MrBedrock Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 For completeness...I have a deal pending on a Tales of Terror Annual #2, but I don't want to mark it off the list of missings until I have it in hand (and I pay for it )... It was sent today. There is a tracking number in your pm! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EC ed Posted December 24, 2015 Author Share Posted December 24, 2015 For completeness...I have a deal pending on a Tales of Terror Annual #2, but I don't want to mark it off the list of missings until I have it in hand (and I pay for it )... It was sent today. There is a tracking number in your pm! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Love Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Picture Stories Bible NT - where can you find the printing edition? 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EC ed Posted December 24, 2015 Author Share Posted December 24, 2015 Picture Stories Bible NT - where can you find the printing edition? I was probably a little sloppy on explaining that before...let me get the kids in bed, and I'll clarify. Like I said, these Picture Stories from the Bibles are a bear to keep straight.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EC ed Posted December 24, 2015 Author Share Posted December 24, 2015 Picture Stories Bible NT - where can you find the printing edition? OK...Picture Stories from the Bible Complete New Testament.... There were three printings...in my list, I just used shorthand 1, 2, and 3...but, nowhere on the books does it tell you "printing 1" or "printing 2", etc... The way to identify the printings is by the combination of two things on the covers...1) the front cover price, + 2) the first line of the mailing address on the back cover. I have the second printing...it's a book I bought from you a couple/few years ago ...let's look at it... 1) it has a 40-cent cover price (front cover), and 2) it says "Educational Comics, Inc." on the first line of the address on the back cover (in the back cover scan, I put an orange post-it flag with an arrow to point out the spot)...this combination identifies it as printing #2: (keep reading below the images for the differences in printings 1 & 3) In contrast... Printing #1 has 1) 40-cent cover price, + 2) says "Picture Stories from the Bible" on that first address line on the back cover...no reference to Educational Comics Printing #3 has 1) 50-cent cover price (instead of 40-cent), + 2) says "Educational Comics, Inc." on that first address line on the back cover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Love Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 ahhh..I see, said the blind man...thank you, I did not know that there was a variation of the 40 cent EC based on the back cover. Is the first address line the sole difference between the two? 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmitchgro Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 You may be getting to this, but I don't think any discussion of EC would be complete without mentioning Bill's file copies. Planning on talking about those and how they fit into your collection? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EC ed Posted December 24, 2015 Author Share Posted December 24, 2015 ahhh..I see, said the blind man...thank you, I did not know that there was a variation of the 40 cent EC based on the back cover. Is the first address line the sole difference between the two? Yes...as far as I know, that's the only difference. Once I get my hands on the first printing, I'll doublecheck that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EC ed Posted December 24, 2015 Author Share Posted December 24, 2015 Then, Russ Cochran's mammoth effort arrived in 1978. I could not wait to get a hold of these. The reprints, larger than the originals and in black and white, opened my eyes to the detail that had been obscured in the originals. They also pretty much extinguished my collecting "need" to get the originals. Oh, I've still got (and continue to obtain as targets of opportunity) the old books, but I really like having the ability to read any E.C. at a moment's notice without fear of damage. You make a great point here...there are lots of angles we could talk about with respect to the host of "modern" reprints of the EC books. I agree with you, that those 1978 Cochran B&W reprint sets are just awesome. In fact, I recently started picking those up opportunistically when I see good prices on them...I have quite a few now, and I love reading them. You are exactly right...the detail that you can see in the line drawings is just stunning. They are great references...any time I want to check something in a story, I pull these out, rather than the original book. I also hear your other point...I've seen the opinion expressed in various places that the existence of so many modern EC reprints sort of threatens the collectibility of the original EC books (particularly in low grade). I've also seen the other argument...that is, the fact that there are so many modern EC reprints helps to keep EC in modern collectors' consciousness, and the reprints therefore promote and maintain the long term collecting interest in EC books. As for me...now that I have actually bought and started reading the Cochran sets, I'm clearly finding myself falling into the latter camp...that is, the existence of the Cochran reprint sets enhances my desire to collect the originals. It's the best of both worlds! I have the originals safely stored away, and can thumb through them (relatively infrequently) to smell them, feel the pulp between my fingers, and admire Marie's coloring...while letting the Cochran sets bear the brunt of the reading wear! