A New Way (for me) of Collecting 1 1

[lou_fine]

4 hours ago, Robot Man said:

Me too. I pretty much figured out I would never own an Allentown or Denver due to my limited budget but have come pretty close.

For me, it's pretty much the Tom Reilly SF pedigree books that I'll most likely never have another chance at given the current pricey marketplace. 

Had my chance at my first ever SD Con back in the early 90's when I saw a couple of Cap's and a couple of Marvel Mystery's sitting on Jon Warren's small table.  Took the 2 Cap's because they appeared to be brighter and in better shape and passed on the darker and seemingly not quite as nice Marvel Mystery's.  After I had gone through, the guy behind who's a fantastic boardie grabbed the 2 Marvel Mystery's and then explained to me that they were the Tom Reilly SF pedigree copies and I should be watching out for the SF "G" codes which Jon Warren (i.e. Overstreet's Pricing Update Editor at the time) himself clearly also missed.  

Edited April 26, 2021 by lou_fine

[KCOComics]

On 4/23/2021 at 11:30 PM, Math Teacher said:

I want to increase the number of GA comics in my collection. Originally, I thought about trying to buy every comic that was released in December, 1956, which was when I was born. As I looked into this, I had no idea of how many comics were released in a single month at that time. FYI - there were 154 comics released in that month. I'm sure that some of those books are valuable, and many others would be difficult, if not impossible, to find. After this research, I decided that was more than I wanted to take on or spend.

So, I am moving on to another project. I have decided that I want to own one comic for each year from 1938 to 2000. I am quite sure that I have the years 1960 - 2000 covered, and I probably have several years in the 1950s. I am a dedicated super-hero fan, but I also realize that buying all super-hero books would be expensive. So, I am willing to venture out into other genres. I would like to have at least one Superman issue and one Batman issue in this group, and I would also like to get at least one Timely issue. However, I have been collecting Marvel and DC for most of my adult life, so I would like to branch out into other companies. I am willing to look at romance, funny animal, PC horror, crime, war, science fiction, and any other genres that I can't think of right now.

So, my question is, what are some other companies that I should look into? I know of Fawcett and MLJ, but after that, my knowledge is quite limited.

I am sure I can find a Superman issue and a Batman issue on my own. But can you suggest a Timely book that I could purchase that wouldn't require me to take out a 2nd mortgage? I would like to get a Planet Comics from Fiction House, as I see how popular they are when I am in this forum. But I'm not sure that I could name another GA company, let alone know what books they published.

So, I would welcome any suggestions you might have regarding purchases I should consider. I am not looking to spend an arm and a leg, and I would actually prefer them to be raw, so I can read them. I would also like to get some of the more famous artists, such as Alex Schomburg, Charles Biro, Jack Binder, Matt Baker, Jack Cole, Reed Crandall, Lou Fine, Mort Meskin, Sprang, and many others of which I am not aware. I really want to branch out from super-heroes. I could read super-hero comics from my collection from now until the cows come home. If I need to buy two comics from each year to get some of these artists, so be it.

I am now ready to be dazzled by your learned advice.

Just chimming in to say, I love that your approaching this. 

There is something so appealing to me about the history of our hobby. And I find myself drawn to certain books of certain genres just for their historical significance, even if they aren't particularly valuable and probably won't rise like marvel Hero's.  

Enjoy the journey. 

[lou_fine]

On 4/25/2021 at 4:34 PM, lou_fine said:

On 4/25/2021 at 12:35 PM, Robot Man said:

Me too. I pretty much figured out I would never own an Allentown or Denver due to my limited budget but have come pretty close.

For me, it's pretty much the Tom Reilly SF pedigree books that I'll most likely never have another chance at given the current pricey marketplace. 

Well, I guess it's also going to be books from this newly designated The Promise Collection pedigree as given the nosebleed grades which these books have garnered so far, I am not going to be able to afford a single copy of any of these books.  

The only possible way is if Heritage decides to unwisely dump all 5,000 copies of these books into the marketplace at the exact same time,and just hopefully the sheer volume will allow the odd copy to slip through the cracks and right into my hands.  At least, that's how it worked with respect to my small handful of wins during the big Jon Berk auction which they had on CC a few years ago.    

[Point Five]

This is a neat project. Here's kind of a tasting menu with my biased picks:

1938: Ideally, an early DC even if just a filler copy. Price may be prohibitive.

1939-1941: Early DC and Fox are my favorites here.

1942-1945: Good years for Timely (Schomburg war covers) and Fiction House (Fight, Rangers, Planet). MLJ had some wild superhero war covers with Zip and Pep, which also transitioned into early Archie. Maybe a Catman (zany superhero title with a cult following; pricey tho) if you can snag one.

1946: kind of an off-year for most genres, but maybe a good year for a Walt Disney's Comics & Stories with a Walt Kelly cover.

1947-1950: great GGA years. Schomburg airbrush covers (Startling, Wonder, Exciting, Thrilling), Fiction House (Jungle, Jumbo) are some possibilities.

1951-1954: an embarrassment of riches but for sure I'd want an LB Cole cover, a Matt Baker romance, an EC, and maybe some precode horror or crime from another publisher. 

--

Good luck! You may end up focusing on collecting a particular artist or genre which is cool too. Definitely have fun with it, don't buy books you don't want just to fill up slots as there's lots and lots of gems with that wow factor if you dig for them.

 

[Math Teacher]

Here's where I stand now, in case you're interested

YEAR	COMIC	COMIC
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945	Daredevil #32
1946
1947	Four Color #178
1948	Batman #46 - #47
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954	Police Trap #2
1955	Black Knight #1 - #5	Brave and the Bold #1 - #3
1956	Brave and the Bold #4 - #9
1957	Brave and the Bold #10 - #15	Showcase #6
1958	Brave and the Bold #16 - #21	Showcase #17
1959	Brave and the Bold #22 - #24	Showcase #22
1960	Brave and the Bold #28 - #30
1961	Many
1962	Many

[fifties]

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