Impossible Collection? Seriously...

[trmoore54]

I think the days of putting of putting together a collection like this the old fashioned way (through searching and hard work) are long gone if they ever existed at all. With rare exceptions, I doubt many of the great Golden Age collections were. (Maybe Bangzoom's?)

 

I could be wrong, but I doubt Dave Anderson got his books by going to conventions, yard sales, and antique shops. The great books find their way to the guys with money. Not the other way around.

 

Beyond that, you'd probably have to be well into your sixties to have had any chance to find books like these raw in high grade. Lacking a time machine, the only way the owner of this collection could get these books was to spend a lot of money.

 

Spoken by a man who as far as I'm concerned has an "impossible" collection!!

 

Hey Barton!

[01TheDude]

I think the days of putting of putting together a collection like this the old fashioned way (through searching and hard work) are long gone if they ever existed at all. With rare exceptions, I doubt many of the great Golden Age collections were. (Maybe Bangzoom's?)

 

I could be wrong, but I doubt Dave Anderson got his books by going to conventions, yard sales, and antique shops. The great books find their way to the guys with money. Not the other way around.

 

Beyond that, you'd probably have to be well into your sixties to have had any chance to find books like these raw in high grade. Lacking a time machine, the only way the owner of this collection could get these books was to spend a lot of money.

 

I completely agree with you - I was referring to how long the guy had been actively collecting-- which is relatively short compared to most on the board here. For the long time enthusiast who has toiled away building their collection, it might seem tough to see someone come along with deep pockets who buys so many awesome books.

 

It probably bothers those who covet the golden age books more - seeing someone so young gobble up such important books. I find it interesting but my main love is for silver and bronze age books. Even if I had the disposable income to buy up these mega books-- I would probably stay within that age range-- as it has more meaning to me-- an attachment made in my youth.

[Fan Boy]

Good for them if they want to share their collection. However it was obtained-- it is certainly notable. I mean-- two Action 1 9's is very impressive.

 

However, I get the impression that what is causing the angst here is naming it "The Impossible Collection".

 

If it were actually an impossible collection, it would not exist. With enough money, another person could put together this collection. And I am not saying it isn't impressive- just poorly promoted. Maybe they mean impossible as incredibly difficult. anyway...

 

Most collectors work very long and hard to piece together collections - searching all over the place to find rare and high quality books. It is a labor of love. Simply buying them from a dealer(s) sort of diminishes the effort side of collecting that most of us find the fun part to begin with.

 

Though having people with deep pockets getting into the hobby is a good thing overall as it puts more cash/interest into the comic collecting realm imo.

 

Well-- unless you are on the losing end of a bidding war for some nosebleed book. I would doubt more than several dozen of the forum members here are in that boat.

 

 

Ding ding! This what is all about I do with my collection. Period

[Mark 1]

I think the days of putting of putting together a collection like this the old fashioned way (through searching and hard work) are long gone if they ever existed at all. With rare exceptions, I doubt many of the great Golden Age collections were. (Maybe Bangzoom's?)

 

I could be wrong, but I doubt Dave Anderson got his books by going to conventions, yard sales, and antique shops. The great books find their way to the guys with money. Not the other way around.

 

Beyond that, you'd probably have to be well into your sixties to have had any chance to find books like these raw in high grade. Lacking a time machine, the only way the owner of this collection could get these books was to spend a lot of money.

 

True plus the internet has changed everything for collecting and finding merchandise. The days of searching for that book that someone might have is down to a click and a search. Makes finding books so much easier....and with the right amount of money, done.

 

When I first put my Spiderman collection together (AF15- ASM 300) this was pre internet (80s and early 90s) and I went to every shop, show and dealer I could that advertised in OSPG to get my run.

 

Ah the days of calling some unknown dealer in the OSPG, those were the days.

[G.A.tor]

So will the owner of the Detective #27 CGC 9.2 own the 'Also Impossible" collection?

 

How about Dave Anderson who owns (arguably) the best of all the DC keys, which are not going to be for sale for at least 2 generations. The 'Mission Impossible' collection?

 

How about John Verzyl who owns every single Edgar Church Timely except for maybe 5 or 6 of them. The Cap #1 is one that isn't a Timely. It's a CGC 9.8 (Allentown) and the Marvel #1 Church copy is rumored to be flawless and a 9.8 as well.

 

The tec 27 9.2 owners collection is awesome. Verzyls collection is awesome andersons collection is awesome.

