The thrill of the hunt is thrilling when you find the book 3 3

[Westy Steve]

Ok, you got me. I guess you can consider me a confirmed golden age collector now.  ( No longer a dabbler)

It took me a couple months to track down a GA book I was interested in (below) and finding a copy (modest it may be) that met all my criteria was incredibly satisfying. 

I know that my short search pales in comparison to what some of you had to endure, but the hunt was kind of fun and finding the book was great. 

Let’s hear your search stories

 

 

[Funnybooks]

Lovely Frazetta cover

[Surfing Alien]

That's high eye appeal for a 2.0 (which I assume was the criteria you were looking at most) so you did great on that pickup Westy!

[SuperBird]

Now you just need the other 11 issues!

[batman_fan]

I first saw the cover to Green Giant Comics in a book that reprinted covers from classic GA books.  For some reason I fell in love with the cover.  Once I read the background on the book, I was hooked and knew I had to own a copy.  An 8.0 was auctioned twice on Heritage which I just couldn’t buy at the time due to other things in life.  I missed out on a real low grade copy on EBay (but did snag a picture of it).  Fast forward to the Berk collection on ComicConnect and there began the LONG wait for the auction to close.  I almost tapped out during the live bidding but ended up winning it.

Edited September 22, 2021 by batman_fan

[Westy Steve]

On 9/22/2021 at 9:42 AM, Surfing Alien said:

That's high eye appeal for a 2.0 (which I assume was the criteria you were looking at most) so you did great on that pickup Westy!

Heh, thanks,…no that was blind luck. It was more about price and availability. Picture a Venn diagram with one circle representing books I can afford and one circle representing problem-free desirable books…and the two circles just barely intersecting   .   Most often low grade is a necessity to make it happen.  Not sure why I’m wading in this end of the pool. 

Edited September 22, 2021 by Westy Steve

[Westy Steve]

On 9/22/2021 at 10:04 AM, batman_fan said:

I first saw the cover to Green Giant Comics in a book that reprinted covers from classic GA books.  For some reason I fell in love with the cover.  Once I read the background on the book, I was hooked and knew I had to own a copy.  An 8.0 was auctioned twice on Heritage which I just could buy at the time due to other things in life.  I missed out on a real low grade copy on EBay (but did snag a picture of it).  Fast forward to the Berk collection on ComicConnect and there began the LONG wait for the auction to close.  I almost tapped out during the live bidding but ended up winning it.

Those are amazing.  I know of that book, and understand it’s crazy rare.  Can’t imagine THAT hunt. How long (active search) did that take?

[batman_fan]

On 9/22/2021 at 8:30 AM, Westy Steve said:

Those are amazing.  I know of that book, and understand it’s crazy rare.  Can’t imagine THAT hunt. How long (active search) did that take?

I 1st saw the book back in the late 1970s at the library in Cheyenne, WY so that is when I started wanting the book.  I finally bought it around 2017 so about 38 years give or take.  A mere blink in the grand scheme of things.

[Gotham Kid]

GA -> thrill of the hunt is always present

most everything else -> just need to write a lot of checks ... no thrill, no hunt

[woowoo]

On 9/22/2021 at 8:07 AM, Gotham Kid said:

GA -> thrill of the hunt is always present

most everything else -> just need to write a lot of checks ... no thrill, no hunt

 Peter it's a thrill if you can afford to write the check  After you write the check and get book you go thru a little buyers remorse till you get money up again 

[RC Smith]

You’re 100% correct Sir. The thrill is the hunt. Golden age books offer so much collecting possibilities. You can be on the hunt for a special cover, characters, artist, etc. My first ever hunt I wanted to get a book with L.B. Cole or Alex Schomburg cover art. I was lucky enough to find these two books. I know they may not be any super spectacular, but they met the artist criteria for me so I bought them. Then I waited with bated breath after I sent them to CGC. I’m happy to have these two in my collection! Happy hunting! 

[Robot Man]

The thrill of the hunt is most everything. It is a powerful drive and to some an affliction. There is that feeling of satisfaction and victory when you find that thing you are looking for. Then it is on to that next quest. Or discover something you never knew existed. 

To many of you, it is comic books that you “win” with the push of a button or see on the wall at a comic show. 

