The beginning of a Golden Age collection...

[Caddotx]

I used to deal in comics and toys back in the late 80's and early 90's but I got out of it due to a job that I traveled internationally for and a loss of interest. Stupid is as stupid does I guess. Looking back I should have ramped up my collecting but I didn't.

 

About a year and a half ago I started getting back in to dealing with the remnants of my collection and some old stock due to my 9 year old son that kind of got me re-energized. I had, and still have, a ton of c**p that was left over from the early 90's.

 

I had decided I was going to chase spider-man comics since that was what I used to collect and I still had some decent issues but I just couldn't get excited about it. I kept thinking of what I used to pay for them and what I was going to have to pay for them now.

 

Then I read Cosmic Boy's thread and I started remembering how much I liked the old Batman covers and an idea started burning in the back of my brain.

 

I can't say I'm ready to give up my silver age to swap it for golden age just yet. I still have some bronze age stuff I'm attached to as well. But I'm not going to chase any of that anymore except to buy and sell at shows.

 

My collecting focus is now going to be early Detectives and Batmans. Batmans below issue 30 and I like the Detective Comics with the large logos. I also like Wonder Woman and Green Hornet so I'll probably be adding those if I can find decent prices.

 

So, I don't have a lot of money and this is going to be a long slow collection so I doubt you'll see updates very often but taking a cue from Cosmic Boy when I add something to the collection I'll post it here. No one in my house really cares but me so I'm going to have to show off my purchases to all of you. Even that 9 year old, he loves to sell, but just couldn't get interested in comics. Ah well, I love him anyway. PLEASE feel free to give me advice, I'll take all I can get.

 

So here's the first comic of my collection. I don't know if it's bad form to tell how much I paid for it so if it is let me know. I'm going to tell you on this one though, it was 187. It's got a little bug chew at the bottom but the staple is still holding the cover and the centerfold is still connected but just barely. I'm concerned it could be trimmed because it looks like it has a spine roll but the back cover lines up pretty well, pages are off-white. I don't know much about restoration so I'd like to hear what you think about the comic and how much I paid for it.

 

[adamstrange]

Welcome to the GA Forum!

 

Thanks for sharing your "origin" story. (thumbs u

[Primetime]

Welcome to collecting GA I don't think your Tec is trimmed. Just misaligned when it went to print. You will find GA to be rewarding as the thrill can be in the hunt for these treasures.

[mrmyst]

Great book to start with!

[Scrooge]

That's a fun book to start your collection with.

[jimjum12]

It's just a miscut,,,, which is common with GA books..... what a cool classic cover to begin with. GOD BLESS....

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

[Caddotx]

Welcome to collecting GA I don't think your Tec is trimmed. Just misaligned when it went to print. You will find GA to be rewarding as the thrill can be in the hunt for these treasures.

 

It's just a miscut,,,, which is common with GA books..... what a cool classic cover to begin with. GOD BLESS....

 

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! I'm glad it's not trimmed. I'm ok at picking out color touch and things like that but I've just never had trimmed books, that I know of, to compare with.

 

I'm setting up at SciFi Expo this weekend so hopefully I'll make enough to buy something else to add to my new collection.

[Caddotx]

Well, I've added another Batman to the collection, thanks to Allen James! I love it! Now I just need to beef up my Paypal account so I can buy more, this one kind of killed it.

 

[Straw-Man]

very nice start you've made!

[Larryw7]

Well, I've added another Batman to the collection, thanks to Allen James! I love it! Now I just need to beef up my Paypal account so I can buy more, this one kind of killed it.

 

 

 

Great book, congrats!

[gino2paulus2]

nice books keep up the good work

[Cat-Man_America]

I used to deal in comics and toys back in the late 80's and early 90's but I got out of it due to a job that I traveled internationally for and a loss of interest. Stupid is as stupid does I guess. Looking back I should have ramped up my collecting but I didn't.

 

About a year and a half ago I started getting back in to dealing with the remnants of my collection and some old stock due to my 9 year old son that kind of got me re-energized. I had, and still have, a ton of c**p that was left over from the early 90's.

 

I had decided I was going to chase spider-man comics since that was what I used to collect and I still had some decent issues but I just couldn't get excited about it. I kept thinking of what I used to pay for them and what I was going to have to pay for them now.

 

Then I read Cosmic Boy's thread and I started remembering how much I liked the old Batman covers and an idea started burning in the back of my brain.

 

I can't say I'm ready to give up my silver age to swap it for golden age just yet. I still have some bronze age stuff I'm attached to as well. But I'm not going to chase any of that anymore except to buy and sell at shows.

 

My collecting focus is now going to be early Detectives and Batmans. Batmans below issue 30 and I like the Detective Comics with the large logos. I also like Wonder Woman and Green Hornet so I'll probably be adding those if I can find decent prices.

 

So, I don't have a lot of money and this is going to be a long slow collection so I doubt you'll see updates very often but taking a cue from Cosmic Boy when I add something to the collection I'll post it here. No one in my house really cares but me so I'm going to have to show off my purchases to all of you. Even that 9 year old, he loves to sell, but just couldn't get interested in comics. Ah well, I love him anyway. PLEASE feel free to give me advice, I'll take all I can get.

