Post Your Top 3 Personal Comic Book/Original Art Acquisitions of 2016!

[Hudson]

After Peter's amazing post, I was tempted not to post.

 

Then I read Miraclemet's thoughtful post and I had second thoughts. I agree with Miraclemet that my top 3 of 2016, do not have to be the books I spent the most on, they just have to be the top 3 that perhaps I appreciate the most, for one reason or another.

 

In reality, I don't know what my top 3 are, but here are a few picks from 2016 that have meaning to me. (oh yeah, before I forget, I like that SA12 of yours Miracle).

 

First I want to take you back to my youth, when I purchased my first OSPG (it was #10). I think I read that things over and over again. One thing that caught my eye was the 1979 market report and a story in it (page A-17) about a priest who had come to the Philadelphia convention with 6 copies of Blood is the Harvest and 7 copies of If the Devil Would Talk. The report said in part....

 

"The priest ended up in a small clothes closet with three dealers who negotiated for several hours on buying the books. After much haggling, the books were sold, and the priest left the convention with a fist full of thousand dollar bills."

 

I am not sure if this account is "gospel", however, that is what was reported. I would like to know who those three dealers were and learn what really happened. As for thousand dollar bills, I tend to think that was perhaps an exaggeration (as I don't think $1,000 bills were common place in 1979).

 

Regardless of what exactly happened on that day in 1979, I knew ONE thing, and that was that I wanted a copy of If the Devil Would Talk. Years later I obtained a copy and years later I also learned there was 4 copies of a B&W version of the book. Wow! How could I help but want one of those rare treasures?

 

This year, THANKS TO A BOARD MEMBER LETTING ME KNOW ABOUT ONE OF THESE BEING AUCTIONED OFF, I managed to snag this elusive treasure. I know most people reading here will probably say, "who cares", as this is NOT the top book on most people's want list, but to me it was a must have. The copy I purchased was low grade, but I did not care. It looks better in person than this photo (as I am horrible at photography), but it is by no means a high grade book.....

 

 

Fast forward several years and several price guides to an OSPG with an advertisement from a store in NY called Fantazia (I will try not to spit when I say that name - for those who know the tale of Daniel Dupcak).

 

There was a picture of this incredible store with an unmatchable wall of books. Heck the wall showed 3 copies of Action #1, 3 copies of TEC #27, 4 copies of Sup 1, 4 copies of Bat 1, and many others (including 1 copy of Action Comics #5).

 

Back then the OSPG listed Action #5 as "rare" and priced it higher than the #4 or the #6. In fact, Action #5 was priced higher than either the #7 or the #10, if you can imagine that!

 

I figured if the #5 was that "rare", I better get a copy before they were all gone.

 

I drove to NY with my new girlfriend (we had been dating maybe a month) and went to find this fabulous store and buy the Action #5.

 

When I arrived at the store, I found a guy behind the counter who was as rude to customers as anyone I had ever seen. He seemed arrogant, however, he also knew full well, he had the goods. So, like dealing with the devil, I endured long enough for him to show me both the Action #5 and an awesome copy of Action #1. The Action #1 was priced at $23,000 (which might as well have been a million, as there was no chance I could come close to buying that book).

 

In the end I purchased the book I came for (the Action #5), paying full asking price. More importantly, the girl that came with me on that trip would later become my wife (several months later). Maybe that is why this book holds a special place in my life. This year I came across yet another copy (belonging to a fellow board member) and added it to the collection. Once again, please forgive the poor photo.....

 

 

Fast forward to 2016. I really don't know what my 3rd choice would be, however, I see a lot of original art being posted here. I don't own a lot of OA, however, a board member was kind enough to personally create a few wonderful pieces for me. I offered to pay him for his work and he would not accept anything. I would love to post photos of his work here, however, I don't know if he would be comfortable with that and I don't want to violate his trust.

 

So in the end, I may not know what my top 3 are, but I do know that these books and art hold a special place in my collection and made 2016 a great year for a collector like me.

 

Special thanks to...

