Most common GA books 0

[Montezuma]

Back in the late 70's, early 80's I used to pick up a lot of Dells at 10 cents to 25 cents each and selling them at Flea Markets, the catch was you had to buy a minimum of 75 copies of each issue. I also remember Wooley's auctions selling Dell issues in 75 copy lots mostly westerns.

[rjpb]

2 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

Captain 3-D  A lot of high-grade copies.

There are a number of other 1950s Harveys that have tons of so-called file copies, often with mediocre to bad pq.

The Harvey giveaways from the 50s seem especially common. Giveaways in general seem particularly prone to huge finds, there are a number that are seen regularly in high grade.

[rjpb]

So is CMA #51 the earliest of the multiple issue find books?

[batman_fan]

49 minutes ago, rjpb said:

So is CMA #51 the earliest of the multiple issue find books?

I thought the find was 51 and 52 were both found in high quantity but more 51 than 52.  I picked up both issues for basically nothing in the 1980s and traded them for two high grade early silver age Batman's which I still have.

[batman_fan]

Not really GA, but back in the late 1980's someone found an unopened box of Batman 3-D from 66, I snagged a copy of it.  At the time guide was around $100 but the dealer wanted $175 for it.  Someone of the boards posted their graded copies from 1953.  All 9.x.  I had the picture of them but can't find it quickly.

[LearnedHand]

I think this conversation should be qualified by what's common or scarce in the marketplace.  I think it's important to note that how scarce or plentiful a book is in the marketplace often largely depends on factors unrelated to the actual number of existing copies.  Someone mentioned that Detective #187 used to be considered rare but now there's a good supply of it on eBay.  What I see is that there are a few lower grade copies regularly available, but you do not see Fines or nicer showing up for sale - almost ever.  Are there 10,000 existing copies in VF that people own and don't sell, or are there 100 existing copies with 80% of them in VG or lower condition - unknown.  I've had the "Superman #1 discussion" with many people over the years, as many think this book is scarce.  With over one million copies printed, it's reasonable to assume that 10% or even 5% still exist.  If so, that's still a lot of existing copies - and maybe even more in some cases than the number of copies of other books that have even had warehouse finds.  I also think people forget that many books were put away in collections before the internet and are just unknown.  Although, it's funny how when a book becomes "hot" and there is some sales data, more copies come out of the woodwork.  In terms of "common" books - there have been more than a few warehouse finds over the years.  Several issues of Crime Does Not Pay turned up this way at the turn of the century, with #27 showing up in droves back then.  Same with Green Lama #7, Great #1, Perfect Crime #7, and Batman #22.   

Edited January 24, 2018 by LearnedHand

[atomised]

9 hours ago, telerites said:

I'm tempted to say everything in my collection 

These two are very common and yes I own them.

Funny you mention BB41 as it was the first book that came to mind for me when I saw the subject on this thread.  I'm glad you think it's common as well because it's been some sort of private joke for me whenever I search for Beetle I keep seeing this damn book.  That said, I like it and nice copy - I suppose common in comparison to other books in the run but it's no SA book that's for sure.

[rjpb]

34 minutes ago, LearnedHand said:

  In terms of "common" books - there have been more than a few warehouse finds over the years.  Several issues of Crime Does Not Pay turned up this way at the turn of the century, with #27 showing up in droves back then.  Same with Green Lama #7, Great #1, Perfect Crime #7, and Batman #22.   

I wasn't aware the CDNP #27 was a warehouse find book, I should look for a cheap copy - the cover never did much for me, but I've thought about completing the run to 60. To be sure there are several issues of the title that seem to show up more often than others, but I had attributed that to the popularity of the title overall, combined with modest interest in later issues. #67 is one that comes to mind. 

I can't believe I forgot about Great Comics - this was plentiful back in the 90s, it's availability obviously keeping the price down, as it has a fantastic Cole cover that would normally warrant a premium.

[Mmehdy]

21 hours ago, rjpb said:

Is there any record of how many were found? I suspect True Life Secrets #23 was also in that find. 

he had a limit you could be 3 copies of each at $1 a piece, there was a space adventures I think it was 18, a bunch of them

[telerites]

11 hours ago, atomised said:

Funny you mention BB41 as it was the first book that came to mind for me when I saw the subject on this thread.  I'm glad you think it's common as well because it's been some sort of private joke for me whenever I search for Beetle I keep seeing this damn book.  That said, I like it and nice copy - I suppose common in comparison to other books in the run but it's no SA book that's for sure.

I believe both of the ones I posted were warehouse finds.  They do pop up often and usually in higher grade.  I collect Blue Beetle so it fits in with my run but I wish the Kamen GGA issues were easy to grab and affordable 

[october]

20 hours ago, rjpb said:

 

Dizzy Dames #1 seems to show up frequently in mid-high grades. I suspect a stash of these was found, but it's desirability means they get snapped up.

