examples, congratulations.

[Hibou]

Thanks Brandon...

 

I just looked up the Big Apple pedigree and it's a pretty cool story.

 

It sounds like the collection being stored in a variety of locations would easily lead to a wide swing of page quality!

 

Here's a little bit:

 

http://www.comicbookpedigrees.com/pedigrees.php#BIG_APPLE

 

 

 

"The Big Apple pedigree is unique in a few ways; Its span is huge, starting in 1939 and continuing all the way to the end of the Silver Age. It was assembled by an African-American named James Hilton, and the breakdown of books and page quality reveals some very peculiar traits.

 

Although Hilton died in 1968, it was not until 1993 that his nephew Ron visited the old family home in Brooklyn and discovered the first of many storage places where his uncle kept his huge comic collection. Afterwards, Ron ventured into Manhattan with a case full of his uncle's comics, and paid a visit to Christie's Auction House. At the time was Phil Weiss was assisting Joe and Nadia Mannarino as they prepared for the 1994 Christie's Comic Auction. Upon reviewing Ron's beautiful group of books, Phil quickly consigned them to the auction. A six year relationship was begun with the nephew, ending with the last Christie's auction in 2000. But only a fraction of Hilton's 5000+ comics were sold during this time.

 

...

 

The most unique aspect of the Big Apple Collection is the vast difference between its Golden and Silver Age copies. The Golden Age issues contain some of the highest graded comics exhibiting white pages, which ranks them in the top ten for 1940s collections. However, the '40s books had been stored in a trunk for decades while the rest of the books were stacked on open shelves after Hilton passed away. The separate storage resulted in the largest swing of page quality, landing the Silver Age portion of the collection dead last on list.

 

Although there are Big Apples that go as far back as 1939, every significant Golden Age book in the collection comes from one year, 1946. Every other year during the '40s contains only a handful of issues, except for 1949. For some strange reason, not a single Big Apple has ever been located from 1949, which coincidentally is the year Ron was born in the same house his uncle resided."

 

 

 

I can't see any exterior markings on the Aquaman 14 so I wonder how else the designation is determined. I also bought a pretty nice raw Aquaman 11 from the seller I got the 14 off of so I wonder...

 

 

[Hibou]

And before I get off and running on some new (old) material, I just wanted to point out once again the wonderful secret santa package that was sent to me!

 

I know I'm VERY late in mentioning this here...

 

Anyways here is the thread where I briefly talked about that.

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=364197&Number=8261368#Post8261368

 

The two themed books were two nice copies of House of Mystery 200 and Werewolf by Night 11...

 

Thank you once again, Mike!

 

 

 

 

 

[Hibou]

[font:Book Antiqua]My little obsession with... [/font]

 

 

 

 

 

 

And as much as I would love to be talking about the dream of owning this original piece of art, instead I'll be talking about correcting a mistake.

 

For those interested in seeing a very large scan of this amazing piece... that can be seen here:

 

Large Detective Comics 70 OA scan.

 

 

(Smaller version)

 

 

 

So.

 

I've talked about this book enough on this journal but I think that this might be the last time.

 

I started out with a restored (4.0) copy, upgraded to a really nice (7.0) copy... sold that one to acquire a couple of books in hope of getting another nice looking copy but settled for a solid filler (2.0) copy.

 

 

 

 

And through all of these, I never saw the interior of this issue and the curious centerfold that seemed to be missing or loose from many copies.

 

That is, until now!

 

But before I get to that, I thought I could talk about this road I traveled of the ever-changing Tec 70.

 

The one particular copy of this book that I regretted not getting was from eBay and was sold a couple of years ago. Based on the 'SN' marking on the book, I figured this to be a 'Cookville' copy but of course couldn't be sure... CGC doesn't recognize this one.

 

Anyways, here's a little blurb on that pedigree:

 

 

http://www.comicbookpedigrees.com/pedigrees.php#COOKSVILLE

 

"How often have you seen a Golden Age comic with a large "SN" written across the cover? They're peppered throughout the 1992 Overstreet Grading Guide, and turn up frequently in dealers' inventories. These books come from an enormous accumulation dubbed the Cookeville Collection.

 

Named for its point of origin (Cookeville, Tennessee) the collection was acquired in the 1990's by Steve Geppi, who integrated copies he needed into his personal collection and placed the rest in the Diamond Gallery stock. Cookevilles are very easy to recognize because of the "SN" mark. Sometimes the owner's name, Leroy Mackie can be found on the cover as well. The Cookeville collection runs the gamut of nearly every genre, totaling about 2000 comics from the early 1940s to the early 1950s."

 

And this is the book that I missed out on:

 

 

 

 

I'll still keep my eyes out for it to reappear someday but the one element that was a distraction for me was the cut off top circle headpiece... for some reason I'm a little particular about full circles being fully represented.

 

I kept going back to this Metro copy for a while but the dust shadow was a bit discouraging for me even though I've seen many copies with dust shadows and tanning.

 

 

 

 

So when I sold my 7.0 copy, I had two copies in mind as a replacement but looking back, I guess I'm glad I was outbid on both.

 

The first was this 2.0 copy and even though it has an amazing cover, the PQ and cut off circle would've always bothered me and yes, it does have a matching date stamp (different year obviously) as my Batman 227!

 

 

 

 

And the second was this copy from Heritage...

 

 

 

 

On this one... the chip in the upper left corner, right edge dust shadow and PQ would've bugged me as well.

 

And so, I continued to look.

 

There was this one sitting on eBay for a while...

 

 

 

 

... but it looks like the coupon had been cut from the centerfold.

 

 

I remembered another raw copy that had sold on these boards a little while ago and thought of trying to track that one down.

 

It genuinely looked like it was signed by Jerry Robinson which I thought was ultra-cool but thought that the spine roll might be a problem.

 

Still, it's an awesome copy, nonetheless!

 

 

 

 

And when this (2.0) copy appeared on the boards, I got that one and told myself that I would hold it as a filler copy until I found a nicer one.

 

 

 

 

Well, guess what I did?

 

A big thank you goes out to Jeff Delaney (nearmint) who had my copy on his website and sold it back to me for what I sold it to him for last year!

 

http://www.detective27.com/index.html

 

Sometimes, it doesn't pay to look for something that doesn't exist.

 

In this case, there really wasn't anything wrong with this 7.0 copy for my tastes.

 

The cover looks great to me and yes, the centerfold is reattached with tape and there is some slight tanning around the edges but when I really think about it... I'm okay with that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And so, I have this one back in my collection and as I told myself just a couple of months ago, I would crack that 2.0 copy open to FINALLY take a look at the interior!

 

Here it is... the mysterious centerfold to Detective Comics 70 along with some other interior shots including a nice half page ad for Batman 14... another favorite of mine with a moon motif!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...

 

 

And I can't exclude the splash page to this favorite issue of mine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Detective Comics 70...

 

A Jerry Robinson Classic Cover!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hibou]

Well I didn't expect this to work out like it did but I actually set aside some time last night to watch the live part of the Sunday Heritage Auction and actually won a big book!

 

(Well, big for me that is!)

 

And it's because of that, I'm going to have to make some tough decisions here and say goodbye to a few books in order to offset some of the cost.

 

I know I'll be sad to see one of these books go but for what I'll be getting, I know in the long run it'll be well worth the exchange!

 

The book I picked up last night is raw and will definately be a keeper but it'll need some work before I submit it.

 

Can't wait!