L.B. Cole cover thread! Post your favorites by the master! 39 39

[Point Five]

On 4/29/2024 at 11:28 PM, pmpknface said:

I can see the comments in the listing now... "Voted best LB Cole romance cover by the CGC boards!"  

[Heritage] "Mmm... yeah. We're just gonna go ahead and kind of... not do that?"
 

[thewritestuff]

On 4/29/2024 at 12:19 PM, pmpknface said:

I'm not sure if I'm ever going to find a reasonable copy of this issue.  

Cover detached... 

 

This is such a brutal cover, it must've terrified children who saw it on the stands. I love it.

[Telegan]

On 4/16/2024 at 8:48 AM, pmpknface said:

4Most v8#5 - $810!!!  Holy shnikies!  I did NOT see that coming!  Ungraded, pretty well creased up TRC, and an often overlooked adventure title.  The only think I can think of is that there's only 1 on the census in 4.0.  It's a great cover, but that's one heck of a result!  I didn't have my 4Most issues pegged to be in my next submission, but I may have to rethink that...  

I was watching that because I own the only other CGC-graded copy (the 4.0).  I was thinking it would fetch a bit more than what I paid, but geez. lol.  I love that it didn't seem like a "typical" LB Cole that nowadays you'd associate with LB Cole.  I'm guessing we may see a few more of them getting slabbed now.  Maybe.

[fifties]

On 4/30/2024 at 3:11 PM, thewritestuff said:

This is such a brutal cover, it must've terrified children who saw it on the stands. I love it.

The comics that terrified me in the early '50's were the ones depicting supernatural creatures, ESP skeletons, overpowering PPL.  Atlas and Story Comics come to mind.  LB Cole never really did skeletons.

[pmpknface]

On 4/30/2024 at 6:29 PM, Telegan said:

I was watching that because I own the only other CGC-graded copy (the 4.0).  I was thinking it would fetch a bit more than what I paid, but geez. lol.  I love that it didn't seem like a "typical" LB Cole that nowadays you'd associate with LB Cole.  I'm guessing we may see a few more of them getting slabbed now.  Maybe.

I thought it was a tad excessive, but who knows with the Cole market.  I'll be grading mine eventually, just a matter of time.  Congrats on having that other!  Got a scan?  

[Point Five]

On 5/1/2024 at 3:55 AM, fifties said:

On 4/30/2024 at 6:11 PM, thewritestuff said:

This is such a brutal cover, it must've terrified children who saw it on the stands. I love it.

The comics that terrified me in the early '50's were the ones depicting supernatural creatures, ESP skeletons, overpowering PPL.  Atlas and Story Comics come to mind.  LB Cole never really did skeletons.

Today I find his Frisky Animals covers the most terrifying. Some of those animals are seriously messed up.

 

[Treco]

Always felt like this was sort of an underrated cover. But it’s absolutely stunning. 
 

[Telegan]

On 5/1/2024 at 7:31 AM, pmpknface said:

I thought it was a tad excessive, but who knows with the Cole market.  I'll be grading mine eventually, just a matter of time.  Congrats on having that other!  Got a scan?  

Unfortunately no scan, and I bought it on eBay a while ago, so no pictures from there, either.  I was trying to take a picture of it just now, but gave up because I can't take a decent pic to save my life. Nothing but lights, glare, shadows, etc. lol.

Here's a pic of it I found on GoCollect :

[LadyDeath]

I mainly focus on collecting Schomburg/Baker, so LB Cole covers have eluded me.

That changed today.

[pmpknface]

Nice copy! Here's mine:

[Professor K]

[Darwination]

I feel like this shark has some anatomy issues, but perhaps I just don't watch enough Shark Week.

[WolverineX]

Affordable Suspense 4 for bid?

https://www.comiclink.com/auctions/item.asp?back=%2FAUCTIONS%2FSEARCH.ASP%3FFocusedOnly%3D1%26where%3Dauctions%26title%3Dsuspense%26ItemType%3DCB%23Item_1775946&id=1775946&itemType=0

[Robot Man]

On 5/20/2024 at 8:11 PM, Professor K said:

A classic. Looks like at least one Promise buyer didn’t completely lose his shirt. 

