L.B. Cole cover thread! Post your favorites by the master! 40 40

[pmpknface]

On 7/12/2023 at 10:40 AM, vaultkeeper said:

Here's my Startling Terror Tales #13 in 7.5

 

This is a really cool cover.  It's even a partial space cover and a skull cover!    The colors really can POP on a nice copy, especially with the glow on the gorgon matching the title and the red / black pointing towards (or coming from) the center.  And ya gotta loge the story title, "Love from a Gorgon!" Just for fun, here's the PS Artbooks glossed-up cover:

[Professor K]

On 7/12/2023 at 10:10 AM, Point Five said:

All this! I've also found over the years that there are certain LB Cole covers that don't thrill me in average lower grade, but if I see a mid-to-high-grade copy it almost looks like a different book. Startling Terror Tales #13 is the best example I can think of, with the scientist guy with the green monster behind him... a cover that never did much for me, but when I see higher-grade examples as I have the last few years the colors and composition are striking and it's surprisingly quite cool. Whereas a classic like STT #11 looks good in any grade.

(Not sure why I'm on such an STT kick lately. I actually do collect other titles!)   

 

You guys have a lot more experience seeing them in hand than I do. Pictures as we know can be deceiving. Like Heritage pics almost always look so vivid. I recently upgraded a Blue Bolt Weird 117 from a 4.0 to 6.0 and yeah the colors on the 6.0 are much more popping. I suppose it's natural for a higher graded copy to have stronger colors, but looking at past sales Startling Terror Tales 13 I see some of the lower graded ones have really nice color and lots of higher graded don't. At least in the pics.

STT 11? Some look to have a seriously deep red background. Those are just awesome. Bulls Eye 11 has that similar solid red. 

I wonder, I don't know if CGC even considers cover color quality when grading. I can't recall ever seeing it mentioned in any notes. I would think a grader would consider it even if it's not "officially" a factor. 

[Point Five]

On 7/12/2023 at 12:37 PM, Professor K said:

I wonder, I don't know if CGC even considers cover color quality when grading. I can't recall ever seeing it mentioned in any notes. I would think a grader would consider it even if it's not "officially" a factor. 

It's complicated for sure. My take: Fiction House books are a good example where you can certainly find high grade slabs with VERY lackluster reds/oranges, where the whole cover has kind of a subdued brown/green look. (I hate that.) But "color and gloss" taken together as sort of a measurement of a book's freshness and preservation... I do think that's a factor in CGC grading, at least enough to e.g. bump a 4.0 up to 4.5, a 6.0 up to 6.5, etc etc.

 

[Jayman]

Not one of Cole’s most popular covers, but one I like a lot!

[Professor K]

On 7/12/2023 at 2:09 PM, Point Five said:

It's complicated for sure. My take: Fiction House books are a good example where you can certainly find high grade slabs with VERY lackluster reds/oranges, where the whole cover has kind of a subdued brown/green look. (I hate that.) But "color and gloss" taken together as sort of a measurement of a book's freshness and preservation... I do think that's a factor in CGC grading, at least enough to e.g. bump a 4.0 up to 4.5, a 6.0 up to 6.5, etc etc.

 

Good example. I've wondered about Fiction House, late 30's, early 40's. Why so many look faded so much more than other publishers of the time. For example you see Fox books from the same years in poor condition but most still have strong colors. I wonder if it's the paper stock or ink they used. I have no idea but there must be a scientific reason for it. Science! 

[Point Five]

On 7/12/2023 at 5:23 PM, Professor K said:

Good example. I've wondered about Fiction House, late 30's, early 40's. Why so many look faded so much more than other publishers of the time. For example you see Fox books from the same years in poor condition but most still have strong colors. I wonder if it's the paper stock or ink they used. I have no idea but there must be a scientific reason for it. Science! 

You can read back through the Fiction House thread for plenty more data on the fading. We've been arguing about it since that thread started in 2005, so we probably won't solve it in this one.  

