War Comics 17 17

[comick1]

All this discussion of high grade war book acquisitions is making me envious.

(I know, I know. . .poor me. Wowzy wowzy woo woo). So I'm satisfying my basest urge for appeasement.

Haven't shown this one in awhile.

 

And another.

 

Here's one I've never shared. One of the first 5 war books I ever bought. Came from a small collection that Terry Stroud fielded nearly 20 years ago.

 

[thirdgreenham]

Okay Mick, no I can go to sleep with high grade beauties in my mind. (thumbs u

[bigfiver69]

So, anyone here win books from the Mound City auction? I won 9 total. Spent a pretty good buck, but there were many others spending much more.

 

Andy

 

Which ones did you get Andy?

There were some very pretty books.

 

AAMOW 85 8.5

AAMOW 88 9.2

AAMOW 89 9.2

AAMOW 94 9.4

AAMOW 96 9.2

SSWS 84 9.0

OFF 49 9.0

OFF 67 9.2

Brave and the bold 52 9.4 Qual.

 

I am friggin jealous. The 49 was my wet dream. Really wet.

 

 

Thank God it's in a slab.

[comick1]

Hee hee

[adamstrange]

All this discussion of high grade war book acquisitions is making me envious.

(I know, I know. . .poor me. Wowzy wowzy woo woo). So I'm satisfying my basest urge for appeasement.

Haven't shown this one in awhile.

 

Here's one I've never shared. One of the first 5 war books I ever bought. Came from a small collection that Terry Stroud fielded nearly 20 years ago.

 

Uber cool Grandenetti cover!

[october]

Not exactly high grade, but I was still surprised I won this for only $26. Couldn't see any major flaws on the front, hopefully it will have nice eye-appeal.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=400082727123&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

[thirdgreenham]

Not exactly high grade, but I was still surprised I won this for only $26. Couldn't see any major flaws on the front, hopefully it will have nice eye-appeal.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=400082727123&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

 

My internet was down last night and I missed out on many of those auctions.

 

 

[Jeffro.]

Some of those books went cheap. I had one of his Dino books in my watch list and forgot about it.

[Jeffro.]

I was looking through the "would you sell your collection for just one book" thread over in comics general and the thought occured to me that yes if I could get GIC 87 in 9.6 and OAAW 83 in 9.6, I'd sell everything and buy those two comics. Then I checked the census and saw that the best slabbed GIC 87 is a 8.5 and the best OAAW 83 is a 9.0

 

Do you guys think these two books even exist in 9.4 or above?

[Flash105]

Yes. I think there are still a lot of Raw collections out there with old timers that have not seen the light of day for years.

[thirdgreenham]

I was looking through the "would you sell your collection for just one book" thread over in comics general and the thought occured to me that yes if I could get GIC 87 in 9.6 and OAAW 83 in 9.6, I'd sell everything and buy those two comics. Then I checked the census and saw that the best slabbed GIC 87 is a 8.5 and the best OAAW 83 is a 9.0

 

Do you guys think these two books even exist in 9.4 or above?

 

[Karma23]

Not exactly high grade, but I was still surprised I won this for only $26. Couldn't see any major flaws on the front, hopefully it will have nice eye-appeal.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=400082727123&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

 

Cool book Andy! Congrats

[comick1]

I'd be utterly shocked beyond ANYthing in recent memory if something like a 9.6--let alone a 9.4--of either one of them exists.

 

I've seen and heard of many collections over the years (I have the peculiar sensation that I should be shaking a cane into the air). Maybe 25% of them are serious DC collections. Less than a third of THOSE would be high grade collections. And then of those high grade DC collections, less than 10% are non-superhero. (and there's a 15% chance of THAT for all you Naked Gun fans out there).

Truly non-empirical evidence here. Strictly just impressions, but going by those statistics (which, I think, are conservative), that would mean that less than 1% of all collections out there have non-superhero DCs in high grade. And that's only non-superhero. Just hazarding a guess that less than 1/2 of those would be war collectors. There are a number of fabled superhero or GA runs, or even E.C.s that were voraciously collected since the earliest days of fandom. Action Comics #1 and lesser books were considered KEY books to get less than 20 years after they'd hit the stands.

 

I know, I know. There are WAYYYYY many more people who value a 1st Superman appearance over a 1st Sgt. Rock appearance, and I'm sure Action Comics #1 is FAR less plentiful in ANY grade. Superman, Batman, and Spiderman are household names in places of the planet where there are no houses, so I can believe that a lot of Action Comics #1s are buried away in people's collections that may be even passed to 2nd generation collectors (Bang-Zoom comes to mind) and may not see the light of day for another 40-60 years. The point is that there were collectors who knew and cared about books like that as early as 50 or even 60 years ago. Conversely, it was almost universally understood amongst collectors until as recently as 10 years ago that Sgt. Rock and the DC war books were as worthless as the proverbial birdcage liner to which MAD magazine always proudly aspired.