 

 

 

Find out of Ohio. Maybe 10 copies of that, a Marvel Tales issue, and a few others popped up on eBay. Nice copies, I ended up with a few.

[october]

23 hours ago, szavisca said:

Yeah...stuff like this in the HA archives makes ya wonder just how big the stack from the warehouse was and how many nice non water damaged copies someone might still be holding on to...

https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/chamber-of-chills-19-multiple-file-copy-group-harvey-1953-condition-average-gd-vg-total-18-comic-books-/a/19062-12153.s?ic4=ListView-Thumbnail-071515

18 copies for $400. Man.

Easy $20k now, not even 10 years later. 

[october]

12 hours ago, LearnedHand said:

  I've had the "Superman #1 discussion" with many people over the years, as many think this book is scarce.  With over one million copies printed, it's reasonable to assume that 10% or even 5% still exist. 

I don't think this is a reasonable assumption. That would mean a minimum of 50,000 surviving copies, with an upside of 100,000+. 

There are currently 136 copies on the census in any grade, which means for every graded copy there are 500 or more raw copies sitting unknown in collections. That makes no sense given the time CGC has been open, the price that issue commands, and how infrequently raw copies hit the marketplace. There aren't 50,000 collectors sitting on copies of this book and ignoring the fact that it could bring tens of thousands of dollars if sold. 

[Robot Man]

And, I can't even find one nice copy for my collection...

[Robot Man]

Many years ago, I found two large paper shopping bags of this issue at the Rose Bowl Flea Market for $20. I was giving them away. A dealer hit me and bought a pile of them for $10. each that day and I've been selling them ever since. All had a "Special" stamp on them. Probably given away in a theatre or some kind of promotion. All the same book. Too bad it wasn't a Batman issue...

[the blob]

18 hours ago, Montezuma said:

Back in the late 70's, early 80's I used to pick up a lot of Dells at 10 cents to 25 cents each and selling them at Flea Markets, the catch was you had to buy a minimum of 75 copies of each issue. I also remember Wooley's auctions selling Dell issues in 75 copy lots mostly westerns.

 

1 hour ago, october said:

I don't think this is a reasonable assumption. That would mean a minimum of 50,000 surviving copies, with an upside of 100,000+. 

There are currently 136 copies on the census in any grade, which means for every graded copy there are 500 or more raw copies sitting unknown in collections. That makes no sense given the time CGC has been open, the price that issue commands, and how infrequently raw copies hit the marketplace. There aren't 50,000 collectors sitting on copies of this book and ignoring the fact that it could bring tens of thousands of dollars if sold. 

During WW II there were srap metal and paper recycling drives as manpower needed to be diverted to war indusries and away from cutting down trees to make paper. Do a google search and dozens of articles will pop up. It was your patriotic duty to recycle that superman 1 and action 1. sure, some america haters kept their comics and I suspect a larger numbers of funny animal/cartoon books survived because young kids could read them over and over and nobody was buying kids books. But yeah, no i don't think 5-10% exist more than 70 years later. Ask an old timer who has been collecting/dealing since the late 60s/early 70s how frequently they would see these early keys and that probably answers the question. I am sure there are way more than 136 copies, but not tens of thousands.

[the blob]

2 hours ago, october said:

18 copies for $400. Man.

Easy $20k now, not even 10 years later. 

Really, $1K+ a pop for water stained copies? I see on ebay that is correct, but what is so special about that book? Based on the old auction description these were like $40 a pop in guide then. What is so special about that one that they have gone up 2000-3000%? It's a clever cover and all, but a lot of these books have cool covers.

[the blob]

Why does True Life Secrets 23 seem to sell for a premium when it was a warehouse find? Yes, it's a suggestive cover, but not that mind blowing...

[october]

8 minutes ago, the blob said:

Really, $1K+ a pop for water stained copies? I see on ebay that is correct, but what is so special about that book? Based on the old auction description these were like $40 a pop in guide then. What is so special about that one that they have gone up 2000-3000%? It's a clever cover and all, but a lot of these books have cool covers.

Misfits tie in from their Die, Die My Darling 7", and a great horror cover...now considered a classic. Lots of crossover appeal and Misfits stuff is highly collected. 

[the blob]

4 minutes ago, october said:

Misfits tie in from their Die, Die My Darling 7", and a great horror cover...now considered a classic. Lots of crossover appeal and Misfits stuff is highly collected. 

OK, I see, was used as an album cover.

Apparently Glenn Danzig was asked to audition for Wolverine, but declined. What a different comic book movie world that would have been if he got the part.