Your Very First GOLDEN AGE Comic! 3 3

[AJD]

I assume that the first time I saw a GA book in the flesh was in June 1988. I was on my first trip to the US and went to Lee's Comics in Palo Alto. I say "assume" because I looked at the wall books in the store and it's likely that there was a GA book or two there, though I wouldn't have recognised it at the time. The reason I remember it so clearly is that there was a very nice copy of Four Color 386 'Only a poor old man' there for $350 - which might as well have been infinite given my student travel allowance at the time. I was, and still am, a big duck fan, so that book eclipsed anything else. The first ever GA book I owned was this one, bought on eBay back in 2005. Owning a book from 1946 blew me away at the time. I really should have upgraded it as I built the rest of my WDC&S collection, but this one still represents a threshold event for me.

[Cat-Man_America]

After spotting his ad in the back page classifieds of a Marvel universe comic, my first true GA experience came by snail mail via "Mr. SASE" aka Howard (& Gail) Rogofsky early in 1968. I sent in a self-addressed stamped envelope and by return mail got his most recent list of available comics.  From that list I ordered my first GA comic, a copy of Plastic Man #10 in VF/NM condition for the amazing price of $6. I should also point out that he always recommended buyers pick alternates when ordering by mail in case the first choice had been sold. He recommended purchases by cash, check or money order, noting that checks would delay shipments by up to two weeks. Note: This was long before the internet, cell phones, PayPal, use of major credit cards, etc., and land-line long distance calls were very expensive.

I was really hoping that my first choice would be granted and several weeks later my wish was rewarded when a NM copy of Plastic Man arrived in a brown wrapped package backed by two pieces of corrugated cardboard (based on my recollection of it, the comic would probably be 9.2 or better graded today). Also included was his most recent list from which I could get my next "fix" which I'd decided would be an EC. Most of my purchases from Mr. Rogofsky thereafter were EC comics, which ...in a roundabout way... had been responsible for my initial Plastic Man purchase.  I'd been made curious about the GA by a Signet "Mad Reader" pocketbooks reprinting early MAD Comics stories in B&W. One of those stories was "Plastic Sam" a parody by Russ Heath if memory serves. That story made me extremely curious about the original Plastic Man character which was being satirized.

My enthusiasm for GA comics was only heightened by Jack Cole's art, and the Rogofsky list presented a nice smorgasbord of comics to choose from, but not as many high grade PM's. Having also gotten the EC bug through those early reprint stories in the Mad paperback alluding to comics produced by Mad's publisher I was determined to investigate EC horror and SF comics and Rogofsky's lists had lots of high grade copies of Vault and Weird titles. Anyway, that's pretty much the story of my first encounter with gold. Alas, with some regret I let that beautiful copy of PM #10 go in trade after joining the Oklahoma Alliance of Fandom in order to obtain other EC's I wanted (probably from Eric Groves, who was constantly coming up with new stashes of comics from his travels as a part-time dealer while he was in law school).

I also painted one of those EC comics purchased from Howard Rogofsky into a still life oil for my college art class (I brought the comic in daily; kept it in mylar); here's the daguerrotype!  I'm the nerdy looking guy with shorter hair than usual holding the Secret Agent Corrigan (X-9) daily original Al Williamson gifted me at HoustonCon in '74 (he's holding my finished oil painting)...

He also signed my fine copy of WSF #25 at the same convention; I still have that WSF...

Edited April 22, 2023 by Cat-Man_America
Ale added!

[Randall Dowling]

I think the first GA comic I ever saw was a copy of Terry Toons 5 that my older brother found at an old used bookstore in the late 70s.  It was completely brittle and pieces were falling off of it just picking it up.  He paid $5 for it and was extremely restrictive about letting me see it (this isn't the actual copy, just a general image taken from internet).  He was very confident it would be worth an enormous amount of money some day. 

