What the one book you never thought you'd own that you do /did ? 5 5

[Frisco Larson]

I honestly never thought I'd own a copy of this book. 

[Silver]

On 10/3/2021 at 2:30 PM, dikran1 said:

Always a huge fan of Disney, but not so much the comics as a kid. After getting back into comics in 2018 I picked this up and haven’t looked back since! 

I remember talking to the owner of Bond Street Books in the late 70's and he told me he had a complete run of that series. It was probably the most impressive collecting feat I had heard of at the time. What a great book!

Edited October 12, 2021 by Silver

[Cat-Man_America]

Here's one book I never thought I'd own a copy of ...and now own two! 

               >>>>>  

  ...Many WWII books with classic Schomburg covers; this is one of my favorites.

[Pantodude]

I echo @circumstances's sentiment.  I was mostly into stamps, currency, and coins as a young collector.  So for much of my life, I honestly did not expect to own any comic book rarities/keys.  So all of them count!   But if I have to pick one, I was going to say my Silver Streak Comics #1.  I never expected to find one due to scarcity (and b/c I focused on SA), but I did!  

Edited October 5, 2021 by Pantodude

[Pantodude]

But ultimately, I must go with my The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck (London:  Tilt & Bogue, 1841).  

Unlike the SSC #1, I was not looking for this book (literally a book!), which made ending up with it even sweeter.  Even after my collecting gained momentum and I dabbled in some GA and even Platinum Age books, I never ever imagined that I'd go waaaaaaay back and own the book that started the Victorian Age (!) as the world's first English-language comic book!    Cool comparison while we have the books on top of eachother:  while the SSC #1 experimented with silver metallic ink cover in 1939, the Oldbuck does [did?] it one better with a gilt cover in 1841, almost 100 years earlier!  Just sayin. 

Edited October 5, 2021 by Pantodude

[fishbone]

I could answer "Action #1" , or "Detective #27", but I have to answer this from my 13 year-old self point of view and say Amazing Spider Man #1 ... I know this is a GA thread, and I assume Chicago Boy wanted GA book answers, but you have to understand how out of reach a book like that was for me at the time (around '79/'80), and how much I loved ASM comics at that age  (ps never even knew that there was such a thing as an AF#15 at that age)

[Jesse-Lee]

I never thought I'd own a copy of Detective Comics with a 2-digit issue number. I guess I just figured they'd be so far out of reach and prohibitively expensive, but actually a number of them are relatively affordable. I found a copy of Detective 94 that I liked and went for it. It's low grade, and not a grail or a big book by any stretch, but it's my only GA book, and I love it!

[Qalyar]

I've never been much of a GA collector, but at one point I picked up a large mixed-era collection, in part because it's owner kept very detailed notes about what he owned and I appreciated the chance to do less work processing a bunch of boxes. To my surprise, though, his notes were wrong about one book. What he had listed as the 1953 Three Stooges #1 (St. Johns) was actually the much rarer 1949 Three Stooges #1 (Jubilee).

It was a solid midgrade copy, probably around a 6.0. I sold it a couple years later, and it definitely went in the financial win column, although I absolutely considered holding onto it as a neat rarity. It comes up for sale more these days than it used to, but it's still a tough book. I hope the copy I had is still in a good home.

[Tri-Color Brian]

On 10/5/2021 at 9:33 AM, Frisco Larson said:

I honestly never thought I'd own a copy of this book. 

Congrats, but this seems very strange to me because back in 1994 at SD Con these books seemed to be on almost everyone's tables (well, at least 6 tables...).  But, so did a lot of books we seldom see anymore.  I guess they all got bought up and buried in collections...

[catman76]

you just said "books" so I am putting these here. These two were on my want list for years and years even though I knew the odds of finding them were super low and the odds of being able to afford them even if I did find them were almost zero. But like 15 years ago I found both of them about a month apart in junk shops for next to nothing....

 

[Ghastly542454]

Never thought I would own any of these!!!

[Frisco Larson]

On 10/5/2021 at 4:43 PM, Tri-ColorBrian said:

Congrats, but this seems very strange to me because back in 1994 at SD Con these books seemed to be on almost everyone's tables (well, at least 6 tables...).  But, so did a lot of books we seldom see anymore.  I guess they all got bought up and buried in collections...

I think the very same thing was the case with Fantastic Comics #3!!! In fact, I seem to recall a dealer who had more than a half dozen copies at their table ALONE at that show. They're out there SOMEWHERE!!!    

[gino2paulus2]

On 10/2/2021 at 9:31 PM, sagii said:

There are a few but this one comes to mind since it was luckily acquired this year from a stand up Boardie who landed another copy (so he had two!!) and let this one go. Still can't believe it 

I’m still over the moon you were able to get this copy brother!! We had talked about this book so many times over the years before it ever got “popular”!! It really does make a difference if parting with a SUPER rare book knowing it went to a good home where it will be appreciated and it certainly did in this case!!! OF5 will be my pick as well. I had this book saved on ebay listings and all the top website and auctions house want lists for a few years before a copy finally popped up!! My favorite book for sure at this point and one i thought for awhile i would never be able to obtain. You hear books are rare and hardly ever come up for sale but only experience watching the market can truly quantify that statement.

[gino2paulus2]

On 10/5/2021 at 4:03 PM, Pantodude said:

I echo @circumstances's sentiment.  I was mostly into stamps, currency, and coins as a young collector.  So for much of my life, I honestly did not expect to own any comic book rarities/keys.  So all of them count!   But if I have to pick one, I was going to say my Silver Streak Comics #1.  I never expected to find one due to scarcity (and b/c I focused on SA), but I did!  

This book is another that’s on many lists i am sure (including my own) and just doesn’t show up very often!! Very cool!! 

[Primetime]

On 10/4/2021 at 7:02 PM, Figment said:

The recently aquired grail of the Golden Age Sub-Mariner collection.  I had to do some serious value shifting to get it, but it was totally worth the effort!

[Tri-Color Brian]

I never thought I would own a Hardy Boy's 1948 printing of this book w/Dust Jacket...but I do now... 

[Terry JSA]

On 10/5/2021 at 6:54 PM, Ghastly542454 said:

Never thought I would own any of these!!!

All these books are great! Hoping to eventually own All Star Comics #3 and #8. Especially All-American Comics #61 as that book is not easy to come by. 

[sagii]

On 10/6/2021 at 3:09 AM, gino2paulus2 said:

I’m still over the moon you were able to get this copy brother!! We had talked about this book so many times over the years before it ever got “popular”!! It really does make a difference if parting with a SUPER rare book knowing it went to a good home where it will be appreciated and it certainly did in this case!!! OF5 will be my pick as well. I had this book saved on ebay listings and all the top website and auctions house want lists for a few years before a copy finally popped up!! My favorite book for sure at this point and one i thought for awhile i would never be able to obtain. You hear books are rare and hardly ever come up for sale but only experience watching the market can truly quantify that statement.

BOOM!!!!

[sagii]

On 10/5/2021 at 6:54 PM, Ghastly542454 said:

Never thought I would own any of these!!!

     

[sfcityduck]

On 10/5/2021 at 5:06 PM, Frisco Larson said:

I think the very same thing was the case with Fantastic Comics #3!!! In fact, I seem to recall a dealer who had more than a half dozen copies at their table ALONE at that show. They're out there SOMEWHERE!!!    

Doesn't Fischler hoard them?