I do that too with a lot of stuff not just comics. But some of the best finds are the ones you stumble into by the light of a flashlight at a flea market or at some small estate sale. So much fun and what gets me up early on a Sunday when it is cold and dark. 

Great book by the way. Congrats on your find!

[Robot Man]

Oh, and now that you found that killer Frazetta cover, you really need to hunt for the rest!

[shadroch]

The internet killed the thrill of the hunt for me. Back in the day, it took me over a year to find a copy of Avengers 3 that was priced right. Today there are dozens of copies on the web. 

There was something special about saving up for the semi-annual convention and hoping one of the dealers would have what were then obscure Marvels. It took me forever to find a FF 2 without marvel chipping, which wasn't so accepted in the mid 1970s.

[Robot Man]

On 9/22/2021 at 9:04 AM, shadroch said:

The internet killed the thrill of the hunt for me. Back in the day, it took me over a year to find a copy of Avengers 3 that was priced right. Today there are dozens of copies on the web. 

There was something special about saving up for the semi-annual convention and hoping one of the dealers would have what were then obscure Marvels. It took me forever to find a FF 2 without marvel chipping, which wasn't so accepted in the mid 1970s.

There isn't much hunt collecting SA Marvels. Most are available any day of the week if you want to pay. A hunt is what @batman_fan did. 38 years. Other than that copy that was I believe in the Berk auction, I think I've only seen one other copy. That is true Ark of the Covenant stuff!

[shadroch]

That is true today, but it wasn't in the 1970s when I was chasing down books. Taking two buses to the only comic shop in Queens, hoping they had gotten in a new collecton or two, haunting antigue stores, goodwill ect, flea markets.  I remember walking for hours at Aqueduct flea market ,simply because the two vendors that sold comics didn't have permanent spots and could be anywhere among the 1500 plus vendors.

Edited September 22, 2021 by shadroch

[Westy Steve]

On 9/22/2021 at 12:04 PM, shadroch said:

The internet killed the thrill of the hunt for me. Back in the day, it took me over a year to find a copy of Avengers 3 that was priced right. Today there are dozens of copies on the web. 

There was something special about saving up for the semi-annual convention and hoping one of the dealers would have what were then obscure Marvels. It took me forever to find a FF 2 without marvel chipping, which wasn't so accepted in the mid 1970s.

I get what you’re saying. I talk about that with friends sometimes. Books that were hard to find back in the day are easy to find online. I’ve adapted my hunt to look for books that are “Internet rare“. With a few exceptions, I try to find collectibles that are difficult to find even on the Internet.   And if you’re at a show and you run across a strange book that isn’t online anywhere, there’s probably somebody looking for it.  These days I can hunt from my couch, which has its own charms after a hard day at work.

[Robot Man]

On 9/22/2021 at 9:40 AM, shadroch said:

That is true today, but it wasn't in the 1970s when I was chasing down books. Taking two buses to the only comic shop in Queens, hoping they had gotten in a new collecton or two, haunting antigue stores, goodwill ect, flea markets.  I remember walking for hours at Aqueduct flea market ,simply because the two vendors that sold comics didn't have permanent spots and could be anywhere among the 1500 plus vendors.

Yeah, me too. We also put up ads on the grocery store bulletins and even went door to door with our little red wagon. People would quite often just give us stashes of old comics. You never knew what you would find. Anything that was a “10 center” was a major score. 

Didn’t Ritchie Munchen sell at the Aqueduct flea market? 

[Robot Man]

On 9/22/2021 at 10:26 AM, Westy Steve said:

I get what you’re saying. I talk about that with friends sometimes. Books that were hard to find back in the day are easy to find online. I’ve adapted my hunt to look for books that are “Internet rare“. With a few exceptions, I try to find collectibles that are difficult to find even on the Internet.   And if you’re at a show and you run across a strange book that isn’t online anywhere, there’s probably somebody looking for it.  These days I can hunt from my couch, which has its own charms after a hard day at work.

Yeah, clicking a button gets the job done, but there is nothing like an “in the wild” find...

[Randall Dowling]

On 9/22/2021 at 11:40 AM, shadroch said:

That is true today, but it wasn't in the 1970s when I was chasing down books. Taking two buses to the only comic shop in Queens, hoping they had gotten in a new collecton or two, haunting antigue stores, goodwill ect, flea markets. 

The Batcave was our favorite place when I was a kid.  I think it was in Greenwich Village back then.