The IRS Pedigree 1 1

[Azkaban]

I have a small article about it somewhere, let me see if I can find it and I'll post it

[Azkaban]

found it, from the Overstreet ComicBook Marketplace June 1993

[Crowzilla]

So my recollection on this (not having thought about it for 25+ years) is that while I was out there looking at the collection, Greenhalgh was there and decided he didn't want anything to do with it, Goldman was there and unsure, and a couple of other big names were there also. Most ended up declining to put in a bid (which had to be submitted with a deposit) and in the end that besides the winner, there were only like three-four other bids (I submitted one with Keith Contarino, Fishler did one, and maybe Geppi).

But even in the bids there was some sort of red tape involved, where we were told that if the winning bid was at least $180K that it could be approved immediately (I think this was the number they knew they could prove of loses at trial, even though they suspected much more). But a number below that amount would have to have some kind of vetting process for approval, as CO taxpayers would be eating the difference. But of the dealers I talked with, it was understood that the $180K amount was nuts and no dealer would ever bid that. I believe all of our submitted bids were somewhere in the $105-115K range (they opened them on a conference call) and Tim submitted one for $182K to just go over in case someone else also bid 180. No idea how long it took him to get his money back on that, but promoting it as a pedigree was probably one of the better ways to try.

[MyNameIsLegion]

1 hour ago, Crowzilla said:

So my recollection on this (not having thought about it for 25+ years) is that while I was out there looking at the collection, Greenhalgh was there and decided he didn't want anything to do with it, Goldman was there and unsure, and a couple of other big names were there also. Most ended up declining to put in a bid (which had to be submitted with a deposit) and in the end that besides the winner, there were only like three-four other bids (I submitted one with Keith Contarino, Fishler did one, and maybe Geppi).

But even in the bids there was some sort of red tape involved, where we were told that if the winning bid was at least $180K that it could be approved immediately (I think this was the number they knew they could prove of loses at trial, even though they suspected much more). But a number below that amount would have to have some kind of vetting process for approval, as CO taxpayers would be eating the difference. But of the dealers I talked with, it was understood that the $180K amount was nuts and no dealer would ever bid that. I believe all of our submitted bids were somewhere in the $105-115K range (they opened them on a conference call) and Tim submitted one for $182K to just go over in case someone else also bid 180. No idea how long it took him to get his money back on that, but promoting it as a pedigree was probably one of the better ways to try.

pardon me, but who is TIm? They won the IRS auction?  I have a couple Marvel B&W Magazines that I bought at SDCC in the late 90's that have a COA for the IRS collection with them. There was nothing remarkable about the condition or the prices ($10-15 bucks maybe) I think I have a Tales of the Zombie and maybe Vampire Tales. 

[EC ed]

[Crowzilla]

6 hours ago, MyNameIsLegion said:

pardon me, but who is TIm? They won the IRS auction?

Yes, Tim Collins ran RTS Unlimited. 

[IngelsFan]

14 hours ago, Azkaban said:

found it, from the Overstreet ComicBook Marketplace June 1993

It’s interesting that while the collection didn’t have any GA keys, it had the INSANELY rare New Fun 2, 4 & 5. 

[quicksilver]

On 6/4/2021 at 6:44 PM, IngelsFan said:

It’s interesting that while the collection didn’t have any GA keys, it had the INSANELY rare New Fun 2, 4 & 5. 

I remember an auction in the UK that had copies of most of those rare early DCs, it was from the estate of Denis Gifford some twenty years ago. Gary Dolgoff was bidding, Fishler bid by phone, and Harley sent a pal of his up to stick his hand in the air and leave it up for most of the lots, inc the Timeley Annuals.

[Larryw7]

59 minutes ago, quicksilver said:

I remember an auction in the UK that had copies of most of those rare early DCs, it was from the estate of Denis Gifford some twenty years ago. Gary Dolgoff was bidding, Fishler bid by phone, and Harley sent a pal of his up to stick his hand in the air and leave it up for most of the lots, inc the Timeley Annuals.

Gifford had as much influence on me as a kid as comic books did.

[Courageous Cat]

On 6/3/2021 at 8:35 PM, Albert Thurgood said:

Well if you actually read the blurb, like I did before I asked the question, it says the State of Colorado seized the collection. I don't see how SoC instead gets abbreviated to IRS. Then they also say CDR made the inventory of the collection.

Here it is again:

[rtsunlimited]

On 6/3/2021 at 6:35 PM, Albert Thurgood said:

Well if you actually read the blurb, like I did before I asked the question, it says the State of Colorado seized the collection. I don't see how SoC instead gets abbreviated to IRS. Then they also say CDR made the inventory of the collection.

Here it is again:

I bought the collection from the Colorado Department of Revenue in 1993(?). I think there was a mention of the collection in CBM using that name before I bought it. My recollection is that Bruce Ellsworth came up with the collection name and I ran with it. You can blame me for that. I still have a ton of the books too and will eventually start processing them again. All the keys and valuable stuff was sold long ago though. Sold the AF #15 for $5k. Wish I had kept that! 

[rtsunlimited]

You guys are faster than my memory!

[rtsunlimited]

@Robot ManThanks for starting this thread and bringing back many fond memories for me!

Funny thing, at one of the local shows in Denver I did with the collection, I sold some of the comics from the collection BACK to the guy! 

Prior to him getting caught, I used to see him regularly at Mile High Comics auctions - particularly at the Broadway store auctions. Man those were the days - I got a couple of Church Centaurs at those auctions. 

[rtsunlimited]

On 6/3/2021 at 1:31 PM, fifties said:

I have a few of them.

Wish I had kept this one.

[rtsunlimited]

On 6/4/2021 at 10:44 AM, IngelsFan said:

It’s interesting that while the collection didn’t have any GA keys, it had the INSANELY rare New Fun 2, 4 & 5. 

I kept the 4 and 5 for my personal collection - still have them too. 

There were some GA keys (e.g. More Fun 73, and 101, Superboy 1, etc). but none of the mega keys unfortunately.

[Robot Man]

2 hours ago, rtsunlimited said:

@Robot ManThanks for starting this thread and bringing back many fond memories for me!

Funny thing, at one of the local shows in Denver I did with the collection, I sold some of the comics from the collection BACK to the guy! 

Prior to him getting caught, I used to see him regularly at Mile High Comics auctions - particularly at the Broadway store auctions. Man those were the days - I got a couple of Church Centaurs at those auctions. 

Thanks for coming on and sharing your recolations of this collection . I remember when it debuted at SDCC. It was the talk of the show that year. 

Amazing the guy was still involved in comics after he served his time. 

[Duffman_Comics]

I've got a few of these, bought at the 1995 San Diego Convention. Didn't really care about the "provenance", just the books themselves, a few books that finished off  the "Blackhawks as superheroes run".

I do like odd ball books and that run was as silly as comics get.

Here's a link to a much earlier thread that goes into greater detail about how Aran Stubbs did it and the pivotal role Harley Yee played in the investigation: