Did I just find ACTION COMICS #1

[pkazee-migration]

I'm new here. I used to collect indy comics, but stopped quite a few years ago when I found I spent so much time collecting, that I no longer had time to read!

 

Anyway, not having any idea of the possible value of what he was handing me, the janitor where I work handed me a slightly yellowed, but otherwise pristine comic to look at. My hands started shaking and my jaw dropped when I saw what appeared to be a Very Fine copy of ACTION COMICS #1. I opened it briefly to look at the small print inside the cover to see if it might be a reprint, but the text said it was from 1938. I then handed it back to my new best friend, telling him to put it back in it's plastic sleeve and not to take it out again until I had a chance to do a little research on it. I then told him he might be a close to a million dollars richer!

 

Anyway, realizing how unlikely it is that he could actually have the real deal, I thought I'd come here for info. about conterfeits and such. Anybody want to give me any tips on how to spot a fake?

 

Thanks!

Paul

[ablue]

I'm new here. I used to collect indy comics, but stopped quite a few years ago when I found I spent so much time collecting, that I no longer had time to read!

 

Anyway, not having any idea of the possible value of what he was handing me, the janitor where I work handed me a slightly yellowed, but otherwise pristine comic to look at. My hands started shaking and my jaw dropped when I saw what appeared to be a Very Fine copy of ACTION COMICS #1. I opened it briefly to look at the small print inside the cover to see if it might be a reprint, but the text said it was from 1938. I then handed it back to my new best friend, telling him to put it back in it's plastic sleeve and not to take it out again until I had a chance to do a little research on it. I then told him he might be a close to a million dollars richer!

 

Anyway, realizing how unlikely it is that he could actually have the real deal, I thought I'd come here for info. about conterfeits and such. Anybody want to give me any tips on how to spot a fake?

 

Thanks!

Paul

 

Oh brother! is this forum getting so boring! People are creating shills just to stir things up! If you know the grade of the book and know the value and what issue that is then you MUST have some sence of what a reprint and what an original must look like

[Forbush-Man]

I'm new here. I used to collect indy comics, but stopped quite a few years ago when I found I spent so much time collecting, that I no longer had time to read!

 

Anyway, not having any idea of the possible value of what he was handing me, the janitor where I work handed me a slightly yellowed, but otherwise pristine comic to look at. My hands started shaking and my jaw dropped when I saw what appeared to be a Very Fine copy of ACTION COMICS #1. I opened it briefly to look at the small print inside the cover to see if it might be a reprint, but the text said it was from 1938. I then handed it back to my new best friend, telling him to put it back in it's plastic sleeve and not to take it out again until I had a chance to do a little research on it. I then told him he might be a close to a million dollars richer!

 

Anyway, realizing how unlikely it is that he could actually have the real deal, I thought I'd come here for info. about conterfeits and such. Anybody want to give me any tips on how to spot a fake?

 

Thanks!

Paul

 

 

If it was in a plastic sleeve,..........quickly offer him one million dollars for it,.........I SAID "QUICKLY", dang it !!!

 

 

[tth2]

On the basis that you`re not here shilling, run a search for posts about Action 1 by Ian_Levine. He`s outlined some of the differences that appear in the various reprints.

 

Better yet, post a clear scan or photo of the book here, and the various experts will be able to tell pretty quickly if it`s a reprint.

[Moondog]

Does it measure 10" x 13"?

 

If so, it's a reprint worth a couple of bucks.

[Rip]

Post a scan we'll look for the tell tales signs. The cover on the reprint is slightly different from the real thing.

[jokersrevenge]

shill

[tth2]

Patience. If you give them a little rope, the shills will always hang themselves, but all hostility should be reserved for when that happens.

[Forbush-Man]

[DarrenSmith]

You should ask the master researcher David Alexander.

[DarrenSmith]

But seriously, in case any newbies reading this thread, you can look at the guy in the left hand corner - there will be sweat coming off his face, on the right side of the car there will be a large boulder to the right of the car, on the car itself there should be white glair coming off the fender, etc

[Harvey Dude]

You should ask the master researcher David Alexander.

 

 

Great site to identify fakes versus the real thing.

