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Don Rosa Poll - Pedigree or Collection?

Started by Warlord,

Don Rosa Poll - Pedigree or Collection  

630 members have voted

  1. 1. Don Rosa Poll - Pedigree or Collection

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497 posts in this topic

Foolkiller

Foolkiller

Posted
Posted

Maybe we could get Steve Wyatt to clear this up, because I am not clear that is what he told me -- I could be wrong, because I know that Rosa had all titles complete from 65 forward. Now 62 to 65 I think it's almost complete, and then there's his golden age collection.

 

My understanding is that the Pedigree would still be the 65-70 books.

 

But I think the best one to clear it up is Steve himself, so I'm going to send him an email.

 

At the National, Steve Wyatt told me that all books from 1974 and after were bought off the rack by Don Rosa -- he is the original owner.

 

Books pre-1974 were purchased by Don on the secondary market. In most cases, Rosa is not the original owner of these pre-1974 books.

 

This I am certain he told me.

 

I asked Steve about the pedigree vs. collection designation, and (if I recall correctly) he stated that there is the possibility that CGC could use either designation depending on the cover date of the book.

 

Then again, he was talking fast, it was noisy, and I could have misinterpreted this part of our conversation.

 

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Buck Biggins

Buck Biggins

Posted
Posted

I love the Rosa books as well. Does anybody know of any other collections/pedigrees that may come to light in the next several years similiar to the Rosa books? Seeing all these nice books and buying some of them has made the hobby more enjoyable for me at least and I look forward to the next one like this.

 

Seems like quite a few of us on the boards here picked up a copy or two from this collection and it it has made for good conversation.

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Montezuma

Montezuma

Posted
Posted

I don't know a lot about the Don Rosa collection, I do know that he sold a couple hundred of his low grade Golden Age, 50's books a few years back. My LCS had a long box of them, mostly reader copies at best. Each book had a card with it stating "From the collection of Don Rosa", and signed by Don. I need to find one of the cards to scan. I picked up some low grade precode horror and some Barks signed by Don. Since they were low grade the price was right.

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Mr. Zipper

Mr. Zipper

Posted
Posted
Maybe we could get Steve Wyatt to clear this up, because I am not clear that is what he told me -- I could be wrong, because I know that Rosa had all titles complete from 65 forward. Now 62 to 65 I think it's almost complete, and then there's his golden age collection.

 

My understanding is that the Pedigree would still be the 65-70 books.

 

But I think the best one to clear it up is Steve himself, so I'm going to send him an email.

 

Thanks, Brian... please let us know what he says.

 

In our conversation he was throwing around a lot of dates, and I may have misunderstood what he said.

 

I distinctly recall him saying that Rosa purchased books on the secondary market prior to a certain date to complete his runs... 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

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jediknight

jediknight

Posted
Posted

For what it's worth I've seen a sample of these comics and they are darn nice. When I say nice I mean the inking and overall colors are unusally deep and extremely reflective. How did they get like that? Was it because they weren't stored in bags but stacked on each other or something. Look at some of these early BA and SA stuff and you will see what I mean.

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MasterChief

MasterChief

Posted
Posted

Long time lurker, first time poster. I've come down from my observation post in an effort to hopefully help clear-up some misunderstanding and speculation surrounding the Don Rosa Collection Pedigree.

 

I was first introduced to the Pedigree during the San Diego Comic-Con where I had the fortunate opportunity to purchase a broad cross-section of high grade Marvel horror books. The dealer bringing the collection to market was selling on behalf of Don, who by the way, was there overseeing/observing the liquidation of his comic-collecting persona.  You could ever-so-slightly sense from Don the hesitation in letting go of his nostalgic past.  The books have a unique look, feel, and smell which is directly attributed to the method used in caring and storing them.

 

Since that time I've followed several discussion-board threads regarding the Rosa Pedigree. Like many others, I find the stories surrounding pedigrees fascinating and I wanted to learn more regarding this one. With that in mind, I delved in. Almost immediately I couldn't help but notice comments and statements that were contrary to what I recall hearing from Steve Wyatt and his partners during the San Diego show.

 

To satisfy my curiosity and cement my understanding of the story, I decided to email Steve some questions. What started out as an electronic information request turned into several interesting phone call conversations –– the breadth of which is capture below.

 

Please understand, a journalist I am not. Nor am I a writer. With that said, the following answers are not exact to-the-letter quotes from Steve. They have been embellished with the reader in mind. They're founded and framed on the notes I took during our conversations, then fleshed-out with the recollection of discussions I had with Steve's partners during the San Diego Con. Additionally, final touches were included with minor details based on personal research. To ensure accuracy, the answers have been reviewed by Steve in totality. With his blessing, I post them here for you.

 

Finally, Steve asks, if you have any additional question regarding the Don Rosa Collection Pedigree to email him directly. His address is below.

