The scarcity of early bronze DC's......where the hell are they?!?

[FlyingDonut]

Haven't we also discussed that the paper used by DC at the time was of a lower quality? That could also contribute to the lack of HG DC's available.

 

Chris

 

 

Chris, that's actually the first I've heard of this one. When I look at 70's Marvels and DCs today, I cannot detect a difference in paper quality. Did they not use the same printing plant (Sparta?) and therefore presumably the same raw materials?

 

Note however this is not the case with Charltons: I can definitely spot a lower quality paper and lower general 'workmanship' in my 1960s Charltons. But then, I believe Charlton had a complete turnkey operation in Connecticut, including its own printing plant, if I recall correctly.

 

Cheers,

Z.

 

Charltons were printed in Derby, CT. All other books were printed in Sparta, Illinois at World Color Press. A good friend of mine grew up in Sparta, and comics were EVERYWHERE.

[Zonker]

Another thing I thought of at softball practice (Yeah we aren't very good). Where's all the MH2 high grade DC copies? Supposedly, Rozanski indicated that the collection had BOTH high grade DC and Marvel comics in bulk. But for the life of me, I can't think of many (or actually any) DCs coming out of the collection. At least in the abundance that Marvels seem to be. Does anyone have any insights on where these went?

 

 

Jim

 

Jim,

I've wondered the same myself. As I recall reading Rozanski's Tales from the Database, he said the MH2 collection had roughly "50% Marvels," strangely enough without specifying what the other half was... ...

 

What if the other half were comprised of

100,000 Shazam! #1; and

half-a-million Atlas/Seaboard comics("Hey, they got Stan Lee's brother on board!")

 

Cheers,

Z.

 

 

[aardvark88]

I think it is quite simple. There are fewer slabbed early bronze DC's b/c collectors bought them for the N Adams or Wrightson interior artwork. It is too hard for the DC collector to restock a nm DC if they sell it slabbed, so they would rather slab bronze silver/bronze Marvels which are very easy to restock.

[CosmicBob]

THey have to be somewhere. I got a MH2 Superboy that was a 9.4, and I can't believe it is an anamoly in the MH2 collection.

 

But I doubt Chuck is sitting on them because he likes to sell things.

[awe4one]

Yeah....I doubt Chuck sitting on them either but it also seems odd that so many Marvels turn up and hardly any DCs. It could be a case of what I mentioned in another thread. Once DC collectors get 'em, they stay in collections and haven't resurfaced yet.

 

 

Jim

[aardvark88]

More 1975 up DCs may be slabbed once slabbing fees decrease due to more well-advertised competition. Most 70s DCs guide under $20, so there is little incentive to slab middle of the road Adventure, Legion, Superboys, Action, etc.

[Foolkiller]

I know someone else mentioned this as well... but I believe that DC collectors tend to hang onto their books more, and I think that has a lot to do with the fact we don't see as many hg bronze dc. Plus, I get the sense that the DC collectors really like to read their books and aren't as interested in turn around so slabbing them isn't necessarily as appealing.

[Darthdiesel]

I wouldn't doubt that alot of the books also got torched or flooded for insurance purposes (people regularly kill the non-selling stuff like that to get at least face value for books that otherwise are barely worth the bag and boards you waste on them)

 

 

I see...now I know what to do with my Valiants....

[jonnydouble]

THey have to be somewhere. I got a MH2 Superboy that was a 9.4, and I can't believe it is an anamoly in the MH2 collection.

 

But I doubt Chuck is sitting on them because he likes to sell things.

 

I got a Mile High II copy of Wonder Woman #212...it doesn't say so on the cgc case but a certificate came with it...I was just happy to find a 100 page spectacular in a 9.4...

 

Jonny D.

[jonnydouble]

Sorry..That was #211

 

J.D.

[buena_vista]

I agree with most of your opinions but I'm surprised no one mentioned the Wonder Woman books from the Denny O'neil period. Those books (especially the Jeff Jones covers - 199 & 200) are really hard to find -- and, here's the point -- very undervalued. There is no incentive for anyone to sell these books at the prices Overstreet quotes for them.

 

Also, while most of the high prices in Marvel Bronze age are character driven (first apperances, death issues etc), the few books that standout in DC bronze age are artist driven (Adams, Wrightson, Rogers, aforementioned Jones etc). The reason for that is simple. DC's top titles were mediocre for a very long time. Superman, Action, Justice League, even Batman & 'Tec had the occasional strong points, but were penciled by DC's "old guard" making them much less desireable.