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EC ed Posted December 24, 2015 Author Share Posted December 24, 2015 I became acquainted with Mad comics when my cousin, 4 years senior, gave me about a half dozen of them, which I still have. Ratty condition, but hey, they're EC's! :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EC ed Posted December 24, 2015 Author Share Posted December 24, 2015 I wish you well in your journey in collecting all the EC's, I would suggest you pick up some samples of the Canadian and even some of the later Mexican EC's. It's fun to compare the coloring and the Spanish translation of the stories. Oh and how about the Fan-Addict Club and the GhouLunatic photos. I feel as a Completest these are also part of the canon. See what can of worms you've opened, but you will have a lots of fun also in your journey. Thanks for stopping in, Hap, and thanks for the well wishes! It would indeed be cool to pick up a few foreign EC-authorized reprint issues, for comparison purposes...that would be interesting...I may just do that...good suggestion. My point earlier was that I'm just not going to put them on my official "completist goal list." In other words, I don't feel like I need to have them to complete my goal. Same with all the non-book memorabilia...cool stuff to have (and I wouldn't be surprised if I wind up picking some pieces up here and there), but not part of my main goal...it is a slippery slope indeed...yes...a fun one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EC ed Posted December 24, 2015 Author Share Posted December 24, 2015 You may be getting to this, but I don't think any discussion of EC would be complete without mentioning Bill's file copies. Planning on talking about those and how they fit into your collection? Yes indeed...right you are, and with good timing! That's a great subject for my next post (I'll also comment on how I view non-GFC pedigree copies, and how those fit in)...might take me a bit to write that one up, what with all of the Owens family holiday activities going on....stay tuned.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EC ed Posted December 24, 2015 Author Share Posted December 24, 2015 Well....the Gaines File Copies. According to that master list, we're talking about 3,769 (this number can be debated, but no need to get into that sidetrack here) pristine uncirculated copies of EC books filed away (mostly) by Bill, to be unwrapped decades later like a bunch of Egyptian mummies. For those of you who don't collect these, you can see the basic dynamics from the master list...usually 12 copies set aside of each issue...sometimes less (Vault of Horror 12 is a notable exception)...not all titles were included. Most of the Pre-Trend titles are not represented, including the romance titles... There are a lot of different angles to discuss in terms of how the existence of the Gaines File Copies affects general EC comic collecting dynamics. It could be argued that having a dozen or so high grade copies of each EC issue makes owning one of them less interesting...perhaps this dissuades some collectors from pursuing EC, because there's a feeling like 'I can find a high grade copy whenever I want one...I just need the money.' Contrast this with, say, pre-code Atlas collectors, who have a huge challenge finding any high grade copy. On the other hand, it could be argued that the existence of the Gaines File Copies promotes and encourages EC collecting activity, because it makes it more feasible for more high grade collectors to play in the space, and they may help keep down the prices of non-high grade copies, thus making those more accessible, etc., etc....and man, it sure is nice to be able to see what newsstand EC copies looked like (e.g., what the color shades were intended to be). We could spend quite some time discussing these general collecting dynamics, but let me get back to the personal nature of this journal...how do they fit in to my collecting? Well, as a background...in general, I've personally never been an uber-high grade collector. I like to crack books out of slabs, turn the pages, and feel the pulp. It's hard to get comfortable with that on a 9.6/9.8 Gaines File Copy. My collecting sweet spot is more in the 7.0-9.0 type range...I feel like I can handle those all I want to without fear of diminishing the grade. Having said that, I really appreciate the provenance of a Gaines File Copy - it's cool to have a copy that Bill had in his files all those years...that provides more of the appeal to me than the grade does. My favorite type of Gaines File Copy is the "low grade" variety...that is, I love Gaines File Copies in the 8.0-9.0 range, and there are plenty of those around. That gives me the provenance, and I don't worry about handling them...I'll crack those out in a heartbeat and smell the pages. I tend to sit back while the high-grade crew "fights" over the 9.4-9.8s, and I hope for the undercopies. In contrast, I know one boardie whose collecting strategy is buying highest graded copies, which tend to be the GFCs. I know another boardie who was indeed trying to complete titles with all Gaines File Copies. Those are cool strategies, and I appreciate their goals...that just isn't my thing. I just glanced through my spreadsheet, and it looks like I