A Blue Bolt #105 Discussion deserving of it's own Thread 3 3

[adamstrange]

17 minutes ago, drbanner said:

It is featured on the dust jacket of Vol. 2 of the Golden Age Gerber, so it has been recognized as a great cover for a long time now.

This.  Blue Bolt 115 being a "classic" is relatively more recent.

[drbanner]

Nice info bounty_coder, to put this and the GPA data into more context, here are the total census numbers for the run:

• 2 copies of Blue Bolt #105 (22 on Census)
• 14 copies of Blue Bolt #106 (18 on Census)
• 18 copies of Blue Bolt #107 (19 on Census)
• 14 copies of Blue Bolt #108 (19 on Census)
• 16 copies of Blue Bolt #109 (9 on Census) - not an LB Cole cover
• 7 copies of Blue Bolt #110 (14 on Census)
• 21 copies of Blue Bolt #111 (35 on Census)
• 20 copies of Blue Bolt #112 (23 on Census)
• 23 copies of Blue Bolt #113 (13 on Census)
• 18 copies of Blue Bolt #114 (26 on Census)
• 14 copies of Blue Bolt #115 (34 on Census)
• 16 copies of Blue Bolt #116 (15 on Census)
• 14 copies of Blue Bolt #117 (16 on Census)
• 6 copies of Blue Bolt #118 (10 on Census)
• 11 copies of Blue Bolt #119 (15 on Census)

Looks like 110 and 118 are the scarcest, the data in red for 105 don't include the recent "deluge" of copies auctioned off so it will be interesting if more copies become available. I believe 111 and 115 have historically been the most in demand horror covers in the run, which explain the higher CGC submission numbers.

[adamstrange]

11 hours ago, jr81784 said:

Interesting to see new trends emerge almost weekly while more traditional classic covers seem to be taking a backseat to these newly designated classics.

This became a sought after classic once the Gerber Guide was released in 1989.  That may be "new" to some but to this collector it seems to be well-established.

The Gerber Guide was a game-changer in allowing a large subset of collectors to become much more aware of what covers actually existed.  Some previously designated classic covers are no longer as sought after while many, many covers that were obscure became much more in demand.

Edited August 30, 2018 by adamstrange

[The-Collector]

25 minutes ago, Point Five said:

You could of course be right. But if #105 was recognized as the key cover long before now, I would then expect GPA to reflect that as some non-ebay copies would still be slabbed and sold, no? At the moment GPA only records three sales ever for #105... a 4.0 from 2009, an 8.0 from last year and the 7.5 from last month.

And if I'm entirely honest, I have always thought Blue Bolt #115 (grinning hairy skull cover) was the true breakout classic cover from the run, and I was super thrilled to land one many years ago. But compared to #105, #115 is actually surprisingly "common" -- GPA records 11 sales for #115 (vs 3 for #105), and bounty_coder has 14 ebay sales listed over five years (vs 2 for #105).
 

I've never liked 115. The hair is so weird. Reminds me of a glam rocker. 105 on the other hand is a masterpiece. 

[adamstrange]

10 hours ago, jr81784 said:

Current young collectors seem to have intense focus on PCH, Cole covers and Timelys. 

PCH = pre-code horror and Cole and Timely covers often include horror themes.  I think this is part of a general cultural trend of horror becoming much more a part of mainstream entertainment (movies, video games, TV shows) than used to be the case.

[Point Five]

11 minutes ago, The-Collector said:

I've never liked 115. The hair is so weird. Reminds me of a glam rocker. 

It's the crown jewel in my Glam Rocker Horror Cover set. 

 

[misterrmystery]

Back in  the 1990's Cole issues were readily available. I first saw #105 on the cover of Gerber's Photo Journal and had to have one. I found a FN+ copy without much problem along with the rest of the Cole Blue Bolts. Sadly I sold it through Heritage in 2007. It sold for $334.60 with buyer's premium. Yikes! I probably only paid about $100 for it which seems crazy now.

[PUNYHUMAN]

That was a great time to score a lot of these classic covers.The 1990's. I bought my Amazing Man #22 shown over in classic Covers in General off of Harley Yee. Paid about $ 175.00. Those were the days . Now you have to take a second mortgage!

[adamstrange]

2 minutes ago, PUNYHUMAN said:

That was a great time to score a lot of these classic covers.The 1990's.

