Tom Reilly Collection Master List

[nearmint]

Thanks, Bob. I hope the Reilly Nedors do exist out there somewhere. I'd love to own one someday.

[BLBcomics-migration]

I truly wish i had all the answers

 

no one does

 

i simply have more than any one else, cuz i lived thru this collection - and my stories have not deviated from what i learned back then, what my inquisitive 20 year old mind soaked up,

 

as we lived, breathed, fought the comic book wars - trying to bring respect back to a hobby which had been socially ostracized back in the mid 1950s, and that is waht we were concentrating on those early years, when one was looked upon in "ways" for being a comic book collector. And the UG comix market was the origins of the direct market, and i wanted in oin the ground floor of this "new" comics industry on some level, so we created comic books readers.

 

 

Guys like Bob Wood could not handle it by 1958, who knows what he did to some woman, truly unfortunate, wouldn't you agree? Joe Simon's THE COMIC BOOK MAKERS (vanguard's revamp is sooo superior, lots of new graphics and errors fixed.)

 

I was in the 2nd wave which came out to the San Francisco/Soverign Nation of Berkeley Bay Area following Robert Crumb, which brought out Gilbert Shelton, Dave Sheridan, so many others, Dan O'Neill organized some Air Pirates, Corben & Rand Holmes mailed stuff into Last Gasp

 

And at 20 years old Bud Plant & I along with the late much-missed John Barrett (21, the older C&C partner) plunged thru these boxes upon boxes of never before opened Golden Age comic books. And we got em in 3 batches spread out about a month apart each.

 

Now that i think of it, that 3rd batch, like i said in last missive, was offered up at San Diego, which brought a third of the books en masse to the lower part of california, and we were under some pressure as this lady wanted more than her two counter-parts. We paid 60% of mint guide for her last third

 

The first two thirds were being eaten up by northern California collectors & dealers -

 

But some of the last third did go out in batches, and we trusted their checks

 

- Rick Durell being one of them

 

He had massive runs all in super high grade - i had first begun dealing with him by 1967 first thru RBCC - his collection would have been better shape than BZ's amazing mostly high grade comics

 

But i also fully realize there are a lot of questions for which i do not have the answer, just the memory of it all at this stage,

 

The Reilly collection did not have a ACT 1-17, SUP 1 2, M 1-4, but by the end of 1939 it did kick into high gear and by 1940 thru mid 1945 it was simply all there.

 

And the reason i brought up a one inch tear on the right side front cover on a Green Lantern, is that is the only book i distinctly remember having a blemish - and that tear was done by the 3rd relative lady - for which she apologized - she had torn it while taking a stack out of a box back home when she first heard how valuable they were - remember, Overstreet #3 had just come out

 

The concept of pedigree, much less documenting "pedigree," was years away

 

- and huge finds were being uncovered all over the country. Some of us were blessed over & over with deals - and deals will continue. These all is takes is a pile of dough, or access to same

 

Robert Beerbohm

www.BLBcomics.com

[ciorac]

Thanks for the details on the collection Bob! It must have been phenomenal to see all those books, in that condition, all in one place. Just amazing.

[BLBcomics-migration]

I was PM'd over last night asking if there "were any Capt Marvel or Whiz comics" in this collection

 

My policy is to post my answers on Tom Reilly comics for every one to enjoy & maybe learn from

 

Yes, every one up thru summer of 1945 -

 

as in every Fawcett published, or damn near every one

 

I sold the high grade Whiz #2 (#1) to Burl Rowe (Houston) got two grand flat

 

He liked it so much, and i told him on the phone that the Tec 27 was comparable, he immediately said "sold" when i said i wanted a bit more for it than the Whiz - and we settled at $2200 for the Tec

 

Later Fawcetts following key #1 issues were pretty cheap back in 1973, heck, most everything was "cheap" back then

 

Again, most people look for the Reilly stamp on the back, or the tell-tale Gilboy Agency G, etc

 

Many many of them had zero markings on them, from what i remember

 

And who owns the Reilly Capt America #1 Nick & Mike sold way back when?

 

best

 

Robert Beerbohm

www.BLBcomics.com

[Timulty]

Thanks for the information. Now, I know to look for a few of these when I get a chance and if(big if) they hit the market.

[BLBcomics-migration]

http://koti.welho.com/apuska/ Edgar Church

http://koti.welho.com/apuska/Reilly/

 

People have said "how come so few Reilly (San Francisco) copies are CGC inventoried?"

 

To which i reply today, "How come so few Mile High Church copies are inventoried in the above URL? I mean this from the context there was something like 22,000 books Chuck got in that load so percentage wise, there is almost nothing listed there."

 

best

 

Robert Beerbohm

www.BLBcomics.com

[MrBedrock]

http://koti.welho.com/apuska/ Edgar Church

http://koti.welho.com/apuska/Reilly/

 

People have said "how come so few Reilly (San Francisco) copies are CGC inventoried?"

 

To which i reply today, "How come so few Mile High Church copies are inventoried in the above URL? I mean this from the context there was something like 22,000 books Chuck got in that load so percentage wise, there is almost nothing listed there."