The second GA I ever saw was probably a copy of More Fun 52 at Shinder's in downtown Minneapolis, MN.  Again in the late 70s, my brothers and I managed to convince our parents to let us have 10 minutes to look at comics and that was inside the bullet proof glass booth where the cashier sat (Hennepin Avenue was a pretty rough place at night, back then especially).  I think it was a couple thousand dollars but I could be wrong.  That was 45 years ago.

[sfcityduck]

On 4/20/2023 at 5:55 PM, Telegan said:

 

 

And why oh why must Darkhawk be the butt of every comic book investment joke?

Obscure joke to me.  Who or what is it? 

[thehumantorch]

I had a deal with Trish, the manager of a local second hand bookstore during the late 1970s  She would put old comics under the counter for me when they came in.  One Saturday morning I rode over on my Mustang bike, miss that bike, and she pulled out 4 books.  I was disappointed as I was a Marvel Zombie and these weren't Marvel, they weren't 1960s or 1970s books, and heck they weren't even super hero.  Worse yet Trish wanted $50 for them and that was a lot of money to me.  I didn't really want them but figured if I didn't buy them she'd quit putting books aside for me so I paid the piper. 

 Those 4 books were my first GA books, Wonder Comics 11, 13, 14, and 15.  All in high grade.  The 15 came back CGC 8.0.

[podboy66]

On 4/20/2023 at 9:37 PM, thehumantorch said:

I had a deal with Trish, the manager of a local second hand bookstore during the late 1970s  She would put old comics under the counter for me when they came in.  One Saturday morning I rode over on my Mustang bike, miss that bike, and she pulled out 4 books.  I was disappointed as I was a Marvel Zombie and these weren't Marvel, they weren't 1960s or 1970s books, and heck they weren't even super hero.  Worse yet Trish wanted $50 for them and that was a lot of money to me.  I didn't really want them but figured if I didn't buy them she'd quit putting books aside for me so I paid the piper. 

 Those 4 books were my first GA books, Wonder Comics 11, 13, 14, and 15.  All in high grade.  The 15 came back CGC 8.0.

pictures?

[whomerjay]

Not sure if this is my first but certainly the first I remember.

Bought this in 2003 along with a few other HG GA (at a fairly good price but certainly not a steal at the time) after many years of dealing in SA/BA/CA and decided I needed to start learning about GA. Was annoyed by the bindery chip and didn't feel an 8.5 was justified because of it (not knowing CGC's and most of the hobby's attitude towards bindery chips). I took it to several shows and got looks but no buys. One other dealer at one show who clearly knew GA asked me why I dealt in SA/BA/CA when they were so abundant that your business is essentially selling widgets (my words/interpretation). He thought this Nationals #11 was an exceptional book that I shouldn't be pricing as if eager to sell. Swayed more by my grading bias and the fact it didn't sell after 3-4 shows, I sold it on Clink (my first ever CLink sale) in 2004 for $800. 

I guess if you factor in it's been almost 20 years, I guess $800 wasn't bad. Plus this very book, after being pressed and resubbed (netting only an increase to OWWP) sold on HA for only $1560 in 2019; $800 in 2004 was a better sale, you can't net that little after 15 years.  But now after 20 years of gaining a reasonable GA education and appreciation of these books, if I could go back in time I definitely would have NOT sold and instead thrown this one in the vault. Any of you guys buy this book (in 2004 or since)?

 

 

[AndyFish]

It would have been around 1981-- my local comic shop had opened a year earlier-- it was a small shop-- no bigger than 800 square feet, and I had become friends with the owner-- so much so that he offered me a job there.  I was a kid working as a photographer's assistant at 14-- I knew if I took the job in the comic shop I would spend my whole paycheck and more every week, so I declined.   

One day I'm checking out at the register and behind him is a Batman book with a bright yellow cover-- it was more square than modern comics and I asked him if it was a coloring book, he takes it down and shows it to me-- it's a BATMAN #14 from 1942-- I was blown away.  As he flipped through it I saw it had one of the stories that had been reprinted in that bright red Batman Tabloid book from 1974ish which was a cherished item of mine.

