So where are all the Edgar Church Pulps?

[shrunkenhead]

Btw, black masks in any grade will cost you a bunch, generally speaking. I know a guy who was collecting them for work on a history of pulps book that I believe is going to publication soon...he spent a ton of dough on those books on ebay, and he always went for the lowest grade possible.

 

Considering the price of Golden Age comics, the price asked for many pulps is very little.

 

True, though Black Masks and some Weird Tales seem to be in a class of their own, pricewise.

 

But you are right...I brought this up not too long ago on the forums when a midgrade copy of Reform School Girls went for over 4k on ebay....that's just nuts to me. I know that that book has a "reputation," , but to me the cover is no different than a bazillion pulps that you can get on ebay for 15 bucks (in comparable or slightly lower grade) any day of the week. I just don't get it.

[Forbush-Man]

I'd add Spicy's titles to that list.

 

get a guide!

 

There are a LOT of pulps that are very reasonible compared to current Golden Age comic prices!

[Forbush-Man]

For example:

 

The Shadow pulp (first costumed hero, 1931) is priced at:

 

Good $ 3,500.00

VG $ 7,500.00

Fine $15,000.00

 

Now, $15,000.00 is a LOT of money but, considering what an Action Comics # 1 goes for, or a nice Amazing Fantasy # 15, it's not all that bad for a scarce book.

 

Just MHO!

[shrunkenhead]

True, but the Shadow is hardly as dominant a force in pop culture and Spidey or Supes.

 

And the movie sucked.

 

But hell, I'd be pleased as punch to own that book.

[*paull*]

Shrunkenhead is exactly right.... I just don't understand why those "bad girl" covers go for so much money. There are SO MANY pulps and sleaze paperbacks with MUCH better covers... it's not even a fair comparison. Just because Reform School Girl is a comic it sells for so much more. It's ludicrous.

[rjpb]

Thinking of "church" quality pulps reminds me of a collection I saw at a Columbus Ohio comic-con in the early 70s. A dealer had a few hundred pulps in incredible condition - with fantastic page quality, and beautiful spines. They all looked like they had just been picked off the newstand. I looked through them because at the time I bought the occaissonal Shadow pulp, but there weren't any in the collection. I do remember pondering a run of Captain Satan - which were priced at something like $35 each, and thinking about blowing all my comic money on them, but passed. Used to browning pages and ragged overhangs, I was amazed at the quality of these books, and today I wonder where the collection came from.

 

Actually, $35 per issue would have been quite a bit of money back in the early 70's. You have to remember that very early Golden-Age DC and Timely books were guiding for less than $100 in Mint condition then.

 

Of course, it didn't mean that you could necessarily find them at all in the marketplace for anywhere close to those prices, if at all.

 

So true - though the guide values were initially 2:1 they quickly moved to 3:1, and while HG SA was relatively common - HG GA was nearly impossible - anything nicer than a VG was scarce ( far more so than today). Around that time you could buy a G - VG war era Captain America for $30-$35 dollars, and I was paying $30 - $40 for 1932/33 Shadow pulps in average condition.

The dealer knew he had extremely nice pulps and was asking what was then top dollar. Obviously HG SA was a smarter investment - though prices from the "early 70s" can be misleading as many Marvels ( especially keys) were doubling in value every year back then. Pulps would have been a relatively weak investment regardless of grade, as their values in most cases have not even kept up with inflation.