Infinite Bronze War Thread 11 11

[MisterX]

Neat post!

 

SSWS 204 -- never seen a copy better than a VF+.

 

SSWS 154 I think used to be tough, but I see high grade copies popping up on Clink all the time...hmmm...no, I won't go there.

 

(I bought a VFish SSW 154 from Dale Roberts back in '03 I think, kind of wished I had held out longer. Of course, in '03 I'm not sure there was high enough demand to unlock many HG copies.)

 

G.I. Combat 141 was hard for me to find in even a VF (thanks, thirdgreenham!).

 

I got a killer GIC 142 form Diamond's eBay store, of all places.

 

GIC 151 was tough for me to find in HG.

 

OFF 127, still casually looking for an HG upgrade copy -- no luck.

OFF 134, tough issue, maybe all the Toth fans grabbed them back in the day?

 

Weird War 5 and 36, YES! Super tough, I'm still looking for HG copies.

 

Men of War 26 -- last issue, I've never seen anything better than a Fine come up.

 

When I started collecting war books, I went for the 52-pagers first. Most of them I could track down in VF-VF/NM, but there were a few tough hold-outs.

 

SSWS 158, 162

OAAW 236 (I see more now), 241,244

GIC 146, 151

OFF 134

 

I'm also still looking for HG copies of SSWS 171,172 and 187.

[Weird]

Pulling a little blast from the past here.

 

I'm wondering what war collectors think about the toughness of finding SSWS 204 in high grade. I have not actively looked but it seems, anecdotally at least, like it might be one of the tough ones. Any thoughts?

 

I have the CGC 9.4 204 and it appears there is a CGC 9.6 out there as well.

 

I personally think the lack of slabbed copies corresponds to the relative lack of interest in the title and low sales figures for the non-keys.

 

Grading costs are up, listing sites get a cut, etc., - it just may not be worth it for most dealers to CGC most of this latter day bronze or copper war stuff.

 

Now, I am not talking about raw stuff, just graded books. Although, I will say I also look for raw copies of SSWS issues I need to complete my registry set and have not come across NM or NM+ examples for about 6 books. And I have actively been collecting that specific set for years in both slabbed and raw forms.

 

SSWS 192 and 193 do not even have a single issue graded and many later issues only have one or two issues slabbed.

 

Valiantman's Census for SSWS 151-204

[Weird]

SSWS 154 I think used to be tough, but I see high grade copies popping up on Clink all the time...hmmm...no, I won't go there.

Totally with you on this one. They have been crawling out of the woodwork lately and besides the 9.8 that just got put back on the market (I think it was the old one) were tough to find even raw in high grade.

 

G.I. Combat 141 was hard for me to find in even a VF (thanks, thirdgreenham!).

I have two VF+ copies of this one - one from Superworld and one from bobcat. I am content with those.

 

GIC 151 was tough for me to find in HG.

Lucky to get a bobcat NM- of this one. Paid through the nose though.

 

Weird War 5 and 36, YES! Super tough, I'm still looking for HG copies.

Not super high grade, but I bought a CGC 9.0 of 5 for $50 3 1/2 years ago. Bought a CGC 9.0 of 36 for $26 a few months before the 5. I think both were eBay. I have had a hard time getting a nice WWT 7.

 

When I started collecting war books, I went for the 52-pagers first. Most of them I could track down in VF-VF/NM, but there were a few tough hold-outs.

 

SSWS 158, 162

OAAW 236 (I see more now), 241,244

GIC 146, 151

OFF 134

 

I'm also still looking for HG copies of SSWS 171,172 and 187.

 

I have seen 158 slabbed a lot and was lucky to get some raw bobcats of the GIC issues you mention. OAAW 241 is another that has eluded me, seems like a decent number of them in the census.

 

 

Anyway, it is interesting to see the issues each collector has problems getting. I'd love another Rosa type collection to hit the market. I don't really care about the name per se, but quality later Bronze is so hard to find raw and costly to grade on your own.

 

 

[bigfiver69]

Without a doubt, GI Combat #141 an #151 are the two hardest books from the bronze age runs to find in high grade. I love both of those books, and searched high and low for years to find really nice copies.

 

Amazing, though, how many great copies come from Bobcat. Super nice guy too.

 

I got both of those books from him... the GIC #141 is a 9.6 (and I think that's still high census) and the GIC #151 is a 9.2, which I think might also be top census. I'm not sure what his story is, if he has a warehouse, or just a very deep collection. But when I spoke to him a couple of years back, he told me to just be patient and wait for the books the I wanted to come out. I offered a LARGE premium to get first crack at a few books if he could pull them, and he said he doesn't do that. As I said, though, great guy.