have 45 44 Gaines File Copies in my collection, with an average grade of 8.8...like I said, I like the "low grade" Gaines File Copies. I like the idea of having (at least) one representative Gaines File Copy within each title in my collection. So, if there's a title for which I don't have one, I have a little extra motivation to get one for that title. All in, I appreciate the Gaines File Copies very much...I'm glad Max & Bill set them aside. Sometimes, I try to imagine what it would be like if the GFCs didn't exist...the top census copies would likely be some of the other pedigree copies...the Northfords, White Mountains, etc...and there would be more competition for the books I like...those upper-mid grade ranges. So, even though I don't go out of my way to pursue Gaines File Copies, their existence has helped my collection immeasurably. Speaking of other pedigree copies...I love them, and I pick them up whenever it makes sense to do so...I pursue those with much more vigor than the Gaines File Copies. The way I look at it...non-GFC pedigrees give me books with historical provenance, and they are "rarer." Here's what I mean....take a given issue...say, Two-Fisted Tales #35...there were 11 Gaines File Copies, but only one White Mountain copy. Give me that White Mountain copy every day of the week, and twice on Sunday. Also, these non-GFC pedigree copies were actually held in collections...by collectors who took care of them...I love that connection. I'll talk more about some of the other pedigrees when I make it around to talking more about my books...I suppose I'll start going title by title.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Point Five Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 I just glanced through my spreadsheet, and it looks like I have 45 Gaines File Copies in my collection, with an average grade of 8.8... Whoa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EC ed Posted December 25, 2015 Author Share Posted December 25, 2015 (edited) Going forward, I think I'll do end-of-year statistical summaries of my EC collection...that'll provide an interesting (to me, at least ) way to quantify how my collection is changing from year to year across several dimensions. We're at the end of a year right now, so might as well start! Recall that I have 448 of the issues on my completist list...but, I have 477 books in my EC collection. This is because I have multiple copies of some of the issues, and I'm not ready to put those particular duplicates in the "to be sold" boxes yet. So, it's the 477 books that I will summarize... Summary of the 477 books in my EC collection - December 2015 Acquisition source: 284 were purchased directly from other boardies (59.6%) 90 were purchased from eBay sellers (18.7%) 28 were purchased from ComicLink/ComicConnect/Heritage (5.9%) The rest were purchased from assorted miscellaneous online sellers, etc. Raw vs. Graded: 274 have never been graded by any grading company (57.3%) 196 have been graded by CGC (many of those have been cracked out) (41.3%) 7 have been graded by "other" non-CGC grading companies (1.4%) Pedigree Copies - 78 total (16.4%): 1 Aurora 2 Bethlehem 4 Crippen 1 Crowley 2 Don/Maggie Thompson 1 Edgar Church 44 Gaines File Copies (I was off by one before...looks like it's 44...not 45) 12 Northford 2 Ohio 1 Palo Alto 1 Twilight 7 White Mountain Grade distribution: Mean grade 6.9; Median grade 7.0 Edited December 27, 2015 by edowens71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eccomic Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 (edited) Well, I am thrilled that I was able to place a copy of Lucky Fights it Through into your collection. I know it found a home it deserves with a truly passionate collector such as yourself Merry Christmas and kindest regards, Stephen Edited December 25, 2015 by eccomic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EC ed Posted December 25, 2015 Author Share Posted December 25, 2015 Well, I am thrilled that I was able to place a copy of Lucky Fights it Through into your collection. I know it found a home it deserves with a truly passionate collector such as yourself Merry Christmas and kindest regards, Stephen Thanks again for that Lucky, Stephen. It's a gem. Merry Christmas to you, too! Ahhh....Lucky...that ignorant ignorant cowboy. Interesting to note that ECs "client" for this promo was Columbia University (see the bottom of back cover)...Educational Comics, remember...: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azkaban Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 Well....the Gaines File Copies. According to that master list, we're talking about 3,769 (this number can be debated, but no need to get into that sidetrack here) pristine uncirculated copies of EC books filed away (mostly) by Bill, to be unwrapped decades later like a bunch of Egyptian mummies. For those of you who don't collect these, you can see the basic dynamics from the master list...usually 12 copies set aside of each issue...sometimes less (Vault of Horror 12 is a notable exception)...not all titles were included. Most of the Pre-Trend titles are not represented, including the romance titles... There are a lot of different angles to discuss in terms of how the existence of the Gaines File Copies affects general EC comic collecting dynamics. It could be argued that having a dozen or so high grade copies of each EC issue makes owning one of them less interesting...perhaps this dissuades some collectors from pursuing EC, because there's