 

That said, I can believe that there are a number of GA and even SA collections out there that have substantial runs of superhero books, but can ANYBODY name a collection that contained comprehensive runs of war books. . .especially late 10¢ DC war books in high grade?

If you can, please stand and make yourself heard.

 

There are nice OO collections that contained some nice war books, but usually BEFORE Sgt Rock and Haunted Tank (Newsboys, River Cities, and Bethlehems), or afterward (Mass., Green Rivers, Kubert Collection, etc.). The few that DID have books from that era were not particularly comprehensive. Only the Mound City collection had a smattering of nice early Rocks, along with the storied Salida collection (which, to my knowledge, only contained OAAW 83, 85, and 88. The Salida 83 is no better than an 8.0 or--on a really good day--8.5 structurally.). I know of one better copy than the Salida that's NOT included on the census (at least I don't THINK it's been slabbed), but it's not a 9.4. Might be a 9.0 or 9.2 under the best of all circumstances. . .but then again, it's been a long time since I've seen it.

 

There is NO known pedigree collection that contained GIC 87 which is strange since it comes from a somewhat later era than the OAAW 83. The Mound City Collection was really spotty on the 10¢ perty-thirty. Only 80 and 84 represented (not that that's anything to shake a stick at since there IS no other original owner collection I can recall that had ANY (!!!!!) of the 10¢ perty-thirty).

 

As for 9.4 or above. Even the best of the structurally sound Salidas and Newsboys would rarely surpass a 9.2. I remember seeing the Showcase 4 Newsboy (Motor City) and thinking it was nicer than even the best of the structurally beautiful war comics I bought from the collection. So that really WAS an anomaly of the first order. Not sure that I agree with the 9.6, but it's been nearly 20 years since I've seen that copy.

 

In short, anything's possible. But to suggest that the "old timers" might have ANY war books socked away doesn't reflect the reality of the collecting mindset for the first 40+ years of serious comics collecting. Sorry, but that sort of thing is mostly true for superhero collectors. If there ARE still nice runs of war books out there, they're NOT socked away in old-timers' collections, but more likely to be in unearthed OO collections like the Salida or Mound City groups. . .and maybe that's what Flash105 meant in the first place.

 

A 9.6 AF 15 or Spidey #1. Now THOSE are things that truly exist even on the CGC census. Gotta imagine that they exist raw in pretty healthy numbers with some of the old-timed collectors that Flash105 mentioned.

 

OAAW 83 and GIC 87 in CGC 9.6?

 

Nah.

 

Time will tell.

Edited November 10, 2009 by Comick1

[Jeffro.]

I was looking through the "would you sell your collection for just one book" thread over in comics general and the thought occured to me that yes if I could get GIC 87 in 9.6 and OAAW 83 in 9.6, I'd sell everything and buy those two comics. Then I checked the census and saw that the best slabbed GIC 87 is a 8.5 and the best OAAW 83 is a 9.0

 

Do you guys think these two books even exist in 9.4 or above?

 

 

Tease

[bigfiver69]

I'd be utterly shocked beyond ANYthing in recent memory if something like a 9.6--let alone a 9.4--of either one of them exists.

 

I've seen and heard of many collections over the years (I have the peculiar sensation that I should be shaking a cane into the air). Maybe 25% of them are serious DC collections. Less than a third of THOSE would be high grade collections. And then of those high grade DC collections, less than 10% are non-superhero. (and there's a 15% chance of THAT for all you Naked Gun fans out there).

Truly non-empirical evidence here. Strictly just impressions, but going by those statistics (which, I think, are conservative), that would mean that less than 1% of all collections out there have non-superhero DCs in high grade. And that's only non-superhero. Just hazarding a guess that less than 1/2 of those would be war collectors. There are a number of fabled superhero or GA runs, or even E.C.s that were voraciously collected since the earliest days of fandom. Action Comics #1 and lesser books were considered KEY books to get less than 20 years after they'd hit the stands.

 

I know, I know. There are WAYYYYY many more people who value a 1st Superman appearance over a 1st Sgt. Rock appearance, and I'm sure Action Comics #1 is FAR less plentiful in ANY grade. Superman, Batman, and Spiderman are household names in places of the planet where there are no houses, so I can believe that a lot of Action Comics #1s are buried away in people's collections that may be even passed to 2nd generation collectors (Bang-Zoom comes to mind) and may not see the light of day for another 40-60 years. The point is that there were collectors who knew and cared about books like that as early as 50 or even 60 years ago. Conversely, it was almost universally understood amongst collectors until as recently as 10 years ago that Sgt. Rock and the DC war books were as worthless as the proverbial birdcage liner to which MAD magazine always proudly aspired.

