Marvel Comics #1

[PUNYHUMAN]

From Gerber:

 

 

Just incredible.

The story goes, I read somewhere ,John Verzyl was left alone with the book to find a flaw when he was going to buy it.:from 'Steve Geppi' He couldn't. Flawless. I don't know if that is true though. Maybe somebody can chime in that knows.

[Black_Adam]

From Gerber:

 

 

What is written across the M in Marvel? Someone's name?

 

 

[TeddieMercede]

From Gerber:

 

 

What is written across the M in Marvel? Someone's name?

 

 

Pesky people back in the day couldn't keep themselves from writing on the covers of these GA books. Specially in Colorado.

[VintageComics]

From Gerber:

 

 

What is written across the M in Marvel? Someone's name?

 

 

Most Church books had writing on them. Those Church codes are part of the history of the book and helps identify them.

[sfcityduck]

 

Can anyone who was seriously collecting comics waaaaay back then put into perspective what it meant to spend $2,200 on a single comic? Was that a monthly paycheck? A car? A house?

 

 

Mitch Mehdy has relayed on these boards the story of him paying $1,800 for an Action 1 a year earlier and getting national press for paying a record price. One of the things he stated was that the $1,800 price tag could have alternatively have bought him a Corvette.

[sfcityduck]

Fischler has Action #1 as a 9.2 and Borock had it as a 9.4 so it's not to hard to imagine what it looks like based on the other Mile High books.

 

So you could bet CBCS would give it a 9.4 grade. I kind of trust Fischler's opinion slightly more in this case.

 

 

Borock gave that grade 10 years ago when he was working for CGC. I don't think who he works for has any bearing on the grade of the book.

 

 

 

Didn't say it did. He said it was a 9.4 so unless the book suffered some damage since then or his standards have slipped it should still be a 9.4 at CBCS.

 

How it would grade at CGC might be different.

 

A few thoughts on the above. First, Metro has been known to downgrade books they don't (yet) own. The comments made by Metro prior to the sale of the 9.0 (white) Action Comics 1 were uniformly negative about the book, and then they paid a record price. Borock, on the other hand, has no agenda.

 

Second, it seems a little unseemly to initiate debates about grading quality of CGC versus other graders when that is not a conversation that can freely take place on this site. Suffice it to say, I'm not convinced that CGC is the strictest grader in the collecting community nor am I convinced that its graders are the most experienced. Which is not a criticism of its standards or quality, jut a reflection that these comparisons of grading standards are all subject to very reasonable debate.

 

 

[sfcityduck]

One final thought on MC 1. Fishler sold a non-pedigree November copy long ago (over a decade). Fishler stated: "It was incredible but is raw. I would grade it at a 9.2."

 

So ponder this: What's worth more - a 9.2 November (80,000 print run) or a 9.6/9.8 October (800,000 print run)?

 

The November might be the second best copy by grade, but it is much rarer (and more original) than the higher graded October.

[Silver Surfer]

One final thought on MC 1. Fishler sold a non-pedigree November copy long ago (over a decade). Fishler stated: "It was incredible but is raw. I would grade it at a 9.2."

 

So ponder this: What's worth more - a 9.2 November (80,000 print run) or a 9.6/9.8 October (800,000 print run)?

 

The November might be the second best copy by grade, but it is much rarer (and more original) than the higher graded October.

 

You got those backwards.

[sfcityduck]

One final thought on MC 1. Fishler sold a non-pedigree November copy long ago (over a decade). Fishler stated: "It was incredible but is raw. I would grade it at a 9.2."

 

So ponder this: What's worth more - a 9.2 November (80,000 print run) or a 9.6/9.8 October (800,000 print run)?

 

The November might be the second best copy by grade, but it is much rarer (and more original) than the higher graded October.

 

You got those backwards.

 

Yep. Got that completely wrong. The question is valid: What's worth more a lesser graded best existing October or a higher grade best existing November?

 

But, ignore what I get backwards above. Apparently, I'm now old enough to forget the order of the months. By the way, though, the info about Fishler and the 9.2 (non-pedigree) is accurate. It's just irrelevant because the 9.2 is a November not an October.

[VintageComics]

Does anyone know if that book is still raw or if it was graded?

 

Highest graded is 9.0 and has been at two copies for a looong time now.

[N e r V]

Fischler has Action #1 as a 9.2 and Borock had it as a 9.4 so it's not to hard to imagine what it looks like based on the other Mile High books.