a feeling like 'I can find a high grade copy whenever I want one...I just need the money.' Contrast this with, say, pre-code Atlas collectors, who have a huge challenge finding any high grade copy. On the other hand, it could be argued that the existence of the Gaines File Copies promotes and encourages EC collecting activity, because it makes it more feasible for more high grade collectors to play in the space, and they may help keep down the prices of non-high grade copies, thus making those more accessible, etc., etc....and man, it sure is nice to be able to see what newsstand EC copies looked like (e.g., what the color shades were intended to be). We could spend quite some time discussing these general collecting dynamics, but let me get back to the personal nature of this journal...how do they fit in to my collecting? Well, as a background...in general, I've personally never been an uber-high grade collector. I like to crack books out of slabs, turn the pages, and feel the pulp. It's hard to get comfortable with that on a 9.6/9.8 Gaines File Copy. My collecting sweet spot is more in the 7.0-9.0 type range...I feel like I can handle those all I want to without fear of diminishing the grade. Having said that, I really appreciate the provenance of a Gaines File Copy - it's cool to have a copy that Bill had in his files all those years...that provides more of the appeal to me than the grade does. My favorite type of Gaines File Copy is the "low grade" variety...that is, I love Gaines File Copies in the 8.0-9.0 range, and there are plenty of those around. That gives me the provenance, and I don't worry about handling them...I'll crack those out in a heartbeat and smell the pages. I tend to sit back while the high-grade crew "fights" over the 9.4-9.8s, and I hope for the undercopies. In contrast, I know one boardie whose collecting strategy is buying highest graded copies, which tend to be the GFCs. I know another boardie who was indeed trying to complete titles with all Gaines File Copies. Those are cool strategies, and I appreciate their goals...that just isn't my thing. I just glanced through my spreadsheet, and it looks like I have 45 44 Gaines File Copies in my collection, with an average grade of 8.8...like I said, I like the "low grade" Gaines File Copies. I like the idea of having (at least) one representative Gaines File Copy within each title in my collection. So, if there's a title for which I don't have one, I have a little extra motivation to get one for that title. All in, I appreciate the Gaines File Copies very much...I'm glad Max & Bill set them aside. Sometimes, I try to imagine what it would be like if the GFCs didn't exist...the top census copies would likely be some of the other pedigree copies...the Northfords, White Mountains, etc...and there would be more competition for the books I like...those upper-mid grade ranges. So, even though I don't go out of my way to pursue Gaines File Copies, their existence has helped my collection immeasurably. Speaking of other pedigree copies...I love them, and I pick them up whenever it makes sense to do so...I pursue those with much more vigor than the Gaines File Copies. The way I look at it...non-GFC pedigrees give me books with historical provenance, and they are "rarer." Here's what I mean....take a given issue...say, Two-Fisted Tales #35...there were 11 Gaines File Copies, but only one White Mountain copy. Give me that White Mountain copy every day of the week, and twice on Sunday. Also, these non-GFC pedigree copies were actually held in collections...by collectors who took care of them...I love that connection. I'll talk more about some of the other pedigrees when I make it around to talking more about my books...I suppose I'll start going title by title.... the White Mountain's, good luck on your pursuit of EC's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EC ed Posted December 26, 2015 Author Share Posted December 26, 2015 (edited) While I'm laying out high level statistics, I wanted to include some data on another piece of my overall EC situation, for the sake of completeness. In an earlier post, I mentioned that I've been following an "upgrade" collecting strategy...that is, I'll buy a decent copy to fill a hole, and then upgrade it later if and when opportunity permits. Because of this, I still "need" to upgrade quite a few of those 477 copies that I already have in my EC collection.... ...I've also already done quite a bit of upgrading to arrive at those current 477 copies. So, I have quite a few copies of ECs sitting in my "to be sold sometime" boxes...162, to be precise (these are not included in the 477 I've been talking about to this point). I really need to run an EC undercopy sales thread. Problem is, I still have hundreds of Silver and Bronze books that I'd rather sell first, so that's what gets priority when I occasionally find time to run sales threads. I'll eventually get around to the EC undercopies.... Just to give an idea, those 162 issues in the "to be sold" boxes have an average (median) grade of 5.4 (5.0)...here's what the grade distribution of the 162 looks like plotted against the grade distribution of the 477: Edited December 27, 2015 by edowens71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJD Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 Your prediliction for statistics and charts warms my overly-analytic heart Ed. And we might need to talk again about one or more of those 162. 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
