Books you just cant find in the Wild 22 22

[ADAMANTIUM]

Hum dingers 

What an autocorrect

Still might be too much for a modern wild thread, but everyone loves a good reminiscent story

If only we were all still that entrepreneurial.

[paqart]

 

1 hour ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

Hum dingers 

What an autocorrect

Still might be too much for a modern wild thread, but everyone loves a good reminiscent story

If only we were all still that entrepreneurial.

This might not be an exact match for the thread, but it is a good story.

I don't remember exactly how old I was when this happened, how it happened, or why, but this is what I remember. Sometime in the mid-seventies, my mom drove me and my sister out to a ranch in central California. I don't remember the town's name, though I recall the dusty drive, the long driveway past corral fences, and the ranch house we stopped at. Inside, I met what might be the only comic collector to have ever owned three copies of the most amazing comic I'd ever seen, Marvel Comics #1. Even more remarkably, he acquired them separately.

One, he paid $10,000 for. Another, he traded some kind of labor or professional services. I don't recall how he got the third. He also showed me an original pencil sketch by Carl Barks that he had. He had quite a few other amazing Golden Age comics, but he is the only person I know of who has owned three copies of Marvel Comics #1 at the same time. He pulled them out of his storage area in a converted closet, each in a stiff mylar protector, and let me hold them. It was an amazing moment for a kid who was just barely a teenager.

Edited July 4, 2021 by paqart

[awakeintheashes]

This is a book I never see. Not sure how hard it is to find, but figured I’d share. Sensational Spider-Man #0 Newsstand without the lenticular cover. There is a newsstand lenticular version, which is the one I purchased growing up. 

[paqart]

On 7/3/2021 at 9:15 PM, ADAMANTIUM said:

Man FF 49 and that trilogy would be some hum dingers too, like what you did get!

Still own any? Or did I miss that....

Love the effort!

Happy 4th weekend!

Nothing as old as FF 49. I did have that (and almost the rest of the series, minus #1-3 and a couple others between #6-9) but don't recall offhand how I got it. I briefly "had" a full set of Fantastic Four and Spider-Man when I was around 13, but that was only so I could sell them for someone else. I earned a $750 commission on the sale.

As for these, no, I don't have them any more. My mom forced me to sell my collection in 1979. Now, I'm trying to get it back. Unfortunately, I don't have millions to spare, so it is slow going.

[divad]

16 hours ago, paqart said:

My mom forced me to sell my collection in 1979.

You must have been a very bad boy . . . 

[paqart]

3 hours ago, divad said:

You must have been a very bad boy . . . 

Actually, my mom was a paranoid schizophrenic who really believed that the CIA had set up a listening station in the attic of our rented house. She also thought they were drugging our cereal with hallucinogens. She sent samples of our food to a lab to have it analyzed. When it came back negative, that proved to her that the lab was in on it also, so we had to move. However, thanks to her schizophrenia, she could never hold a job for long (a few months at best) so she was always short of money. In this situation, she was terrified we would be murdered by the CIA if we stayed but didn't have the money to move. She knew my comics were worth something, so she forced me to sell them so that I could pay for our move to Las Vegas.
I didn't want to move and didn't believe the CIA had any interest in our family but it is tough to argue with someone who had months before almost shot your head off from point blank range and was your legal guardian. So, I sold the comics under protest. To mitigate the damage, I sold them to a store that also dealt in coins. My mom needed $600 but my comics were worth much more, even then. I told her to wait outside while I negotiated for $1200. I took $600 in antique coins that I could hide in my pocket. The remaining $600 I handed over to my mom. This money was very important to me because my mother had promised that my sister and I would be kicked out to live on our own on our respective fifteenth birthdays. I had about a year to go at the time, and the comic collection that I had accumulated to sustain myself and pay for a college education when the time came was now gone. 
My plan was to learn about numismatics by trading the coins I had, hopefully into the same kind of value I had with the comics. I did pretty well for a fourteen year-old but didn't have enough time. I spent my fifteenth birthday in a home for runaways in Santa Barbara because my mom didn't have money for an apartment, not because I was a runaway. Shortly afterward, my mom presented me with two legal-looking documents. The first was an "emancipation proclamation". According to it, after signing it, I became a legal adult and my mom no longer had any parental rights or obligations to me. The second was a contract wherein I agreed to pay her $50,000 to cover all child-rearing expenses for the previous fifteen years, in exchange for allowing me to live with her while I found my own place to stay.
Shortly after signing those documents under duress at the age of fifteen, the Santa Barbara police department located my father in Northern California and I went to live with him.
So, this is why I want those comics back. Every time I think about it, it bothers me. I did get my college education by the way, but it took a long time because I had to earn some money first. I got my PhD from King's College, London in 2018.