 

I'd call them all "awesome"

[porcupine48]

Jbcomicbox knocks my socks off fer shore

[Gotham Kid]

So will the owner of the Detective #27 CGC 9.2 own the 'Also Impossible" collection?

 

How about Dave Anderson who owns (arguably) the best of all the DC keys, which are not going to be for sale for at least 2 generations. The 'Mission Impossible' collection?

 

How about John Verzyl who owns every single Edgar Church Timely except for maybe 5 or 6 of them. The Cap #1 is one that isn't a Timely. It's a CGC 9.8 (Allentown) and the Marvel #1 Church copy is rumored to be flawless and a 9.8 as well.

 

The tec 27 9.2 owners collection is awesome. Verzyls collection is awesome andersons collection is awesome.

 

I'd call them all "awesome"

 

So what's he waiting for to slab his other Tecs

[Hudson]

I think the days of putting of putting together a collection like this the old fashioned way (through searching and hard work) are long gone if they ever existed at all. With rare exceptions, I doubt many of the great Golden Age collections were. (Maybe Bangzoom's?)

 

I could be wrong, but I doubt Dave Anderson got his books by going to conventions, yard sales, and antique shops. The great books find their way to the guys with money. Not the other way around.

 

Beyond that, you'd probably have to be well into your sixties to have had any chance to find books like these raw in high grade. Lacking a time machine, the only way the owner of this collection could get these books was to spend a lot of money.

 

True plus the internet has changed everything for collecting and finding merchandise. The days of searching for that book that someone might have is down to a click and a search. Makes finding books so much easier....and with the right amount of money, done.

 

When I first put my Spiderman collection together (AF15- ASM 300) this was pre internet (80s and early 90s) and I went to every shop, show and dealer I could that advertised in OSPG to get my run.

 

Ah the days of calling some unknown dealer in the OSPG, those were the days.

 

I remember the days of sending letters to almost every dealer listed in the OSPG. I remember waiting for months to go to the rare comic convention. I remember the thrill of getting a printed catalog in the mail listing comics for sale. I remember when I would order from those catalogs and the dealers would ask people to list "alternates" in case the books they were ordering were no longer available. I remember waiting for the mail to see which books (from my order) I would actually get. I would be hoping for my first choices, but was willing to accept "alternates". It was a bad day when the dealer had to send back a portion of my check because my first and second choices were already sold.

 

I am guessing I am not the only person out there who, upon receiving one of these catalogs, would rip through it immediately and try to place their order as quickly as possible in hopes of getting our "first choice".

 

To me, those were the days of collecting. Putting together a collection (or a run) was a labor of love. It was a hunt. It was an emotional high each time a package arrived in the mail.

 

I am not putting down the internet. It allows collectors great things (like these boards). It allows us to find more elusive books. It allows for many great advantages.

 

But, every now and again, I long for the days of the old paper catalogs.

 

Am I alone in this feeling?

[01TheDude]

you're not alone but it is more of a nostalgia feeling than a "fun" feeling. Can you imagine someone who is used to buying on ebay have to snail mail an order and hope to get one of their choices?

 

It was fun because we lived it and there weren't too many options. Collecting these days is sort of easy. But so is communication. Remember having to actually be home to receive and important phone call? Or even before call waiting -- getting a busy signal and having to keep dialing over and over? Don't get me started on using old rotary dialers --- yeesh.

 

I fondly remember ordering by mail my first Marvel Treasury book-- 1975 Holiday Grab Bag--- and the joy when it showed up. Still have it.

[Treco]

you're not alone but it is more of a nostalgia feeling than a "fun" feeling. Can you imagine someone who is used to buying on ebay have to snail mail an order and hope to get one of their choices?

 

It was fun because we lived it and there weren't too many options. Collecting these days is sort of easy. But so is communication. Remember having to actually be home to receive and important phone call? Or even before call waiting -- getting a busy signal and having to keep dialing over and over? Don't get me started on using old rotary dialers --- yeesh.

 

I fondly remember ordering by mail my first Marvel Treasury book-- 1975 Holiday Grab Bag--- and the joy when it showed up. Still have it.

 

Exactly. I get nostalgic for the old days too, but I do not miss all the time spent on mundane tasks. The first mail order book I got was from Ed Kalb. (Don't remember If I responded to an Overstreet ad or if I found it in a comic book) I still have it today. A beautiful nm copy of Ghost Rider #1. That feeling when it finally arrived =

[Not*Sure*]

I had a friend..who had the best collection I had ever seen.

