Where did all the Ken Bald Signature Series books come from? 1 1

[jimbo_7071]

There have been a ton of these books sold (or offered) on Heritage and eBay over the past couple of years. Does anyone know who had them signed?

I have no interest in them. Fortunately, many of the books were lower grade, but some were not. (It makes me sad to see any high-grade GA book defaced with an autograph.)

Ken Bald does not strike me as a artist whose autograph—or covers—would be particularly sought after. I'm just curious who had all of these books signed. (So many of them were offered at the same time that I'm guessing one collector is responsible for most of them.) Was Ken signing books for free at some event? If someone paid for all of those autographs, that's really surprising.

Edited September 12, 2023 by jimbo_7071

[Robot Man]

I don’t know. Bald isn’t really one of my favorites but one of the last of the Timely artists. I did get him to sign a couple of books mostly because of this. He was very friendly but I don’t remember many people waiting to see him. 

[Bumble Kitty]

On 9/12/2023 at 4:57 AM, jimbo_7071 said:

I have no interest in them. Fortunately, many of the books were lower grade, but some were not. (It makes me sad to see any high-grade GA book defaced with an autograph.)

This.  I detest Golden Age books that are defaced with someone's autograph.  Even if that person is a famous writer or artist. 

But I love an original collector's signature (i.e. Okajima, etc.).

[LadyDeath]

I came across these as well. Some look cool with the SS label matching the cover.

Definitely peculiar and overpriced though.

[Dr. Love]

The economic decision to put $ into stabbing and getting sigs in addition to these lower grade copies mystifies me.  For ACG romance? I dont get it.

In addition, the placement of Bald's signatures for the most part are in bad taste. Lastly, Bald's sig itself is painful to look at - it's clearly the hand of a very very elderly gentleman. Bald was 96 years old in 2016.  Maybe some think it's great he'd be out there signing at an advanced age. Not me.

[Yorick]

I got one!

[Mr. Lady Luck]

I am not a fan of autographed comics, but I couldn't resist this one.

[Mr. Lady Luck]

Ken Bald is one of my favorite GA artists, but I think that his (or anyone's) autograph lowers the value of the comic - especially if it's in high grade.

In May of 2018, the Edgar Church copy of Millie the Model #9 sold for $8,962.50. A few months later, Ken Bald autographed it. In November, 2021 the book resold for $2,640.00.

A drop of $6,322.50.

[Robot Man]

On 9/13/2023 at 5:10 AM, Mr. Lady Luck said:

Ken Bald is one of my favorite GA artists, but I think that his (or anyone's) autograph lowers the value of the comic - especially if it's in high grade.

In May of 2018, the Edgar Church copy of Millie the Model #9 sold for $8,962.50. A few months later, Ken Bald autographed it. In November, 2021 the book resold for $2,640.00.

A drop of $6,322.50.

Serves them right. Who in their right mind would have a beautiful Church copy autographed? On the cover none the less? I think anyone who does this as well as having any kind of “work” including pressing or cleaning done to a pedigree book like this, doesn’t deserve to own them…

[Robot Man]

On 9/12/2023 at 5:13 PM, Dr. Love said:

The economic decision to put $ into stabbing and getting sigs in addition to these lower grade copies mystifies me.  For ACG romance? I dont get it.

In addition, the placement of Bald's signatures for the most part are in bad taste. Lastly, Bald's sig itself is painful to look at - it's clearly the hand of a very very elderly gentleman. Bald was 96 years old in 2016.  Maybe some think it's great he'd be out there signing at an advanced age. Not me.

Over the years, I had several books autographed on the splash page by elderly creators. Some I kind of wish I didn’t. Irv Novak and Russ Heath come to mind. Yeah, pretty shaky. Heck, Novak was on oxygen when he signed my splash on a lower grade Shield Wizard #1. Probably didn’t hurt it any but still a little sad. He passed away a few months later. But I did get a cool conversation with him. 

[goldust40]

On 9/13/2023 at 1:10 PM, Mr. Lady Luck said:

Ken Bald is one of my favorite GA artists, but I think that his (or anyone's) autograph lowers the value of the comic - especially if it's in high grade.

In May of 2018, the Edgar Church copy of Millie the Model #9 sold for $8,962.50. A few months later, Ken Bald autographed it. In November, 2021 the book resold for $2,640.00.

A drop of $6,322.50.

To be fair the buyer way overpaid the first time. A Church is a Church, but that issue is a run book with a decent but not great cover. 
 

No doubt the Bald sig was a mistake considering how feted Churches are in the hobby, but like everyone here I’m old school and don’t care for signatures on GA (except for Frazetta, of course). 

[southern cross]

When it comes to pedigree books, I wouldn't get them signed. I remember a high grade Avengers 4 Boston pedigree with a signature for the yellow label and thought that was bad. A church copy I am speechless, except for this text rant 🤪

[N e r V]

On 9/13/2023 at 5:10 AM, Mr. Lady Luck said:

Ken Bald is one of my favorite GA artists, but I think that his (or anyone's) autograph lowers the value of the comic - especially if it's in high grade.

In May of 2018, the Edgar Church copy of Millie the Model #9 sold for $8,962.50. A few months later, Ken Bald autographed it. In November, 2021 the book resold for $2,640.00.

A drop of $6,322.50.

That’s my favorite of the  “old” Millie covers. I have one in a CGC case that’s around a 5.0 I believe that I got from Harley. If you are going to have one signed it’s that type of copy you get signed not the Mile High or any pedigree for that matter. I’m at a loss with the above. What are people thinking????

Edited September 13, 2023 by N e r V

[*paull*]

On 9/13/2023 at 8:10 AM, Mr. Lady Luck said:

Ken Bald is one of my favorite GA artists, but I think that his (or anyone's) autograph lowers the value of the comic - especially if it's in high grade.

In May of 2018, the Edgar Church copy of Millie the Model #9 sold for $8,962.50. A few months later, Ken Bald autographed it. In November, 2021 the book resold for $2,640.00.

A drop of $6,322.50.

This is as stupid as it gets.

[Robot Man]

On 9/13/2023 at 11:59 AM, N e r V said:

That’s my favorite of the  “old” Millie covers. I have one in a CGC case that’s around a 5.0 I believe that I got from Harley. If you are going to have one signed it’s that type of copy you get signed not the Mile High or any pedigree for that matter. I’m at a loss with the above. What are people thinking????

 

[PeterPark]

This is how about most signatures in any era. If it's personal for you, that's cool. I have a few like that that I got when I was little. But just generic front cover signatures? No thanks. I knock 30% or so off what I would pay. I know a lot of people won't appreciate this here but there are similarities. It is like how I feel about getting 30 and 35 cent variants signed. Like GA some are so rare, just leave them alone for what they are!

[Yorick]

On 9/12/2023 at 5:24 PM, Yorick said:

I got one!

I just saw that Ken Bald swiped this straight from an Ernie Chiriaka painting.  The original Ernie painting is on HA right now.