AT LAST

[burntboy]

I don't believe there is any slab damage. That's an amazing book.

 

But, look at the book to the right of it, and tell me what you see.

 

This book alone proves a point!

 

steve; what's the point?? that a 9.6 can have the smallest of visible defect? that you believe that miniscule chipping happened after the 9.6 grade was given??

 

enlighten us please..........

[linmoth]

It does prove a point. Not bad for a reading copy.

 

Best, Tom

[sfilosa]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I don't believe there is any slab damage. That's an amazing book.

 

But, look at the book to the right of it, and tell me what you see.

 

This book alone proves a point!

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

steve; what's the point?? that a 9.6 can have the smallest of visible defect? that you believe that miniscule chipping happened after the 9.6 grade was given??

 

enlighten us please..........

 

My point was that a 9.6 book could have Marvel chipping /tears. I know several people on this board who have made comments saying that they never saw a book get a 9.4 with Marvel chipping. Well here's one.

 

 

I don't believe it happened after it was slabbed.

 

Also, if it wasn't considered Marvel chipping, then the book would grade anywhere near 9.6 (probably in the 8.5-9.0 range).

[burntboy]

ok - i wasn't totally off-base...............

[Forbush-Man]

Metropolis has an October (1st printing) CGC VG/F copy of Marvel Comics # 1 for $60,000.00. That IMHO would be money better spent.

 

VG/F:5.0 CGC October copy Nicolas Cage Copy

First printing. Much rarer than the November printing which is the second printing. This is the highest graded unrestored October copy in existence. Plenty of high grade November copies around. We've had some amazing books over the years. This is one. $60000.00

 

Leave it alone its mine.

 

Sorry, I just put $10.00 down to hold the book for me. Wish me luck!

 

[Forbush-Man]

Question from Mr. Ignorant here.......have groups of collectors (and I'm not talking dealers) ever gotten together and formed a partnership to acquire super high end books? Sounds like a workable idea....with the right group of people of course.

 

Hi Mr. Ignorant.

 

Just kidding.

 

Redhook, I think there were a couple of guys based in Hawai who spent gobs of cash buying up numerous high grade CGC books and now market these books. I have seen them at the San Diego Comic Con. They had a booth set up, but I don't believe I saw a single sale made during the time I was there. Either they totally trusted the grade on the label when purchasing, or the books are just priced way too high. Seems like the name was High Grade 800 or some such thing. Anyone know?

[deathlok]

Question from Mr. Ignorant here.......have groups of collectors (and I'm not talking dealers) ever gotten together and formed a partnership to acquire super high end books? Sounds like a workable idea....with the right group of people of course.

 

Hi Mr. Ignorant.

 

Just kidding.

 

Redhook, I think there were a couple of guys based in Hawai who spent gobs of cash buying up numerous high grade CGC books and now market these books. I have seen them at the San Diego Comic Con. They had a booth set up, but I don't believe I saw a single sale made during the time I was there. Either they totally trusted the grade on the label when purchasing, or the books are just priced way too high. Seems like the name was High Grade 800 or some such thing. Anyone know?

 

You are talking about Ideal Collectibles who did set up at the SD con in 2003. They made several sales at the con and on their website www.ideal808.com. They have since sold all of their slabbed books to a couple of private investors, who plan on holding the books for awhile before selling them.

 

They were the ones who had the Hulk #181 9.9.

[Forbush-Man]

Question from Mr. Ignorant here.......have groups of collectors (and I'm not talking dealers) ever gotten together and formed a partnership to acquire super high end books? Sounds like a workable idea....with the right group of people of course.

 

Hi Mr. Ignorant.

 

Just kidding.

 

Redhook, I think there were a couple of guys based in Hawai who spent gobs of cash buying up numerous high grade CGC books and now market these books. I have seen them at the San Diego Comic Con. They had a booth set up, but I don't believe I saw a single sale made during the time I was there. Either they totally trusted the grade on the label when purchasing, or the books are just priced way too high. Seems like the name was High Grade 800 or some such thing. Anyone know?