I had the privilege of seeing his books. I stayed with him for awhile when I visited Florida once. I was looking at one book and I flipped it over..looked at it several times and said "Is this a reprint?" He said no..I said "doesn't Gerber list this is as scarce with like 3 copies?" He pulled out the entire box and he had more than three. Then he just pulled out..incredible book after unbelievable book. He told me a story about how the Library of Congress has file copies and sure enough a lot of the more valuable issues were stamped "File copy Library of Congress" with numbers. I was really in awe.

I have seen a lot of collections I would just drool over..but Richard's was the finest collection I had ever seen in my life. In over 10 years since I haven't seen such books..

 

Then he had a massive heart attack and ended up in the hospital. They had no insurance and from his hospital bed he sold it off piece by piece to pay medical bills. His wife said she had no idea he was so well respected in the comic book community or that his "dumb old comic books" were worth so much money. She told me people from all over the world were coming to pick up comic books in person. A man had flown in from Japan to buy books from him in his hospital room.

 

He passed away a year later a friend brings her his last remaining book...he wanted to keep it out of the sell off and save it as a legacy for her if he passed away. It was an Action #1 his "insurance policy" for his wife Stephanie..who had no idea what to do with comic books..it ended up going to someone in Japan..

 

This was all prior to CGC but I think about it a lot

 

So many impossible to have books..all in one place for a time..he really had a knack for collecting great stuff.

 

RIP Grapevine...

[Hudson]

you're not alone but it is more of a nostalgia feeling than a "fun" feeling. Can you imagine someone who is used to buying on ebay have to snail mail an order and hope to get one of their choices?

 

It was fun because we lived it and there weren't too many options. Collecting these days is sort of easy. But so is communication. Remember having to actually be home to receive and important phone call? Or even before call waiting -- getting a busy signal and having to keep dialing over and over? Don't get me started on using old rotary dialers --- yeesh.

 

I fondly remember ordering by mail my first Marvel Treasury book-- 1975 Holiday Grab Bag--- and the joy when it showed up. Still have it.

 

Yes Dude, I remember the days of rotary phones. When I read that this morning I took this photo of the one I still have in my house. It was the one I grew up with and I rewired it several years back so it would fit the current phone jack (outlet) in my house.

 

 

Of course I took that photo this morning using my IPhone. As much as I enjoy still having a rotary phone, I would not want to give up my iPhone.

 

I don't remember my first mail order, but much like Treco, I do remember Ed Kalb. Probably ordered many times from him.

[Artboy99]

I ordered via a mail catalogue as well.

 

What I remember fondly is the hunt, the chase. Pre internet you had to physically find the book and for the most part you found it local to where you were.

[miraclemet]

..

 

Most collectors work very long and hard to piece together collections - searching all over the place to find rare and high quality books. It is a labor of love. Simply buying them from a dealer(s) sort of diminishes the effort side of collecting that most of us find the fun part to begin with.

 

Remember, not just buying them from the dealer, but also having the dealer do the searching.... which is a lot of work that a lot of us put a lot of time into, even when things are made easier by the internet, ebay, cel phones and such. So the idea of "outsourcing" the process of collecting

 

From the descriptions of the relationship to Metro it sounded like Hariri gave them a list of characters he liked and they put together a collection.

 

Im sure there was some back and forth about prices and conditions and targets, but it seems like there was a "skys the limit" mandate for most of the keys (how else do you end up with both of the highest grade Action comics to come to market in a decade?).

 

16 years to put the collection together does make you think he's a fan, and gets that these type of collections take time even when the funds are (virtually) unlimited. A lesser person might change focuses or lose interest, so good on him for keeping it going for years.

 

It does seem like he's using the collection to promote his social media ap that he funded and co-founded (it's mentioned in every single article about the collection). So sharing it is not completely altruistic.

 

So between the "outsourcing" of the collecting process, and the use of the collection to (minorly) pimp his social media ap, it just rubs me the wrong way, not totally the wrong way, but just enough to give it a bit of an eye roll.

 

Still the books are amazingly sweet and I'd be thrilled own even one of them!

[jimjum12]

I think the days of putting of putting together a collection like this the old fashioned way (through searching and hard work) are long gone if they ever existed at all. With rare exceptions, I doubt many of the great Golden Age collections were. (Maybe Bangzoom's?)

 

I could be wrong, but I doubt Dave Anderson got his books by going to conventions, yard sales, and antique shops. The great books find their way to the guys with money. Not the other way around.

