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The Scarcity Index Numbers 7 thru 9
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Started by N e r V,

89 posts in this topic

Sqeggs

Sqeggs

Posted
Posted

Some of the St John romance giants might have fewer than 10 copies surviving. Diary Secrets nn might be in this category. All-Picture, All-True Love Story 2 probably is.

 

St John had terrible distribution problems, which I assume were even more severe for these giants consisting of remaindered books with new covers. Combine that with how few collectors were interested in romance books until comparatively recently, and I think it's plausible that fewer than 10 copies of some of these may have survived.

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adamstrange

adamstrange

Posted
Posted
Using the old Gerber Scarcity Index terms what are some of the books out there that actually might earn a 7, 8 or 9?

 

7 (Scarce) 21-50 copies

8 (Rare) 11-20 copies

9 (Very Rare) 6-10 copies

 

Any candidates for one of those numbers? ???

I be would skeptical of most any list that tried to distinguish books as being a 7 vs 8 vs 9. Most comics are not valuable enough to slab and even when they are (e.g. Action 1) people believe the census is far from complete. Starting a list of books thought to be 50 or less seems possible, but many of the books that should belong on it will be obscure issues from lower demand genres like Romance or Funny Animal.

 

The Funny Romantic Animals books are particularly tough! :D

They're impossible :pullhair:

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jerome34

jerome34

Posted
Posted

I suspect that for the Gerber numbers 7 - 10, about 90% are fairly accurate

(equaling his number or off by at most +/- 1 and that difference being often

questionable). I think the remaining 10 % is split into roughly two equal sized

groups where his value is off by +2 or -2. Some of these differences are caused

by warehouse finds.

 

Where he is definitely wrong is in his counts of "existing" copies. For his index

numbers of 9 & 10, I think his counts should be doubled (for items currently in

active collections) with and additional count (for items in attics, closets,

basements, etc. some of which will show up and some will, eventually, get

destroyed with no one ever knowing that they existed). Similarly, for the

index values of 7 & 8, I think his counts should be tripled plus again

an additional count for hidden/lost copies.

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steelhelmet

steelhelmet

Posted
Posted

I know this book is not tough in grade, in fact it's usually seen in high grade, I've seen them around, as other collectors have I'm sure, in fact I almost did a trade deal with a local dealer for one, a raw high grade white page example, but I had second thoughts and backed out. Not a Centaur collector.

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G.A.tor

G.A.tor

Posted
Posted
What about the Amazing Mystery Everett covers like this one, where do they rank?

 

They never seem to turn up, of course I say that and one pops up on ebay.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Amazing-Mystery-Funnies-Vol-2-No-5-May-1939-VF-/331658173891?hash=item4d385e1dc3

never got alert :cry:
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batman_fan

batman_fan

Posted
Posted
I know this book is not tough in grade, in fact it's usually seen in high grade, I've seen them around, as other collectors have I'm sure, in fact I almost did a trade deal with a local dealer for one, a raw high grade white page example, but I had second thoughts and backed out. Not a Centaur collector.

 

I've seen quite a few (relatively speaking) copies of that book as well.

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Johnny545

Johnny545

Posted
Posted
I know this book is not tough in grade, in fact it's usually seen in high grade, I've seen them around, as other collectors have I'm sure, in fact I almost did a trade deal with a local dealer for one, a raw high grade white page example, but I had second thoughts and backed out. Not a Centaur collector.

 

I've seen quite a few (relatively speaking) copies of that book as well.

 

Can anyone recall any recent auctions of this book? I am not turning any up, trying to figure out how the ebay seller arrived at his asking price.

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pmpknface

pmpknface

Posted
Posted
Suspense 3 is not as rare as it was once thought but still not a ton around.Most have been graded because of the rising prices gotten lately.Still a few raw around like mine and a few board members i know of.i would give it a 7. :)

 

My perspective is the Suspense #4 is probably more scarce than the #3. You don't see a #5 often either.

 

I'd agree with that. I dreamed of collecting the Cole run of this title one day and now I only need 2 more of his covers. Some time ago one boardie was talking about how scarce this title was and was coming up with his own version of the Gerber scale. I copied it down and saved it. I'll share.....

