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I regret not buying from the Davis Crippen Collection
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Started by Pickie,

104 posts in this topic

Pickie

Pickie

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9 hours ago, Dr. Love said:

I was ringside for the romance rollout, and it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.  The best because there had never been anything even remotely approaching what was bringing brought to market.  Remember, while there were (in the end) more Church romance in which the titles/issues were known, 99% of that stock was in private hands and wasn't available.  It still remains to be seen as to whether it was all in Verzyl's or whether it was scattered around.  The Crippen collection, however, was being completely liquidated, and all through one auction house.

So imagine - it's August 10, 2006, and there are 2 books going up, the first look at the Crippen romance, and one of those two is the Ditko romance holy grail - Daring Love #1 9.0 OW.   It went for the unheard of amount at the time for a romance book, of $1,792.  A week later, August 20, the real rollout begins - a Sunday night blowout containing a staggering 80 raw lots.  At that time if you could get together all the romance books being held by all dealers it would probably be several hundred or so books.  80 lots, not just the kind of junk you'd find on Ebay, but quality pedigreed books?  It was like a dream come true!

Or a nightmare.  How do you strategize the expenditures?  I had been collecting romance for over a decade at this point, enough time to make it my focus to the exclusion of all other genres.  The Crippen romance offered me the opportunity of a lifetime.  Still - how much to spend on each book, on any one book?  With decisions having to be made every 20 seconds?  The total for the night, all lots combined, was $5,225.  I didn't have that kind of money to throw at romance in one lump, at this at the very beginning of the Crippen rollout!  That amounted to an average of $65 per book for an average F/VF raw.  With HA grading, which was always going to be at least a half grade gimme for a monster consignment.  With Crippen foxing not really being taken into account.  And foxing appearing for the most part on the back cover, which you didn't get scans for.  $65 for a F/VF, at that time, was about double what an average F/VF would get in the market.

And there was no way of knowing how many more romance there was to come.  Would it be 500 more books?  1000?  5000?  Which books, from which publishers?  Charlton or Marvel, Fox or St. John?  Star or Fawcett?  Gold or silver?  Offered alphabetically, always?  Over what period of time?  80 per week, which nearly destroyed me?

So while I was ecstatic, I was also a nervous wreck as the weekend approached, every week for about 6 months as the majority were absorbed into the market.  Maybe 50 or so slabs, the rest raw.  I learned to prioritize.  Many were bought, but many more got away.

Wow, thank you for this report. What an adventure for a collector. That must have been like a "first-hand" experience ... (Limited) choosing from a freshly discovered hoard. :golfclap:

 

Edited by Pickie
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Tri-Color Brian

Tri-Color Brian

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18 hours ago, Dr. Love said:

Absolutely.  Quantity wise, the Crippen romance were second only to Church - I make it approx 900 Crippen vs approx 1,000 Church.  To give you some idea of the size of the romance portions of other peds, next in line is probably Savannah coming in around 400 and then Crowley at 375, with only a smattering of romance in other peds (Ohio, Windy City, Oakland, etc) if at all.

I was ringside for the romance rollout, and it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.  The best because there had never been anything even remotely approaching what was bringing brought to market.  Remember, while there were (in the end) more Church romance in which the titles/issues were known, 99% of that stock was in private hands and wasn't available.  It still remains to be seen as to whether it was all in Verzyl's or whether it was scattered around.  The Crippen collection, however, was being completely liquidated, and all through one auction house.

So imagine - it's August 10, 2006, and there are 2 books going up, the first look at the Crippen romance, and one of those two is the Ditko romance holy grail - Daring Love #1 9.0 OW.   It went for the unheard of amount at the time for a romance book, of $1,792.  A week later, August 20, the real rollout begins - a Sunday night blowout containing a staggering 80 raw lots.  At that time if you could get together all the romance books being held by all dealers it would probably be several hundred or so books.  80 lots, not just the kind of junk you'd find on Ebay, but quality pedigreed books?  It was like a dream come true!

Or a nightmare.  How do you strategize the expenditures?  I had been collecting romance for over a decade at this point, enough time to make it my focus to the exclusion of all other genres.  The Crippen romance offered me the opportunity of a lifetime.  Still - how much to spend on each book, on any one book?  With decisions having to be made every 20 seconds?  The total for the night, all lots combined, was $5,225.  I didn't have that kind of money to throw at romance in one lump, at this at the very beginning of the Crippen rollout!  That amounted to an average of $65 per book for an average F/VF raw.  With HA grading, which was always going to be at least a half grade gimme for a monster consignment.  With Crippen foxing not really being taken into account.  And foxing appearing for the most part on the back cover, which you didn't get scans for.  $65 for a F/VF, at that time, was about double what an average F/VF would get in the market.

And there was no way of knowing how many more romance there was to come.  Would it be 500 more books?  1000?  5000?  Which books, from which publishers?  Charlton or Marvel, Fox or St. John?  Star or Fawcett?  Gold or silver?  Offered alphabetically, always?  Over what period of time?  80 per week, which nearly destroyed me?

So while I was ecstatic, I was also a nervous wreck as the weekend approached, every week for about 6 months as the majority were absorbed into the market.  Maybe 50 or so slabs, the rest raw.  I learned to prioritize.  Many were bought, but many more got away.

 

So, Doc, were you able to get one of the Crippen Wartime Romances #17s?  There were 2 of them, ya know...

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Dr. Love

Dr. Love

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2 hours ago, Tri-ColorBrian said:

So, Doc, were you able to get one of the Crippen Wartime Romances #17s?  There were 2 of them, ya know...

Nope. Looking for reasons to cut the numbers down, in general Fine wouldnt make it for me given HA's tendency to over grade. And if I could see foxing on the front cover, like with the 17, that would be an automatic pass.

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Tri-Color Brian

Tri-Color Brian

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47 minutes ago, Dr. Love said:

Nope. Looking for reasons to cut the numbers down, in general Fine wouldnt make it for me given HA's tendency to over grade. And if I could see foxing on the front cover, like with the 17, that would be an automatic pass.

Sounds like an "automatic" mistake to me...:baiting:

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