 

Novrik, Robbins, Dillin, Boring --- need I say more?

 

And yes... I do think you paid way too much....

[COI]

And yes... I do think you paid way too much....

 

So did I, but I've since gotten 2 different emails offering to buy it from me for more than I paid, so I think I did ok.

[comicartfan]

Andrew,

you paid ALOT for it, but you defintely didn't pay too much...great book ! -

 

Mike

[Joanna]

I have some very sharp-looking bronze DC's but when I put them on ebay raw, I don't get anywhere near their value. Yet slabbing doesn't seem worth it because they guide for so little. Sure, if someone pays multiples of guide it would be great, but there's no guarantee of that. So they're sitting in a stack while I try to figure things out. I don't have the money to send them to CGC as an experiment so that I can find out what they'd get (darn that trivia contest! I finally got the answer right last week but so did everyone else). And I just can't bring myself to sell them raw and get pennies. I've done that already and it always feels terrible.

 

-- Joanna

 

 

[chrisco37]

One possibility, Joanna, would be to sell enough (keep your best stuff) on eBay to join the Collector's Society. You'd get 5 free submissions for $99. You could slab the HG Bronze and turn a profit that way.

 

I think you even get some coin submissions (or you used too. I haven't renewed ), and I remember you've stated you have some old coins.

 

Chris

[Joanna]

Chris,

 

I joined when I first found this board. I got 3 comic submissions, 3 coin and 3 card. I've used the comics (those were the 3 GA books I had slabbed) but can't figure out what coins should be slabbed. I have some sport cards -- all hockey (my nephew was into them for awhile so I bought a bunch for him and he stopped caring by the time Christmas came around), but don't have any idea which, if any, are worth slabbing.

 

I guess I need to do some scanning, go to the coin board and ask for help.

 

As for CGC, I think I'm going to write some articles for submission to their newsletter. They pay in CGC standard submissions. If I can whip out a few articles, I can get some books slabbed. Look for my bestest silver & bronze DC's if that happens. Reading the articles is optional, of course.

 

-- Joanna

[fazman]

I started (reading) accumulating comics in the early 70s (Collecting came later, when I had more disposable income ). I purchased mostly DCs, but also picked up Marvels. At the second hand book store (1/2 off cover!!) I usually picked up the DCs first & then Marvels, if I had any $$s left over. Same as at the newsstand.

As you can imagine , I have a lot of DCs in this time period.

I would rather sell off my Marvels than some of my nice DCs .I do not really know why? Anyway, as stated in this forum, I would not get ,at this time anyway , some of the $$$ being spent on Marvels. So , I will hang tight , & keep these books where they are.

 

[Aman619]

There are a lot of good ideas and guesses here why BA DCs are hard to find...I agree with most of them, but to me, I think the biggest reasons are the low incentive to get them graded since they arent selling for crazy prices yet. But as we have all seen over the years is once the money shows up and a bunch of "silly" prices are realized for these books, lots more start coming out of the woodwork!

 

I see no urgent need to sell mine, but I dont really sell anything anyway....but I would be at least tempted if I saw them selling for $360 each as opposed to guide (what, 30???). AK, if there are more sales like yours, that will bring out more DCs.

 

They probably are a bit "rarer" except for the #1s that were hoarded...but they are out there.

[COI]

you paid ALOT for it, but you defintely didn't pay too much...great book ! -

 

Thanks Mike. I feel good about the purchase, especially considering some of the prices I've paid for Marvels that weren't nearly as scarce.

[Warlord]

 

What about a simple reason for fewer DCs being around -- like DCs having a higher cover price and so fewer were sold?

 

I remember buying these suckers as a youngster and being dumbfounded when the price went from 15 cents to 20 cents! That was outrageous! No way was a comic worth 20 cents! Let me see what I can get for my 15 cents, and leave those 20 centers rot on the shelf! Reaction repeats when prices went from 20 cents to 25 cents. And again at 30 cents and so on... That sort of reaction had to have an impact on sales and what titles kids were buying and reading regularly.

 

As I recall, it was usually DC that caved in a raised prices to the next tier first. Then Marvel quietly followed a few months later.

 

Maybe some of you historians can back up my fuzzy memory with some dates and prices. And perhaps the couple of you older than me can tell us if the price increases from 10 cents to 12, and from 12 cents to 15 cents followed the same pattern where DC increased prices first by a few months?