UPDATED: My Nominee for the "First Great Comic Collector" 12 12

[Professor K]

On 12/26/2022 at 7:48 PM, Sarg said:

Inflation calculator

$300 in 1966 = $2,583 in current value

A huge sum to spend on comic books in the 1960s. 

Actually in comics it way more. 1966 comic= .12 cents. 2022 comics are like 4 bucks. 33X more. By this formula that's like spending 9,900 on comics.

[lou_fine]

On 12/26/2022 at 4:48 PM, Sarg said:

Inflation calculator

$300 in 1966 = $2,583 in current value

A huge sum to spend on comic books in the 1960s. 

 

On 12/26/2022 at 6:22 PM, Professor K said:

Actually in comics it way more. 1966 comic= .12 cents. 2022 comics are like 4 bucks. 33X more. By this formula that's like spending 9,900 on comics.

Not sure why you would be using prices for new comic books when this is really more of a back issue comic book website more than anything else.  

And as such, shouldn't we be using something like the price for a copy of bellwether book like Action Comics 1 which our very own @Mmehdy had brought for the headline grabbing price of $1,801.26 back in 1973, as compared to the 3 highest recorded sales of Action 1 to date so far ranging from $3.18M to $3.2M or an inflation multiple of something like 1,800X.  By this formula, that's like spending over half a million on comics. 

[Robot Man]

On 12/26/2022 at 4:48 PM, Sarg said:

Inflation calculator

$300 in 1966 = $2,583 in current value

A huge sum to spend on comic books in the 1960s. 

I remember Burt Blum at Cherokee books offering me a pretty nice copy of Action #1 for $300 around 1968. It felt like a million bucks at the time. I had to be content to buy small piles of PCH, GGA and other Atomic Age books for $1-3 each out of his boxes in the hall. 

[originalisbest]

On 12/28/2022 at 9:56 AM, Robot Man said:

I remember Burt Blum at Cherokee books offering me a pretty nice copy of Action #1 for $300 around 1968. It felt like a million bucks at the time. I had to be content to buy small piles of PCH, GGA and other Atomic Age books for $1-3 each out of his boxes in the hall. 

Well, well before my time, but what kid would generally have had access to $300 in 1968, and even if they did, parents indulgent enough to let them spend that "on a comic book" (even if they appreciated Action #1) without blowing a gasket!  

[originalisbest]

Oh and by kid I mean your typical 12-14 year old. But even a young worker of 16-18 would be hard pressed to find $300 to spend in 1968 for a "comic" vs. say, their hot new used dream car to drive around in. ;-)

[Professor K]

On 12/28/2022 at 3:01 PM, originalisbest said:

Oh and by kid I mean your typical 12-14 year old. But even a young worker of 16-18 would be hard pressed to find $300 to spend in 1968 for a "comic" vs. say, their hot new used dream car to drive around in. ;-)

So true. Can't drive your girl to the rootbeer stand in an Action Comics #1. 

[lou_fine]

On 12/28/2022 at 7:56 AM, Robot Man said:

I remember Burt Blum at Cherokee books offering me a pretty nice copy of Action #1 for $300 around 1968.

Well, maybe this is one of the price points that Overstreet had used when he did his first price guide and set the top of guide value for Action 1 at $300.  

Of course, apparently most people then referred to it as the Overprice Guide since the feeling was that nobody in their right mind would ever pay that kind of price for an old used comic book.    

[Dr. Balls]

This is probably one of the most entertaining threads I've read in all the years on the boards. Thanks for the Dave Jay info and thanks to all the boardies who keep the discussion going (and an awesome visit from Bill). I'm a youngster (collecting since the early 80's as a kid) and reading about the earlier decades of collecting is quite a bit of fun.

Edited December 29, 2022 by Dr. Balls

[Robot Man]

On 12/29/2022 at 9:21 AM, lou_fine said:

Well, maybe this is one of the price points that Overstreet had used when he did his first price guide and set the top of guide value for Action 1 at $300.  

