Why I love 80 Page Giants...

[burntboy]

Nice!

 

Consensus on the boards, is this the hardest to find issue among the actual 80 Page Giant title?

 

i'd like to think so, but have no idea..........

 

[nearmint]

Mine's a mid-grade, but Metro has the Bethlehem 9.0.

[nearmint]

Nice!

 

Consensus on the boards, is this the hardest to find issue among the actual 80 Page Giant title?

 

I'd go with #7. No slabbed copies above 9.0.

[tth2]

Nice!

 

Consensus on the boards, is this the hardest to find issue among the actual 80 Page Giant title?

 

I'd go with #7. No slabbed copies above 9.0.

Right, good call Jeff! That war issue is definitely harder to find. But I would say the #4 is a close second. I see from looking at the census that there is a 9.4 copy of the #4. I need to track that baby down.

[adamstrange]

Nice!

 

Consensus on the boards, is this the hardest to find issue among the actual 80 Page Giant title?

 

I'd go with #7. No slabbed copies above 9.0.

Right, good call Jeff! That war issue is definitely harder to find. But I would say the #4 is a close second. I see from looking at the census that there is a 9.4 copy of the #4. I need to track that baby down.

 

I've not thought of the Eighty Page giants as being scarce -- although all these early square bounds are tough when you get into 9.4 and above territory. I had a much tougher time getting nice Annuals, which nearly all precede the Eighty Page series. The toughest one for me to find was #7 and I don't see/hear of large number of copies. I own the Green River and I think 9.0 is the highest it would grade. The collector I got it from traded it because it was his 2nd best copy. Does anyone know about the Pacific Coast copy -- that collection contained just killer copies of these 80 pagers.

[tth2]

I've not thought of the Eighty Page giants as being scarce -- although all these early square bounds are tough when you get into 9.4 and above territory. I had a much tougher time getting nice Annuals, which nearly all precede the Eighty Page series. The toughest one for me to find was #7 and I don't see/hear of large number of copies. I own the Green River and I think 9.0 is the highest it would grade. The collector I got it from traded it because it was his 2nd best copy. Does anyone know about the Pacific Coast copy -- that collection contained just killer copies of these 80 pagers.

Well, of course "scarce" is a relative term when you talk about SAs. Except for some oddball romance titles and such, it's hard to say that any SA is truly scarce, particularly if grade is not a consideration. Having said that, #7 and #4 don't appear very often, particularly in high grade.

 

I had almost all of the PC 80 Page Giants offered to me at one point, with the notable omissions of #4 and #7. I don't know if that's because they're not in the PC run or simply weren't in the set owned by the collector that offered them to me. The average grades were phenomenal, probably close to 9.7, because they were almost all 9.6s and some 9.8s. Not all of the highest in census copies are PCs, though.

 

It's surprised me that 80 Page Giants (with a few notable exceptions) have actually been as "common" in ultra-HG as they are. Back in the late 80s and early 90s, ultra-HG copies were a real grail for a lot of collectors based on perceived scarcity, which has not been borne out by census numbers. Similarly, I always thought the Annuals were really hard to find in HG, but they've been surprisingly "common" too. I've seen numerous copies of the Flash Annual offered in 8.5 and above, and decent copies of Batman Annual #1, including a 9.4 copy, have been available for years.

[adamstrange]

I've not thought of the Eighty Page giants as being scarce -- although all these early square bounds are tough when you get into 9.4 and above territory. I had a much tougher time getting nice Annuals, which nearly all precede the Eighty Page series. The toughest one for me to find was #7 and I don't see/hear of large number of copies. I own the Green River and I think 9.0 is the highest it would grade. The collector I got it from traded it because it was his 2nd best copy. Does anyone know about the Pacific Coast copy -- that collection contained just killer copies of these 80 pagers.

Well, of course "scarce" is a relative term when you talk about SAs. Except for some oddball romance titles and such, it's hard to say that any SA is truly scarce, particularly if grade is not a consideration. Having said that, #7 and #4 don't appear very often, particularly in high grade.