 

Fake Action #1s

 

 

1938 Original 10¢ issue

Detection Notes:

• There is white glare on front fender (missing from all reprints).

• The running board is yellow (running board is green in all reprints).

• There are beads of sweat coming off the "scared" man (missing from all known reprints).

• There is a black "line" between the floating headlight and triangular green piece (missing from all known reprints).

[pkazee-migration]

Thanks guys! I've asked the guy to bring it to work with him again today, and hopefully, if we can't figure out how can it to our network from our copier (I've never done that, and I 'm sure he hasn't), then maybe he'll bring it back on Monday when the office staff are around to help. In any case, I did find some old posts here about a 10x13 reprint having been trimmed to look like the real deal, and thier were scans of both the real copy and the trimmed version in the thread - so that ought to give me something to start with.

 

As for Ablue's comment:

"If you know the grade of the book and know the value and what issue that is then you MUST have some sence of what a reprint and what an original must look like"

 

Well, I appreciate your disbelief, but not your attitude. First of all, I don't know the exact grade. I'm just guessing based upon having looked at the comic for all of 30 seconds before insisting that my friend put it back in it's plastic sleeve (he handed it to me over a movie theatre candy counter, for Odd's sake). Still, while I've been out of the comix scene for quite a few years, I did pay attention to grading when I was actively collecting, so I'm not a complete insufficiently_thoughtful_person in that area (there are many other areas in which I would qualify, however). As such, with a lilttle but of brushing up, I'm sure I could fairly accurately grade the comic.

 

BUT.. I did not ask about "reprints", I asked about counterfeits, which - if they exist - I presume would be harder to spot. . Reprints, of course, would normally be noted as such on the inside cover, which is why I mentioned having already looked there. Of course, the trimming of an oversized reprint was NOT something I would have thought about.

 

Anyway, thank you tth2 and DarrenSmith for suggesting I look for posts from Ian Levine and David Alexander. Can I search posts here by an author's real name? I see that I can do a search using a User Name, but I do not know what their User Names might be. And when I tried doing a regular search on both names, I only came up with references to them. I did also try to google them, however, and this did lead me to another price guide board where there were posts from an Ian Levine, so I'm going to sign up over there and try to contact him.

 

Thanks!

Paul

[Forbush-Man]

You should ask the master researcher David Alexander.

 

 

Good call !!!

 

Hey, maybe CGC could hire DTA to do reasearch/restoration check?

[pkazee-migration]

Thanks Harvey! That's a great link! Also, thank you Darren for the additional info!

[tth2]

Anyway, thank you tth2 and DarrenSmith for suggesting I look for posts from Ian Levine and David Alexander. Can I search posts here by an author's real name? I see that I can do a search using a User Name, but I do not know what their User Names might be.

Ian Levine`s ID = Ian_Levine (I already gave it to you in my initial post). But actually, most of the clues to identify a reprinted Action 1 have already been posted in this thread. Considering its value, surprisingly I`ve never heard of a counterfeit Action 1, other than someone trying to pass one of the reprints as the real thing.

 

BTW, ignore the reference to David Alexander, it was a joke.

[pkazee-migration]

Oops! I now see that you did. Sorry about that! In any case, thanks again. I think the info and scans at the link Harvey provided ought to be enough to guide me (and I think I can already rule out all of the reprint possibilities except for the FFE), but if I find that I still need help after looking at the comic more closely today, I will attempt to contact Ian. And, of course, if by some unlikely chance it turns out to be a legit #1, I'll report back here.

[Rip]

That website forgot to mention the rocks. The (2) rocks to the far right (just right of the front of the car)are missing in the reprint. That's really the easiest way to tell the difference. Check out the scans.

[ArAich]

Yup...it's all about the rocks...

[pkazee-migration]

I just realized that the FFE is the oversized one, so it's definitely not that, unless I somehow missed that the book was trimmed. That leaves the rumoured 1992 reprint, and the no-cover-price 1998 reprint, as the most likely options (I figure I'm more likely to have missed the absence of a cover price than to have not noticed a 50 cent or $1 cover price!). Anyway, when I see it later today, I'll look at the price, the rocks, the glare, the running board, the beads of sweat, and the little black line! I'll also look for trimmed edges!