 

So here's the first comic of my collection. I don't know if it's bad form to tell how much I paid for it so if it is let me know. I'm going to tell you on this one though, it was 187. It's got a little bug chew at the bottom but the staple is still holding the cover and the centerfold is still connected but just barely. I'm concerned it could be trimmed because it looks like it has a spine roll but the back cover lines up pretty well, pages are off-white. I don't know much about restoration so I'd like to hear what you think about the comic and how much I paid for it.

 

 

 

[font:Times New Roman]Welcome to the Forum![/font] (thumbs u

 

I'm much more a Timely guy, but Batman & Detective Comics are great comics. Don't let the chews bug you, ...it's still a nice book!

[Badger]

Wow! You're not messing around! Very nice book!

[Caddotx]

Thanks everyone! This is SO much more fun than collecting Spider-Man!

 

I have a question for the GA gurus out there. I just won an All Star Comics12 on one of the auction sites and it is a PLOD 3.0. The only thing it says on it is "Small amount of glue on spine of cover." I thought this book presented extremely well for a 3.0 so I had to have it.

 

Now to be honest, I don't really care about the PLOD because the glue just doesn't bother me like color touch or pieces added do. However, do you think it could be a candidate for restoration removal and a re-grade? If I WAS going to do that, should I have it pressed? ( I know, a loaded question ) I was just thinking of using it as an experiment for going through that process. Should I get grader notes before I attempt anything? Here's the pic from the auction.

 

[ft88]

With it being a low grade all star I think you'd never get your money back on the book. And to get the glue off may take off too much paper and then it'd be visually affected. A touch of glue usually got a blue label with note so there is likely more than that.

 

I'd keep it as is, or even better crack it out, read it and put it in a mylar. Its a low grade restored copy that cracked out or encased will get about the same amount of money as a resale. Nice book too.

 

Ed

[Caddotx]

With it being a low grade all star I think you'd never get your money back on the book. And to get the glue off may take off too much paper and then it'd be visually affected. A touch of glue usually got a blue label with note so there is likely more than that.

 

I'd keep it as is, or even better crack it out, read it and put it in a mylar. Its a low grade restored copy that cracked out or encased will get about the same amount of money as a resale. Nice book too.

 

Ed

 

Thanks Ed. After doing some research on how CGC thinks about glue I came to the same conclusion. It was one of my better impulse buys and I like it so I`ll keep it until I upgrade it. At the rate I`m going on this collection it should be worth significantly more by the time I get around to that.

[Cosmic Boy]

Just saw this thread! Very very excited for you!

 

It's tough to unload those Silvers, but I promise once those Gold gems start coming up, you'll be happy you did!

 

Your approach of collecting the Golds you love first (-30 Bats/LL 'Tecs) is probably better than my strategy of going after huge books first, too.

 

At the end of the day, I'm thrilled with what I'm doing because it puts a big smile on my face and has really reinvigorated my desire to collect. I'm sure it will do the same for you! (thumbs u

 

Best of luck and PLEASE, PLEASE share your buys with us! We definitely DO care!

[Artboy99]

Your story is similar to mine. I bought comics from the age of 5 to 19, and in 1990 sold almost all the books I had. I took a break from comics, until 2004 and at that time decided to try to acquire all the books I used to own. The problem was I found it to easy to do thanks to the internet. Old school way meant buying the books you had in your hands, with the advent of the internet many more books are available and I learned something about myself which was I enjoy the thrill of the hunt.

 

I bought my first golden aged book in 2009, on Comiclink during one of the eBetter auctions I bought a Tomb of Terror #1 for 56 dollars ( cheap! ).

 

This got me into collecting golden aged horror titles.

From there I started noticing I had a penchant for the "damsels in distress" horror covers and started collecting those. A great example of that is Venus 19:

Then I started seeing other titles with that "damsel in distress" theme and I noted a great many of them in Planet Comics.

Planet Comics is my current passion, and like you I sell books at local conventions and spend the proceeds on golden aged books.

 

welcome to the boards.

 

[Caddotx]

Your story is similar to mine. I bought comics from the age of 5 to 19, and in 1990 sold almost all the books I had. I took a break from comics, until 2004 and at that time decided to try to acquire all the books I used to own. The problem was I found it to easy to do thanks to the internet. Old school way meant buying the books you had in your hands, with the advent of the internet many more books are available and I learned something about myself which was I enjoy the thrill of the hunt.

 

Beautiful books! I hope my collection looks that good someday.

 

 

Just saw this thread! Very very excited for you!

 

It's tough to unload those Silvers, but I promise once those Gold gems start coming up, you'll be happy you did!

 

Your approach of collecting the Golds you love first (-30 Bats/LL 'Tecs) is probably better than my strategy of going after huge books first, too.

 

At the end of the day, I'm thrilled with what I'm doing because it puts a big smile on my face and has really reinvigorated my desire to collect. I'm sure it will do the same for you! (thumbs u

 

Best of luck and PLEASE, PLEASE share your buys with us! We definitely DO care!

 

Thanks Cosmic Boy! Your thread was the kick in the behind I needed to start collecting seriously again instead of just dealing. And you're right, I actually get excited now when I find something and buy it. I haven't done that in a long time!

[cirnick-migration]

I love your covers Artboy...though Frederick Wertham might have issues with you