Captain Aero 26, LB Cole cover and Gerber no-show QUESTION

[*paull*]

Question for the informed... I have long admired Captain Aero 26, the Gerber no-show cover by LB Cole. Any opinion on the rarity of this book? I realize it's an 8 in Gerber... any anecdotes from people who have searched for one? I may be buying one, but I'm curious about what a proper price would be (in VG, for instance). Thanks!

[drbanner]

Question for the informed... I have long admired Captain Aero 26, the Gerber no-show cover by LB Cole. Any opinion on the rarity of this book? I realize it's an 8 in Gerber... any anecdotes from people who have searched for one? I may be buying one, but I'm curious about what a proper price would be (in VG, for instance). Thanks!

 

A couple mid to high-grade copies showed up in Heritage in '02 and '03 and sold for between $950 and $1,265 for a 6.5 and $1,380 for an 8.0 (there are only 6 slabbed copies). These are the only copies that show up on GPA.

 

I've seen raw low grade copies show up on ebay once or twice a year, and it seems nice VG's sell for maybe $300-500?

[*paull*]

Thanks for the input.... I figured that around $400 would be a normal price for a VG copy.

[rjpb]

I paid way too much ($700) for a 5.0 copy about 8 years ago at the hieght of L.B. cole mania. Sort of evens out the great deals I got on alot of pre-code crime and horror over the years.

 

Despite being a gerber no-show, I've heard some suggest that Captain Flight #11 is actually a scarcer book.

[*paull*]

$700 is probably around what a 5.0 would go for today. I think Cole books peaked about 8 years ago and have leveled off a bit since. I'm sure that collectors will return to buying up his books if the prices stay where they've been.

 

The Captain Flight #11 cover is beautiful... I love that one, too! Do you have one in your collection?

[rjpb]

I have a Captain Flight #11 - unfortunately, it's only a 2.5 or 3.0 - the good news is it only cost $80 from Motor City , also around 8 years ago. I'd love to upgrade to at least a 5.0, but haven't been willing to part with cash for the prices it seems to go for. Some collectors seem to be endlessly upgrading, but I'm one of those who, once I have a book in at least 2.0 condition, tends to concentrate on what I don't have at all and only tends to upgrade when the price is right.

[shrunkenhead]

Yep, I would definitely be one of those semi-obsessed "constantly upgrading" collectors. If nothing else, it makes it easy to figure out what to sell and what to keep. I don't get to crazy about it, though. If I have a 9.2 I don't feel like I have to have a 9.4, or anything like that. But major leaps, say a Vg- to a F+, are almost always of interest to me.

 

Good luck with that Cole book, Paul!

[drbanner]

Despite being a gerber no-show, I've heard some suggest that Captain Flight #11 is actually a scarcer book.

 

I would agree. There have definitely been more raw copies of Captain Aero 26 on ebay than there have been copies of CF 11, and I've seen more copies of the Captain Aero book at shows as well.

 

However, the census tells a slightly different story - 7 copies of CF 11, versus 6 for CA 26, and while there are 3 9.2's or better of CF 11, the highest graded copy of CA 26 is only 8.0.

 

I still need a nice copy of CF 11 myself...too bad Metro outbid me for the copy offered by Heritage back in '02 - I ended up the 2nd highest bidder, and the book has sat on their website ever since, I think it's lonely!!

[rjpb]

There have definitely been more raw copies of Captain Aero 26 on ebay than there have been copies of CF 11, and I've seen more copies of the Captain Aero book at shows as well.

 

However, the census tells a slightly different story - 7 copies of CF 11, versus 6 for CA 26, and while there are 3 9.2's or better of CF 11, the highest graded copy of CA 26 is only 8.0.

 

 

I'm not sure the CGC census is of much value determining the relative scarcity of GA books, except for major keys perhaps. There are plenty of GA books which have only one or two slabbed copies, but are hardly rare. However, 3 copies of any GA book in 9.2 or better is pretty impressive, a statistical anomaly, or an indication that there are a great number of copies in grades lower than 9.2 buried in various collections?

[rjpb]

It occurs to me that another problem with relying on the census for an idea of what's out there, is the possibility of a single copy being represented more than once due to resubmission without disclosure of an existing CGC grade, this is probably even more likely for higher grade copies where the percieved value jumps more dramatically with each grade. As a result, even if the census collects enough data to become a more reliable indicator of scarcity, it will likely distort the ratio of HG grade copies due to both resubmissions and the lack of a resale value difference between raw and slabbed copies of many lower grade books.

[drbanner]

It occurs to me that another problem with relying on the census for an idea of what's out there, is the possibility of a single copy being represented more than once due to resubmission without disclosure of an existing CGC grade, this is probably even more likely for higher grade copies where the percieved value jumps more dramatically with each grade. As a result, even if the census collects enough data to become a more reliable indicator of scarcity, it will likely distort the ratio of HG grade copies due to both resubmissions and the lack of a resale value difference between raw and slabbed copies of many lower grade books.

 

I'm not saying the census is the entire population for these books, but I'm pretty sure that any high grade copies (Fine or over) sold through the usual channels would be slabbed. The problems you point out for the census have been discussed at length for gold, silver, and bronze and I think it's important draw qualitative conclusions regarding relative scarcity (in high grade, and in any grade), moreso than quantitative conclusions regarding absolute numbers of books.

 

But like I said, I've watched these books (and Contact 12) on ebay for at least five years and would personally conclude the CF 11 is a tougher book than both the Contact and Captain Aero, regardless of the census numbers (which, by the way, show 8 copies of Contact 12).

 

Anyhow, if anyone is looking for a nice copy of the Captain Aero, last I saw him Dave Shenkel(sp?) out of Tennessee had a pretty copy available, and I believe he was asking around $1,000 for it. He should be coming to our local convention next month, so I'll check then.

[rjpb]

Contact 12, Captain Aero 26, and Captain Flight 11, are definetly an L.B. Cole subset of their own. I find it fascinating that they are all end of the run issues for titles not known previously for sci-fi covers. I would venture to guess that there are few collectors interested in one of them who aren't interested in all 3. Contact 12 has long been my favorite GA cover of all time, and aquiring a copy of it is what prompted me to look for the other two, as well as Catman 31 & 32. While he did some other nice covers over the years, these 5 are, for me, the apex of his output, and judging by the prices they fetch, I'm sure I'm not alone in that assessment.

[*paull*]

Those three covers are great... I don't know which one I like the best... maybe that's what makes them such a cool trio. I agree on the CF #11... a slight bit tougher to find than the other two.

[*paull*]

P.S. : Regarding Cole's best output, I would add Mask #1 to the three we're discussing along with Thrilling Crime Cases #49 and Suspense Comics #8. I consider Cole's best Catman covers to be #28 and #30.

[drbanner]

P.S. : Regarding Cole's best output, I would add Mask #1 to the three we're discussing along with Thrilling Crime Cases #49 and Suspense Comics #8. I consider Cole's best Catman covers to be #28 and #30.

 

 

Mr. Cole deserves an official cover thread!!

[*paull*]

Since I've only been here a couple of months, I didn't know if something like that had been done recently. I'm up for it!