what would you do if you found the mile high collection 10 years ago?

[tth2]

I also remember hearing that he had to make a side deal with a barks collector who fronted most or all of the money for dibs on those books.

But the story from Chuck himself is that there were no Barks or Duck books in the Church collection. He's speculated that they were in a big batch of books that had already been carted away before he arrived on the scene. If Barks/Duck books from the Church collection exist, they've been hidden away very well or not been identified as such.

[rjpb]

A question for those more familiar with the church collection.

 

What happened to the pre-code horror in the collection? I've heard that alot of the early 50s books weren't especially high grade, but I'm pretty sure I've seen at least a couple of horror books listed as Church copies, but they're not something one sees with any frequency as far as I can tell. Considering how little alot of atom age stuff was worth 25 years ago - did alot of this stuff pass into collections without note, and their pedigree lost to time.

[Comicdey]

I didn't realize that Chuck had speculated that the ducks might have been carted away. (Mysteriously with a "big" batch of books) Unless you mean carted away by the garbage man.

 

I also remember hearing that Chuck pulled some comics out of the heirs trash cans. Reminds me of O'mally the Alley Cat.

 

Can anyone truly believe a person who knew enough to collect Barks or Disney, didn't know that full runs of pristine Golden Age Comics might also be worth gathering up?

 

Were there other disney books or say a few four colors?

 

I guess there were no ducks........

[Foolkiller]

I'm fairly certain the figure of roughly $2000 for the Church collection has never really been disputed even by Chuck himself. though it seems like a paltry sum for what he got, it seems to be a fairly commonly held truth that this was the sum paid. Which is why many collectors/dealers will still debate the point that Chuck took advantage of the situation (grossly) without revealing even remotely their true value. Others say he made an offer, they accepted, and they certainly were more interested in getting rid of the stuff than they were about learning the actual value.

[scourge456789-migration]

Does anyone have the picture of Chuch in his kitchen with all the omic books around himself ? I cant seem to find it and thought it was a pretty neat picture ! TIA !

[Silver Surfer]

You know Chuck gets a lot of flack for the find but 98% of the people here, if presented with the same situation, would have took the books and ran. At least we should give him credit for parlaying into the world's biggest comic dealer that is still going strong after all these years. Hard to find another online store that has his selection of moderns, TPB's, etc. I'm not sure where I would go to buy these if Mile High wasn't around.

[Foolkiller]

my stance on Chuck as a businessman has softened in recent years. I still think the company needs to excercise a little bit better quality control on their grading, and their pricing on back issues leaves a bit to be desired.

 

I'm not sure from an ethical standpoint (I know there have been threads on this) what each of us would have done had we found the Church collection, but I know that while I would have tried to buy the collection, I would have found a way to give some additional money afterwards to the Church family as well.

[DawgPhan]

I say screw the church family. they got exactly what they wanted and deserved. They just wanted a quick grab at some cash and did what they had to to get it. Hell Edgar was still alive. I would hardly believe that this was something he would have wanted. His family screwed him and Chuckie screwed the family...goes around comes around.

 

that being sad. I would have no problem buying the collection for next to nothing and making a small fortune off of it. I would use my new fortune to make donations to organizations of my choosing, but I would not be giving the church folks one red cent.

[mrwoogieman]

Yeah, to hear the details as Chuck tells them, the family viewed the books not as a rare collection of comics put together with love by their old man, but rather as some pile of junk their old man used to use when he was working as an illustrator or whatever. Big difference between one and the other. The idea that someone would pay them to haul them away must have been viewed as a double bonus by the family.

[Sal]

i for one would like to know what the Church family thinks about this collection they pi$$ed away for almost nothing. do you think they even have any idea how much money they cost themselves?

 

it would make for a great documentary, wouldn't it

[ComicSupply]

I think you have to take into consideration certain aspects of this find to fully understand why it is close to impossible to answer the hypothetical.