[Professor K]

On 5/21/2024 at 8:01 PM, Robot Man said:

A classic. Looks like at least one Promise buyer didn’t completely lose his shirt. 

Yep. I haven't looked in detail but it seems most L.B covers from the collection are doing ok in re-sales. 

[pmpknface]

On 5/21/2024 at 8:01 PM, Robot Man said:

A classic. Looks like at least one Promise buyer didn’t completely lose his shirt. 

Yea, but after ebay fees he didn't make anything either.  I'm not going to go as far to say $6-7k for that book is a deal, but I want to think it should / could have gone for more both times in that grade.  But like @Darwination mentioned, anatomy issues and I have always been torn on this cover.  It was actually the last issue I tracked down because I'm not a huge fan of the whale shark and Toni is kinda twisted.  I do like how the shark is eyeing her tho!  And Cole did push her over the boundary of that annoying border.  I ended up with a nice copy in the end:

 

[Robot Man]

On 5/22/2024 at 5:50 AM, pmpknface said:

Yea, but after ebay fees he didn't make anything either.  I'm not going to go as far to say $6-7k for that book is a deal, but I want to think it should / could have gone for more both times in that grade.  But like @Darwination mentioned, anatomy issues and I have always been torn on this cover.  It was actually the last issue I tracked down because I'm not a huge fan of the whale shark and Toni is kinda twisted.  I do like how the shark is eyeing her tho!  And Cole did push her over the boundary of that annoying border.  I ended up with a nice copy in the end:

 

Actually, that was my thought as well. Probably breaking even. Which really isn’t a bad thing. Getting to own and enjoy something you love at cost. We are always so focused on making a profit that breaking even and enjoying something just for what it is seems to be a bad thing.

This sure is a beautiful copy of an in demand issue and a pedigree to boot.

I have a raw copy that is probably a 5.0. I got it just before covid in a cash/trade. Value at the time was figured at around $600. I believe. Was reasonable to me at the time. Things have obviously changed since then.

Not my favorite LB Cole by a long shot. But very striking with a great image and colors. I have always liked it and was happy to get mine. Not one I felt the need to have in super high grade and especially at a price like that though.

The prices of comics have just gone to places where I have a hard time going. Going from a fun hobby to very serious business has just taken a lot of the fun away for me. 

[pmpknface]

On 5/22/2024 at 10:51 AM, Robot Man said:

The prices of comics have just gone to places where I have a hard time going. Going from a fun hobby to very serious business has just taken a lot of the fun away for me. 

Yea, I'm not going as far as say it's taken the fun out of it, but it has gotten more frustrating.  One that sold in the the most recent HA auction that wasn't mentioned was this guy, that (as you can see) was just a bit over my budget.  

I've got to start selling off other stuff to be able to get the holes in my Cole collection filled.  

Actually, I thought this one was the book of the night because it doesn't show up in nice grades very often or at all:

[Robot Man]

On 5/22/2024 at 8:38 AM, pmpknface said:

Yea, I'm not going as far as say it's taken the fun out of it, but it has gotten more frustrating.  One that sold in the the most recent HA auction that wasn't mentioned was this guy, that (as you can see) was just a bit over my budget.  

I've got to start selling off other stuff to be able to get the holes in my Cole collection filled.  

Actually, I thought this one was the book of the night because it doesn't show up in nice grades very often or at all:

I have long ago stopped being frustrated. I am mostly in the amazed frame of mind now. Prices on everything not just comics.

I have almost always self funded my collection. So I just play with the “house’s money”.

High prices are great when you sell but not so great when you buy. Just buying a whole lot less than I used to. And, thusly, a lot less fun. 

[LadyDeath]

On 5/22/2024 at 11:38 AM, pmpknface said:

Yea, I'm not going as far as say it's taken the fun out of it, but it has gotten more frustrating. One that sold in the the most recent HA auction that wasn't mentioned was this guy, that (as you can see) was just a bit over my budget.

Definitely share the same sentiment. I've been collecting GA exclusively for almost 2 years and I chose a bad time.

I will say, that Terrific Comics 6 I snagged is undervalued. Got it on ebay for well under what the same copy sold on heritage for. Sometimes you get lucky.