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Fiction house anyone?
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Started by Apotheosis,

9,632 posts in this topic

comicjack

comicjack

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, Zolnerowich said:

Great copy! I haven't really taken notice of this book before. But now that I do:

Swipe!?! And not just any swipe. A swipe of a classic!

It's not perfect of course, but the parts are all there:

  • a leading man (looking right rather than left) oblivious to the danger lurking in the upper right section of the scene
  • his poise and steady, unruffled expression
  • his head wrap (khaki aviator helmet rather than green mask)
  • his gun blasting at something out of view, and not at the imminent threat
  • the aforementioned danger, involving a baddie with a bladed weapon 
  • a blonde lady hoisted on the leading man's shoulder (head up rather than head down) (ropes around feet rather than hands) (awake rather than comatose)

I know it's a bit of a stretch, but plausible. Or maybe I just got MM3 on the brain! :insane:

mys5.297a_crop.png.f267ad4e6fb45109531fd9b77b8fdab9.png

I see another book going on the want list,you just can't help yourself !

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Zolnerowich

Zolnerowich

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, szavisca said:

So picked this up from....metropolis .....gasp...as a high grade, for not that much because as far as I can tell only me and 2 other people in the world like the Lubbers Firehair covers.  Cover looks spectacular to me, a few light non color breaking bends along the spine.  Got a couple questions that I could have put in the PGM forum but I figure people in this thread are more familiar with Fiction Houses books so appreciate any insight/help here.

The cover did not feel supple, it had some resistance when I opened, enough that I didn't want to bend it all the way open.  I'll admit in my brief time in GA I've spent far more time with CGC slabbed books than raw books. 

1) should I be worried that the cover feels mildly stiff as I get closer to the spine? its kinda like a new magazine that you feel you need to fold back the cover, which I naturally didn't want to do.

2) does the tanning on the inner cover look bad enough, or do the pages look less then cream colored, and might this knock this out of the 9.0 plus range for CGC?  Doesn't look terrible to me but I'm still a bit of a newb with raw books.

3) Do I risk damaging this or introducing creases/spine ticks by having CCS press it?  I know it might seem silly, but I thought what the hell why not go for an ultra high grade, they only charge 40$ and I was gonna get it slabbed for sure.  Does metro press their books and could the stiffness be accounted for by someone doing a bad job on this one and essentially cooking it too much?

4) just curious does the 49 pencil mark mean this book comes from any collection/region/etc?

Again appreciate any advice here.

rangers46nmrawfront.jpg

rangers46innercover.jpg

I can’t answer all your questions, but can speculate on some of them!

Regarding the stiffness, if I understand correctly, the front cover feels heavier? If so, this could be compatible with the idea that your copy was printed early on the printing press. The early copies tended to be more loaded down and saturated with ink and color. Based on the rich colors on your book (especially the reds), I think this is possible. I learned about this phenomenon from Jeremy (aka Soft Serve) on the boards when I bought my Planet #45 from him.

As for the interior cover, it doesn’t look so tan. That said, how page quality is assigned remains unclear to me. Is the page quality based on the average of all the pages (I don’t think so). Is it based on the range between best and worst, e.g., “off-white to tan”? Or is it based on the dominant/majority page quality? I’d love to hear more from other boardies about this.

The 49, actually, ‘49. It’s likely this just refers to the year of publication (April 1949), jotted down by a busybody, though maybe another boardie might recognize this as something more exotic!

Lastly: re pressing and slabbing, go for it, especially if you want to sell it. But if you really like the book and the opportunity to read it whenever the fancy strikes, then there’s no need to press and slab IMHO. Just put it in two layers of Mylar and you have a gorgeous book!

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adamstrange

adamstrange

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, Zolnerowich said:

4) just curious does the 49 pencil mark mean this book comes from any collection/region/etc?

It's a New Hampshire copy (minor pedigree).

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telerites

telerites

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, adamstrange said:

It's a New Hampshire copy (minor pedigree).

I personally love New Hampshires.  I have found they have ecceptional page quality.   At least in all of the ones I have.  Jim Payette brought them to market,  correct?