[peted76]

Paqart, that is some life story you have to tell there sir. Fascinating! You've left me wanting to read volume 2 of your life !

[paqart]

8 hours ago, peted76 said:

Paqart, that is some life story you have to tell there sir. Fascinating! You've left me wanting to read volume 2 of your life !

I've had more than one person ask me to write a book about it. The problem is that on the few occasions I've tried, it isn't as interesting as when the subject comes to mind while discussing something else. Thanks for the thought though.

[fastballspecial]

On 7/4/2021 at 11:45 PM, awakeintheashes said:

This is a book I never see. Not sure how hard it is to find, but figured I’d share. Sensational Spider-Man #0 Newsstand without the lenticular cover. There is a newsstand lenticular version, which is the one I purchased growing up. 

I have seen only one copy over the years. It is tough I always look for it for fun.

 

[paqart]

On 7/5/2021 at 12:45 AM, awakeintheashes said:

This is a book I never see. Not sure how hard it is to find, but figured I’d share. Sensational Spider-Man #0 Newsstand without the lenticular cover. There is a newsstand lenticular version, which is the one I purchased growing up. 

Does the indicia show if it was published at a different date than the lenticular cover versions?

[paqart]

Here is a German version on eBay without the lenticular cover: https://www.ebay.com/itm/112487222429?hash=item1a30c2cc9d:g:4-sAAOSwzVxZbxyu

[awakeintheashes]

7 hours ago, paqart said:

Does the indicia show if it was published at a different date than the lenticular cover versions?

I don’t believe it is any different. The UPC is the same as the lenticular versions. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a manufacturing error where the rectangular lenticular overlay did not adhere to the cover and some copies made their way to the stands.

 

Edited July 8, 2021 by awakeintheashes

[WolverineX]

On 7/5/2021 at 9:35 PM, paqart said:

Actually, my mom was a paranoid schizophrenic who really believed that the CIA had set up a listening station in the attic of our rented house. She also thought they were drugging our cereal with hallucinogens. She sent samples of our food to a lab to have it analyzed. When it came back negative, that proved to her that the lab was in on it also, so we had to move. However, thanks to her schizophrenia, she could never hold a job for long (a few months at best) so she was always short of money. In this situation, she was terrified we would be murdered by the CIA if we stayed but didn't have the money to move. She knew my comics were worth something, so she forced me to sell them so that I could pay for our move to Las Vegas.
I didn't want to move and didn't believe the CIA had any interest in our family but it is tough to argue with someone who had months before almost shot your head off from point blank range and was your legal guardian. So, I sold the comics under protest. To mitigate the damage, I sold them to a store that also dealt in coins. My mom needed $600 but my comics were worth much more, even then. I told her to wait outside while I negotiated for $1200. I took $600 in antique coins that I could hide in my pocket. The remaining $600 I handed over to my mom. This money was very important to me because my mother had promised that my sister and I would be kicked out to live on our own on our respective fifteenth birthdays. I had about a year to go at the time, and the comic collection that I had accumulated to sustain myself and pay for a college education when the time came was now gone. 
My plan was to learn about numismatics by trading the coins I had, hopefully into the same kind of value I had with the comics. I did pretty well for a fourteen year-old but didn't have enough time. I spent my fifteenth birthday in a home for runaways in Santa Barbara because my mom didn't have money for an apartment, not because I was a runaway. Shortly afterward, my mom presented me with two legal-looking documents. The first was an "emancipation proclamation". According to it, after signing it, I became a legal adult and my mom no longer had any parental rights or obligations to me. The second was a contract wherein I agreed to pay her $50,000 to cover all child-rearing expenses for the previous fifteen years, in exchange for allowing me to live with her while I found my own place to stay.
Shortly after signing those documents under duress at the age of fifteen, the Santa Barbara police department located my father in Northern California and I went to live with him.
So, this is why I want those comics back. Every time I think about it, it bothers me. I did get my college education by the way, but it took a long time because I had to earn some money first. I got my PhD from King's College, London in 2018.

