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The Ian Levine collection Sotheby's auction, ? Sale price
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Started by drdonaldblake1,

53 posts in this topic

FlyingDonut

FlyingDonut

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On 8/16/2022 at 7:31 AM, G.A.tor said:

There’s another, still in tact,  complete dc collection I believe ? Or am I mistaken ?

I thought that was Jerome Wenker's - I know he had also sold a bunch of them.

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drdonaldblake1

drdonaldblake1

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On 8/18/2022 at 12:06 AM, shadroch said:

What was insane was Mr Levines rush to complete it.  It was sad as he allowed himself to be ripped off by strangers all over the world who magically had the missing books but not the means of showing them. That didn't stop Ian from sending them the money .

Sounds like Levine became obsessed......was he in some sort of competition with the Pepsi heiress to see who could complete the collection first?

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Norrin_Radd

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On 8/17/2022 at 4:53 PM, drdonaldblake1 said:

Sounds like Levine became obsessed......was he in some sort of competition with the Pepsi heiress to see who could complete the collection first?

Yes, Christine Farrell.  Just looking through some old Ian threads.

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drdonaldblake1

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On 8/18/2022 at 12:13 PM, Norinn Radd said:

Yes, Christine Farrell.  Just looking through some old Ian threads.

did Farrell complete her collection- im guessing with her pepsi heiress status, the condition of her collection is probably going to be better than Levines

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DanCooper

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This was the article in Scoop, from July 2004, when the collector beat Ian to punch and finished her DC collection:

A private collector in the northeastern United States has accomplished the astounding and unprecedented feat of assembling a complete collection of every comic book ever published by DC Comics.

For those of you who have trouble visualizing the enormity of the task, that's over 30,000 individual comic books!

Amazingly, with the exception of a small handful of items toward the end of the quest, this collection was achieved the old-fashioned way with a lot of legwork and mileage, scouring comic shows and stores large and small from coast to coast. Almost no Internet usage was involved in assembling this amazing collection.

The collector, who has chosen to remain anonymous at this time, started on the road to this accomplishment in 1970, when it was decided on whim, to accumulate all the back issues of all the DC superhero comics. Subsequently at the San Diego ComiCon (as it was then known) in 1987, with the superhero titles virtually completed, the collector had reached a crossroads.

"What do I do once my primary collecting goal has been achieved?" was the basic gist of the discussion, a situation many collectors have faced.

At the urging of the staff of the now-defunct Sparkle City Comics, the collector chose to expand the parameters of the collection to include all of the comic books ever published by DC.

For 5 years, until its dissolution in 1992, Sparkle City served as the main conduit, funneling vintage DC Comics into the collector's hands. With their heavy annual show schedule, the company was able to easily connect with other dealers and private collectors throughout the country in order acquire needed items.

A dedicated band of fellow collectors and other supportive dealers also actively participated in the hunt over the years. It was common practice at the beginning of a major convention for the hunters to congregate at the Sparkle City table for copies of the latest want list update, before fanning out into the dealers room.

In early 1992, Mike Wilbur of Diamond International Galleries and Alan Grobman (both then of Sparkle City) entered the ranks of the select few who have personally seen the collection. They spent three weeks that winter at the collector's house. Day after day, from morning until after midnight, they flipped through a seemingly endless succession of boxes, as they checked, verified and toke notes.

Complete runs of Action, Adventure, All Star, Batman, Detective, More Fun, Sensation, Superman, and other titles both well-known and obscure passed through their hands as the weeks progressed. From early rarities like Big Book of Fun Comics and New Fun Comics up through the Golden and Silver Ages to then-current titles, the main core of the DC collection was there. All that remained at that point was to finish filling in the fringes with the rest of the war, western, romance, mystery, and humor titles. Ongoing new releases were covered through a long-standing arrangement with a local comic shop.

"It was an almost surreal experience," Wilbur said, "just box after box of books that most collectors can only dream of seeing."

Among the more esoteric items in the collection is the two-volume set of Cancelled Comics Cavalcade, published by DC in 1978. With a print run of only 35 copies, these books contain stories left over following the infamous "DC Implosion." Printed for copyright purposes, these were distributed internally to creators whose work it featured. The collector's copy was acquired from The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide's publisher Bob Overstreet. Included with the books is a cover letter to Overstreet from then-DC Editor Mike Gold, detailing the information for the Guide.

"I remember [the collector] spent a lot of time visiting when we were still down in Tennessee," recalled Overstreet, "I sold [the collector] an Action Comics #1 and a few other things."

The almost final book in the collection was the romance title Girls' Love Stories #56, a nothing-in-particular issue of a nothing-special title that was simply frustratingly difficult to locate. Acquired in late 2002, this was thought to be the end of the long road, until the discovery of the obscure Golden Age DC comic, the Fat and Slat Joke Book. Once this additional piece became known, a copy was acquired within a couple of months, in early 2003.

Since the assembly of the collection was primarily a labor of love and not a search for glory, the collector had chosen to avoid the limelight. However, in light of the historical importance of the achievement, the collector did acknowledge to Scoop that "The First Complete DC Collection" was a reality.

The collector would like to extend personal thanks to Joe Vereneault of JHV Associates, Alan Grobman, Gene Carpenter of All-American Comics, fellow collector Mike Dalessandro and Wilbur, with special mentions also going to Joe Mannarino, John Verzyl of Comic Heaven, Mike Goldman of Motor City Comics, Ron Pussell of Redbeard's Book Den, Harley Yee, Richard Evans of Bedrock City Comics, Rob Ronin, Michelle Nolan, and Nostalgia Zone of Minnesota for their assistance, support, and encouragement.

