Classics Illustrated Ultimate Grail - What Happened to It? 0

[sfcityduck]

Just read this story in an old 1989 CI fanzine:

"A PRISTINE MINT set of Classic Comics originals 1-27 has just been sold by FANTAZIA, a major comic dealer in New York.  The 27 originals have been untouched since 1946, stored in a special cardboard and felt box with gold-embossed "Board of Education" imprinted on it.  This is the first recorded discovery of an actual mint set of early Classics originals.  There was no Mile-High set of Classics.  This should set the standard by which all other high-grade Classics are judged.  If re-sold individually, they should have a certified Fantazia copy pedigree."  The article also states that Dupcak sold the books for $15K to $20K, which was then about double guide, but had gotten offers as high as triple guide after word got out (but they were already sold.

Great story.  Anyone able to answer any questions about this?  Like:

* Aren't there actually MH Classics?

* What happened to these comics (somehow I'm guessing a dentist snatched them up)?  

* Is there a fuller story about this discovery?

Just one of those cool things you run across when cleaning out the closets that gives rise to questions that may actually get answered in this internet age.

[MB1952]

Wow-thanks for sharing, my guess they all felt into the black hole collection.

[MrBedrock]

There were/are Church Classics. I sold the #1 to Metropolis around 1998 and I had the #19 around the same time.

[sfcityduck]

6 minutes ago, MrBedrock said:

There were/are Church Classics. I sold the #1 to Metropolis around 1998 and I had the #19 around the same time.

That's what I thought.  I think I saw one recently for sale.  

[damonwad]

1 minute ago, sfcityduck said:

That's what I thought.  I think I saw one recently for sale.  

The Metro #1 is "only" a CGC 8.5 though so it doesn't seem that these were Church books.

It's an interesting story and I just re-read it in my copy of WWCN. I don't recall reading a follow-up but it's been 6 or 7 years since I read my copies of WWCN and The Classics Collector.

I have all the issues after this one and will read through them when I get back from a trip next week to see if any follow-up articles were written. Assuming no one has chimed in by then.

[sfcityduck]

Well there are definitely Church copies of Classic Comics (unless, that is, those Fantazia copies somehow got misidentified as Church's, which seems unlikely):

[damonwad]

2 hours ago, sfcityduck said:

Well there are definitely Church copies of Classic Comics (unless, that is, those Fantazia copies somehow got misidentified as Church's, which seems unlikely):

This is a beaut but it's not an original. So this wouldn't be a Fantazia copy unless they mistakenly stated they were all originals.

It's odd that the Church #1 Mr. B sold to Metro is an original but the Church #2 isn't.

[Sqeggs]

Chuck had a bunch of them in his Church catalog, but started with issue 3 and then jumped to 17.  So, apparently, the early issues were scooped up before he did the catalog. 

[Sqeggs]

16 hours ago, sfcityduck said:

Just read this story in an old 1989 CI fanzine:

"A PRISTINE MINT set of Classic Comics originals 1-27 has just been sold by FANTAZIA, a major comic dealer in New York.  The 27 originals have been untouched since 1946, stored in a special cardboard and felt box with gold-embossed "Board of Education" imprinted on it.  This is the first recorded discovery of an actual mint set of early Classics originals.  There was no Mile-High set of Classics.  This should set the standard by which all other high-grade Classics are judged.  If re-sold individually, they should have a certified Fantazia copy pedigree."  The article also states that Dupcak sold the books for $15K to $20K, which was then about double guide, but had gotten offers as high as triple guide after word got out (but they were already sold.

Great story.  Anyone able to answer any questions about this?  Like:

* Aren't there actually MH Classics?

* What happened to these comics (somehow I'm guessing a dentist snatched them up)?  

* Is there a fuller story about this discovery?

Just one of those cool things you run across when cleaning out the closets that gives rise to questions that may actually get answered in this internet age.

Given who was involved here, are we even sure the story of where and how they were found is legit? 

[sfcityduck]

Really good question.  I'm curious if anyone remembers this story and knows anything at all about it.

[MrBedrock]

51 minutes ago, Sqeggs said:

Given who was involved here, are we even sure the story of where and how they were found is legit? 

Bingo!

[Gatsby77]

By my count on the census, only 24 total first printings of Classic Comics 1-20 have graded out at 9.0 or higher.

For issues # 2 and # 10, the best copies grade out at only 8.0.

It's possible that a super set is sitting out there somewhere raw, but I'm shocked at how few have been slabbed.

[sfcityduck]

1 hour ago, Gatsby77 said:

It's possible that a super set is sitting out there somewhere raw, but I'm shocked at how few have been slabbed.

Thinking about it, I'm really not.  They aren't "cover" books.  The collectors seeking these issues tend to be super super super completest (going after numerous variations of the same issue), so grade may not be as much of a motivation for most collectors of this stuff.  Most of these books are lower in value, and thus makes less economic sense to slab them.  And the market for CI does not appear to be a flipper market.  Finally, sometimes the HRN is inside, not back cover.

[damonwad]

On ‎8‎/‎7‎/‎2017 at 9:21 PM, damonwad said:

 

It's an interesting story and I just re-read it in my copy of WWCN. I don't recall reading a follow-up but it's been 6 or 7 years since I read my copies of WWCN and The Classics Collector.

I have all the issues after this one and will read through them when I get back from a trip next week to see if any follow-up articles were written. Assuming no one has chimed in by then.

I just finished reading through the rest of the WWCN and Classics Collector (#8-20) and there were no further mentions of the books.

My guess is they're tucked into one of the old school CI collections. Hopefully there won't be any "surprises" for the seller if they ever come to market due to the Dupcak connection.