I don't know the definition of rare anymore.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Rare:

 

[Tri-Color Brian]

I doubt this is a rare book, maybe scarce ...but definitely not rare. It seems a lot of people have one, including me...I think it appears to be rare because it rarely turns up for sale. That's because it was included in an old price guide article on Esoteric comics back in the 70s and a lot of people hunted them down at that time. Once you get this book, you do not sell it.

 

[Mmehdy]

Rare.....let's think ....I know great comments on this board lately?

[eccomic]

The exceedingly rare black and white copy of Blood is the Harvest (only 5 known copies extant) My copy

 

NOTE: my copy is NOT the Esoteric Reprint from 1979 nor is the RockMyAmadeus copy either,b ased on the scan he provided

 

The 1979 Esotric reprint (which is limited to 500 numbered copies) is saddle stitched, versus the very are ashcan which was hand stapled

 

 

 

 

 

[bluechip]

I understand what you are saying. I don't get upset about it because I and probably anyone who will be spending their money knows better. As you know, I've been doing this a very long time. I like truely rare books that a lot of others don't really care about. I feel I've got my finger on what is truely rare in the GA world. I won't start posting all my "rare" books since it is only my opinion anyway and you probably don't really care anyway. I did just post one over in the giveaway thread and got nary a comment on it. Why? because it is pretty off most people's radar and the character is in low demand.

 

The average person who does not see a lot of books might thing that something is rare to them because they haven't seen many or any where some one like me might have seen a lot of them. You also have the people with an ajenda that want to pimp and sell a book. They think some fool is going to buy their logic and pay them a lot for their book.

 

Rarity is in the eye of the beholder...

 

 

Rarity is in the numbers

 

Desirability is in the eye of the beholder

[bluechip]

I love rare items. Rare items SOMETIMES mean big money. Trouble is, with no demand, the rarest of the rare ain't worth much money to most people...

 

The items that have been pictured so far are all "Rare" (and in my opinion very cool). Trouble is, most of them have very limited interest to most people so translating them into big money could be challenging.

 

At the end of the day buy what you like, spend what it is worth to you and enjoy your purchase!

 

The more rare something is the fewer there are people who have them to sell, which translates to fewer people saying it's worth a lot of money. So if something is rare or even one of a kind, you'll hear people talking them down. But if something is rare in a way that is also common (such as original art; each is one of a kind but the supply itself is endless), people are more likely to say "yeah that's worth money" even if they don't own that exact item, because they know they can get something like it.

 

Take, for example, ashcans. If there had been a of discovery 20,000 ashcans (for each # of a title instead of the first issue only), that would be enough for dozens or hundreds of people to wet their beaks on increased values, and subsequently there'd be more people talking them up, less people talking them down, and the major keys (Superman 1 etc) would be selling for more than they are selling now, despite being less "rare"

 

 

[Robot Man]

Yep. Well Said!

[1950's war comics]

I have noted before that its not even worth attempting to put together a DC

"Strange Adventures" 1-70 run in CGC 6.0 or better because as a man in his mid 50's I probably do not have enough time in my life to complete this run regardless of the cost... if this does not qualify as "rare" I don't know what does.......

I also posted thread comparing JIM #1 with #83 and actually had an audacious reply saying that JIM #1 is not really a tough book and comes up for sale regularly,.. well maybe reader copies or worse occasionally are offered , but have only seen a couple nice ones for sale in 5 years ,..the JIM#83 usually has 25 copies available at any given time on e-bay

[The-Collector]

The exceedingly rare black and white copy of Blood is the Harvest (only 5 known copies extant) My copy

 

NOTE: my copy is NOT the Esoteric Reprint from 1979 nor is the RockMyAmadeus copy either,b ased on the scan he provided

 

The 1979 Esotric reprint (which is limited to 500 numbered copies) is saddle stitched, versus the very are ashcan which was hand stapled

 

 

Does this count as rare? I know of no private collections with a copy and could only locate one copy in an Australian University rare book collection (but that doesn't mean much).

