Stories of the one that got away... 3 3

[davidpg]

BAck in the very early 90s when we had our comic shop, an older guy walked in with a manilla envelope asling if we bought comics.  I said we did indeed...he pulled out high grade copies of all the late 50s DC books in pretty darned high grades.  Action 252, AC 245, Flash 105, etc.  We unfortunately didn't have the cashflow at the time to grab those books and had no choice at that point but to let the collection walk

As well, at Astro Books here in Montreal (my longtime LCS), I walked in to pic up my pull list...and a few people are fawning over a pretty sweet looking copy of Action Comics 2 that was actually missing it's back cover. One of the guys was buying it...for the hefty sum of $600.  This was mid 90s if I remember correctly.

[Drgoldage]

Can remember quite a few missed opportunities that I wince when I remember .My second biggest miss  would have been mid 1990s and I called up Jim Payette who always had great books well graded . He had just come back from Allentown Pennslyvania where he had picked up the collection that was to become known as ,no surprise,” the Allentown Collection”.I had spent thousand of dollars previously on big ticket comics and he offered me the nicest copy of Detective 27 he had ever seen for what I remember to be 35000 way over guide and within my ability to buy .I was finishing med school was newly married and didn’t know how I would explain the purchase to my better half and would have left me scrambling for tuition money . Well we know the finish to the story , my rational side won but what a book it would have been to have !

[october]

On 2/6/2023 at 10:23 PM, Drgoldage said:

Can remember quite a few missed opportunities that I wince when I remember .My second biggest miss  would have been mid 1990s and I called up Jim Payette who always had great books well graded . He had just come back from Allentown Pennslyvania where he had picked up the collection that was to become known as ,no surprise,” the Allentown Collection”.I had spent thousand of dollars previously on big ticket comics and he offered me the nicest copy of Detective 27 he had ever seen for what I remember to be 35000 way over guide and within my ability to buy .I was finishing med school was newly married and didn’t know how I would explain the purchase to my better half and would have left me scrambling for tuition money . Well we know the finish to the story , my rational side won but what a book it would have been to have !

I think we found a winner.

[adamstrange]

On 2/2/2023 at 6:17 PM, ChillMan said:

Too many to mention.  And I know for a fact that everyone on this board...long-timers over the last well even only since 2011...I was involved in a situation where everyone here was wrong.  Everyone here could have bought a comic for $30K and sold it 2 months later for 6X that.

 

I could have bought it, but then I would have owned an Aquaman comic.  And there are some things even I won't do for money.

Edited February 7, 2023 by adamstrange

[Robot Man]

OK, I started this thread with a story of a collection I was denied. Now, here is one that is entirely on me…

MANY years ago I went to WonderCon in SF. I had just walked in to the show and bumped into a dealer with a nice wall of GA. Pretty dazzling but then, there it was. A copy of Suspense #3! I had been seduced by it in the Gerber book and wanted it real bad.

The guy handed it to me. Was very low grade with detached cover and a real rough spine. The cover was fully intact and had nice paper. But then he told me the centerfold was missing. I still wanted it so I asked the price. $1200. This was considerably above the “going price” at the time. I pondered and thought about it. Problem was I had only brought $1600. with me for the whole day. Calling my wife to get some more money was out of the question. Today, she would have said go for it. I also thought since it was way over priced, it would probably be there later. So I reluctantly handed it back.

As soon as I did a long time NJ dealer asked to see it. He had a couple of books and kind of berated the dealer with “come on, what’s the best you will do on this ragged, incomplete funny book?”. They worked out a deal for the group and off it went. I later saw him selling it with a taped up spine for considerably more.

I have regretted it ever since. I hate the term but this is now a “holy grail”. I had my chance…

[Brewcrewfan77]

Back in the early 90's one of the local malls would have a collectibles show around it.  Booths here and there, not only comics but sports cards, old toys etc.  I found a beat-up but nice X-men #4 for $60 which I think now would have graded a 5-6.  Begged my parents for a few more bucks so I could get it.  They finally relented and gave me the last $10-15 that I needed.  It was my prized possession.  But, being 14-15 at the time I lost my interest in comics and time went on.  Fast forward to about 5-6 years ago when I start getting back into comics and I start wondering where that #4 has gone.  Ask my parents where my old comics have gone and to my surprise they said that they're in a storage unit.  I giddily go with my father to the unit and find the two short boxes I kept my comics in.  Well, I look and look and it's not in there.  To this day I cannot remember if I sold them to the same collectible store that I sold my old Star Wars figures to or what the heck happened to it.  I still have the rest of the books that were in those boxes...bunch of 93-94 Superman comics...I need to find a way to go back in time and kick my own @ss.