Incredible story. You rose to the top even in such difficult circumstances.  Glad you had comics to lessen that burden

[AGGIEZ]

On 7/5/2021 at 9:35 PM, paqart said:

Actually, my mom was a paranoid schizophrenic who really believed that the CIA had set up a listening station in the attic of our rented house. She also thought they were drugging our cereal with hallucinogens. She sent samples of our food to a lab to have it analyzed. When it came back negative, that proved to her that the lab was in on it also, so we had to move. However, thanks to her schizophrenia, she could never hold a job for long (a few months at best) so she was always short of money. In this situation, she was terrified we would be murdered by the CIA if we stayed but didn't have the money to move. She knew my comics were worth something, so she forced me to sell them so that I could pay for our move to Las Vegas.
I didn't want to move and didn't believe the CIA had any interest in our family but it is tough to argue with someone who had months before almost shot your head off from point blank range and was your legal guardian. So, I sold the comics under protest. To mitigate the damage, I sold them to a store that also dealt in coins. My mom needed $600 but my comics were worth much more, even then. I told her to wait outside while I negotiated for $1200. I took $600 in antique coins that I could hide in my pocket. The remaining $600 I handed over to my mom. This money was very important to me because my mother had promised that my sister and I would be kicked out to live on our own on our respective fifteenth birthdays. I had about a year to go at the time, and the comic collection that I had accumulated to sustain myself and pay for a college education when the time came was now gone. 
My plan was to learn about numismatics by trading the coins I had, hopefully into the same kind of value I had with the comics. I did pretty well for a fourteen year-old but didn't have enough time. I spent my fifteenth birthday in a home for runaways in Santa Barbara because my mom didn't have money for an apartment, not because I was a runaway. Shortly afterward, my mom presented me with two legal-looking documents. The first was an "emancipation proclamation". According to it, after signing it, I became a legal adult and my mom no longer had any parental rights or obligations to me. The second was a contract wherein I agreed to pay her $50,000 to cover all child-rearing expenses for the previous fifteen years, in exchange for allowing me to live with her while I found my own place to stay.
Shortly after signing those documents under duress at the age of fifteen, the Santa Barbara police department located my father in Northern California and I went to live with him.
So, this is why I want those comics back. Every time I think about it, it bothers me. I did get my college education by the way, but it took a long time because I had to earn some money first. I got my PhD from King's College, London in 2018.

Wow man! Kudos to you for what you went through and rose above. Freaking Doctor now from Kings College…respect.

[AGGIEZ]

On 7/6/2021 at 6:53 AM, peted76 said:

Paqart, that is some life story you have to tell there sir. Fascinating! You've left me wanting to read volume 2 of your life !

Exactly my thought!!! Needs its own thread…wow

[paqart]

4 hours ago, AGGIEZ said:

Exactly my thought!!! Needs its own thread…wow

Okay guys, these few comments have given me an idea. Instead of writing about the strangeness of my early years, I'll write about my comic book collection. There is no way to do it without revealing glimpses of unusual aspects of my home life. That will give me the throughline needed to keep the other story interesting. Otherwise, it would be a collection of random shocking events. BTW; my mom died last year of starvation in a house full of food. She was afraid the neighbors were sneaking in and poisoning her food, so she stopped eating. By the time she was found immobile and weakened in bed, she had done too much damage to her system and could not recover.

[followtheleader]

2 minutes ago, paqart said:

Okay guys, these few comments have given me an idea. Instead of writing about the strangeness of my early years, I'll write about my comic book collection. There is no way to do it without revealing glimpses of unusual aspects of my home life. That will give me the throughline needed to keep the other story interesting. Otherwise, it would be a collection of random shocking events. BTW; my mom died last year of starvation in a house full of food. She was afraid the neighbors were sneaking in and poisoning her food, so she stopped eating. By the time she was found immobile and weakened in bed, she had done too much damage to her system and could not recover.

RIP, I hope she's found the rest and comfort she couldn't find in life. 

Patrick 

[Turnando]

16 minutes ago, paqart said:

There is no way to do it without revealing glimpses of unusual aspects of my home life

Mental illness can be devastating to those who love the one who is ill.  I hope you are taking care of yourself, I feel your pain.

[valiantman]

9 hours ago, paqart said:

Okay guys, these few comments have given me an idea. Instead of writing about the strangeness of my early years, I'll write about my comic book collection. There is no way to do it without revealing glimpses of unusual aspects of my home life. That will give me the throughline needed to keep the other story interesting.

That type of narrative is what made Slumdog Millionaire a compelling story.

[WolverineX]

Fished this out of a 25 cent bin today.  @RockMyAmadeus