 

[Robot Man]

I love rare items. Rare items SOMETIMES mean big money. Trouble is, with no demand, the rarest of the rare ain't worth much money to most people...

 

The items that have been pictured so far are all "Rare" (and in my opinion very cool). Trouble is, most of them have very limited interest to most people so translating them into big money could be challenging.

 

At the end of the day buy what you like, spend what it is worth to you and enjoy your purchase!

 

OK, here is an example to illustrate my point. This is an 8 page Hop Harrigan DC All American Giveaway comic. Apparently given away in 1945 at one conference in the south. Only copy I have ever heard of or seen, not in Overstreet. I have put it up here for days with very little response or interest. It's actually a pretty cool WWII nazi story and maybe one of a kind. Undoubtly very rare but no one seems to care. Say I wanted to sell it, (I don't), how would I price it? What would it bring in an auction? Nobody knows about it and it doesn't seem to interest many people. Rare is good but if it is so rare you would think it would be worth a lot. But if there is no buzz I probably wouldn't get much. Just saying "Rare" in an ebay listing won't necessarily translate to big bucks...

 

 

 

Oh, I've got a beat copy of this too. Not that rare but a very cool book that a lot of people would be interested in no matter what "version". Maybe worth more than the book above...

 

[Dr. Love]

 

Not rare, not even in this grade - 4 in census. Not scarce - 57 slabs.

 

Rare isn't the same as scarce. Here's my working definition for rare

 

- in 75 years, only one sighting. Two at most.

- price is most definitely a major component. Rare = very very expensive, by anybody's definition of expensive. The epitome of rare? Cannot be had, for love or Bill Gates money.

- rare is not in the eye of the beholder, subjective, open to interpretation or discussion. You know that flying pig you've heard about but never seen? That'll do as an example.

 

Does this mean we may have to use "rare" sparingly at best? Works for me. I prefer "it's a stone cold beotch" myself.

 

[Robot Man]

The exceedingly rare black and white copy of Blood is the Harvest (only 5 known copies extant) My copy

 

NOTE: my copy is NOT the Esoteric Reprint from 1979 nor is the RockMyAmadeus copy either,b ased on the scan he provided

 

The 1979 Esotric reprint (which is limited to 500 numbered copies) is saddle stitched, versus the very are ashcan which was hand stapled

 

 

Does this count as rare? I know of no private collections with a copy and could only locate one copy in an Australian University rare book collection (but that doesn't mean much).

 

 

Yeah probably VERY rare. And the fact it is from Austraila makes it even more so. Looks like a very cool book and those who collect these type of books would probably pay very well for it. All it takes is two crazy people who want it bad!

[fifties]

As a person that has devoted his comic life to finding the rarest comics on Earth, I am deeply insulted on what is called rare these days. I watch shows like Comic book men and Pawn stars and see how they all call Spider-man # 1 rare. And I'm like there aren't any truly rare silver age comics. I have even seen dealers interviewed at the San Diego con calling books rare that aren't. I regularly call out people on Ebay.

Why do you let it bother you, and what's the point of calling anyone out?

 

They're gonna do what they want, regardless, if they feel that the proper verbiage will garner them a bigger sales price.

 

I see the term, "rare", in vintage radios (that I also collect) all the time, and frankly, I simply get a laugh out of it most of the time. Anyone knowledgeable in what they collect will simply gloss over it. Anyone not will soon learn. That's the way life goes, eh?

[The-Collector]

The exceedingly rare black and white copy of Blood is the Harvest (only 5 known copies extant) My copy

 

NOTE: my copy is NOT the Esoteric Reprint from 1979 nor is the RockMyAmadeus copy either,b ased on the scan he provided

 

The 1979 Esotric reprint (which is limited to 500 numbered copies) is saddle stitched, versus the very are ashcan which was hand stapled

 

 

Does this count as rare? I know of no private collections with a copy and could only locate one copy in an Australian University rare book collection (but that doesn't mean much).

 

 

Yeah probably VERY rare. And the fact it is from Austraila makes it even more so. Looks like a very cool book and those who collect these type of books would probably pay very well for it. All it takes is two crazy people who want it bad!