 

So you could bet CBCS would give it a 9.4 grade. I kind of trust Fischler's opinion slightly more in this case.

 

 

Borock gave that grade 10 years ago when he was working for CGC. I don't think who he works for has any bearing on the grade of the book.

 

 

 

Didn't say it did. He said it was a 9.4 so unless the book suffered some damage since then or his standards have slipped it should still be a 9.4 at CBCS.

 

How it would grade at CGC might be different.

 

A few thoughts on the above. First, Metro has been known to downgrade books they don't (yet) own. The comments made by Metro prior to the sale of the 9.0 (white) Action Comics 1 were uniformly negative about the book, and then they paid a record price. Borock, on the other hand, has no agenda.

 

Second, it seems a little unseemly to initiate debates about grading quality of CGC versus other graders when that is not a conversation that can freely take place on this site. Suffice it to say, I'm not convinced that CGC is the strictest grader in the collecting community nor am I convinced that its graders are the most experienced. Which is not a criticism of its standards or quality, jut a reflection that these comparisons of grading standards are all subject to very reasonable debate.

 

 

 

 

You're reading more into then what's there but it's getting off topic in a Marvel #1 thread so....

[Silver Surfer]

I love hearing these stories of copies of nice books we had no idea existed.

[N e r V]

I love hearing these stories of copies of nice books we had no idea existed.

 

 

 

 

 

I have no clue how it is for the dealers today but when I sold comics as a side business in the 1990's thru early 2000's it was always a treat to find "gold" coming out of the woodwork.

[sfcityduck]

Does anyone know if that book is still raw or if it was graded?

 

Highest graded is 9.0 and has been at two copies for a looong time now.

 

Well, Fishler made that statement a looong time ago, so it may well be the copy he referenced as a 9.2 raw is now in a 9.0 holder. I think he may have been saying he'd sold the 9.2 raw in the 90s.

[sfcityduck]

I love hearing these stories of copies of nice books we had no idea existed.

 

Rob's site is a good way to keep track of books. But, these boards are full of info. For example, Rob's site has no info on the condition of the Carson City MC 1. But, Borock once said on these boards: "I used to own the Carson City copy. Real nice, high grade. Some spine wear and a small tear bottom of the front cover."

 

Fishler also commented in the past that: "The Larson copy has a bit of glue at the spine. The person who bought it out of the 91 auction kept it in a frame on the wall. By the time it was re-sold a number of years later and it seemed a bit faded. The Allentown copy had some color touch on the front cover."

 

 

[Silver Surfer]

The Larson is an 8.0, I have as can of it somewhere.

[Sqeggs]

...$2,200 for Detective 27 sold by Comics & Comix to Burl Rowe (per Robert Beerhbohm) ...

 

 

I'm not sure if I even owned a comic in 1974 and, if I did, I was probably busy trying to spell my name on the cover to make sure no one took it.

 

Can anyone who was seriously collecting comics waaaaay back then put into perspective what it meant to spend $2,200 on a single comic? Was that a monthly paycheck? A car? A house?

 

I was around in 1974 buying comics, including from Comics&Comix in Berkeley. I think on occasion I may have stretched a bit and paid them, oh, maybe $20 for a book I really wanted.

[Sqeggs]

The Larson is an 8.0, I have as can of it somewhere.

 

Let it out! And Prince Albert, too, while you're at it!

[N e r V]

...$2,200 for Detective 27 sold by Comics & Comix to Burl Rowe (per Robert Beerhbohm) ...

 

 

I'm not sure if I even owned a comic in 1974 and, if I did, I was probably busy trying to spell my name on the cover to make sure no one took it.

 

Can anyone who was seriously collecting comics waaaaay back then put into perspective what it meant to spend $2,200 on a single comic? Was that a monthly paycheck? A car? A house?

 

I was around in 1974 buying comics, including from Comics&Comix in Berkeley. I think on occasion I may have stretched a bit and paid them, oh, maybe $20 for a book I really wanted.

 

 

You could have picked up a nice Amazing Fantasy #15 for $25.00 back then.

 

 

Lots of good GA books to be had at those prices.

 

If you could find a copy of Suspense comics #3 it was less than $10.00 if I remember correctly. Not that many people would have wanted one back then.

[Silver Surfer]

The Larson is an 8.0, I have as can of it somewhere.

 

Let it out! And Prince Albert, too, while you're at it!

 

Friday!