 

Beyond that, you'd probably have to be well into your sixties to have had any chance to find books like these raw in high grade. Lacking a time machine, the only way the owner of this collection could get these books was to spend a lot of money.

 

True plus the internet has changed everything for collecting and finding merchandise. The days of searching for that book that someone might have is down to a click and a search. Makes finding books so much easier....and with the right amount of money, done.

 

When I first put my Spiderman collection together (AF15- ASM 300) this was pre internet (80s and early 90s) and I went to every shop, show and dealer I could that advertised in OSPG to get my run.

 

Ah the days of calling some unknown dealer in the OSPG, those were the days.

 

I remember the days of sending letters to almost every dealer listed in the OSPG. I remember waiting for months to go to the rare comic convention. I remember the thrill of getting a printed catalog in the mail listing comics for sale. I remember when I would order from those catalogs and the dealers would ask people to list "alternates" in case the books they were ordering were no longer available. I remember waiting for the mail to see which books (from my order) I would actually get. I would be hoping for my first choices, but was willing to accept "alternates". It was a bad day when the dealer had to send back a portion of my check because my first and second choices were already sold.

 

I am guessing I am not the only person out there who, upon receiving one of these catalogs, would rip through it immediately and try to place their order as quickly as possible in hopes of getting our "first choice".

 

To me, those were the days of collecting. Putting together a collection (or a run) was a labor of love. It was a hunt. It was an emotional high each time a package arrived in the mail.

 

I am not putting down the internet. It allows collectors great things (like these boards). It allows us to find more elusive books. It allows for many great advantages.

 

But, every now and again, I long for the days of the old paper catalogs.

 

Am I alone in this feeling?

 

..... I still remember my first mail order book...... it cost 50 cents plus shipping..... maybe another 25 cents ?.........it was Marvel Tales 4 and it was in almost perfect condition. I thought it had the first Vulture story, but it was the second..... in the days before indexes.... We had to make our own through trial and error.... but it was more than enough to hook me on Ditko ASM That book came from Comic Sales Company out of Brooklyn..... and usually anything published after 1965 was high grade..... but then, this was late 60's / early 70's timeframe. Even then, you could file a want list with most of these folks..... so getting help from a dealer doesn't seem that unusual to me. Metro has been filling want lists for decades..... and some books, if you're not in queue, are not going to be found in the usual circles. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[MrBedrock]

Every time I get a book in from Heritage/C-Link/ComicConnect I think of it as a mail-order book. After all, they do arrive in the mail. And I love the new acquisitions just as much as I love the ones I bought through the CBG in the '70s when I was just a punk-, snotty nosed, semi-tall kid. I have no way of knowing whether the "impossible" collector loves his books any more or less than any of us love ours, but given the fact that he is spending so much on their presentation leads me to believe that he cares about them a lot. How much he spends or how he goes about acquiring them really shouldn't matter.

[lou_fine]

I have no way of knowing whether the "impossible" collector loves his books any more or less than any of us love ours, but given the fact that he is spending so much on their presentation leads me to believe that he cares about them a lot. How much he spends or how he goes about acquiring them really shouldn't matter.

 

I just find it pleasantly surprising that in this CGC hyper driven market, that this collector still appears willing to purchase ungraded books as clearly evident from some of the pictures in the following link:

 

http://www.theupcoming.co.uk/2016/03/23/the-impossible-collection-over-1000-of-the-worlds-finest-comics-on-display-ahead-of-the-batman-v-superman-release/

 

And these are high dollar value books in terms of the Tec 27 still residing in its Fortress container, the early Batman books and Supes 14 sitting in mylar only. Strongly doubt he is the type to crack out books based upon his comments, which means that he must have a lot of faith in terms of the dealer(s) which he is buying from.

 

Not sure if it is actually wise with the amount of dollars at play here, but certainly seems more like old school collecting.

 

[ProcessedMeatMan]

How do you get Library of Congress copies? Was this guy Nick Cage? Kidding of course

 

[Not*Sure*]

He was way better looking than Nick Cage..and could probably kick the spoon out of Nick back in the day..Grapey was a gentle giant..he didn't explain how he got them..I had never seen those kind of file copies before

[porcupine48]

He was way better looking than Nick Cage..and could probably kick the spoon out of Nick back in the day..Grapey was a gentle giant..he didn't explain how he got them..I had never seen those kind of file copies before

Hey goodlookin'