Frank Frazetta's Famous Funnies #209 - #216 12 12

[AJCohen]

Thanks so much! If I bump into another one, I'll let you know.

[Legion HQ]

On 3/2/2023 at 1:34 AM, lou_fine said:

Well, although there appears to be some question about the current trajectory with respect to Famous Funnies 215, the trajectory for Famous Funnies 211 in CGC 9.4 at least still appears to be on the upswing, based upon this evening's earlier CL result here:  

https://www.comiclink.com/auctions/item.asp?back=%2FAUCTIONS%2FSEARCH.ASP%3FFocusedOnly%3D1%26where%3Dauctions%26title%3Dfamous%2Bfunnies%26ItemType%3DCB%23Item_1646890&id=1646890&itemType=0#detail

 

That's of course assuming if you exclude the CGC 9.0 Signature copy which sold for a rather astounding $19,800 back in January of 2022 and which appears to be a definite outlier beause of the Frazetta signature.  Excluding that copy there, it looks like we have comparables in terms of a equivalent CGC 9.4 graded copy selling for $7.2K at HA in November of 2020 and then another 9.4 copy selling for $7,555 at CC in June of 2021.  

Seemingly a relatively strong price at $9,169 especially considering that unlike the later issues which have only a handful of copies in CGC 9.0 and above, this Famous Funnies 211 like its other two earlier issues all have over 20+ copies graded in CGC 9.0 and above, with 5 of them in CGC 9.4 and another 2 in CGC 9.6.  So, not too bad of a finish for this copy here at >$9K.  

 

Oh, hello! That 211 win was me!   I couldn't resist owning a GA Frazetta, and this cover is a favorite of mine for him.

Oddly enough, I'd never owned a Golden Age book in 40 years in this hobby. And this book is the second GA book I've bought in the past couple months.

[Point Five]

On 3/17/2023 at 9:06 PM, Legion HQ said:

 

Oh, hello! That 211 win was me!   I couldn't resist owning a GA Frazetta, and this cover is a favorite of mine for him.

Oddly enough, I'd never owned a Golden Age book in 40 years in this hobby. And this book is the second GA book I've bought in the past couple months.

Smokin' pickup! 

But don't worry, golden age books are famously NOT addictive and buying two and only two will definitely be enough for you.   

 

[Professor K]

On 3/17/2023 at 9:06 PM, Legion HQ said:

 

Oh, hello! That 211 win was me!   I couldn't resist owning a GA Frazetta, and this cover is a favorite of mine for him.

Oddly enough, I'd never owned a Golden Age book in 40 years in this hobby. And this book is the second GA book I've bought in the past couple months.

Oh great more competition. No, just kidding. Hi I'm Kevin.

So what's next in the world of Golden Age for ya? You picked quite a nice one with that FF's. 

[Legion HQ]

On 3/17/2023 at 9:44 PM, Professor K said:

Oh great more competition. No, just kidding. Hi I'm Kevin.

So what's next in the world of Golden Age for ya? You picked quite a nice one with that FF's. 

Hi, thanks, Kevin! My first GA was a classic Superman, so I'll probably pick up a Batman next, or maybe a pre-code horror book. Really depends on what pops up that catches my eye.

[lou_fine]

On 3/16/2023 at 12:18 PM, WolverineX said:

The 213 has dropped a bit in price. Last sold was 4300

Do you have a link for this $4,300 sale since it's clearly not Heritage and I was sort of comparing the CC 3.0 result at $3,305 to the Heritage 3.5 result at $3,600 which just took place a few days earlier on March 12th?  

 

On 3/16/2023 at 12:18 PM, WolverineX said:

Same with 215, last 5.0 sold for 3840

The point to remember here is that not all CGC 5.0's are the same, and as such, unless you are Mr. Magoo, it is rather obvious which one of these CGC 5.0 graded copies is clearly much more visually appealing:  

The one that sold for only $2,777 with a color breaking subscrition crease apparently throughout the entire book:  

 

 

Or this one here that sold for $3,840:  

 

Actually, it's rather refeshing to see that more bidders are now looking beyond that big big number on the top left hand corner of the slab and looking at the underlying book itself before placing their bids.  

Maybe in addition to the CVA and QES stickers, they need to add another sticker to denote books that appear to be visually inferior to their assigned CGC grade.    

 

And as for the FF 209 and trying to compare prices between CGC slabbed books and CBCS slabbed books, I belive you've already made the point yourself that they are NOT comparable.  

Edited March 18, 2023 by lou_fine

[Professor K]

On 3/17/2023 at 11:58 PM, Legion HQ said:

Hi, thanks, Kevin! My first GA was a classic Superman, so I'll probably pick up a Batman next, or maybe a pre-code horror book. Really depends on what pops up that catches my eye.

Me too. An Action 23 it was. Have fun. 

[Legion HQ]

On 3/18/2023 at 12:33 AM, Professor K said:

Me too. An Action 23 it was. Have fun. 

Nice. Superman 32 for me.  

[Bronty]

On 3/18/2023 at 12:29 AM, lou_fine said:

Do you have a link for this $4,300 sale since it's clearly not Heritage and I was sort of comparing the CC 3.0 result at $3,305 to the Heritage 3.5 result at $3,600 which just took place a few days earlier on March 12th?  

 

The point to remember here is that not all CGC 5.0's are the same, and as such, unless you are Mr. Magoo, it is rather obvious which one of these CGC 5.0 graded copies is clearly much more visually appealing:  

The one that sold for only $2,777 with a color breaking subscrition crease apparently throughout the entire book:  

 

 

Or this one here that sold for $3,840:  

 

Actually, it's rather refeshing to see that more bidders are now looking beyond that big big number on the top left hand corner of the slab and looking at the underlying book itself before placing their bids.  