 

best

 

Robert Beerbohm

www.BLBcomics.com

 

Bob,

You may want to be careful with that argument. There are approximately 2000 books (out of a possible 22,000) on the Church list. There are around 100 Reilly books listed. By that we can infer that there were about 1100 books in the collection. I know that many (if not most) of the Reilly's are unidentifiable according to what you said earlier. But you still might not want to compare the lists. It might make people think that the SF Collection was really much smaller than claimed.

BTW, has anyone tried to find out the true story of Tom Reilly. I've heard everything from killed in WWII to never was in the military.

Thanks for all the stories,

Richard

[BLBcomics-migration]

I see where you are coming from, Rich, but i was not taking it that direction, though one easily could infer what you suggest if they wish

 

thinking on my end is more from the concept that with the MH books so much more easily documented on so many levels, selling for so many percentages multiples of guide, why aren't there more of them slabbed up? I thought the high grade was supposed to be about the money investment aspects these days

 

What i guess i left off the theorem is the X factor that most of the other undocumented MH books most likely still reside in collections, which puts 20,000 Mile High Church books still "undocumented" with a CGC census count.

 

and with the Reilly collection under 5000 books, but well over 4000 books, it is totally conceivable that many are still in collections which have yet to surface for people to bangzoom about, as it were

 

just the the 20,000 unaccounted for Church copies

 

thas all

 

Robert Beerbohm

www.BLBcomics.com

[ciorac]

I see where you are coming from, Rich, but i was not taking it that direction, though one easily could infer what you suggest if they wish

 

thinking on my end is more from the concept that with the MH books so much more easily documented on so many levels, selling for so many percentages multiples of guide, why aren't there more of them slabbed up? I thought the high grade was supposed to be about the money investment aspects these days

 

What i guess i left off the theorem is the X factor that most of the other undocumented MH books most likely still reside in collections, which puts 20,000 Mile High Church books still "undocumented" with a CGC census count.

 

and with the Reilly collection under 5000 books, but well over 4000 books, it is totally conceivable that many are still in collections which have yet to surface for people to bangzoom about, as it were

 

just the the 20,000 unaccounted for Church copies

 

thas all

 

Robert Beerbohm

www.BLBcomics.com

 

I think you are right about most of them being squirreled away in private collections. Berk, Verzyl and Geppi come to mind.

[adamstrange]

There were approx. 18,000 copies in the Church collection.

 

I was the creator of the 22,000 myth so just trying to atone.

[tth2]

I was the creator of the 22,000 myth

Aha! I always suspected you were really Chuck! You've finally admitted it!

[adamstrange]

I was the creator of the 22,000 myth

Aha! I always suspected you were really Chuck! You've finally admitted it!

 

[BLBcomics-migration]

 

I think you are right about most of them being squirreled away in private collections. Berk, Verzyl and Geppi come to mind.

 

Thanks for seeing the point, humble that it is, as there have been more than one person who questions the validity of The Tom Reilly Collection being not what I know it was, having lived thru it's acquisition and subsequent sales, not having a single Reilly copy left in-house - though i wish i did, obviously

 

As the various Reilly threads have unfolded here and else where over the years, i tend to have my addled brain jogged now and again, dredging up a detail here and there, which, when all put together, as complete a story as can be remembered surfaces.

 

Even if 18,000 or 22,000, the point is there is a vast vast majority of the Church books still unaccounted for as far as auctions and/or CGC census reports. I think people who grab ahold of the CGC census reports as some sort of gospel regarding relative rarity scarcity ratios are barking up the wrong trees.

 

And i STILL need to talk with Burl Rowe, formerly of Houston, who had bought some of the biggest keys which were in the Reilly collection. Anybody know how to get ahold of him?

 

 

And how come more of those Timely issues Nick Marcus & Mike Manyak ran out of the building with that Sunday day in April 1973 at the UC Berkeley comicon are not registered with these census lists - such as the beautiful Captain America #1 (and others) they scored that day

 

I wish i had answers to where all the Reilly copies are hanging out at - just dunno

 

Robert Beerbohm

www.BLBcomics.com

[ciorac]

 

I think you are right about most of them being squirreled away in private collections. Berk, Verzyl and Geppi come to mind.

 

Thanks for seeing the point, humble that it is, as there have been more than one person who questions the validity of The Tom Reilly Collection being not what I know it was, having lived thru it's acquisition and subsequent sales, not having a single Reilly copy left in-house - though i wish i did, obviously

 

As the various Reilly threads have unfolded here and else where over the years, i tend to have my addled brain jogged now and again, dredging up a detail here and there, which, when all put together, as complete a story as can be remembered surfaces.

 

Even if 18,000 or 22,000, the point is there is a vast vast majority of the Church books still unaccounted for as far as auctions and/or CGC census reports. I think people who grab ahold of the CGC census reports as some sort of gospel regarding relative rarity scarcity ratios are barking up the wrong trees.