Of course, apparently most people then referred to it as the Overprice Guide since the feeling was that nobody in their right mind would ever pay that kind of price for an old used comic book.    

I remember that well. But like CGC, the internet and pressing, eventually it became the accepted price guide to everyone. Now pricing has become the wild, wild, west. 

[Randall Dowling]

On 12/29/2022 at 11:21 AM, lou_fine said:

Of course, apparently most people then referred to it as the Overprice Guide since the feeling was that nobody in their right mind would ever pay that kind of price for an old used comic book.    

We always called it "The Overpriced Street Guide" growing up.  Which was cute for a little while but by the 80s, had lost it's novelty as comics were going for more and more money.  It also had become an invaluable reference both for the color picture section but also for the dealer listings and notes for significant books.  We would take car trips across the US in the summers and if we were lucky, we managed to talk our parents into letting us visit the LCS when we were close by.  

Without Overstreet, that would have been nearly impossible.

[sfcityduck]

A very good day for me as a collector!  

Today I picked up a copy of "Dave Jay's" (Wigransky's) book Raising Hell!  DJ is not in perfect condition and the bookseller's price (and description) reflected that he'd read this thread, but a grail acquired for me!  

Pics to follow as it has interior art by Dave I'd not seen before.  

This motivates me to update Dave's story with some additional new info that paints a much more vivid picture of who he was.

I should also probably just set forth his story in one telling, instead of the spoon out I did for this thread.

Edited January 26, 2023 by sfcityduck

[sfcityduck]

Beer Dave is on the way!  Cannot wait to read this thing!

[sfcityduck]

I've finally got my grail in hand.  The book is about as thick as Gone With the Wind and runs almost 600 pages of small type.  I'm going to read this thing if it kills me.

It is filled with Dave Wigransky's art. The Wolverton influence is obvious. Wigransky could have been an undergound comic artist. A few examples:

And the illustrations reflect his love of Jolson and Brando discussed up thread.  His taste in music was definitely mainstream pop, but I know from his ads in record zines he did have some early rock and roll, and Elvis makes his list of teen idols:

But what touches me the most is the back cover of the book.  It contains some hype blurbs that would have been written by Wigransky because this thing was self-published.  And the biggest boldest font of all is given to something which I think really is a reflection of his debate with Wertham:

 

 

 

 

Edited January 26, 2023 by sfcityduck

[Marty Mann]

 

What are the odds that DAVID WIGRANSKY and I would enter the same contest, be selected and have  our names

and addresses appear in the same issue of PEP COMICS #60?

[Pickie]

On 1/29/2023 at 5:59 PM, Marty Mann said:

 

What are the odds that DAVID WIGRANSKY and I would enter the same contest, be selected and have  our names

and addresses appear in the same issue of PEP COMICS #60?

Sounds like a safe bet 

[sfcityduck]

On 1/29/2023 at 8:59 AM, Marty Mann said:

 

What are the odds that DAVID WIGRANSKY and I would enter the same contest, be selected and have  our names

and addresses appear in the same issue of PEP COMICS #60?

Marty that revelation by you was one the cooler moments on the thread!  

[Marty Mann]

Anyone know how many of these great collectors are still alive to talk about their collections?

[sfcityduck]

On 1/31/2023 at 6:08 AM, Marty Mann said:

Anyone know how many of these great collectors are still alive to talk about their collections?

Fewer and fewer from the early days.  A lot folks were interviewed over the years thankfully.  And it is fun to read stories like yours. For guys like Wigransky who died young all we got is second hand info. You ever going to reveal which of the people on that list of winners you are?  No pressure but it is nice to put a name to stories just for sake of preserving a bit of oral history.

[Marty Mann]

Thanks...but I shall remain Marty Mann.

[Dr. Balls]

I come back to this thread every few months and still find stuff to read. Thanks, @sfcityduck