[plady69]

So many mistakes, quite a few on these Boards!

Oh well, homeless or back among the living.

Worst. Used to go to the Flea Market in Englishtown, NJ in the 70’s. Guy had a huge amount of Golden Age. Bought a run of Marvel Mystery from 70-90. All in 6.0 plus. Sold them on Stan’s Weekly Express for $10. a piece. 😢

[Robot Man]

The old "I shouldn't have sold it" lament.

Many years ago, I got on a "high grade kick". I only wanted fine or better. I started selling off vg and below. I remember a lot of Planets and PCH. The one that I still kick myself over was Great Comics #3. It was a solid vg. Sold it at guide. I eventually came to my senses and quit doing that. I will likely never have another one now...

[comicjack]

On 2/7/2023 at 11:38 AM, Robot Man said:

OK, I started this thread with a story of a collection I was denied. Now, here is one that is entirely on me…

MANY years ago I went to WonderCon in SF. I had just walked in to the show and bumped into a dealer with a nice wall of GA. Pretty dazzling but then, there it was. A copy of Suspense #3! I had been seduced by it in the Gerber book and wanted it real bad.

The guy handed it to me. Was very low grade with detached cover and a real rough spine. The cover was fully intact and had nice paper. But then he told me the centerfold was missing. I still wanted it so I asked the price. $1200. This was considerably above the “going price” at the time. I pondered and thought about it. Problem was I had only brought $1600. with me for the whole day. Calling my wife to get some more money was out of the question. Today, she would have said go for it. I also thought since it was way over priced, it would probably be there later. So I reluctantly handed it back.

As soon as I did a long time NJ dealer asked to see it. He had a couple of books and kind of berated the dealer with “come on, what’s the best you will do on this ragged, incomplete funny book?”. They worked out a deal for the group and off it went. I later saw him selling it with a taped up spine for considerably more.

I have regretted it ever since. I hate the term but this is now a “holy grail”. I had my chance…

I have seen more Suspense 3's than the Dynamic 8 which you see as rags because of the black cover.The books that  you want never seem to appear when you have a pocket full of cash.

[Robot Man]

On 2/7/2023 at 4:37 PM, comicjack said:

I have seen more Suspense 3's than the Dynamic 8 which you see as rags because of the black cover.The books that  you want never seem to appear when you have a pocket full of cash.

I’ve pretty much given up on landing even a ratty Dynamic 8 now…

[BitterOldMan]

A couple years ago, I was looking for a low grade copy of Superman 11.  
 

At Wizard Chicago, a real gentleman and his wonderful wife had a reader copy that fit my budget.  I was hosting my friend’s kids, so I passed so I could show the kids around.  After I walked through the entire show, I came back and the Superman 11 was gone.  The kind gentleman was @catrick339!  I snoozed and I lost.   ☹️

Finally, I got a copy of Superman 11 from Terry O at several times the price of the Wizard Chicago copy.

[Robot Man]

On 2/8/2023 at 3:53 PM, BitterOldMan said:

A couple years ago, I was looking for a low grade copy of Superman 11.  
 

At Wizard Chicago, a real gentleman and his wonderful wife had a reader copy that fit my budget.  I was hosting my friend’s kids, so I passed so I could show the kids around.  After I walked through the entire show, I came back and the Superman 11 was gone.  The kind gentleman was @catrick339!  I snoozed and I lost.   ☹️

Finally, I got a copy of Superman 11 from Terry O at several times the price of the Wizard Chicago copy.

Too bad Ray. Catrick is indeed a gentleman!

[catrick339]

(Waves at @BitterOldMan)

In 1974, a couple years after the Action 1 sold for four figures and got all the news coverage, a copy became available to me for $4K. Being just turned 20 with no prospects I sighed and moved on.

Dad offered to loan me the cash and let me pay him back over time, and try as I might I couldn't figure out how I'd ever pay him so I still passed.

I was too young to realize Pop was just showing his love for me and it wouldn't have mattered if I ever gave him back a nickel. 

Thanks Dad. I still miss you.

Edited February 11, 2023 by catrick339

[catrick339]

Yeah, what the hell.

(Waves at @Robot Man too)

[PDGray]

So, I have two stories.

