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Frank Frazetta's Famous Funnies #209 - #216
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427 posts in this topic

I’m at the point where I need to decide whether or not to keep trying for the run. I have 209 to 215 and have had them for a number of years. 216 has been elusive in my grade and price range.

Might be time to break up the run and pursue other books?

Edited by piper
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4 hours ago, piper said:

I’m at the point where I need to decide whether or not to keep trying for the run. I have 209 to 215 and have had them for a number of years. 216 has been elusive in my grade and price range.

Might be time to break up the run and pursue other books?

hang in there, 2021 a lot of good material will hit the market....complete set is awesome  

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11 minutes ago, Mmehdy said:
4 hours ago, piper said:

I’m at the point where I need to decide whether or not to keep trying for the run. I have 209 to 215 and have had them for a number of years. 216 has been elusive in my grade and price range.

Might be time to break up the run and pursue other books?

hang in there, 2021 a lot of good material will hit the market....complete set is awesome  

I would tend to agree with Mitch here, especially since that Frazetta run is probably as good as you are going to get when it comes to top end highly desired cover art.  :cloud9:

Although it would indeed appear that the last 2 issues of the run have the fewest copies slabbed to date by a long shot, I am sure it will be worth the wait as their are still enough slabbed copies (i.e. 30 Universal copies) of Famous Funnies 216 that one will come around to meet your grade eventually.  Not sure about the price range though, although you can always be hopeful. :wishluck:

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6 hours ago, piper said:

I’m at the point where I need to decide whether or not to keep trying for the run. I have 209 to 215 and have had them for a number of years. 216 has been elusive in my grade and price range.

Might be time to break up the run and pursue other books?

For what it's worth, I made a run at these, in 8.5 or better, 10 years ago and could not find the books in grade for what I was willing to pay.  To be fair, the people that had nicer copies new they were very tough and asked a premium that today would look like a great deal.

215 was the toughest at that time for me.  I found copies of 214 and 216 (but didn't buy) but never 213.  209-212 were relatively easy.  In fact, if you're looking for nice copies of 209 and 210, I can point you in the right direction.  But they won't be cheap.

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14 minutes ago, Randall Dowling said:

For what it's worth, I made a run at these, in 8.5 or better, 10 years ago and could not find the books in grade for what I was willing to pay.  To be fair, the people that had nicer copies new they were very tough and asked a premium that today would look like a great deal.

215 was the toughest at that time for me.  I found copies of 214 and 216 (but didn't buy) but never 213.  209-212 were relatively easy.  In fact, if you're looking for nice copies of 209 and 210, I can point you in the right direction.  But they won't be cheap.

I’m looking for a mid grade copy of 216.

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7 hours ago, piper said:

I’m at the point where I need to decide whether or not to keep trying for the run. I have 209 to 215 and have had them for a number of years. 216 has been elusive in my grade and price range.

Might be time to break up the run and pursue other books?

Why not just pick your favorite 2 or 3 and get them in the nicest shape you can?  

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1 hour ago, Randall Dowling said:

215 was the toughest at that time for me.  I found copies of 214 and 216 (but didn't buy) but never 213.  209-212 were relatively easy.  

I remember being in the Diamond vault right after their Int'l Galleries grand opening back in early '95 and saw nice copies of 209 to 212 along with 216 which I assume were part of the books from Martha's split out of the Overstreet collection.  :luhv:

Sadly, no 213 or 214 which have always been my favorite covers out of the entire Frazetta run and ones which Overstreet (along with 215) probably never found in nice enough condition to match up with the other earlier issues in his run.  (shrug)

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On 8/6/2018 at 10:46 AM, lou_fine said:

I noticed and was rather surprised at the following sale of Famous Funnies #213 in the just recently completed Heritage Auction:

https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/famous-funnies-213-eastern-color-1954-cgc-vf-80-cream-to-off-white-pages/a/7189-91035.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

From my point of view, that was a rather astounding price of $6K for a CGC 8.0 copy of Famous Funnies 213 since the census report indicates 3 higher graded copies along with a total of 6 copies in this same VF 8.0 grade.  In addition, this appears to be the first time that one of these Frazetta Famous Funnies covers have gone past the $3K range without being somewhere in the uber high grades (i.e. CGC 9.4 or 9.6). :whatthe:

Just wondering if this auction result is just an one-off between 2 overly aggressive bidders or if these multiples to guide are going to once again be an indication of the new normal for these classic Frazetta covers?  I remember these particular issues going for huge multiples to guide a couple of decades ago and then seem to slow down to only slight premiums to guide as Overstreet began raising the valuations for them.  Or is it possible that this is being considered as the best cover out of this classic bunch and hence, is finally getting recognition as this Frazetta run has not exactly been setting the marketplace on fire recently?  Of course, it doesn't really help that most of their sales occur well over a full decade ago with not many copies coming into the marketplace during the past few years.  hm

Since we are on the topic of the Frazetta Famous Funnies covers, which issue out of this classic but short run is everybody's favorite cover image?  My own personal choice would be between this FF 213 and the FF 214 red moon cover (especially in eye popping high grade colors), although I do absolutely love the color combinations of Famous Funnies 211.  :cloud9:

What say you and any technical geniuses here that knows how to set up a survey?

Flash forward and a recent 213 in 7.5 did $9,300? Market loves this issue.

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On 1/3/2021 at 9:04 PM, lou_fine said:

That's because a lot of collectors must have excellent taste when it comes to these classic cover books, and I assume you would be referring to this copy here that sold back in March of 2020:  :luhv:

lf?set=path%5B2%2F1%2F8%2F7%2F8%2F21878969%5D&call=url%5Bfile%3Aproduct.chain%5D

Not sure if there are any significant issues with the interior pages here or if it's just the usual near invisible NCB spine ticks and creases that can only be seen if you hold the book up at a certain angle to the light, but it looks from the front and back covers that they really pounded the sledge hammer down when it came to grading this book.  hm  (shrug)

Makes me wonder if the submittor made the crucial mistake of not playing the certification game by the house rules and simply sent it straight in for grading and hence, bidders are simply trying to pick up the easy money left on the table by the consignor here.  :devil:

Just had a similar experience. Got my 210 back and the grade is criminal. I don't press books, and as a result they absolutely hammered me on the grade. As I am trying to complete the run in the VF range, it's not a dealbreaker, but this book should have garnered an 8.0 or better, all day long.

20210427_204820.jpg

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