 

And i STILL need to talk with Burl Rowe, formerly of Houston, who had bought some of the biggest keys which were in the Reilly collection. Anybody know how to get ahold of him?

 

 

And how come more of those Timely issues Nick Marcus & Mike Manyak ran out of the building with that Sunday day in April 1973 at the UC Berkeley comicon are not registered with these census lists - such as the beautiful Captain America #1 (and others) they scored that day

 

I wish i had answers to where all the Reilly copies are hanging out at - just dunno

 

Robert Beerbohm

www.BLBcomics.com

 

Bob as long as you have been doing this and as many comics that have gone through your hands, it is a wonder you can remember much at all about the collection!

 

Heck, the More Fun and Cresecent City collections only had 2400 and around 200 respectively, and I am constantly reminded by others of books that were in them that I completely forgot about! My finds were only 12 years ago, yours were much longer ago.

 

Now everything is much more controlled and data warehoused. Back when you found those books, who knew? You brought to market something most of us can only dream of finding. That alone is worth tons of kudos.

[BLBcomics-migration]

what you call Crescent City - was that Leonard B's books?

 

In all actuality, for most of the 1980s, there was very little by way of queries about the Reilly collection - and i felt depressed a bit when gerber's photo journal guides came out and had 100% of the info on this collection wrong, except the name, and i thought at the time in the late 1980s that it would be lost to the mists of time

 

- i think towards the middle 1990s, people like Dwight Furho (Canada, did i spell his name correctly?) began calling me up, jogging my memory

 

then matt Nelson called me, wanting to do an interview for a CBM piece on pedigrees

 

As i sorted out my stuff from moving from California to midwest, i uncovered a master list i had made up back around the time, maybe early 1980s, in a folder

 

- and i sent that data around to interested people

 

The last 15 years, i guess that fabulous batch has taken on some mythic proportions and the number of queries has only intensified over time, not lessened, even though i have answered as many questions as i remember about the collection

 

I remember this collection so distinctly because it was so huge and such perfect specimens

 

One of those "once in a life time" scenarios

 

I have bought many thousands of collections over the last 40 years

 

- and i would agree with you on one note:

 

I surely do not remember details of damn near any other collection i have bought, except stuff from the last decade or so, but the Reilly books.

 

What i remember most as far as remarkable was the sound each book made when they were opened for the first time - a very unique sound as the covers came up off the first page

[ciorac]

what you call Crescent City - was that Leonard B's books?

 

 

Yep. He sure knew how to pick the best copies didn't he? Man they were pretty!

[MrBedrock]

 

I think you are right about most of them being squirreled away in private collections. Berk, Verzyl and Geppi come to mind.

 

Thanks for seeing the point, humble that it is, as there have been more than one person who questions the validity of The Tom Reilly Collection being not what I know it was, having lived thru it's acquisition and subsequent sales, not having a single Reilly copy left in-house - though i wish i did, obviously

 

As the various Reilly threads have unfolded here and else where over the years, i tend to have my addled brain jogged now and again, dredging up a detail here and there, which, when all put together, as complete a story as can be remembered surfaces.

 

Even if 18,000 or 22,000, the point is there is a vast vast majority of the Church books still unaccounted for as far as auctions and/or CGC census reports. I think people who grab ahold of the CGC census reports as some sort of gospel regarding relative rarity scarcity ratios are barking up the wrong trees.

 

And i STILL need to talk with Burl Rowe, formerly of Houston, who had bought some of the biggest keys which were in the Reilly collection. Anybody know how to get ahold of him?

 

 

And how come more of those Timely issues Nick Marcus & Mike Manyak ran out of the building with that Sunday day in April 1973 at the UC Berkeley comicon are not registered with these census lists - such as the beautiful Captain America #1 (and others) they scored that day

 

I wish i had answers to where all the Reilly copies are hanging out at - just dunno

 

Robert Beerbohm

www.BLBcomics.com

 

Burrel Rowe has absolutely no comics left. And apparently no desire to talk to any of us collectors.

[BLBcomics-migration]

Burrel Rowe has absolutely no comics left. And apparently no desire to talk to any of us collectors.

 

well, shoot, Camelot was an important step in the evolution of the comic book store.

 

If it had been placed in LA or NYC, it might have flown, but Burl being a lawyer for the Hunt Oil Company, he wanted it where he could keep an eye, so i thought, and wasn't the idea of sorts was to grow comic book collectors amongst rich oil people?

 

Those first color slick catalogs were a lot of fun to peruse - like the first dozen or so auction catalogs Collectors Book Store began issuing in the mid 1970s as Leonard and Malcom began the process of selling out.

 

I talked with Leonard a lot, as well as others. Burl i have not talked with in many moons. His story would do well to be documented. I wonder if he would talk with me, though

[innocuous]

Thanks for sharing the memories Bob.

 

To your point about relative scarcity, I couldn't agree more. Given the millions published during the GA, if just a small percent survived, the census hasn't come close to cataloging any significant number.

[tth2]

Burrel Rowe has absolutely no comics left. And apparently no desire to talk to any of us collectors.

What happened to cause him to feel this way?