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Zolnerowich

Zolnerowich

Posted
Posted
47 minutes ago, adamstrange said:

It's a New Hampshire copy (minor pedigree).

 

32 minutes ago, telerites said:

I personally love New Hampshires.  I have found they have ecceptional page quality.   At least in all of the ones I have.  Jim Payette brought them to market,  correct?

Good to know! Any more info on this ped? How many books? I assume all the books had the pub date year on them... Any other identifying marks?

Looks like @szavisca really stepped into a great book. ? 

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adamstrange

adamstrange

Posted
Posted
59 minutes ago, telerites said:

Jim Payette brought them to market,  correct?

Yes.

22 minutes ago, Zolnerowich said:

Good to know! Any more info on this ped? How many books? I assume all the books had the pub date year on them... Any other identifying marks?

It was mostly Westerns but Payette would be the one to provider a further breakdown of the 1000+ books.

The distributor date is the distinguishing mark -- colon + last 2 digits of the year.

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Sqeggs

Sqeggs

Posted
Posted
On 4/1/2018 at 12:20 AM, Zolnerowich said:

 

Good to know! Any more info on this ped? How many books? I assume all the books had the pub date year on them... Any other identifying marks?

Looks like @szavisca really stepped into a great book. ? 

From comicpedigrees.com:

New Hampshire

Browse the scans

One of the few collections here that are not recognized by CGC as a pedigree, New Hampshire represents the glorious western genre of the late ‘40s and ‘50s. It contained 1200-1400 comics, more western comics than any other collection--save the Mile Highs. Thanks to their easy recognition via penciled arrival dates, these books can be readily identified.

newhamp_sigs.gif
New Hampshire cover markings.

The collection was bought by Jim Payette, who was also involved in the purchase of the Allentown, Denver, and Nova Scotia pedigrees. He did actually name the collection when he sold it, and even noted each copy in his catalogue with "NH." Even though they never obtained official status as a pedigreed collection from CGC, the vast representation, high grades and identifiable traits lands the New Hampshires on our list.

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Sqeggs

Sqeggs

Posted
Posted
20 hours ago, szavisca said:

For those that care I reached out to Payette himself to ask some questions about the NH books...I was particularly concerned about the the prospect of there being any resto because it’s a high grade raw that’s been sitting on Metro... he said he had no concerns about resto on any of the books when had them for whatever that’s worth to anyone else who comes across the ped.

He also said that while it contained mostly westerns, it had other genres as well.

He asked me to send him a pic so I did and he verified it as belonging to the collection.  Nice guy, and my favorite tight grader.

Gonna send it to CCS and CGC and report back in 5 or 6 months...

Not enough keys to merit a CGC pedigree designation, I guess.

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telerites

telerites

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Sqeggs said:
21 hours ago, szavisca said:

For those that care I reached out to Payette himself to ask some questions about the NH books...I was particularly concerned about the the prospect of there being any resto because it’s a high grade raw that’s been sitting on Metro... he said he had no concerns about resto on any of the books when had them for whatever that’s worth to anyone else who comes across the ped.

He also said that while it contained mostly westerns, it had other genres as well.

He asked me to send him a pic so I did and he verified it as belonging to the collection.  Nice guy, and my favorite tight grader.

Gonna send it to CCS and CGC and report back in 5 or 6 months...

Not enough keys to merit a CGC pedigree designation, I guess.

I agree on Jim's tight grading and he is very responsive to e-mails.  I think Sqeggs is correct and if I remember the breadth of the collection did not cross a lot of genres as mentioned.  Again, I have found they have great PQ and suppleness.  Here are some that I have -I know the Nedors were.subbed by me and I believe the Jesse James.  The Prize Western I am assuming is a NH although the month is missing but it sure appears to be similar markings.  A

 

0412121708024.thumb.jpg.27b51cfb5fd3a189de569a9df82c271d.jpg1107141525491.thumb.jpg.4c84cbcfa1e03d4af27e86ee0c3328ed.jpg0108151058391.thumb.jpg.4a0a216aafb5b0bedfb4c3160bd80373.jpg1607151405581.thumb.jpg.297d21844131cd347bedd8d7b0be4724.jpg

 

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