I turned down the Church copy of 111 because the dealer wanted 4x Guide at a time that 3x was the norm.

Guide value at the time?

Spoiler

$110 

 

[pmpknface]

4 minutes ago, PUNYHUMAN said:

That was a great time to score a lot of these classic covers.The 1990's. I bought my Amazing Man #22 shown over in classic Covers in General off of Harley Yee. Paid about $ 175.00. Those were the days . Now you have to take a second mortgage!

I think I started getting my Cole books in the  early 2000's, after I finished my ASM & DD runs.  I would grab whatever was available and got a ton of 'em, but still missed out on a few key ones.  

[comicjack]

3 minutes ago, adamstrange said:

I turned down the Church copy of 111 because the dealer wanted 4x Guide at a time that 3x was the norm.

Guide value at the time?

  Hide contents

$110 

 

Much to much

[PUNYHUMAN]

I feel your pain. I've passed on books that later I've thought what was I thinking.  Oh Well! Like my wife always says . you can't have them all. It just makes me appreciate what I do have in my collection.

[bounty_coder]

2 hours ago, adamstrange said:

This.  Blue Bolt 115 being a "classic" is relatively more recent.

When will CGC designate it as so?

What mountains must be moved for that to take place? 

Edited August 30, 2018 by bounty_coder

[aardvark88]

2 hours ago, The-Collector said:

Blue Bolt # 105 on the other hand is a masterpiece. 

Cover is better designed from a comic book perspective than Suspense Comics #3, as collectors usually prefer space/rocket themes compared to KKK, and is about $130,000 less in top slabbed shape. Low Cgc census #s on both classic cover issues.

[adamstrange]

3 hours ago, PUNYHUMAN said:

Like my wife always says . you can't have them all.

Defeatist

I also did not get the Spokane copy of BB 115 because it was 4x guide when most of the other books in the collection were 2-3x guide.  Also, I'm not a super-big fan of the cover (BB 104 is far more to my liking).

Guide value at the time?

Spoiler

$250

 

[bounty_coder]

40 minutes ago, adamstrange said:

Defeatist

I also did not get the Spokane copy of BB 115 because it was 4x guide when most of the other books in the collection were 2-3x guide.  Also, I'm not a super-big fan of the cover (BB 104 is far more to my liking).

Guide value at the time?

  Reveal hidden contents

$250

 

Does anyone know if there were Pedigree copies of Blue Bolt #105? None have sold publicly in order to identity. 

[adamstrange]

There's a Church copy.  There are probably others as well.

[lou_fine]

5 hours ago, drbanner said:

6 hours ago, Point Five said:

You could of course be right. But if #105 was recognized as the key cover long before now, I would then expect GPA to reflect that as some non-ebay copies would still be slabbed and sold, no? At the moment GPA only records three sales ever for #105... a 4.0 from 2009, an 8.0 from last year and the 7.5 from last month.

It is featured on the dust jacket of Vol. 2 of the Golden Age Gerber, so it has been recognized as a great cover for a long time now.

I distinctly remember that the cover for Blue Bolt 105 was used as the frontispiece for an GA art related coffee table type book, similar to how Suspense 3 was used as the frontispiece for the Gerber Photo-Journal.  

For the life of me though, I just can't remember exactly what book it was since I saw it on the shelves of my LCS several years ago.  Obviously the book did not gain as much notoriety in the comic book hobby place as the Gerber Photo-Journal was able to achieved.

[lou_fine]

11 minutes ago, adamstrange said:

There's a Church copy.  There are probably others as well.

And it was listed in Chuck's MH catalog as a NM+ copy for what it's worth.  

Interesting to note that it also had a higher price point than all of its surrounding issues except for Blue Bolt 107 with the big red dinosaur cover which was also listed as a NM+ copy, but with the highest price point out of all the L.C. Blue Bolt covers.  

[october]

5 hours ago, PUNYHUMAN said:

That was a great time to score a lot of these classic covers.The 1990's. I bought my Amazing Man #22 shown over in classic Covers in General off of Harley Yee. Paid about $ 175.00. Those were the days . Now you have to take a second mortgage!

A lot of these were pretty affordable until recently. My BB 105 cost me about $450 on eBay and that was less than 10 years ago. Ditto on my VF range 115.