 

I had almost all of the PC 80 Page Giants offered to me at one point, with the notable omissions of #4 and #7. I don't know if that's because they're not in the PC run or simply weren't in the set owned by the collector that offered them to me. The average grades were phenomenal, probably close to 9.7, because they were almost all 9.6s and some 9.8s. Not all of the highest in census copies are PCs, though.

 

It's surprised me that 80 Page Giants (with a few notable exceptions) have actually been as "common" in ultra-HG as they are. Back in the late 80s and early 90s, ultra-HG copies were a real grail for a lot of collectors based on perceived scarcity, which has not been borne out by census numbers. Similarly, I always thought the Annuals were really hard to find in HG, but they've been surprisingly "common" too. I've seen numerous copies of the Flash Annual offered in 8.5 and above, and decent copies of Batman Annual #1, including a 9.4 copy, have been available for years.

 

I would agree with you on how those issues were sought after in high grade (I was looking througout the 80s and 90s) and I was surprised at how many nice copies there are of the 80 pagers. I don't keep up with the census, but it sounds like many more have come out. As far as the Annuals they really don't exist in NM -- the glue prevents that. CGC grades them on a huge curve (which I think is okay) but use criteria that baffles me. I've seen Rotor's copies of a number of the 9.4s.

[tth2]

As far as the Annuals they really don't exist in NM -- the glue prevents that. CGC grades them on a huge curve (which I think is okay) but use criteria that baffles me. I've seen Rotor's copies of a number of the 9.4s.

Yeah, you have to give these books a special dispensation for the spine and some of the ripple on the front cover along the spine, otherwise as you say there would be no Annuals and 80-Pagers above 9.0. I guess CGC views these as manufacturing defects, rather than defects resulting from mishandling, which I think is a fair position.

[tth2]

As far as the Annuals they really don't exist in NM -- the glue prevents that. CGC grades them on a huge curve (which I think is okay) but use criteria that baffles me. I've seen Rotor's copies of a number of the 9.4s.

Yeah, you have to give these books a special dispensation for the spine and some of the ripple on the front cover along the spine, otherwise as you say there would be no Annuals and 80-Pagers above 9.0. I guess CGC views these as manufacturing defects, rather than defects resulting from mishandling, which I think is a fair position.

Technically not an 80-Page Giant, but still a giant-size issue. The spine is as clean and square as you will ever find in a squarebound (if you can make it out behind the glare).

 

[r100comics]

 

Wow ! Very nice book Tim. You don't see many 1963 squarebounds as nice as this.

[Red Hook]

And it's got....a gorilla on the cover!

[EJR]

I believe that the Secret Origins Annual (1961) is the toughest annual to find in high grade. Also Sgt. Rock's Prized Battle Tales one shot annual is another tough one to find in high grade.

[tth2]

And it's got....a gorilla on the cover!

I totally forgot about the Flash covers with Grodd! Darn it, I could've contributed to the gorilla covers thread after all!

[lou_fine]

 

Wow ! Very nice book Tim. You don't see many 1963 squarebounds as nice as this.

 

tth2;

 

Now that's a sharp looking copy of the Flash Annual. I've also got a high grade copy of this annual, but nowhere near as nice as yours. The only good thing is my copy was free since it came as a bonus throw-in from the dealer for buying a GA book.

 

Was it common for dealers to thow in books such as these back in the late 80's, since i was able to get quite a few early HG Silver this way? Don't think dealers would be doing this nowadays......well. maybe you would get a free Spawn #1.

[tth2]

tth2;

 

Now that's a sharp looking copy of the Flash Annual. I've also got a high grade copy of this annual, but nowhere near as nice as yours. The only good thing is my copy was free since it came as a bonus throw-in from the dealer for buying a GA book.

 

Was it common for dealers to thow in books such as these back in the late 80's, since i was able to get quite a few early HG Silver this way? Don't think dealers would be doing this nowadays......well. maybe you would get a free Spawn #1.

