Mile High II Pedigree? 1 1

[telerites]

I was curious how this book received the new pedigree label.  I did not think CGC considers this a pedigree any longer and hasn't for some time (it is not on their current list and I forget when it changed).  Even on a reholder, CGC shouldn't consider it a pedigree.  There is no notation on the label of Mile II yet it is listed as such in the current weekly HA.  Not trying to bash the book if its owner is a board member - just curious.

Strange Tales #179 Mile High II Pedigree (Marvel, 1975) CGC NM- 9.2 White pages. Featuring Adam Warlock. First appearance of Pip the Troll. Jim Starlin story, cover, and art. Overstreet 2019 NM- 9.2 value = $85. CGC census 3/20: 66 in 9.2, 199 higher.

Edited March 24, 2020 by telerites

[seanfingh]

MHII (if they really do retroactively "re-certify" it as a Pedigree) will be so jacked up that it will be meaningless.  And for many it was meaningless already, as it is a warehouse find and has dubious fraudulent origins. But I know of dozens of books that were cracked out of MHII notated slabs, pressed and resubbed with no provenance (because it was no longer recognized).  I have to imagine that there were hundreds and hundreds more that received the same treatment. 

It seems either dumb or like a cash grab, both of which are not outside the realm of possibility. 

[telerites]

28 minutes ago, seanfingh said:

MHII (if they really do retroactively "re-certify" it as a Pedigree) will be so jacked up that it will be meaningless.  And for many it was meaningless already, as it is a warehouse find and has dubious fraudulent origins. But I know of dozens of books that were cracked out of MHII notated slabs, pressed and resubbed with no provenance (because it was no longer recognized).  I have to imagine that there were hundreds and hundreds more that received the same treatment. 

It seems either dumb or like a cash grab, both of which are not outside the realm of possibility. 

Hi Sean 

Tell us how you really feel 

This doesn't even show the notation on the label - I am assuming it a mistake at I hope it it.  I personally thought the MHII ped was ludicrous from the beginning.

[comicdonna]

Quality control has been a joke lately.  Last week, several books from a noted collection were  posted.  They had pedigree  labels.  Many other mislabels as well, including grades ending in .4  

[Gatsby77]

I don't mind the Mile High II designation (simliar to the "From the Collection of...") because it's a cool story, but yeah - it's a warehouse find. Also ludicrous to give it a Pedigree label when it's a 9.2 of a common Bronze Marvel.

I also subscribe to the conspiracy theory that the primary reason Conan # 3 was noted as "low distribution" in Overstreet's was simply that Chuck didn't find many in the MH II find.

[Dick Pontoon]

I don't have my '70s Overstreets handy, but I'm pretty sure it was designated as such before MHII came to be.

[aardvark88]

Mile High II = 'from the collection of the Mafia warehouse.'

[telerites]

You would think HA would know it is incorrectly labeled. 

[Gatsby77]

12 hours ago, Pontoon said:

I don't have my '70s Overstreets handy, but I'm pretty sure it was designated as such before MHII came to be.

I'd like to see that.

Chuck's maintained in his "Tales from the Database" column that Conan 3 just sold out more quickly because the Grim Grey God story was a fan favorite - that, # 1 aside, other issues sold primarily based on the popularity of their underlying story adaptations. Others believe Chuck himself was such a fan of the story that *he* bought up tons of copies upon release, and self-reported the shortage.

There's a long thread here on the boards in which some dealers from the 1970s maintain their theory (which i've heard elsewhere) that the only reasons both Conan # 3 and Silver Surfer # 4 have "low distribution" notations in Overstreets is that both books were entirely missing from the Mile High II mafia find.

Finally, Conan scribe Roy Thomas is on record about the print runs in his essay in the back of "The Chronicles of Conan Volume 1" trade that Conan # 7 had the lowest sales (thus, presumably...print run) of the first 13 or so issues:

"It would take months to learn this--around the time we were up to # 12-13 or so--but each issue of the comic from # 1-7 decreased in sales before the one before it."

He later notes that sales drastically improved with issues # 8 and 9 and saved the title from cancellation.

[Dick Pontoon]

1 hour ago, Gatsby77 said:

I'd like to see that.

Chuck's maintained in his "Tales from the Database" column that Conan 3 just sold out more quickly because the Grim Grey God story was a fan favorite - that, # 1 aside, other issues sold primarily based on the popularity of their underlying story adaptations. Others believe Chuck himself was such a fan of the story that *he* bought up tons of copies upon release, and self-reported the shortage.

There's a long thread here on the boards in which some dealers from the 1970s maintain their theory (which i've heard elsewhere) that the only reasons both Conan # 3 and Silver Surfer # 4 have "low distribution" notations in Overstreets is that both books were entirely missing from the Mile High II mafia find.

Finally, Conan scribe Roy Thomas is on record about the print runs in his essay in the back of "The Chronicles of Conan Volume 1" trade that Conan # 7 had the lowest sales (thus, presumably...print run) of the first 13 or so issues:

"It would take months to learn this--around the time we were up to # 12-13 or so--but each issue of the comic from # 1-7 decreased in sales before the one before it."

He later notes that sales drastically improved with issues # 8 and 9 and saved the title from cancellation.

The oldest one I can pull out quickly is #8, from 1978, years before MHII (1985). Pretty sure both issues were cited the same way in 1977. Neither book has ever appeared to have been in short supply in my travels.

 

[Gatsby77]

18 minutes ago, Pontoon said:

The oldest one I can pull out quickly is #8, from 1978, years before MHII (1985). Pretty sure both issues were cited the same way in 1977. Neither book has ever appeared to have been in short supply in my travels.

 

Noted! Thanks much. I will stop spreading the Mile High II rumor now.

I *love* that Roy Thomas has said Conan # 3 sold more copies than # 4, 5, etc. and that # 7 had the lowest sales of the first 12-13.

Another theory is that one or both of the notations above was false information inserted by Overstreet to prevent plagiarism of his guides.

Either way, I think Conan # 3 is over-priced due to the decades-old *believe* that it was short-printed or had short distribution.

# 4, for instance, is far harder to find in high grade (CGC 9.4+) than # 3, and # 10-12 are easily the toughest in grade of the first 50 issues.