 

1) The board member who told me about the B&W copy of IFDWT.

 

2) The board member who sold me the Action #5

 

3) The board member who created some OA for me.

 

Sorry, if this post is rambled on.

[Gotham Kid]

What a terrific copy of Action 5

[Hudson]

What a terrific copy of Action 5

 

Thank you, Peter. That means a lot coming from a collector like you!

 

Of course, the one in my sig line is still my favorite (as it holds a special place for me).

[Bird]

I was able to get my first published Moebius piece this past year. I actually got up from the computer and did a happy happy dance when the auction ended with me being highest bidder. I hope to get a more substantial piece but am very happy with this one.

 

 

 

This is art for a trading card and it came with a small version that Moebius painted as well.

 

 

And here they are side by side for a size comparison.

 

My other favorite purchases were probably a raw Batman: Harley Quinn that I subbed and came back 9.8 and a Silver Surfer 4 9.0, a book I slowly upgrade until I get to 9.8!

 

[Nick's Comics]

 

Favorite art pickup by Jim Mooney

 

 

Beautiful!!!

[Nick's Comics]

Special thanks to Ted at Superworld Comics for my favorites of the year! I bought 4 of the 6 comics below from him. ::

 

I love this cover!

 

This one might be my favorite!

 

I pieced this collection together this year!

 

And last but not least...

 

There is a funny story that goes along with this Rubenstein piece.

 

I was set up at the Birch Run, Michigan Fantasticon a few months ago when a customer starts digging through my 4 for $1 boxes. He's getting a pretty big pile going so I decide to leave him alone and let him shop. The show is kind of slow at the moment and he is the only buyer at my booth for the time being, so I decide to step out of my booth to chat with the vendor next to me. The vendor says to me "YOU HAVE JOE RUBENSTEIN SHOPPING IN YOUR BOOTH AND YOU COME OVER TO TALK TO ME?" I had no clue who he was. :: I went back to my booth and introduced myself.

 

Joe said to me "You really should take a minute to walk around the show and see who else is here!" Haha!!!

 

Long story short, I bought this piece and Joe even took his picture with me which is my new avatar picture!

[MedicAR]

Congrats as always to everyone for this pickups in 2016. I don't have time to do General often, but this is always a must-read thread for me. Thanks to everyone for sharing.

 

My top 3 OA for 2016:

 

TALES FROM THE CRYPT #43 cover:

 

 

A personal fave from when I first discovered EC in the '80s. The first vintage EC book I bought. I don't do slabs these days, but this is one issue I'd consider getting in high grade. Jack Davis is a unanimous, first ballot Hall-of-Famer in my book.

 

NEXUS: THE ORIGIN p.28-29

 

 

NEXUS was perhaps my favorite ongoing series from the '80s and it remains a favorite to this day. Steve Rude held onto these pages and I was thrilled to be able to get them from him this year. About as perfect a two-page sequence as I could ever hope to find. I showed artist Paul Pope some pages from my collection; he was able to ID all of them. These two were his favorite as well.

 

ALIENS: THE OFFICIAL MARVEL MOVIE ADAPTATION

 

 

...that never happened (but should have!). I get a lot of commissions, and it's hard to pick just one for this spot. But for today, I'll go with Chris Mooneyham's faux Marvel movie adaptation of one of my all-time favorite movies.

 

Hope everyone continues to have fun collecting in 2017!

 

So much awesomeness here...

[cbaileypacker]

This thread is full of amazing.

 

My PC favorites from 2016 :

 

McKone Endless Wartime cover recreation. Great cover of the Big Three.

 

 

Ninjak 1 Clay Mann cover OA:

 

 

Amazing Fantasy #15 Vol 2 Cover OA (Pete Woods AF 15 V1 homage). Also, there's an "Awesome" Hulk in there too.

 

 

Looking forward to what 2017 might bring.

 

Cheers!

 

 

[Wall-Crawler]

Every year, I am in awe of the amazing pick ups by fellow boardies. I also really enjoy it as I get to see books, OA and other items that I would never have seen otherwise.