 

[vaultkeeper]

On 7/12/2023 at 6:01 PM, Point Five said:

You can read back through the Fiction House thread for plenty more data on the fading. We've been arguing about it since that thread started in 2005, so we probably won't solve it in this one.  

 

Warning  Off-topic post

I'm interested in reading about the color fading on Fiction House books. I looked at the thread and It's 480 pages. 

Can you give me some direction on when this discussion was?

[pmpknface]

On 7/13/2023 at 3:36 PM, vaultkeeper said:

Warning  Off-topic post

I'm interested in reading about the color fading on Fiction House books. I looked at the thread and It's 480 pages. 

Can you give me some direction on when this discussion was?

You can start here, scroll down a bit and go down the rabbit hole.  

It's a conversation that's been going on for a long while.  Have fun!

(Oh, I found this post by searching the word "red." I knew that would find something.)

Edited July 13, 2023 by pmpknface

[vaultkeeper]

Are prices getting softer on the Cole Romance covers?

I just won this 6.0, and it looks like it sold for 40% less than the last 5.5 copy sold for.

 

[Professor K]

That's a nice Romance cover. Hard to tell, some go high, some go low. They're tough to predict.

I got this in the mail today. Thought it went a little cheap. 

 

Edited July 14, 2023 by Professor K
I wrote their instead of they're. Corrected

[october]

On 7/12/2023 at 11:37 AM, Professor K said:

 

STT 11? Some look to have a seriously deep red background. Those are just awesome.

I think there are three different printings of this one. @adamstrange might know. 

1. Black title background variant. 2. matte red 3. glossy red maybe?

My black background is nice, but the colors are definitely better on my blue copy.  

[adamstrange]

On 7/13/2023 at 10:16 PM, october said:

1. Black title background variant. 2. matte red 3. glossy red

[manetteska]

On 7/13/2023 at 10:52 PM, adamstrange said:

On 7/13/2023 at 9:16 PM, october said:

1. Black title background variant. 2. matte red 3. glossy red

Would this equate to three different printings?

[thewritestuff]

Which version do I have? 🤷‍♂️

[adamstrange]

On 7/15/2023 at 10:28 AM, manetteska said:

Would this equate to three different printings?

They could be three different states of a first printing, or they could be two or three printings.  We're unlikely to know for certain at this point.

[Professor K]

I guess most of the  L.B. books in the pre code auction a few days ago sold about where expected.......but this one really went high. The other 7.0 sold for 2,880.00 a year ago. 

[Black Bat]

On 7/13/2023 at 7:16 PM, october said:

I think there are three different printings of this one. @adamstrange might know. 

1. Black title background variant. 2. matte red 3. glossy red maybe?

My black background is nice, but the colors are definitely better on my blue copy.  

My guess is your black copy has better pq with very slight tanning to inside covers, while the blue has possible creamier pages and some tanning on interior cover?

 

[pmpknface]

On 7/13/2023 at 11:52 PM, adamstrange said:

1. Black title background variant. 2. matte red 3. glossy red maybe?

Ok, this one is new to me.  I knew there were 2 versions with the title differences, but is there really a difference between reds?  Can't one just be glossy and one just not have a gloss to it?  Is there a difference in the paper itself?  I haven't bought an Overstreet in years but the last I checked it only listed 2 versions.  Do we have any examples of a red vs. red?  

[pmpknface]

On 7/13/2023 at 4:13 PM, vaultkeeper said:

Are prices getting softer on the Cole Romance covers?

I just won this 6.0, and it looks like it sold for 40% less than the last 5.5 copy sold for.

 

If you got this for that much less that's awesome!  I always loved this cover, if for no other reason than "My Love was Auctioned!!"   

[pmpknface]

On 7/13/2023 at 5:49 PM, Professor K said:

That's a nice Romance cover. Hard to tell, some go high, some go low. They're tough to predict.

I got this in the mail today. Thought it went a little cheap. 

 

Congrats on this one!  I have 2 copies, and if you added up their grades it wouldn't equal this one.    Enjoy!