 

I know that I would pay in the several thousands for a copy and I imagine other communist/cold war collectors would too, probably even more. But this seems like a case where even if I you have the money no copies are available or will become available. I have spoken to several large Australian collectors, none had ever seen a copy in person. The place at which the books were printed is long gone and I could not find a record of their archive being passed on to successive communist/socialist groups in Australia. The only reason we know it exists is from the Monash University library collection.

[ciorac]

As a person that has devoted his comic life to finding the rarest comics on Earth, I am deeply insulted on what is called rare these days. I watch shows like Comic book men and Pawn stars and see how they all call Spider-man # 1 rare. And I'm like there aren't any truly rare silver age comics. I have even seen dealers interviewed at the San Diego con calling books rare that aren't. I regularly call out people on Ebay. This one guy was selling Strange tales 97 and he called it extremely rare even though there were 5 other people selling the same comic!!!!! So I contacted him and he said it is rare because everybody wants it. I told him to go look up the word rare in the dictionary. This just does not apply to silver age. Any expensive golden age book gets the rare title too. To the staff of Pawn stars, Wonder Woman # 1 would probably be the rarest book in the world to them. I find throwing the word rare around to be quite disgusting. Let me give you some examples.

 

This book is a real rare book. No bull about it. You can go to 10 large conventions and never see this book. Is it in demand? I don't know but it certainly is rare.

 

 

 

I collect rare comics as well. But I tend to lean towards broadly published comics, that are rare. Not the ashcan, mail in only, variant, etc. Which comics, in your estimation, are rare using my criteria?

[Sqeggs]

As a person that has devoted his comic life to finding the rarest comics on Earth, I am deeply insulted on what is called rare these days. I watch shows like Comic book men and Pawn stars and see how they all call Spider-man # 1 rare. And I'm like there aren't any truly rare silver age comics. I have even seen dealers interviewed at the San Diego con calling books rare that aren't. I regularly call out people on Ebay. This one guy was selling Strange tales 97 and he called it extremely rare even though there were 5 other people selling the same comic!!!!! So I contacted him and he said it is rare because everybody wants it. I told him to go look up the word rare in the dictionary. This just does not apply to silver age. Any expensive golden age book gets the rare title too. To the staff of Pawn stars, Wonder Woman # 1 would probably be the rarest book in the world to them. I find throwing the word rare around to be quite disgusting. Let me give you some examples.

 

This book is a real rare book. No bull about it. You can go to 10 large conventions and never see this book. Is it in demand? I don't know but it certainly is rare.

 

 

 

 

I collect rare comics as well. But I tend to lean towards broadly published comics, that are rare. Not the ashcan, mail in only, variant, etc. Which comics, in your estimation, are rare using my criteria?

 

I was thinking along the same lines. The Is This Tomorrow Australian edition is a great comic that I would love to have, but it may never have been distributed. It's an interesting question which comics are rarest that we are fairly sure actually were distributed to the public, either on newsstands or as widely available promo books.

[Bo_Hogg]

Ciorac, based on your criteria, virtually any Centaur comic is the best mainstream comic to collect. I don't have any ashcans but I just love owning something that hardly nobody has. It is of no joy to me to own all the popular Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman comics. I also try and collect rare comics that other people would find interesting if I decide to sell them later. You can collect something with no demand that no one has ever seen but if it has a cool cover or story or is historically important, people will get excited about it.

[Dr. Love]

All semantics aside, Bo, I think we all enjoy the hard to find cool comics you track down. Not all of us can delay the gratification necessary to continue with your kind of hunt.

[sagii]

Bo ( or any Boardies that can verify this) PGC mint listed a copy of Jolly Comics 1 on eBay listing it as the 'rarest comic on Earth'. Any truth to this?

[Sqeggs]

Bo ( or any Boardies that can verify this) PGC mint listed a copy of Jolly Comics 1 on eBay listing it as the 'rarest comic on Earth'. Any truth to this?

 

Looks like an ashcan.