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Lowest Highest Graded Copies in the Census

Started by Yellow Kid,

70 posts in this topic

Yellow Kid

Yellow Kid

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Posted

Most GA books in the Census have a positively skewed distribution of grades, with the highest grade often 9.0 or higher. However, there are two types of rare books that have much lower highest graded copies. The first is the book that is genuinely rare in any grade and higher grade copies probably don't exist. The Famous Gang Book of Comics was the first Firestone giveaway comic in 1942 and used a paper cover and probably had limited distribution. Accordingly, it is not surprising that the highest graded copy in the Census is a 6.5.

The other type of rarity involves a book like the Donald Duck Paint Book Large Feature Comic #20 where much nicer copies exist that simply are not in the Census.. This is generally accepted as one of the rarest Donald Duck comics and the highest graded copy is a 5.5 in the Census. It was probably a low publication book during the war, was painted and drawn on by children, and put in the paper drives. This is an interesting comic because it shows once again that not all comics are in the Census. Like many senior collectors, I do not usually submit books to the Census unless I want to sell them, and I know other long-time collectors who feel the same way. My copy of this book is attached and I think it would probably be graded at least an 8.0 and probably higher.

These are just two examples of books where the lowest highest graded copy is 5 or 6. I think such conditions are exciting because finding a high grade copy of such a comic enables you to go up several points in the Census, not just a tenth of a point, which I think is close to chance variation.

 

Famous%20Gang%20Book%20of%20Comics%201942%20front%20cover.jpg

 

LFC20DonaldDuckComicPaintBookobverse.jpg

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sfcityduck

sfcityduck

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Interesting topic. I'd never heard of the Famous Gang Book of Comics or that it was the first Firestone Giveaway.

 

A related thought, there are also comics that aren't on the census at all. Some of these are comics that are so rare that the few copies in collector's hands just haven't been slabbed yet.

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Yellow Kid

Yellow Kid

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A lot of great examples! Some from mainstream collecting lines, and some from, IMHO, secondary lines. Regardless, they all fit the model I was describing. Keep adding more, you are all doing great! Are there any GA examples for Superman or Batman?

 

The other thing that I have found interesting is to look for the 10th highest graded book because that really gives you a great idea of popularity and rarity. There are plenty books without ten graded issues, but they are either not very popular or they are extremely rare, and you can usually tell what the answer is.. But sometimes you find a surprise like Donald Duck Four Color 189 having one of the lowest 10th position grades, suggesting high grade copies of this book are more difficult to find.

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Bronty

Bronty

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Only of interest to some, but I thought I'd look up highest graded on some Cdn whites:

 

Triumph 2 5.0

Triumph 6 3.0

Triumph 7 3.0

Triumph 9 3.0

Triumph 10 0.5!

Triumph 12 5.5

Triumph 13 4.0

Triumph 14 7.5

Triumph 17 4.0

Triumph 18 2.0

Triumph 21 3.0

Triumph 22 2.0

Triumph 28 5.0

 

(remaining issues have no graded copies)

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sagii

sagii

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Most GA books in the Census have a positively skewed distribution of grades, with the highest grade often 9.0 or higher. However, there are two types of rare books that have much lower highest graded copies. The first is the book that is genuinely rare in any grade and higher grade copies probably don't exist. The Famous Gang Book of Comics was the first Firestone giveaway comic in 1942 and used a paper cover and probably had limited distribution. Accordingly, it is not surprising that the highest graded copy in the Census is a 6.5.

The other type of rarity involves a book like the Donald Duck Paint Book Large Feature Comic #20 where much nicer copies exist that simply are not in the Census.. This is generally accepted as one of the rarest Donald Duck comics and the highest graded copy is a 5.5 in the Census. It was probably a low publication book during the war, was painted and drawn on by children, and put in the paper drives. This is an interesting comic because it shows once again that not all comics are in the Census. Like many senior collectors, I do not usually submit books to the Census unless I want to sell them, and I know other long-time collectors who feel the same way. My copy of this book is attached and I think it would probably be graded at least an 8.0 and probably higher.

These are just two examples of books where the lowest highest graded copy is 5 or 6. I think such conditions are exciting because finding a high grade copy of such a comic enables you to go up several points in the Census, not just a tenth of a point, which I think is close to chance variation.

 

Famous%20Gang%20Book%20of%20Comics%201942%20front%20cover.jpg :cloud9::cloud9::cloud9::cloud9::cloud9:(worship)(worship)(worship)(worship)(worship)

Thank you for sharing. I am obsessed with finding a copy of this book! Absolutely FACINATING (to me anyway)that this is the same 'title' that changed into the 'Donald and Mickey Christmas' giveaways. What happened? Did the Warners lot (still upstarts at this time)seem not as 'alluring as the Disney staple and Disney gave Firestone a 'better' offer? More exposure(at that time)?

And the fact that even Overstreet designated it 'rare' makes it even more of a big game hunt to me. I'm hunting 'wabbit' indeed!

 

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