 

I am truly amazed at how hard that final GIC run by Heath is to find in high grade. When I started looking hard for them about 10 years ago, there were NONE.

 

As for WWT #7, I've found that to be reasonably common. The one that's killing me is #6. Still looking for a 9.2 or better.

 

There really are some hard, hard books from that era. Of course, that's all part of the fun.

 

Shep

[bigfiver69]

Haven't posted any books here in a while. Here are some recent pickups... I've found all of these OFFs really hard to find in grade.

 

 

[bigfiver69]

[bigfiver69]

[bigfiver69]

[bigfiver69]

[MisterX]

 

I love this cover.

 

 

[MisterX]

 

This one, too.

 

 

Joe Kubert was on fire those years. Really creative covers, interesting use of the logo, all those war covers are really spectacular.

 

I think, after he got embroiled in opening his school, that his covers suffered a bit after that. They were still neat, but not quite the creative highs of those late 60s/early 70s gems.

 

Shep, can you post OFF 133? I know there's no action on that cover, but I really dig the atmosphere and the way Kubert draws the logo in the sand.

[MisterX]

OAAW 241 is another that has eluded me, seems like a decent number of them in the census.

 

There's a real killer line-up of artists in this one: Heath, Toth, Severin and Kubert. (And Glanzman, yes, I appreciate him, too.)

 

This one has a black border, so lots of spine stress marks, etc.

[MisterX]

Who is this bobcat you speak of?

[Weird]

As for WWT #7, I've found that to be reasonably common. The one that's killing me is #6. Still looking for a 9.2 or better.

 

I meant 6.

 

I saw a slabbed copy recently, but it went for way more than I wanted to pay.

Edited March 6, 2010 by Weird

[greggy]

FYI, 2010 looks like Bobcat's last year of selling, as he should be finished off selling everything and enjoying his retirement.

 

This is from a prior email conversation.

[Weird]

Who is this bobcat you speak of?

bobcat.enterprises

 

Awesome grading or sometimes under grading that was flying semi-under the radar years ago. Then the cat got out of the bag. Sometimes offers slabs. Extremely nice guy with impeccable service.

 

I totally wish he would put up those last few SSWSs I need to complete my Registry set.

[Weird]

FYI, 2010 looks like Bobcat's last year of selling, as he should be finished off selling everything and enjoying his retirement.

 

This is from a prior email conversation.

 

You just have your finger on the pulse of the collecting community don't you? Thanks for the info.

 

Good for Bob.

 

 

 

[bigfiver69]

FYI, 2010 looks like Bobcat's last year of selling, as he should be finished off selling everything and enjoying his retirement.

 

This is from a prior email conversation.

 

You just have your finger on the pulse of the collecting community don't you? Thanks for the info.

 

Good for Bob.

 

 

 

Indeed, but he will be sorely missed. Some of the nicest books in my collection came from him.

 

Makes you wonder if there are other, large Bronze hoards out there.

 

Greggy, was that a personal collection, or a warehouse/storestock type of thing. I think I remember Bob telling me he most of the books from some sort of stock in the early 80s... tons of then-cheap books that at the time were only 10-15 years old.

 

God, I wish I had been on the stick then.

 

Shep

 

 

[bigfiver69]

 

Shep, can you post OFF 133? I know there's no action on that cover, but I really dig the atmosphere and the way Kubert draws the logo in the sand.

 

I'll have to dig it out... these were all books I picked up really recently, and the rest of my OFFs are in their boxes.

 

The OFF run from #100-#139 is a truly hard one to complete in nice grade. I'm still working on the earlier issues... gonna take years.

 

Shep

 

[greggy]

FYI, 2010 looks like Bobcat's last year of selling, as he should be finished off selling everything and enjoying his retirement.

 

This is from a prior email conversation.

 

You just have your finger on the pulse of the collecting community don't you? Thanks for the info.

 

Good for Bob.

 

 

 

Indeed, but he will be sorely missed. Some of the nicest books in my collection came from him.

 

Makes you wonder if there are other, large Bronze hoards out there.

 

Greggy, was that a personal collection, or a warehouse/storestock type of thing. I think I remember Bob telling me he most of the books from some sort of stock in the early 80s... tons of then-cheap books that at the time were only 10-15 years old.

 

God, I wish I had been on the stick then.

 

Shep

 

He told me that most of his best stuff was from his personal collection. He may have bought them from various sources but I'm sure some of his best 70s stuff were purchased off the rack.

 

From his listings, it seemed that Tomb of Dracula was the only Marvel title that he really collected, as he's listed a lot of them throughout the years.