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Twin Cities Pedigree Thread
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Started by Frisco Larson,

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Frisco Larson

Frisco Larson

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For a while now, I've thought that there should be a thread recognizing this amazing collection of comic books and that perhaps maybe I should be the one to start it. For those who may not know the story of the collection, I'll provide a brief overview. The collection was the passion of a man named Gary Dahlberg and he lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Although I didn't know him and have no memory of seeing him at local comic shows, he was probably there ... and I just didn't know it. Local dealers that I've known for over a quarter of a century knew him, so we circulated in the same company, but being 17 years older than me, we didn't hang with the same people and had never been introduced to one another. I was unaware of him, until it was too late to know him. I had heard about his collection, as it was offered to a local comic shop, before a deal was struck between Gary's family and Heritage Auctions. It was thru the detailed description of the man and his comics in a Heritage catalog that I learned the full details of his passing. Gary had been readying his house to be sold and to retire to northern Minnesota. He was in the process of cleaning his stove when the combination of two different chemicals he was using, made him light-headed, which caused him to go lay down for a bit. While he was sleeping, the chemicals combusted and started the house on fire. Sadly, although still alive with a pulse, Gary wasn't breathing when help arrived, and he passed away on route to the hospital (which would've been North Memorial, about 2 miles away). Although I didn't see the house after the fire, it is said that all but the two front rooms were destroyed in the fire. The two front rooms were where Gary kept his comic collection. An odd thing for me personally is that for 17 years, I lived about a mile away from Gary's place! We walked our dog at a park so close I could've hit his house with a rock! My Timely Geek Club buddies, Billy, Russ & Ricky and I drove right by his place on their visit to my house! He was right there, but I didn't know it. 

  It's been 12 years (almost to the day!) since Heritage brought Gary's collection to market. Christened the "Twin Cities" pedigree collection, it is an exceptional testament to the man who built the collection and his eye for quality examples of the comics he collected. It's interesting to note that while Gary built an enormous comic collection, that wasn't the only thing he collected!!! In fact, it was a collecting interest that we shared that brought me further information about him! We both collected cereal prizes and toys, which lead me to a local dealer who ended up buying Gary's collection of those items. Through their offering those items to me, I discovered Gary's home address from a cereal fan club send away. I just stared at that envelope ... knowing the story behind it being in my hands. Once again, thinking I might start a thread honoring Gary and his incredible comic collection, I drove to where the house was a few months ago. I wasn't sure that it had been beyond repair but evidently it was. Now sits a vacant lot where the house that protected this immense collection once stood. As a hint to what the house may have looked like, the garage still stands, watching over the empty, snow-covered lot. I snapped a few pics for posterity ... a small memorial for Gary and his beloved comic collection. 

  Although his was a sad ending, I'd like this thread to be a celebration of the tremendous Twin Cities collection!!! Post your copies here and let's share what we have with each other!!!  (thumbsu

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Edited by Frisco Larson
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namisgr

namisgr

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Still avidly collecting many Silver Age runs at the time, I attended the Heritage auction of the Dahlberg collection in NYC.  Bought a few that day and many more over the years.  But I don't own them anymore, having sold all of my slabbed Silver Age collection.  So I'll post just a few minor key and otherwise noteworthy Twin Cities comics.

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Frisco Larson

Frisco Larson

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On 5/16/2023 at 2:08 PM, Rosland said:

Would you know collection size and average quality? Is there an inventory?

I remember bidding on some of the books...

It's a pretty large collection, but I don't know the actual number of comics. One could cobble together a pretty extensive list by viewing the Heritage archives but that would likely take quite a while to compile.

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