I had to have it-- $50 and it was in VG/F condition.  A few months later he has a DETECTIVE COMICS #34 for $90 in F condition-- I discover that on his day off and as I go to buy it his assistant tries to talk me out of it telling me that a kid shouldn't be spending $90 on an old comic book.  That started my collection of Golden Age books and I've never stopped.

[BB-Gun]

I probably overlap gold and silver age cllecting.  I had Best f the West and Disney issuess but spent a lot fo time trying to finish my Flash collection.  My cousin gave me a few fawcett comics, Whiz 153 and Cap Jr 112.  My earliest purchase was All Star 23 and Detective 85.  From 1964 or 1965:

Edited April 21, 2023 by BB-Gun

[Captainwonder]

The 1st golden age comic I ever seen in person was by mistake. I went to this old comics book store about an hour from my house in Worcester MA back in the late 90s… I was looking at older Wonder Woman comics and found Wonder Woman 22! It was cheap I thought for such an old book. It was in ok condition but complete. My memory says I only paid $22 for it back then. I’m not sure if I’m remembering right but that’s what I remember. Later I’d look for others and got quite a few over the years but mostly comic buyers newspapers. If only I had bought sensation 1 back then! 

[Ghastly542454]

I had only been collecting comics for a couple of months in 1966. One Saturday I went the Roadium Swap Meet in Gardena a town next to the town I lived in. It was there that I met Nancy Scotto, mother of the legendary So Cal dealer Nick Scotto. She first introduced me to the concept that sometimes in order to get older comic books that I wanted, I had to pay more than a nickel or dime than the comic books I was buying at the swap meet. 
I remember buying 6-7 comics from her that day for .50-.75 each.

She gave me her phone number and address and within a few weeks, I was spending most of the $35 a month I earned delivering the Herald Examiner newspaper with her.

About 6 months after I met her in 1967, she offered me the oldest comic book I had ever seen-a Superman #9 (it was only 26 years old at the time) for the princely sum of $15!!  I bought it and was amazed at the rich colors on the pages. However, as much as I loved 🥰 the Superman #9, what really fascinated me was the ad inside the book for the Daisy Superman Krypto Raygun!! It took me over 40 years to find a nice complete one! 

[Kevin.J]

I own lots of British GA comics from the 1920s, 30s and 40s etc they are stashed away somewhere in my rooms and not worth a lot as not many of the old time collectors are left and they never really transferred down much to the younger collectors the way US books do.

I think this may be my first US GA book

 

[Robot Man]

On 4/21/2023 at 11:54 AM, Ghastly542454 said:

I had only been collecting comics for a couple of months in 1966. One Saturday I went the Roadium Swap Meet in Gardena a town next to the town I lived in. It was there that I met Nancy Scotto, mother of the legendary So Cal dealer Nick Scotto. She first introduced me to the concept that sometimes in order to get older comic books that I wanted, I had to pay more than a nickel or dime than the comic books I was buying at the swap meet. 
I remember buying 6-7 comics from her that day for .50-.75 each.

She gave me her phone number and address and within a few weeks, I was spending most of the $35 a month I earned delivering the Herald Examiner newspaper with her.

About 6 months after I met her in 1967, she offered me the oldest comic book I had ever seen-a Superman #9 (it was only 26 years old at the time) for the princely sum of $15!!  I bought it and was amazed at the rich colors on the pages. However, as much as I loved 🥰 the Superman #9, what really fascinated me was the ad inside the book for the Daisy Superman Krypto Raygun!! It took me over 40 years to find a nice complete one! 

Wow, the Roadium Swap Meet... I remember it well. I worked in Torrance and went there every day on my way to work. It was daily if I remember right. Never found much I can remember but was late for work a lot.

Nick Scotto, another name from the past... I didn't like him much. His prices were sky high and he seemed to never want to sell the better stuff. I learned a lesson early on from him. If you want something, show him the cash. It has always worked well for me over the years. I could rarely get anything from him but if I went in on Saturday, I would get one of his helpers. They would often pull out some of the good stuff and sell it to me. If it wasn't priced, they often just shot from the hip and quoted me off the top of their heads. Same thing with Geoffrey's in the same area. 

