30 in 30 - Day 30: One More Story

[Brandon Shepherd]

Welcome to the Rocky Mountains.The 30 in 30 journal challenge has come to an end, and I'm glad I accepted this challenge from Tnerb to participate in this. I have enjoyed the daily journals from Tnerb and Lee K, I've even surprised myself with some of the journals I written over the last 30 days. I found several of these journals easy to compose, these were the more personal entries, like sharing my experience of my first CGC submissions and the utter disappointment that followed. Some journals I had to really think about, there was no inspiration either inward or outward, resulting in a few journals that merely filled space. Then there were the journals that were inspired by suggestions from SW3D. Some journals I had to research to compose, I enjoyed this process and the responses from others. Earlier in the year I thought to myself how I should step away from writing about Superman and Action Comics. I challenged myself to step outside the proverbial box and write of other topics, and then came the Purge Survival List entries from a few other registry members, I had to participate and guess what? Many of my purge survival books were Action Comics issues. Then Superman celebrated 75 years in comics, I couldn't not write about this and my Superman memories. Then there was a little summer movie event called Man of Steel, resulting in more Superman related journals from myself. So, I set out to not write about Superman so much in 2013 but I can only write about what I know! So, for my last journal of my 30 day run, I have one more story to tell about Action Comics.I have mentioned before how I enjoy my pieces from the Rocky Mountain pedigree. Each book is consistent in exceptional structure and freshness, at least the books that I have. Outside of my Action Comics, I believe the Rocky Mountain pedigree to be a fine collection, shining with high grade examples from the 1960s and 70s for both Marvel and DC. I have shared some of my pieces before but I have not yet written of how I came to acquire these pieces initially. I first heard of the Rocky Mountain pedigree from a CGC newsletter sometime in the late 2000s. The article noted the collection to be from Colorado and large in size, the article also noted that there were pictures of the collection as a whole. I was still somewhat new to CGC then, I knew of some of the Golden Age pedigrees and envied the Silver Age Pacific Coast pedigree, I was excited to hear of a new collection recognized by CGC. When a new pedigree or collection is brought to market, it is almost always the Marvel Keys that are certified first, these are the books that bring the premiums so I understand. I also understand that it take a few years to document and certify large collections. By 2010, I had relocated to Colorado and felt good about the present and the future, in the fall of that year I saw an auction preview on ComciLink for the 2010 October Feature Auction. This auction preview yielded several 9.8 examples from Action Comics, all from the 1970s. This was probably a month or two in advance if I remember correctly, I was excited and determined to get as many examples as possible. This would take some planning, cutting back and discipline, meaning I had to skip lunch at Pei Wei and forget about those nice dress shirts on sale at Men's Warehouse. Armed with an auction preview and a month or two to save, I selected 18 books to watch, yes 18! Some of these examples from the 1980's were pieces I already had, but what I had were not from the Rocky Mountain collection, I wanted them but I placed them on low priority. The wait for the auction to begin was tedious, I dreamt of this day and night. I was fortunate enough to take several road trips with my farther during my first year in Colorado, one one weekend trip, I rode shotgun in the Jeep and stared at the mountains on the horizon, I thought to myself how I was staring at the Rockies and how I was destined to have these Rocky Mountain pedigree examples. I also thought about how this collection was from Colorado and how these books belong in Colorado, it was up to me to bring these treasures back to their true home, where they can age gracefully in the high altitude. October 26, 2010 was a big night for me, this was the night these books closed. With 18 books to watch, I used multiple tabs on my web browser to keep track, I was anxious yet calm, I knew I wouldn't get everything but I had to stay sharp, to fend off any snipers and any technical glitches that could arise. In the end I won a total of 8 books, my biggest auction score to date. I was thrilled with my results, I had lost some pieces but I looked more at what I had, I celebrated that night with a few Vesper martinis. The total was more than a mortgage payment but not quite the total of a down payment, since I had planned ahead I was able to make this work. You have to sign for most ComicLink packages so I had to arrange the extra step of arranging for the package to be routed to a nearby FedEx office to be picked up after work. Picking up the package and going home to remove the binding tape was quite an experience. To finally hold these pieces in my hand and experience their beauty in person verses looking at a scan online was a moment of jubilation. This was only the first part of my journey toward the acquisition of my Rocky Mountain pieces, a few months later, at the beginning of a new year filled with promise (and it was) I saw the ComicLink January 2011 Featured Auction preview. There were a few more Action Comics Rocky Mountain examples to be had and I was ready to strike. This time around there were five examples that caught my eye, I won two of these. From the time I paid for my auction winnings to the time they were shipped out, the Midwest was hit with a major snowstorm. I checked the shipment tracking several times a day, when the snow piled down, the shipment became delayed, stuck at some processing center in Kansas. I was worried, worried that my two books were sitting in frigid conditions, ageing due to the low temperatures, the estimated arrival date was delayed significantly. FedEx made a rare Saturday delivery and I was relived to find my two Rockies safe and sound. I wondered if the February 2011 Feature Auction on ComicLink would bring about any new Rocky Mountain examples, there were a few re-listings here and there but these were pieces I passed on initially. In June, 2011 I saw Action Comics #485 listed in the ComicLink Exchange, an amazing Neal Adams cover and the Rocky Mountain example I lost out on in October, 2010, I did not hesitate and bought this one right away. The November 2011 ComicLink auction brought about a second chance for Action Comics #404, also a Neal Adams cover and a piece I tried for in January, 2011. I won the Action #404 and for a much lower price than realized in during the first listing. There are still a few Rocky Mountain examples out there that I was outbid on, maybe someday they will appear online again, allowing for a second chance for me. I have a total of 12 Action Comics pieces with the Rocky Mountain pedigree notation; I enjoy each and every one of them. Rocky Mountain is my pedigree, this is a link to my favorite title and to my adopted home.Brandon

 

See more journals by Brandon Shepherd

[SW3D]

Well you did it!... And you ended the 30th journal in such high fashion! Congrats!

 

Those 12 comics are gorgeous! I wish I could find Rocky Mountain pedigrees for the comics I collect but I rarely see them.

 

It seems like ComicLink's been good to you. I've purchased a number of books from them and I have always been impressed. They got an auction coming up in January for a pedigree that I would love to bid on but I think it's out of my budget.

 

Once again, congrats on completing the 30 on 30 challenge!

 

Looking forward to your next journal whenever that may come.

 

SW3D

 

 

[mzhammer]

Congrats and thanks for sharing. We appreciate the commitment. (thumbs u

[Lee K]

Thanks for sharing your passion and all your beautiful Action Comics.

 

You've helped make November a pretty cool month.

 

Lee K

[Brandon Shepherd]

SW3D: Thanks for the encouragement, also, thanks for the ideas, I couldn't have made some if these journals without them!

 

hammershipdown: Appreciate it, I'm diggin' the Thursday journals!

 

Lee K: Right back at you, November was a cool month filled with many strange adventures.

[surfer99]

Thanks for sharing your story Brandon. It makes it so worthwhile to win auctions like this doesn't it? Last time I won an auction that got me so excited was my beloved Marvel Tales #30 CGC 9.6 Twin Cities pedigree. I am fortunate to have 1 Rocky Mountain book as well...Amazing Adventures #10 CGC 9.4 featuring Magneto. I paid a little more for that one than I normally would, but it's not very often you run across a book you really want that also happens to have a pedigree status. Anyway, thanks for sharing your stories and please continue to journal about your experiences!