 

You are talking about Ideal Collectibles who did set up at the SD con in 2003. They made several sales at the con and on their website www.ideal808.com. They have since sold all of their slabbed books to a couple of private investors, who plan on holding the books for awhile before selling them.

 

They were the ones who had the Hulk #181 9.9.

 

Yeah, it was Ideal Collectibles, your right. I saw a lot of people looking at thier books and taking pamphlets, just didn't see any sales made myself. I had heard they sold to a group of investors though. Wonder what they sold them for.

[DKB]

Hmmmmm.....a collectible comics investment fund............. I'm sure someone thought of this before...

 

Here's the first advice for your fund: At 100k, the best TOS 39 on the planet is most definitely not a BUY.

[tth2]

have groups of collectors (and I'm not talking dealers) ever gotten together and formed a partnership to acquire super high end books? Sounds like a workable idea....with the right group of people of course.

 

Sounds like a great idea. I'll volunteer to be the custodian holding the consortium's various acquisitions.

[rjpb]

It's an Iron Man book fer christsakes. Who cares about Iron Man - and somebody scribbled a '63' on the cover - I don't think that's a distribution date.

[Silver Surfer]

It's an Iron Man book fer christsakes. Who cares about Iron Man - and somebody scribbled a '63' on the cover - I don't think that's a distribution date.

 

Dude Iron Man rocks. Yah that scribble pains me but c'mon Iron Man is just one of the coolest Marvel superhero's going and that is one of the best covers of that era.

[Aman619]

I think youre kidding around....but that 63 is the notation that MAKES it a WHITE MOUNTAIN copy. They all have the year they came eout.

[tth2]

Yah that scribble pains me

 

[Silver Surfer]

Yah that scribble pains me

 

 

[tth2]

Yah that scribble pains me

 

 

 

That "scribble" is one of the hallmarks of one of the great SA pedigrees. And "scribbles" are also one of the hallmarks of the greatest pedigree of them all, the Church collection.

[rjpb]

That "scribble" is one of the hallmarks of one of the great SA pedigrees. And "scribbles" are also one of the hallmarks of the greatest pedigree of them all, the Church collection.

 

I confess my ignorance, I was not aware that this was a hallmark of the WM pedigree. Is it true for all books or just the 60s comics? I remeber seeing some WM pre-code books years ago at a con, but didn't notice dates on them - but I probably wasn't looking that closely.

 

I would liken these date scribbles more to the Larson pedigree rather than the Church copies, as they were obviously added after purchase. What is the story behind the White Mountain books?

[Timely]

What is the story behind the White Mountain books?

 

 

WHITE MOUNTAIN - In 1984 a man walked into a comic book store named The Million Year Picnic in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He had with him twelve comics he was looking to sell. Upon inspecting the comics Jerry Weist, one owner of The Million Year Picnic, found the comics to be of superior quality, with extraordinarily white pages and colors. The man claimed to have many more just like them, and wanted to sell them off piecemeal. A while later the first portion of the man's collection was purchased, and consisted of a complete run of New-Trend and Post-Trend EC's, including the key Pre-Trend's as well. Steve Geppi, overwhelmed by the incredible grade and page quality of the collection, promptly bought the whole batch from Weist for 2.25x guide.

 

A couple of years later, the second portion of the man's collection was sold to Weist, this time consisting of a near-full run of Atlas, Mystery in Space, and Strange Adventures. Upon bringing them to San Diego that year, Weist met with Gary Carter, Bob Overstreet, and Mark Wilson. The three quickly gobbled up every single White Mountain Weist brought, with Overstreet buying a few select comics, Carter purchasing both DC sci-fi runs, and Wilson taking the rest. The collection had yet to reveal itself publicly.

