The Occult Files of Dr. Spector 0

[Greatwhite]

This is my only Gold Key book. I have the entire series. I know certain Gold Key books are valuable and this one is not. Any idea why? I thought it was a pretty good read as a kid and jumped at the chance to get the series on the cheap in the 1990’s. Even has a cross over with Dr. Solar which is kind of cool.

[seanfingh]

Gold Key never had the raw numbers of collectors that Marvel and DC did.  It changed format a couple of times throughout the run and it had some reprint issues. Other than the painted covers, the art is pretty pedestrian. I love Charltons, and to a lesser extent Gold Key, but I have always been pretty about Dr. Spektor.

[valiantman]

22 hours ago, Greatwhite said:

This is my only Gold Key book. I have the entire series. I know certain Gold Key books are valuable and this one is not. Any idea why? I thought it was a pretty good read as a kid and jumped at the chance to get the series on the cheap in the 1990’s. Even has a cross over with Dr. Solar which is kind of cool.

Gold Key books are valuable as a reflection of how long the characters lasted and any pop culture crossover.

Star Trek and Scooby Doo have the most popularity, and have the most value.

Dr. Solar and Magnus were revived in the 1990s and have been published by at least 3 publishers since Gold Key, so the earliest (#1) issues from Gold Key are major keys for those characters but not a lot of pop culture crossover.

A few other Gold Key books have some interest - Green Hornet had Bruce Lee on the cover, Space Ghost and other "cartoon network" characters have cult followings.

After those types of books, you have to wonder what would drive someone to collect Gold Key issues?  When you can't think of anything in particular, you answer your own question. 

I own just one Dr. Spektor slab, because it is high grade and contains a Dr. Solar appearance. 

[Greatwhite]

6 minutes ago, valiantman said:

Gold Key books are valuable as a reflection of how long the characters lasted and any pop culture crossover.

Star Trek and Scooby Doo have the most popularity, and have the most value.

Dr. Solar and Magnus were revived in the 1990s and have been published by at least 3 publishers since Gold Key, so the earliest (#1) issues from Gold Key are major keys for those characters but not a lot of pop culture crossover.

A few other Gold Key books have some interest - Green Hornet had Bruce Lee on the cover, Space Ghost and other "cartoon network" characters have cult followings.

After those types of books, you have to wonder what would drive someone to collect Gold Key issues?  When you can't think of anything in particular, you answer your own question. 

I own just one Dr. Spektor slab, because it is high grade and contains a Dr. Solar appearance. 

I have that one but I would have to slab it. Any idea what yours is worth? I understand what your are saying. I like Dr. Spector because I like the stories. But I understand a book that had a 17 issue run and was cancelled for poor sales will not be of much interest.

[valiantman]

23 minutes ago, Greatwhite said:

I have that one but I would have to slab it. Any idea what yours is worth? I understand what your are saying. I like Dr. Spector because I like the stories. But I understand a book that had a 17 issue run and was cancelled for poor sales will not be of much interest.

I bought that slab in 2005 for $23 shipped.  There's no way it's not worth at least $23, but I wouldn't estimate it much higher than $40. 

It probably wasn't worth the cost of slabbing, for whoever had it slabbed, but it did qualify for CGC grading as a "Modern" (1975-present).

[Greatwhite]

3 hours ago, valiantman said:

I bought that slab in 2005 for $23 shipped.  There's no way it's not worth at least $23, but I wouldn't estimate it much higher than $40. 

It probably wasn't worth the cost of slabbing, for whoever had it slabbed, but it did qualify for CGC grading as a "Modern" (1975-present).

Thanks. mine is definitely not greater than 9.0 but i think i will slab it to display on my wall. some good childhood memories tied up in reading horror books...

[Jeffro.]

I love Gold Keys but mainly for reading. There's a lot to dig into. Sure, the art sometimes isn't great but you can say that for many Marvel And DC artists of the time as well. In many cases though, the painted covers are far classier than most of what the big two were putting out at the time

[awe4one]

Any traction Gold Keys had for value in the market crashed when the Random House multiple Issue high grade collection was sold. Before HG GKs had some traction due to their scarcity. After the collection was sold they became common.

Jim

[valiantman]

On 9/23/2020 at 4:59 PM, awe4one said:

Any traction Gold Keys had for value in the market crashed when the Random House multiple Issue high grade collection was sold. Before HG GKs had some traction due to their scarcity. After the collection was sold they became common.

Jim

It's interesting because several books weren't in there, so the high grades are still scarce for those.  There's always an opportunity when general rules are applied to a group of books where there are exceptions.  The exceptions are usually bargains.

[Jeffro.]

Does anyone know if there is a master list of all comics from the Random House collection?

[EMazman]

On 9/23/2020 at 7:04 AM, valiantman said:

Gold Key books are valuable as a reflection of how long the characters lasted and any pop culture crossover.

Star Trek and Scooby Doo have the most popularity, and have the most value.

Dr. Solar and Magnus were revived in the 1990s and have been published by at least 3 publishers since Gold Key, so the earliest (#1) issues from Gold Key are major keys for those characters but not a lot of pop culture crossover.

A few other Gold Key books have some interest - Green Hornet had Bruce Lee on the cover, Space Ghost and other "cartoon network" characters have cult followings.

After those types of books, you have to wonder what would drive someone to collect Gold Key issues?  When you can't think of anything in particular, you answer your own question. 

I own just one Dr. Spektor slab, because it is high grade and contains a Dr. Solar appearance. 

http://valiantman.com/dream/0132737001_1200.jpg

I need this!  I have #18 but still searching for 18 and 23. Can't find this book anywhere.