I have that same issue of Superman. And I bought mine about the same time. Although not as nice as yours, I got mine at The Book Nook in Pasadena for $3. I fished it out of a pile of old Life magazines with a couple other old comics. At the time it was the oldest Superman I'd ever seen, a single digit! Years later, I took it to the SDCC at the El Cortez and had this guy scrawl his name on it. 

As far as the Krypto Ray Gun, I also discovered it in this issue. It looked awesome but at the time, where would I ever find such a cool item? Well, a few years later, I saw one laying on the ground at the Rose Bowl Flea Market. The colorful box just blew me away and when I opened it and saw that awesome gun with Superman flying down the side, I knew I would be taking home. Don't remember the price but was probably under $15. To this day, I have a lot of much rarer Superman items, but this is still my favorite. 

We are close in age I believe and we both grew up in the LA area. Did you ever make it to the Big 3 in Hollywood? Cherokee Books, Collector Books and Bond Street Books? A regular Mecca for comic collectors here. Long before actual comic book stores. I know @Tri-ColorBrian and I believe @N e r V made trips there. Did you ever go? 

[Ghastly542454]

On 4/21/2023 at 4:00 PM, Robot Man said:

Wow, the Roadium Swap Meet... I remember it well. I worked in Torrance and went there every day on my way to work. It was daily if I remember right. Never found much I can remember but was late for work a lot.

Nick Scotto, another name from the past... I didn't like him much. His prices were sky high and he seemed to never want to sell the better stuff. I learned a lesson early on from him. If you want something, show him the cash. It has always worked well for me over the years. I could rarely get anything from him but if I went in on Saturday, I would get one of his helpers. They would often pull out some of the good stuff and sell it to me. If it wasn't priced, they often just shot from the hip and quoted me off the top of their heads. Same thing with Geoffrey's in the same area. 

I have that same issue of Superman. And I bought mine about the same time. Although not as nice as yours, I got mine at The Book Nook in Pasadena for $3. I fished it out of a pile of old Life magazines with a couple other old comics. At the time it was the oldest Superman I'd ever seen, a single digit! Years later, I took it to the SDCC at the El Cortez and had this guy scrawl his name on it. 

As far as the Krypto Ray Gun, I also discovered it in this issue. It looked awesome but at the time, where would I ever find such a cool item? Well, a few years later, I saw one laying on the ground at the Rose Bowl Flea Market. The colorful box just blew me away and when I opened it and saw that awesome gun with Superman flying down the side, I knew I would be taking home. Don't remember the price but was probably under $15. To this day, I have a lot of much rarer Superman items, but this is still my favorite. 

We are close in age I believe and we both grew up in the LA area. Did you ever make it to the Big 3 in Hollywood? Cherokee Books, Collector Books and Bond Street Books? A regular Mecca for comic collectors here. Long before actual comic book stores. I know @Tri-ColorBrian and I believe @N e r V made trips there. Did you ever go? 

I don’t remember if the Roadium Swap Meet was open 7 days a week since when I started going to it in 1966 I was 12 years old and was in 7th grade. I do know that it was open on Tuesdays as well as weekends since if a holiday fell on a Tuesday, I would sometimes go. Saturday always seemed to be the day to find great stuff and I know I went almost every week until around 1970. Most vintage comics could be had for a nickel since new comics were selling for .12. At one point my entire bedroom closet was filled to the top with comic books. Besides comic books, I bought a lot of old toys, Playboys (had to hide them under the mattress from my mom 😂) , old radios, and deer antlers ( I have no idea now why I was interested in those!).