 

The next year Weist was sold another batch, which contained the Marvel pre-hero runs. These were subsequently sold to Overstreet at a multiple of guide.

 

Around 1988 the superhero Marvels became available. The Amazing Fantasy #15 and The Fantastic Four run, among others, were sold to a collector named Rich Hauser for 2.5x guide. Another collector bought the Journey into Mystery/Thor run, and so on as the Marvels were split up. At this time Overstreet, Carter, and Bruce Hamilton felt the selling of the collection was a year too early. They thought the Silver Age market was not quite ripe yet.

 

Sure enough, the market began it's surge upward in 1989, culminating at the 1993 Sotheby's auction, where the Amazing Fantasy #15 brought $40,000 and the Fantastic Four #1 brought $28,000! In fact, Sotheby's was where the White Mountain collection was showcased to the public for the first time. Following strong sales of White Mountain books in their 1991 and 1993 auctions it became apparent that the collection was fast becoming a nationally recognized pedigreed collection.

 

Strangely enough, there are still more books the man has yet to sell. In the 1996 Sotheby's auction he will be directly consigning another portion of the White Mountain collection he has held on to. No one knows exactly what he still has left, although some expected titles have yet to surface, including the superhero Atlas. Only time will tell.

 

But how and why did this man amass his amazing collection of comic books? According to Weist, he loved to read comics, as well as science fiction material. His collecting years spanned from 1948 into the 1970's. His love of science fiction becomes apparent when one observes the presence of the DC sci-fi titles en masse, yet all other DC titles were absent. He did not care for the Marvel superhero titles either, and did not even read them. As a result, when Weist received the Amazing Fantasy #15 and opened it, it made a small "pop". Apparently Weist was the first to have ever opened the comic book up. This was true of many of the Marvels, and to this day many still have never been opened.

 

Once he bought his comics the man would carefully record the date on the first page of each comic, and would store them in large metal military boxes. The environment of storage was cool and dry, which resulted in extraordinary gloss, colors, and page quality.

 

All together, the White Mountain collection has so far consisted of near-full runs of EC, Atlas, Avon, Ziff-Davis, and Marvel. About 50% of the Harveys and Fawcetts were also present, along with a nice run of Planets and most of the DC sci-fi titles. Gaps in these companies may turn up in the future as the collector is still selling portions of his collection.

 

IDENTIFICATION-Identifying a White Mountain comic book is quite simple, as practically every one is marked with a date of purchase on the top of the first page. Up into the 1960's a stamp was used, although on occasion the date was hand written in ink. During the 1960's the date was more frequently hand written on the cover. This is most prevalent on superhero Marvels.

 

White Mountains are also easily identifiable because of good sales records. Most copies can be traced back through Sotheby's auctions and Jerry Weist. White Mountains also carry a distinct smell in their pages, one of fresh ink and paper, due to their superb storage conditions.

 

DESIRABILITY-The beautiful page quality and average grade of VF-NM is what makes White Mountain comics so famous. Also, because of the all-encompassing nature of the collection many rare comics from the 50's were present in very high grade. Currently, common books from the collection bring 3x guide, while high demand comics bring 5x guide or more.

[Silver Surfer]

Yah that scribble pains me

 

 

 

That "scribble" is one of the hallmarks of one of the great SA pedigrees. And "scribbles" are also one of the hallmarks of the greatest pedigree of them all, the Church collection.

 

Yes I'm aware of that but it doesn't make me want the book more. I prefer the "no scribble" pedigree.

[FFB]

Yah that scribble pains me

 

 

 

That "scribble" is one of the hallmarks of one of the great SA pedigrees. And "scribbles" are also one of the hallmarks of the greatest pedigree of them all, the Church collection.

 

Yes I'm aware of that but it doesn't make me want the book more. I prefer the "no scribble" pedigree.

 

Yeah, because the presence of a tiny ink mark is far more important than the fact that the paper and printing inks are still as fresh as the day the book was printed, even after 40-50 years.