1. Back in the early 90s a friend of mine knew I collected comics.  He had a friend of his that lived in a neighboring town who said he had some comics and wanted me to go look at them.  So, my friend took me over to see what this guy had.  He lived in a small house, next to railroad tracks, not in a great neighborhood.  We walked into this small living room and he had about 5,000 books scattered around the room.  Most were in simple cardboard boxes stacked everywhere.  As we dug through this collection I found complete runs of Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, ASM, Daredevil, and much, much more.  The guy had purchased them new, read them once, and sorted them in order - ALL STARTING  at #1s.  We found a few of them had been beaten up, but all the keys were there and simply 9.0 or higher condition.  Simply the most amazing collection I have ever seen.  It was WELL beyond what I would or could have ever paid for them.  Once we ran out of time he took us to another room filled with at least another 5,000 books, then still another room with another roughly 5,000 books.  A total of at least 15,000 books in pristine condition which really dated back to the late 1950s that I saw and ran through at least the mid-1980s.  I never had a chance to look at the 10,000 books in the other rooms, but that first 5,000 was worth at least $300,000 in 1992 by my estimation.  I don't know what happened to that collection or the guy that owned it - but to me and based on what I know now - that would have made an astonishing pedigree.

2. In 1993 I was still in the same town and my roommate worked at a hospital.  He told me about a lady that he worked with that had some comics and she wanted to have me look at them.  My roomie came home one day with the books, carried in a bright red, beaten up milk crate.  They were loose and bouncing around in the crate.  It was maybe 30-40 books.  Most were bronze age books that were in really rough shape, but in the middle were two of note.  One was a Daredevil 1 in mid-grade shape, while the other - oddly enough was a Detective 38!  It was a very unusual small collection with no connection between the books.  I made a few phone calls and got her an offer of $50,000 for the 'Tec 38.  I sent the contact information and inquired what she wanted for the DD1.  Again, they disappeared into the night.  I have no idea if they sold the book or if it is still floating around town somewhere.  I really wish I knew...

 

PDG  

[Robot Man]

On 2/8/2023 at 7:33 PM, catrick339 said:

(Waves at @BitterOldMan)

In 1974, a couple years after the Action 1 sold for four figures and got all the news coverage, a copy became available to me for $4K. Being just turned 20 with no prospects I sighed and moved on.

Dad offered to loan me the cash and let him pay me back over time, and try as I might I couldn't figure out how I'd ever pay him so I still passed.

I was too young to realize Pop was just showing his love for me and it wouldn't have mattered if I ever gave him back a nickel. 

Thanks Dad. I still miss you.

My dad had a fit over comics once. He dropped me off at Cherokee Books in Hollywood when I was young and gave me $5. I also had a little allowance and lawn cutting money. I was real into MAD. I saw a comic book MAD #9 in a cleaner’s bag thumb tacked to the wall for $3. Never seen one that old nor had I ever payed more than cover price. HAD to buy it. When my dad found out, he almost made me take it back. He was pizzed.

But he was one great guy. When I was about 13 my mom bought me a cheap Japanese electric guitar. I played it every day till my fingers blead. My dad was an LAPD photographer and hated rock music and hippies. On my 15th birthday, he told me to get in the car and wouldn’t say where we were going.

We went to a pawn shop down in LA. We walked in and pointed to the wall and told me to pick out the one I wanted. Like a light from above my eyes landed on a white Stratocaster. The guy took it down for me. It played like butter and felt so good in my hands. I saw my dad and the guy work out a deal and out we went. I guess he saw my passion and love for music even though he disapproved.

Many years later I realized it was a 1959 model and worth a fortune. I still have it. One of my prized possessions.

Yeah, I really miss my dad too…

[Robot Man]

On 2/9/2023 at 8:12 AM, PDGray said:

So, I have two stories.

1. Back in the early 90s a friend of mine knew I collected comics.  He had a friend of his that lived in a neighboring town who said he had some comics and wanted me to go look at them.  So, my friend took me over to see what this guy had.  He lived in a small house, next to railroad tracks, not in a great neighborhood.  We walked into this small living room and he had about 5,000 books scattered around the room.  Most were in simple cardboard boxes stacked everywhere.  As we dug through this collection I found complete runs of Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, ASM, Daredevil, and much, much more.  The guy had purchased them new, read them once, and sorted them in order - ALL STARTING  at #1s.  We found a few of them had been beaten up, but all the keys were there and simply 9.0 or higher condition.  Simply the most amazing collection I have ever seen.  It was WELL beyond what I would or could have ever paid for them.  Once we ran out of time he took us to another room filled with at least another 5,000 books, then still another room with another roughly 5,000 books.  A total of at least 15,000 books in pristine condition which really dated back to the late 1950s that I saw and ran through at least the mid-1980s.  I never had a chance to look at the 10,000 books in the other rooms, but that first 5,000 was worth at least $300,000 in 1992 by my estimation.  I don't know what happened to that collection or the guy that owned it - but to me and based on what I know now - that would have made an astonishing pedigree.