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drdonaldblake1

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On 8/18/2022 at 8:55 PM, DanCooper said:

This was the article in Scoop, from July 2004, when the collector beat Ian to punch and finished her DC collection:

A private collector in the northeastern United States has accomplished the astounding and unprecedented feat of assembling a complete collection of every comic book ever published by DC Comics.

For those of you who have trouble visualizing the enormity of the task, that's over 30,000 individual comic books!

Amazingly, with the exception of a small handful of items toward the end of the quest, this collection was achieved the old-fashioned way with a lot of legwork and mileage, scouring comic shows and stores large and small from coast to coast. Almost no Internet usage was involved in assembling this amazing collection.

The collector, who has chosen to remain anonymous at this time, started on the road to this accomplishment in 1970, when it was decided on whim, to accumulate all the back issues of all the DC superhero comics. Subsequently at the San Diego ComiCon (as it was then known) in 1987, with the superhero titles virtually completed, the collector had reached a crossroads.

"What do I do once my primary collecting goal has been achieved?" was the basic gist of the discussion, a situation many collectors have faced.

At the urging of the staff of the now-defunct Sparkle City Comics, the collector chose to expand the parameters of the collection to include all of the comic books ever published by DC.

For 5 years, until its dissolution in 1992, Sparkle City served as the main conduit, funneling vintage DC Comics into the collector's hands. With their heavy annual show schedule, the company was able to easily connect with other dealers and private collectors throughout the country in order acquire needed items.

A dedicated band of fellow collectors and other supportive dealers also actively participated in the hunt over the years. It was common practice at the beginning of a major convention for the hunters to congregate at the Sparkle City table for copies of the latest want list update, before fanning out into the dealers room.

In early 1992, Mike Wilbur of Diamond International Galleries and Alan Grobman (both then of Sparkle City) entered the ranks of the select few who have personally seen the collection. They spent three weeks that winter at the collector's house. Day after day, from morning until after midnight, they flipped through a seemingly endless succession of boxes, as they checked, verified and toke notes.

Complete runs of Action, Adventure, All Star, Batman, Detective, More Fun, Sensation, Superman, and other titles both well-known and obscure passed through their hands as the weeks progressed. From early rarities like Big Book of Fun Comics and New Fun Comics up through the Golden and Silver Ages to then-current titles, the main core of the DC collection was there. All that remained at that point was to finish filling in the fringes with the rest of the war, western, romance, mystery, and humor titles. Ongoing new releases were covered through a long-standing arrangement with a local comic shop.

"It was an almost surreal experience," Wilbur said, "just box after box of books that most collectors can only dream of seeing."

Among the more esoteric items in the collection is the two-volume set of Cancelled Comics Cavalcade, published by DC in 1978. With a print run of only 35 copies, these books contain stories left over following the infamous "DC Implosion." Printed for copyright purposes, these were distributed internally to creators whose work it featured. The collector's copy was acquired from The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide's publisher Bob Overstreet. Included with the books is a cover letter to Overstreet from then-DC Editor Mike Gold, detailing the information for the Guide.

"I remember [the collector] spent a lot of time visiting when we were still down in Tennessee," recalled Overstreet, "I sold [the collector] an Action Comics #1 and a few other things."

The almost final book in the collection was the romance title Girls' Love Stories #56, a nothing-in-particular issue of a nothing-special title that was simply frustratingly difficult to locate. Acquired in late 2002, this was thought to be the end of the long road, until the discovery of the obscure Golden Age DC comic, the Fat and Slat Joke Book. Once this additional piece became known, a copy was acquired within a couple of months, in early 2003.

Since the assembly of the collection was primarily a labor of love and not a search for glory, the collector had chosen to avoid the limelight. However, in light of the historical importance of the achievement, the collector did acknowledge to Scoop that "The First Complete DC Collection" was a reality.

The collector would like to extend personal thanks to Joe Vereneault of JHV Associates, Alan Grobman, Gene Carpenter of All-American Comics, fellow collector Mike Dalessandro and Wilbur, with special mentions also going to Joe Mannarino, John Verzyl of Comic Heaven, Mike Goldman of Motor City Comics, Ron Pussell of Redbeard's Book Den, Harley Yee, Richard Evans of Bedrock City Comics, Rob Ronin, Michelle Nolan, and Nostalgia Zone of Minnesota for their assistance, support, and encouragement.

Great find! and thanks for sharing this informative article👍

So was this featured collector the Pepsi heiress??

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shadroch

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On 8/18/2022 at 9:20 AM, CGC Mike said:

Here is a link to all of the threads he started.

https://boards.cgccomics.com/profile/1805-ian_levine/content/?type=forums_topic

I think the original wheels in motion thread wasn't created by Ian.  It was a long time ago, but I think it was in response to something Ian said.

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CGC Mike

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On 8/18/2022 at 1:10 PM, shadroch said:
On 8/18/2022 at 12:20 PM, CGC Mike said:

Here is a link to all of the threads he started.

https://boards.cgccomics.com/profile/1805-ian_levine/content/?type=forums_topic

I think the original wheels in motion thread wasn't created by Ian.  It was a long time ago, but I think it was in response to something Ian said.

The original one was much longer.  I'll see if I can find it.

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Dr. Balls

Dr. Balls

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On 8/17/2022 at 9:47 AM, Robot Man said:

 

I completed my EC collection in Jan.

Please tell me there’s a thread that talks about this. :headbang:

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Dr. Balls

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On 8/18/2022 at 2:27 PM, Styling said:

IIRC David T Alexander really tried to screw him over with this one.

I can assume the general gist of what happened, but any details? I’m sorting through the previous threads - this is a pretty interesting story.

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