Maybe in addition to the CVA and QES stickers, they need to add another sticker to denote books that appear to be visually inferior to their assigned CGC grade.    

 

And as for the FF 209 and trying to compare prices between CGC slabbed books and CBCS slabbed books, I belive you've already made the point yourself that they are NOT comparable.  

I never noticed before but it seems to me like Frank's intention was that the girl had nude legs.    Seems like they threw blue pants on her to keep the cover a little more conservative.    Would have been better as intended.

There are no clothing folds on the legs, and there is a light line at the right of her buttocks indicating a panty I think under the dress?   Unless that's a chance cross-hatch.    So I'd say she's wearing a dress and underwear, which makes sense, as opposed to a dress over blue leggings, which I don't think was a style back then(?). 

Edited March 18, 2023 by Bronty

[adamstrange]

On 3/18/2023 at 5:35 PM, Bronty said:

I never noticed before but it seems to me like Frank's intention was that the girl had nude legs.    Seems like they threw blue pants on her to keep the cover a little more conservative.    Would have been better as intended.

There are no clothing folds on the legs, and there is a light line at the right of her buttocks indicating a panty I think under the dress?   Unless that's a chance cross-hatch.    So I'd say she's wearing a dress and underwear, which makes sense, as opposed to a dress over blue leggings, which I don't think was a style back then(?). 

Frazetta designed the color scheme for the Cochran portfolio.

Edited March 18, 2023 by adamstrange

[Bronty]

On 3/18/2023 at 5:51 PM, adamstrange said:

Frazetta design the color scheme for the Cochran portfolio.

thanks yes - I just came across those myself while doing a little extra digging after posting that comment.   Thank you.

[lou_fine]

Just wondering if any of you Frazetta Famous Funnies aficonados here are shicked and totally flabbergasted by this result here:  

https://www.hakes.com/Auction/ItemDetail/256987/FAMOUS-FUNNIES-210-FEBRUARY-1954-CGC-85-VF-BUCK-ROGERS

A CGC 8.5 graded copy of Famous Funnies selling for a rather whopping $7,009.20 at Hakes on March 16th of this year when Heritage was able to fetch only $6K for their CGC 9.4 graded copy back in January of 2023 and CC was able to fetch only $4,100 for their CGC 9.2 graded copy back in December of 2022.    

Edited March 22, 2023 by lou_fine

[Inaflash]

On 3/22/2023 at 12:04 AM, lou_fine said:

Just wondering if any of you Frazetta Famous Funnies aficonados here are shicked and totally flabbergasted by this result here:  

https://www.hakes.com/Auction/ItemDetail/256987/FAMOUS-FUNNIES-210-FEBRUARY-1954-CGC-85-VF-BUCK-ROGERS

A CGC 8.5 graded copy of Famous Funnies selling for a rather whopping $7,009.20 at Hakes on March 16th of this year when Heritage was able to fetch only $6K for their CGC 9.4 graded copy back in January of 2023 and CC was able to fetch only $4,100 for their CGC 9.2 graded copy back in December of 2022.    

Pretty remarkable price considering it’s the easiest issue to get in grade with 36 copies grading higher. Nice looking 8.5 though.

[lou_fine]

On 3/22/2023 at 5:52 AM, Inaflash said:

Pretty remarkable price considering it’s the easiest issue to get in grade with 36 copies grading higher. Nice looking 8.5 though.

Well, it's quite possible that Hakes simply has a very loyal customer base that don't bother to check out the other more major comic book auction sites, and as a result, this is probably the only real nice one that they have seen come into the marketplace.    

I totally agree with you though, from a strict visual POV, a nicely presenting one relative to its assigned CGC grade, but not it's price point of >$7K. 

Edited April 8, 2023 by lou_fine

[lou_fine]

A bit surprising that these Frazetta Famous Funnies issues are continuing to realize strong prices, especially considering so many have been making their way into the marketplace recently:    

https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/famous-funnies-214-eastern-color-1954-cgc-vg-35-off-white-to-white-pages/a/122314-11047.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

Sold for a very strong $3,840 for a CGC 3.5 graded copy in last Sunday's Heritage Auction, and just wondering if these issues are going to be taking a breath anytime soon before continuing their seemingly never ending journey upwards?  

Edited April 8, 2023 by lou_fine

[WolverineX]

Been hunting this book for a long time.. was this cover published around the same time?

 

 

 

[Point Five]

On 4/29/2023 at 3:42 PM, WolverineX said:

Been hunting this book for a long time.. was this cover published around the same time?

 

 

 

Great cover.   The same time as what?

 

[Point Five]

On 4/8/2023 at 2:35 PM, lou_fine said:

A bit surprising that these Frazetta Famous Funnies issues are continuing to realize strong prices, especially considering so many have been making their way into the marketplace recently:    

https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/famous-funnies-214-eastern-color-1954-cgc-vg-35-off-white-to-white-pages/a/122314-11047.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

Sold for a very strong $3,840 for a CGC 3.5 graded copy in last Sunday's Heritage Auction, and just wondering if these issues are going to be taking a breath anytime soon before continuing their seemingly never ending journey upwards?  

I just need a #212 to complete my set, but that one's jumped up at a staggering rate too. I'm absolutely waving theright now and have moved on to other pursuits. There's still copies out there and I'm cautiously hopeful prices will soften a bit more.

 

[WolverineX]

On 4/29/2023 at 9:54 PM, Point Five said:

Great cover.   The same time as what?

 

As the famous funnies covers?

Thanks Point Five!

[Point Five]

On 4/29/2023 at 10:09 PM, WolverineX said:

As the famous funnies covers?

Thanks Point Five!

Ah, gotcha. Yep, GCD says the Beware was July 1954, so right in that FF sweet spot!