2. In 1993 I was still in the same town and my roommate worked at a hospital.  He told me about a lady that he worked with that had some comics and she wanted to have me look at them.  My roomie came home one day with the books, carried in a bright red, beaten up milk crate.  They were loose and bouncing around in the crate.  It was maybe 30-40 books.  Most were bronze age books that were in really rough shape, but in the middle were two of note.  One was a Daredevil 1 in mid-grade shape, while the other - oddly enough was a Detective 38!  It was a very unusual small collection with no connection between the books.  I made a few phone calls and got her an offer of $50,000 for the 'Tec 38.  I sent the contact information and inquired what she wanted for the DD1.  Again, they disappeared into the night.  I have no idea if they sold the book or if it is still floating around town somewhere.  I really wish I knew...

 

PDG  

Great stories. She should have given you the DD #1…

[PDGray]

On 2/9/2023 at 12:38 PM, Robot Man said:

Great stories. She should have given you the DD #1…

Yeah, that would have been great!  I wasn't a DD fan at the time - it was a "lower tier" book relative to any other of the Marvel #1s from the 60s (and still is I suppose although it's gained some ground lately). I would say the DD1 was probably a 4.0-5.0 by today's standards - so definitely a significant book.  I certainly wouldn't have turned it away, but that other collection will probably never be topped by a collection I come across in my life. I think it would be $8-10,000,000 easy today.

I would love to know what came of any of those books or either of those collections.  Too bad I won't ever know.

 

 

PDG

[Robot Man]

On 2/9/2023 at 1:39 PM, PDGray said:

Yeah, that would have been great!  I wasn't a DD fan at the time - it was a "lower tier" book relative to any other of the Marvel #1s from the 60s (and still is I suppose although it's gained some ground lately). I would say the DD1 was probably a 4.0-5.0 by today's standards - so definitely a significant book.  I certainly wouldn't have turned it away, but that other collection will probably never be topped by a collection I come across in my life. I think it would be $8-10,000,000 easy today.

I would love to know what came of any of those books or either of those collections.  Too bad I won't ever know.

 

 

PDG

Yeah, stuff like that often keeps me up at night. I’ve got a couple more similar stories like that. Back in the early ‘70’s, there were tons of collections like that out there. Like you and most younger folks, I never had the funds to buy them. Think of all the ones you never heard of.

 I remember being at the American Comic Book Company when a very large GA collection walked in the door. Terry Stroud and David T Alexander couldn’t buy and process all the vintage collections that came in. The back room was piled with them.

These days are unfortunately over. But I still believe there are still a number of them just waiting to be discovered. Especially SA up. And, I still wouldn’t have the dough to buy them even if I had the chance..,

[Drgoldage]

How about another story and a correction . I was still in medical school when I passed on the Allentown copy of Detective 27😱 so passed in 1987 or 1988.. oh well . Now on to the other story . In the 1970s in a small town in nebraska two daughters are set to sell the estate of there beloved mom who had passed . They enlisted the help of a unscrupulous Auctioneer from the west coast the house was full of antiques glassware jewelry and collectibles there mother a lady of means had collected over a lifetime . She had back around 1950 started buying comic books from the local outlet buying what she liked horror comic books yes precode horror . She stored them in wooden cabinet downstairs read a few times and put way for posterity . Now flash forward 27 years the auctioneer starts selling the large house room by room rather than piece by piece to co conspirators the daughters belatedly realize they had been  had . They rush downstairs and quickly split up the comic collection between them as they had heard how valuable comics had become . Now 6 years later one of the sisters put a ad in a Omaha paper to which I responded . The 1/2 of the collection I view over a thousand comics 70 percent horror grade vg to vf with great paper date from PCH all the way up to 1957 . I grade package bag and board the collection and offer 5000 for a collection worth 15000 retail , it was all a medical student could afford . The seller wanted 10,000 and wouldn’t budge . I lost contact 5 years or so later they put a ad in the comic buyers guide I see the ad belatedly and call finally in position to buy but metropolis sees first and buys the collection stating “the seller actually knew how to grade “ . I still have list what I missed . In consolation 10 years later I buy the other half of the collection when the other daughter sells . Win a few lose a few