Nancy Scotto lived in a duplex on 237th St in Torrance between Crenshaw and Arlington. The entire back house was filled with Nick’s comic books. Nick was serving in Vietnam when I first started dealing with her. She eventually opened up a store on 237th and Arlington. When Nick came back in 1970, he took over the store and eventually opened 2 other stores one on Crenshaw near Marine (Compton Blvd at the time) and later another store close to where I lived at the Old Towne Mall on Hawthorne Blvd called Ye Olde Comic Vendor. Nick could be quite a nasty person if he chose to be.
I can’t say I was regular at Cherokee Books, Bond Street, Collectors Books Store but starting during Christmas vacation 1967 until 1970, my Dad would drive me and a couple of friends up there in the morning and pick us up later in the afternoon. I loved all of those places although Burt at Cherokee didn’t care for us teenagers and the guy at Collectors would quote me a price on a book if I wanted it and then only go upstairs and get it if I proved to him I actually had the money to buy it💰! One of my favorite memories of Collectors was going there maybe 🤔 in 1969 and there was a table filled with actual scripts from nearby 20th Century Fox Studios from Batman, Green Hornet, Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea, Lost In Space, and other shows for $5 each. Unfortunately, I only bought 2 Batman scripts! 🥲

 

Edited April 28, 2023 by Ghastly542454

[woowoo]

I started with my first big book Spiderman 4 vg from Gerry in San Rafel store called Record King. He showed me mint copy's of Fantasy 15 for $750 each they looked like they were never put out. 1977ish. had to take bus was not driving yet.

I than bought my first Golden age Action comics 10 vg 300 cash or 600 trade had no cash so Bob Beerbohm took trade this was at pier 39.

I than went crazy as you can see from some polaroid's I found few years ago.

I sold in the CBG bought from Steve Fishler Ed Kalb I think that was his name sold my Superman 1 to The Dentist he sent me my first check  great times.

 

Edited April 22, 2023 by woowoo

[N e r V]

On 4/21/2023 at 7:09 PM, woowoo said:

I started with my first big book Spiderman 4 vg from Gerry in San Rafel store called Record King. He showed me mint copy's of Fantasy 15 for $750 each they looked like they were never put out. 1977ish. had to take bus was not driving yet.

I than bought my first Golden age Action comics 10 vg 300 cash or 600 trade had no cash so Bob Beerbohm took trade this was at pier 39.

I than went crazy as you can see from some polaroid's I found few years ago.

I sold in the CBG bought from Steve Fishler Ed Kalb I think that was his name sold my Superman 1 to The Dentist he sent me my first check  great times.

 

I’m going by memory but that seems high for AF #15’s in 1977. VF++ were around $25.00 in 1974. I remember FF #1 hitting $50.00 around that time. $750.00 could still buy elite GA books in 1977. 

[Telegan]

On 4/20/2023 at 9:53 PM, sfcityduck said:

Obscure joke to me.  Who or what is it? 

Very obscure.  It's like people collected X-Force #1's to where everybody had 20 copies of it hoping to be millionaires in the 90's.  There's a guy on YouTube who makes fun of the fact he thinks Darkhawk #1 will be a collector's item (doubtful) and he has a myriad of copies of it probably.  Oddly enough, I think someone else asked all their viewers to buy some issues to drive the prices up on the pricing sites and it actually worked for a while as it was listed as a "trending up" comic.  You hear it as a joke/meme every so often nowadays that Darkhawk #1 is "investment-worthy".

[woowoo]

On 4/21/2023 at 8:47 PM, N e r V said:

I’m going by memory but that seems high for AF #15’s in 1977. VF++ were around $25.00 in 1974. I remember FF #1 hitting $50.00 around that time. $750.00 could still buy elite GA books in 1977. 

Nope I was buying them in vg for around 250. Guide was 250-500-750. If someone has a guide, please look. I know when I opened the first page the cover was peeling from the page, they were great.

[N e r V]

On 4/21/2023 at 9:20 PM, woowoo said:

Nope I was buying them in vg for around 250. Guide was 250-500-750. If someone has a guide, please look. I know when I opened the first page the cover was peeling from the page, they were great.

I’m at work right now to look but this site has PG #7 at $85., $170., $255. (G-Fn-M). 
 

 

 

[N e r V]

I think Theo was probably asking that much though in 1977…