 

1. The Church family really didn't care what they got for them. I highly doubt they cared what amount of money they received. Remember they had already spoke to one dealer who told them they didn't make on site visits, and Chuck recalls they were throwing out his original artwork. It is entirely possible that someone like Chuck could of understood they didn't care, and got them for nothing (trade labor for moving them out for the books) or keep it quiet and wait curbside until they threw them out. It was bound to happen, look at the artwork and stuff Chuck found in the dumpster.

 

2. You also have to consider what this find did to the market. Had this collection never been found it is plausible to think that the market might not exist as it does today. This was a very nice find of comics, and one of the largest to date. Had it never existed, or Chuck never been called, a lot of dealers today might not of been in business. It also brings into question whether CGC would be around, or any number of the dealers today. I think that this collection set Chuck upon building a huge business, and probably helped others stay in business as well.

 

3. Back issues are simple supply versus demand. It is understandable how if there was a strong back issue market today and those books came on the market it would damage the market. Books would certainly lose value somewhere, and pick it up somewhere else.

 

To me, if the market was as it was today, and found I certainly would pick them up and do as he did. Keep some, sell some and build on it.

[shadroch]

Most of you are also lookng at it from the collectors POV. Chuck was and wanted to be a comic dealer,not a collector. Dealers buy and sell,collectors buy and hoard.

Chuck used the proceeds of the sales to become the worlds largest back issue comic dealer,something that he claims to have always aspired to be.

If I was a strictly a collector,I might have held the books and traded a little to upgrade my collection,but as a dealer,you have to have a different mentality.

[Ares]

2. You also have to consider what this find did to the market. Had this collection never been found it is plausible to think that the market might not exist as it does today. This was a very nice find of comics, and one of the largest to date. Had it never existed, or Chuck never been called, a lot of dealers today might not of been in business. It also brings into question whether CGC would be around, or any number of the dealers today. I think that this collection set Chuck upon building a huge business, and probably helped others stay in business as well.

 

I disagree. The market would exist today. I dont think this collection made a major difference. There are so many pedigrees out there this owudl have been one less.

 

I think CGC would be around. Church collection had nothing to do with its formation

[deathlok]

Does anyone have the picture of Chuch in his kitchen with all the omic books around himself ? I cant seem to find it and thought it was a pretty neat picture ! TIA !

 

[OldGuy]

Sell them all. Move to the tropics. The end.

 

That about sums it up for me.

[s-man]

As a collector, I would definately take what I like and sell the rest

 

But I cant believe he got the collection for such little money. Even if you gather 10,000 of the crappiest moderns today, I would think you would probrably pay more than $2,000.

[Ares]

As a collector, I would definately take what I like and sell the rest

 

But I cant believe he got the collection for such little money. Even if you gather 10,000 of the crappiest moderns today, I would think you would probrably pay more than $2,000.

'

 

He had to know they were valuable and if he bought them knowing they were worth many time more than he paid for them he could be criminally liable for fraud..

 

 

For example if your bought a painting for $1000 knowing it was worth $1,000,000 then sold it for the million the person you bought it from could sue you for fraud.

[Kermit the frog]

Does anyone have the picture of Chuch in his kitchen with all the omic books around himself ? I cant seem to find it and thought it was a pretty neat picture ! TIA !

 

 

 

[Zanarkand]

Assuming I could borrow enough money to buy them at something at least approaching raw FMV, I'd slab and sell as many of the more common/later issues as it took to break even, then keep the rest. I'd end up with essentially a whack of free old/rare GA comics.

 

...then I'd sell a few more, come to think of it, to make up for what would have been some months of extreme financial uncertainty. Enough for a new car, or remodeling, or something. Keep the wife from leaving.

[DawgPhan]

As a collector, I would definately take what I like and sell the rest

 

But I cant believe he got the collection for such little money. Even if you gather 10,000 of the crappiest moderns today, I would think you would probrably pay more than $2,000.

'

 

He had to know they were valuable and if he bought them knowing they were worth many time more than he paid for them he could be criminally liable for fraud..

 

 

For example if your bought a painting for $1000 knowing it was worth $1,000,000 then sold it for the million the person you bought it from could sue you for fraud.

 

I find this very hard to believe. Please post a link or something to add something to this statement...as it is now I am not buying it..Getting a good deal on something is makes you a fraud?