Diamond Galleries -- The Vault Opens 0

[lou_fine]

On 3/12/2017 at 6:06 PM, batman_fan said:

On 3/12/2017 at 10:18 AM, sacentaur said:

Adam is correct, as usual - the collector (local to me) has other Allentown Fox books as well. He is not a boardie, and is not really active in the hobby that much anymore.

I have the Larson Wonderworld 7, raw (never slabbed) fyi.

You have the Larson WonderWorld 7 

And probably a top notch copy at that, as it was listed in NM/Mint condition in the Larson List. 

The Allentown copy of Wonderworld 7, on the other hand was graded as only a VF+ copy.  Since Payette has always been noted as a pretty tough grader, who knows where the book will fall out on CGC's grading scale. 

[adamstrange]

2 hours ago, lou_fine said:

The Allentown copy of Wonderworld 7, on the other hand was graded as only a VF+ copy.  Since Payette has always been noted as a pretty tough grader, who knows where the book will fall out on CGC's grading scale.

It's a magnificent appearing copy with the appearance of a nm+.  I have seen it out of the mylar and don't recall any defects but I wasn't looking for them either.

[lou_fine]

4 hours ago, adamstrange said:

7 hours ago, lou_fine said:

The Allentown copy of Wonderworld 7, on the other hand was graded as only a VF+ copy.  Since Payette has always been noted as a pretty tough grader, who knows where the book will fall out on CGC's grading scale.

It's a magnificent appearing copy with the appearance of a nm+.  I have seen it out of the mylar and don't recall any defects but I wasn't looking for them either.

Definitely not surprising to me since all of the Allentown books which I have seen all look magnificent, with the only visible defect being the occasional ones with a very slight dust shadow on the edge(s). 

As for the grades themselves, since I am no real expert at it myself, it all seems like a     act sometimes to me.  For example, when I was looking at both copies of Wonderworld's 13 & 14 in front of Harley's booth, they both look pretty much in the same HG condition to me, with the #14 exhibiting slightly stronger colors because of the deep blue.  Made the mistake of only taking the #13 since it was an earlier issue, when I really should have taken both of them.   

Although Payette had graded both copies as NM copies according to his Master Allentown List, CGC gave a NM+ 9.6 grade to Wonderworld 13, and yet only a VF 8.0 to Wonderworld 14.  Of course, there might possibly have been some damage done to the Wonderworld 14 in the interim from the time I saw it until years later when it was subsequently graded.  

 

[lou_fine]

On 3/12/2017 at 6:06 PM, batman_fan said:

On 3/12/2017 at 10:18 AM, sacentaur said:

Adam is correct, as usual - the collector (local to me) has other Allentown Fox books as well. He is not a boardie, and is not really active in the hobby that much anymore.

I have the Larson Wonderworld 7, raw (never slabbed) fyi.

You have the Larson WonderWorld 7 

Besides Jon Berk, I believe Steve C must be one of the biggest Larson aficionados out there in the comic book hobby place.   

[sacentaur]

41 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

Besides Jon Berk, I believe Steve C must be one of the biggest Larson aficionados out there in the comic book hobby place.   

I love Larsons (and have 77 of them currently) despite their varied flaws (remember they were stored open in a barn for decades so they often have foxing, some have other stains, a rusty staple here or there, etc., plus some have a drop of glue, the name erased, and so on).

I believe Jon has/had about 120 of them? So between us, we have 20% of the collection (not too shabby).

Larsons are so supple and the provenance is hard to beat (Lamont is still alive and apparently doing well).

My favorite pedigree, next to the Church books. 

[lou_fine]

On 3/17/2017 at 1:27 PM, sacentaur said:

Larsons are so supple and the provenance is hard to beat (Lamont is still alive and apparently doing well).

My favorite pedigree, next to the Church books. 

Going through the Larson List and noticed that the collection has uber HG copies of all of the early Fox books which are so in-demand and basically locked away in long-term private collections.

Wondering if you have any idea where the Larson copy of Mystery Men 1 since it's indicated as a NM copy in the Larson List and I don't remember seeing a Larson copy around anywhere? 

[sacentaur]

1 hour ago, lou_fine said:

Wondering if you have any idea where the Larson copy of Mystery Men 1 since it's indicated as a NM copy in the Larson List and I don't remember seeing a Larson copy around anywhere? 

No idea - I have the Larson on Mystery Men 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 but have never seen the Larson Mystery Men 1 (then again I haven't been on the hunt for it since I have the Denver).

[lou_fine]

50 minutes ago, sacentaur said:

2 hours ago, lou_fine said:

Wondering if you have any idea where the Larson copy of Mystery Men 1 since it's indicated as a NM copy in the Larson List and I don't remember seeing a Larson copy around anywhere? 

No idea - I have the Larson on Mystery Men 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 but have never seen the Larson Mystery Men 1 (then again I haven't been on the hunt for it since I have the Denver).

Wow, that's an absolutely amazing set of Larson Mystery Men books to have in your personal collection. 

Do you remember if all of your Larson Mystery Men would have either the classic Larson identifying name/initials or the call back numbers on them?  Just asking since I was wondering if the Larson Mystery Men 1 could possibly be "lost" if it did not have any of the classic Larson identification marks on the cover of the book. 

[batman_fan]

1 hour ago, sacentaur said:

No idea - I have the Larson on Mystery Men 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 but have never seen the Larson Mystery Men 1 (then again I haven't been on the hunt for it since I have the Denver).

[sacentaur]

2 hours ago, lou_fine said:

Do you remember if all of your Larson Mystery Men would have either the classic Larson identifying name/initials or the call back numbers on them?  

They have a mixture of identifiers, some being erased (unfortunately).