Thanks Lou and r100 for your compliments.

 

As for freebies from dealers, let's see, in almost 20 years of collecting, the number of freebies I've received from dealers is... 0! Obviously you were playing at a "slightly" higher level if you were getting nice early SA thrown in as part of your deals. It actually surprises me, because the late 80s saw a sort of rediscovery of SA DC, particularly the 80 page giants, so it's amazing that a dealer would throw in a high grade copy of Flash Annual 1 for free.

[lou_fine]

tth2;

 

Now that's a sharp looking copy of the Flash Annual. I've also got a high grade copy of this annual, but nowhere near as nice as yours. The only good thing is my copy was free since it came as a bonus throw-in from the dealer for buying a GA book.

 

Was it common for dealers to thow in books such as these back in the late 80's, since i was able to get quite a few early HG Silver this way? Don't think dealers would be doing this nowadays......well. maybe you would get a free Spawn #1.

Thanks Lou and r100 for your compliments.

 

As for freebies from dealers, let's see, in almost 20 years of collecting, the number of freebies I've received from dealers is... 0! Obviously you were playing at a "slightly" higher level if you were getting nice early SA thrown in as part of your deals. It actually surprises me, because the late 80s saw a sort of rediscovery of SA DC, particularly the 80 page giants, so it's amazing that a dealer would throw in a high grade copy of Flash Annual 1 for free.

 

 

tth2;

 

Actually, come to think of it, you are probably right. I remember only getting a few SA DC's for free. Most of the freebies were drek such as the more common Marvels although it was nice to land a real nice HG copy of FF Annual #2 featuring the orgin of Dr. Doom. One of my favorite books from the SA since I clearly remembered this story from my childhood.

 

Also managed to get some file copies of the early OS price guides such as #2 and #3 which were signed by Overstreet. These two came as part of a Christmas order and were rather appropriate for a Xmas present since the cover for #2 was all red and the cover for #3 was all green.

 

Don't seem to get these freebies anymore since everything's all business with the dealers nowadays.

[tth2]

I remember only getting a few SA DC's for free. Most of the freebies were drek such as the more common Marvels although it was nice to land a real nice HG copy of FF Annual #2 featuring the orgin of Dr. Doom. One of my favorite books from the SA since I clearly remembered this story from my childhood.

Yes, we should all be so cursed to receive such drek for free.

 

Don't seem to get these freebies anymore since everything's all business with the dealers nowadays.

Here's an interesting question: have dealers' gross margins improved or declined in recent years? On the one hand, in the old pre-Internet days, they had a total monopoly when it came to buying and could buy even great stuff at 50% of Guide. However, they had to pay for catalog printing and mailing, etc., and their sales channels were more limited.

 

On the other hand, with the advent of CGC, they could slab existing inventory (purchased at the scandalously low prices mentioned above) and sell at huge multiples to Guide. However, the Internet, while opening sales channels, also introduced greater competition, so dealers lost their buying monopoly and had to pay higher prices for new inventory (raw or slabbed). And when purchasing slabbed books, dealers such as Josh Nathanson, Mark Wilson and JP often end up paying top dollar in an open-market, thus in theory limiting their upside in flipping a book.

 

Thoughts?

[sterlingcomics]

On the other hand, with the advent of CGC, they could slab existing inventory (purchased at the scandalously low prices mentioned above) and sell at huge multiples to Guide. However, the Internet, while opening sales channels, also introduced greater competition, so dealers lost their buying monopoly and had to pay higher prices for new inventory (raw or slabbed). And when purchasing slabbed books, dealers such as Josh Nathanson, Mark Wilson and JP often end up paying top dollar in an open-market, thus in theory limiting their upside in flipping a book.

 

Thoughts?

 

Couldn't have said it better myself. The field has more players, and therefore greater competition and smaller margins. Nice 80pg Giants!

[Norrin_Radd]

[Red Hook]

Oh, jeez. Pov leaves and my memory becomes that of a 90-year-old. Thanks.