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Would CGC grade a Tijuana bible?
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Started by Nic8612,

41 posts in this topic

rjpb

rjpb

Posted
Posted

Most have fairly tame covers, though some have rude titles or author names, and a few have very graphic covers. 

Dating and authenticating is very difficult, and many were reprinted continuously, often bootlegged from earlier printings. Many have been reproduced more recently, with varying attention to quality. It's possible to ballpark the approximate age of some based on content, and cover and paper stock. There are long time collectors who are pretty good at discerning "original era" printings, and are aware of various differences in quality for individual titles, as well as names of artists and likely original publishers of some, but I don't see how anyone at CGC would be confident in giving them any more than a grade. 

I think a lot of casual collectors know that they might be paying $10-$20 sometimes for a more recent printing, and definitely for printings that appear to be vintage, but unlikely to be "firsts". Some scarcer ones that don't appear to be often reprinted, as well as some superhero and Disney ones can sell in the $50-$100 range (and sometimes more), and the larger 16 and 24 page ones can often go for more than that, but I don't know that buyers are going to be more convinced of "authenticity" if CGC slabbed them, unless they can find a real expert willing to review them. 

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pemart1966

pemart1966

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On 3/20/2022 at 9:53 AM, Gotham Kid said:

Please tell me that is not what is referred to as a Tijuana Bible ! Bible, really !? The Bible is the Word. 

The only thing that you'll be saying after reading one is "MY WORD!"    lol

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pemart1966

pemart1966

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On 3/20/2022 at 2:25 PM, fifties said:

Bein' the old horndog that I am, here's my copy of a compendium on the subject.

Tijuana Bibles.jpg

Were these books all produced and printed in the US or is there an actual Mexican connection?

The book's cover blurb says "America's Forbidden Funnies..."  or is that supposed to mean "North America's Forbidden Funnies"?

Just curious why the word "Tijuana" is used to reference these...

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fifties

fifties

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Posted
On 3/20/2022 at 7:19 PM, pemart1966 said:

Were these books all produced and printed in the US or is there an actual Mexican connection?

The book's cover blurb says "America's Forbidden Funnies..."  or is that supposed to mean "North America's Forbidden Funnies"?

Just curious why the word "Tijuana" is used to reference these...

These, AFAIK, were all produced in the U.S., and all words are in English.  The characters referenced are also all American, from movies and radio personalities of the '30's and '40's.

I would say, "North America's forbidden funnies".  The term, "Tijuana", which is the name of a border town known for it's bawdiness, was used to connote such activity.  

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tth2

tth2

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On 3/20/2022 at 10:58 PM, The Black Hand ® said:
On 3/20/2022 at 8:54 PM, tth2 said:

Perhaps a direct query to CGC would be the best way to go?

Do you know how to get in touch with them?

I'm just an old guy not too familiar with all this new fangled internet stuff, but I used my rotary dial phone to call international long distance and asked my 9-year old nephew.  He said if you use this "Google" thing, it takes you to a CGC "website" that has something called a "link" to contact details where you can submit your questions to CGC directly "online" or call them at

Hours (Monday to Friday):
9:00am to 5:00pm EST

1-877-NM-COMIC
(1 877 662 6642) toll free
941 360 3991

I was like "damn!" and told my brother that his kid must be the next Albert Einstein.  

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tth2

tth2

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On 3/21/2022 at 1:13 PM, fifties said:

I would say, "North America's forbidden funnies".  The term, "Tijuana", which is the name of a border town known for it's bawdiness, was used to connote such activity.  

Yeah, it's basically just branding.

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tth2

tth2

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The thing I find most interesting about the TJs is that the language was just as coarse and vulgar back then as it is today.  I guess because our image of how people spoke during that era comes from movies, TV shows and even books that were heavily self-censored, we think of the folks back then as being more genteel than maybe they really were (at least once they let their hair down).  

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GreatCaesarsGhost

GreatCaesarsGhost

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On 3/21/2022 at 2:57 AM, tth2 said:

I'm just an old guy not too familiar with all this new fangled internet stuff, but I used my rotary dial phone to call international long distance and asked my 9-year old nephew.  He said if you use this "Google" thing, it takes you to a CGC "website" that has something called a "link" to contact details where you can submit your questions to CGC directly "online" or call them at

Hours (Monday to Friday):
9:00am to 5:00pm EST

1-877-NM-COMIC
(1 877 662 6642) toll free
941 360 3991

I was like "damn!" and told my brother that his kid must be the next Albert Einstein.  

Okay that’s funny

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CGC Mike

CGC Mike

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Posted

So, the general consensus from the graders as to grading these is a hard no.  The reason given is:

They are unidentifiable as to origin and date. They are often hand made. As ambiguous as these are, we just refrain from authenticating them.

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Point Five

Point Five

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On 3/21/2022 at 9:25 AM, CGC Mike said:

So, the general consensus from the graders as to grading these is a hard no.  The reason given is:

They are unidentifiable as to origin and date. They are often hand made. As ambiguous as these are, we just refrain from authenticating them.

A *hard* no, was it?  :whistle:

 

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rjpb

rjpb

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On 3/21/2022 at 12:38 PM, fifties said:

If they were, eBay wouldn't allow them to be sold; https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2060353.m570.l1311&_nkw=tijuana+bible&_sacat=0

They do randomly delete the listing if they aren't in the adult section though. I've sold at least 100 TJ Bibles in the comics section on ebay, and the've removed one maybe a half dozen times for violating terms, and I will pixilate anything too rude and don't show interiors. Meanwhile very graphic listings seem to stay with impunity.

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Professor K

Professor K

Posted
Posted
On 3/21/2022 at 3:38 PM, fifties said:

If they were, eBay wouldn't allow them to be sold; https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2060353.m570.l1311&_nkw=tijuana+bible&_sacat=0

I know I was joking. I read about them and they were illegal back when they were being made, as you probably know. 

There is probably no list of publications of these I bet. Many "issues" probably don't exist anymore. But they are kind of interesting in a historical sense.

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50YrsCollctngCmcs

50YrsCollctngCmcs

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Posted (edited)

I saw a couple of "Bibles" on a table at the Glendale Paperback show this weekend. But other than thinking, "I haven't seen one of those in awhile" I just passed on by to other treasures. Oddly, I didn't see any of the religious tracts by Jack Chick; I remember the first time I found one of those in a parking lot and was excited until I realized I was going straight to hell! I just noticed Jack Chick lived one town over from me; I wish I had known that as I would have actually liked to have visited him and heard his story. Sadly he has passed away now and hopefully he isn't living out one of his tracts. Hope no one is a Potter fan!!

image.png.4ba65ce2366e55d3f87850cec937c0a4.png

Edited by 50YrsCollctngCmcs
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jimbo_7071

jimbo_7071

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Posted (edited)
On 3/21/2022 at 3:57 AM, tth2 said:

I'm just an old guy not too familiar with all this new fangled internet stuff, but I used my rotary dial phone to call international long distance and asked my 9-year old nephew.  He said if you use this "Google" thing, it takes you to a CGC "website" that has something called a "link" to contact details where you can submit your questions to CGC directly "online" or call them at

Hours (Monday to Friday):
9:00am to 5:00pm EST

1-877-NM-COMIC
(1 877 662 6642) toll free
941 360 3991

I was like "damn!" and told my brother that his kid must be the next Albert Einstein.  

I've been meaning go get one of those newfangled rotary phones, but I'm too attached to my old crank phone.

Edited by jimbo_7071
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