 

*************

 

To: 'Steven Wyatt'

Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2005 8:32 PM

Subject: Don Rosa Pedigree

 

Steve,

 

Really enjoy the Rosa books I've purchased from you these past few weeks, in addition to the stuff I got at the San Diego Con. Just wanted to say thanks. No doubt the Don Rosa Collection is one of the biggest retail efforts taken to market thus far.

 

I have some questions regarding the collection that hopefully you can clear up. Don't mean to bombard you with them, Steve, but as a collector, I am very much interested in the who, what, where, when and why aspect of a collection. The Rosa Pedigree is an intriguing story, and I'd like to know, as well as others I'm sure, the ins and outs of it.

 

Many thanks, Steve! Keep up the good work! I really appreciate any and all information you may provide, so here goes:

 

1. During your initial inventory efforts of the collection, did you personally assign a grade to every issue?

 

ANSWER: Yes I did. I went thru well over 13,000 books, beginning with the year 1970 and on through to the late 1980's, and graded each and everyone. If you bought some non-CGC graded stuff from me you will notice my grade on the price tag. You'll also recall the prices being set at Overstreet with no discounting considered.

 

2. Is there a master catalogue list of the collection which records, in addition to other information, each books' Certificate of Authenticity number?

 

ANSWER: Yes, there is a list. CGC has a copy and so do I. The list will help CGC identify the authenticity of books submitted as being from the "Don Rosa Collection".

 

3. How was it determined which books would be sent to CGC for grading?

 

ANSWER: During my week at Don's house, I went thru 13,000 books from 1970 and later. Out of those books I pulled approximately 1,900 which I believed would grade 9.4 or better. Keep in mind, I pulled books that were meaningful and some of the best examples of comics from the 1970's. Later-date books I didn't considered. Mainly because a good majority of them were not worth grading monetarily wise, so I didn't pull them. My plan was/is to sale those particular "low value books" as complete-run sets...sell them as a whole if you would. For example, Spectacular Spiderman #1 thru whatever, or OMAC #1 thru 8, ect.

 

Following that week, I drove the collection to Florida and personally delivered 1,900 hand-picked books to CGC, wherein they began to go thru a pre-screening process. Everything that screened 9.4 or better was graded and slabbed. Those that didn't meet the 9.4 cutoff were returned. Out of the 1,900 books submitted, 300 didn't make the cut. 85% of the books submitted passed and graded 9.4 or better.

 

4. Did you receive the COAs back from CGC after grading?

 

ANSWER: There are no COAs for the original 1,600 graded books. I drove that stuff straight to CGC from Don's house. The creation of COAs didn't happen until after I got back home with the collection and prior to its premier at the 2005 San Diego Comic Con.

 

5. I understand you are selling the Don Rosa Collection Pedigree from 1970 and beyond. What about the pre-1970 books, will that come to market as well?

 

ANSWER: Probably, Don has not decided yet. That's a hard decision to for him to make. Although I wouldn't say selling the 1970 to 1980's stuff was an easy call, he was just more comfortable with letting it go. Currently, I am only selling the books from 1970 and up. This is only a portion of the massive Don Rosa Collection Pedigree. The entire Pedigree contains complete runs of every comic book, magazine, treasury, and digest from every publisher dating from 1966 thru the late 1980's.

 

6. Regarding the Don Rosa Collection Pedigree, were all these books bought by Rosa "off the rack" firsthand or were they bought on the secondary market?

 

ANSWER: Off the rack. All the books from 1966 to the late 1980's were purchased by Don firsthand, everything. He is the original owner.

 

Don is quite the comic-collecting perfectionist. His desire was to pick only the very best looking comics at the time of purchase, and it shows. Don bought his books from three primary locations in Louisville, Kentucky. One main store, a magazine store, and a pharmacy. Without fail, Don was there buying all the books on the day they hit the stand. That was his nature. He had to be there when they hit so he could get the very best stuff.

 

Additionally, Don's method of storing his collection was quite unique. His books were not stored in bags, like a lot of people think. The comics were placed standing up, in archival boxes. No bags, no boards. The collection was housed in his basement and the boxes were meticulously placed and arranged in order on shelving he constructed. He installed a heater/humidifier for climate control and the basement had its own generator just in case of an electrical emergency. All of these perfectionist-like-efforts created optimum storages conditions. That's why the books look the way they do. Just absolutely incredible stuff.

 

7. Numerous Rosa books have been purchased from you as non-CGC graded specimens then subsequently submitted to CGC for certification, and some have returned with pretty high grades, including 9.6 and 9.8's. How do you feel about that?

 

ANSWER: I'm perfectly comfortable with that. I did my best grading and submitting what I thought would make the cut. It was tuff looking at 13,000 books in a week. But, overall, I believe I was pretty consistent. I'm happy with the percentage of books we submitted which graded 9.4 or better. If someone pulls, submits, and gets some high-grade stuff, well, I think that's great. There's possibly more where that came from.

 

*************

 

 

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