 

It is great to see how diverse and vibrant the collecting community is! Having said, that, my pick ups this year are pretty "run of the mill", noting "exotic" but I am that much closer towards completing my ASM run.

 

Here they are:

 

Honourable Mention: Amazing Spider-Man #40, Origin of the Green Goblin

 

#3: Amazing Spider-Man #20 CGC 7.0, 1st Scorpion

 

 

#2: Amazing Spider-Man #13 CGC 6.0, 1st Mysterio (would like to upgrade to at least 7.0 someday)

 

 

 

#1: Amazing Spider-Man #14 CGC 6.5, 1st Green Goblin

 

 

 

Keep those books coming! I want to see more!

[DavidTheDavid]

This has to be one of those mine.

 

 

And this:

 

 

 

Really love those two covers as first solo titles.

[Badger]

I had a light year this year but I'm really happy with these.

 

 

 

[MedicAR]

This thread is full of amazing.

 

My PC favorites from 2016 :

 

McKone Endless Wartime cover recreation. Great cover of the Big Three.

 

 

Ninjak 1 Clay Mann cover OA:

 

 

Amazing Fantasy #15 Vol 2 Cover OA (Pete Woods AF 15 V1 homage). Also, there's an "Awesome" Hulk in there too.

 

 

Looking forward to what 2017 might bring.

 

Cheers!

 

 

NO FAIR! You bought the stuff I wanted!

 

I'm flexible on the Ninjak cover but the other two are fantastic!

[Mijael.Levy]

I had so many great books this year but here are my top 3 until now

 

Fantastico editions are very cool i had many Frazetta´s Buck Roger copies but this Phantom Lady is my favourite and the grade is awesome, i got this from a Puerto Rican Collector

 

 

Got this thanks to a boardie, getting a golden age Brazilian book without rusted staples is impossible unless you get it from Portugal

 

 

2015 was a difficult year for me and i had to sell some books i really liked to invest in my business.One of those books was a beautiful raw Showcase 30 i brought from highgrade comics...

Thanks God this year was different so i brought a slabbed copy at ebay

 

[Psithyrus]

I haven't bought anything expensive in a few years, but this year especially. . . I moved and bought a house and did the more urgent repairs.

 

I did, however, pick up some stuff that was kind of fun. I should dig them out!

[fett]

Easy choices for me. I had been looking for any copy of these for years...

 

 

I thought the value on this book had skyrocketed to a place that I did not want to visit. But Superworld sold me a great copy at a reasonable price!!

 

 

1950 western, Gerber 8, only seen 1 "poor" for sale over years of searching. I think I got lucky.

 

[revat]

I don't really swim with the big boys, so I've got two rare reprints, and they're more rare than they are valuable, esp in high grade.

 

I wasn't sure I'd ever get this one, which is a super big deal to me since I'm the Darkhawk Registry leader.

 

 

And this one, aside from being impossible in 9.8 because of the black edges, my wife and I were ecstatic to meet Stan in person and have him sign this comic.

 

 

 

 

 

[c-mack]

This year I started collecting baseball cards so that didn't leave much room in the budget for comics but did get one cool book from Bob Storms

 

But here are my fav three card pick ups <3

 

 

[jimjum12]

This year I started collecting baseball cards so that didn't leave much room in the budget for comics but did get one cool book from Bob Storms

 

But here are my fav three card pick ups <3

 

 

[Ltpink2002]

This year I started collecting baseball cards so that didn't leave much room in the budget for comics but did get one cool book from Bob Storms

 

But here are my fav three card pick ups <3

 

 

 

[Hudson]

Easy choices for me. I had been looking for any copy of these for years...

 

 

I thought the value on this book had skyrocketed to a place that I did not want to visit. But Superworld sold me a great copy at a reasonable price!!

 

 

1950 western, Gerber 8, only seen 1 "poor" for sale over years of searching. I think I got lucky.

 

 

Great books.

Don't recall ever seeing that "Captain Easy". Thanks for sharing the photos with us.