 

You know, I really should be working right now, but you guys talked me into it. Here's the Windex Scarcity Index for the full run of Suspense Comics:

 

1.... 18

2.... 14

3.... 19

4.... 20

5.... 14

6.... 12

7.... 10

8.... 12

9.... 10

10.. 11

11.. 8

12.. 13

 

#4 is the toughest, and #1 and #3 are also tricky. Interestingly enough, issues #1 and #8 (the spider cover) qualify in the very tiny subset of comics that have quite a few slabbed but very few sold. Other comics in that subset include All-American #61, Action #13, Sub-Mariner #13, and Wonder Comics #1 (Fox). I find that subset to include some of the most highly collectible of all comics, because it implies people refuse to let their copies go no matter what the price.

 

I don't remember who posted it tho - it might be one of you! doh!

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Gotham Kid

Gotham Kid

Posted
Posted
What about the Amazing Mystery Everett covers like this one, where do they rank?

 

They never seem to turn up, of course I say that and one pops up on ebay.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Amazing-Mystery-Funnies-Vol-2-No-5-May-1939-VF-/331658173891?hash=item4d385e1dc3

never got alert :cry:

 

He also sold a ST110 CGC 8.0 w for 5k. Well below GPA.

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=8873070#Post8873070

 

 

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Johnny545

Johnny545

Posted
Posted (edited)
What about the Amazing Mystery Everett covers like this one, where do they rank?

 

They never seem to turn up, of course I say that and one pops up on ebay.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Amazing-Mystery-Funnies-Vol-2-No-5-May-1939-VF-/331658173891?hash=item4d385e1dc3

never got alert :cry:

 

He also sold a ST110 CGC 8.0 w for 5k. Well below GPA.

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=8873070#Post8873070

 

 

Interesting, a legitimate seller too. What's FMV on this Amazing Mystery Funnies assuming it is VF+ (big assumption) the last sale I'm seeing is the billy wright 7.5 (second highest) selling in 2011 for 8k+.

Edited by Johnny545
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comicnoir

comicnoir

Posted
Posted
What about the Amazing Mystery Everett covers like this one, where do they rank?

 

They never seem to turn up, of course I say that and one pops up on ebay.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Amazing-Mystery-Funnies-Vol-2-No-5-May-1939-VF-/331658173891?hash=item4d385e1dc3

never got alert :cry:

 

He also sold a ST110 CGC 8.0 w for 5k. Well below GPA.

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=8873070#Post8873070

 

 

Interesting, a legitimate seller too. What's FMV on this Amazing Mystery Funnies assuming it is VF+ (big assumption) the last sale I'm seeing is the billy wright 7.5 (second highest) selling in 2011 for 8k+.

 

Ted VanLiew sold a similar copy for $10K to a boardie!!

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Johnny545

Johnny545

Posted
Posted (edited)
What about the Amazing Mystery Everett covers like this one, where do they rank?

 

They never seem to turn up, of course I say that and one pops up on ebay.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Amazing-Mystery-Funnies-Vol-2-No-5-May-1939-VF-/331658173891?hash=item4d385e1dc3

never got alert :cry:

 

He also sold a ST110 CGC 8.0 w for 5k. Well below GPA.

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=8873070#Post8873070

 

 

Interesting, a legitimate seller too. What's FMV on this Amazing Mystery Funnies assuming it is VF+ (big assumption) the last sale I'm seeing is the billy wright 7.5 (second highest) selling in 2011 for 8k+.

 

Ted VanLiew sold a similar copy for $10K to a boardie!!

 

It looks like CC sold the cosmic aeroplance copy (CBCS 2.0) a few months back for $2,600 - copy had very nice eye appeal for the grade.

 

http://www.comicconnect.com/bookDetail.php?id=589470

Edited by Johnny545
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HRCostigan

HRCostigan

Posted
Posted

Lovely book. I bought the previous two at auction as far as I'm aware, wish I'd seen this one. There are 8 in the CGC census, at least the one CBCS and several raws floating around the boards so I'm not sure as to the rarity, would have to defer to others who have been around longer. I'm a newbie, just ask comicjack :grin:

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comicjack

comicjack

Posted
Posted (edited)

I would say it is more like a 6 still not a ton around,i think that great cover made people tuck it away.Gator would have a handle on it for he is the #1 Centaur man on the boards.But does it really matter how many great copies out there just not enough of that one to feed the collectors :)

Edited by comicjack
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