 

That said, I can believe that there are a number of GA and even SA collections out there that have substantial runs of superhero books, but can ANYBODY name a collection that contained comprehensive runs of war books. . .especially late 10¢ DC war books in high grade?

If you can, please stand and make yourself heard.

 

There are nice OO collections that contained some nice war books, but usually BEFORE Sgt Rock and Haunted Tank (Newsboys, River Cities, and Bethlehems), or afterward (Mass., Green Rivers, Kubert Collection, etc.). The few that DID have books from that era were not particularly comprehensive. Only the Mound City collection had a smattering of nice early Rocks, along with the storied Salida collection (which, to my knowledge, only contained OAAW 83, 85, and 88. The Salida 83 is no better than an 8.0 or--on a really good day--8.5 structurally.). I know of one better copy than the Salida that's NOT included on the census (at least I don't THINK it's been slabbed), but it's not a 9.4. Might be a 9.0 or 9.2 under the best of all circumstances. . .but then again, it's been a long time since I've seen it.

 

There is NO known pedigree collection that contained GIC 87 which is strange since it comes from a somewhat later era than the OAAW 83. The Mound City Collection was really spotty on the 10¢ perty-thirty. Only 80 and 84 represented (not that that's anything to shake a stick at since there IS no other original owner collection I can recall that had ANY (!!!!!) of the 10¢ perty-thirty).

 

As for 9.4 or above. Even the best of the structurally sound Salidas and Newsboys would rarely surpass a 9.2. I remember seeing the Showcase 4 Newsboy (Motor City) and thinking it was nicer than even the best of the structurally beautiful war comics I bought from the collection. So that really WAS an anomaly of the first order. Not sure that I agree with the 9.6, but it's been nearly 20 years since I've seen that copy.

 

In short, anything's possible. But to suggest that the "old timers" might have ANY war books socked away doesn't reflect the reality of the collecting mindset for the first 40+ years of serious comics collecting. Sorry, but that sort of thing is mostly true for superhero collectors. If there ARE still nice runs of war books out there, they're NOT socked away in old-timers' collections, but more likely to be in unearthed OO collections like the Salida or Mound City groups. . .and maybe that's what Flash105 meant in the first place.

 

A 9.6 AF 15 or Spidey #1. Now THOSE are things that truly exist even on the CGC census. Gotta imagine that they exist raw in pretty healthy numbers with some of the old-timed collectors that Flash105 mentioned.

 

OAAW 83 and GIC 87 in CGC 9.6?

 

Nah.

 

Time will tell.

 

I agree with Mick. Anything is possible, but finding either of those books above 9.0 is a seriously long shot.

 

Sure would like to see one though... in a box in my basement!

 

Shep

 

 

[adamstrange]

I'd be utterly shocked beyond ANYthing in recent memory if something like a 9.6--let alone a 9.4--of either one of them exists.

 

I've seen and heard of many collections over the years (I have the peculiar sensation that I should be shaking a cane into the air). Maybe 25% of them are serious DC collections. Less than a third of THOSE would be high grade collections. And then of those high grade DC collections, less than 10% are non-superhero. (and there's a 15% chance of THAT for all you Naked Gun fans out there).

Truly non-empirical evidence here. Strictly just impressions, but going by those statistics (which, I think, are conservative), that would mean that less than 1% of all collections out there have non-superhero DCs in high grade. And that's only non-superhero. Just hazarding a guess that less than 1/2 of those would be war collectors. There are a number of fabled superhero or GA runs, or even E.C.s that were voraciously collected since the earliest days of fandom. Action Comics #1 and lesser books were considered KEY books to get less than 20 years after they'd hit the stands.

 

I know, I know. There are WAYYYYY many more people who value a 1st Superman appearance over a 1st Sgt. Rock appearance, and I'm sure Action Comics #1 is FAR less plentiful in ANY grade. Superman, Batman, and Spiderman are household names in places of the planet where there are no houses, so I can believe that a lot of Action Comics #1s are buried away in people's collections that may be even passed to 2nd generation collectors (Bang-Zoom comes to mind) and may not see the light of day for another 40-60 years. The point is that there were collectors who knew and cared about books like that as early as 50 or even 60 years ago. Conversely, it was almost universally understood amongst collectors until as recently as 10 years ago that Sgt. Rock and the DC war books were as worthless as the proverbial birdcage liner to which MAD magazine always proudly aspired.

 

That said, I can believe that there are a number of GA and even SA collections out there that have substantial runs of superhero books, but can ANYBODY name a collection that contained comprehensive runs of war books. . .especially late 10¢ DC war books in high grade?

If you can, please stand and make yourself heard.

 

There are nice OO collections that contained some nice war books, but usually BEFORE Sgt Rock and Haunted Tank (Newsboys, River Cities, and Bethlehems), or afterward (Mass., Green Rivers, Kubert Collection, etc.). The few that DID have books from that era were not particularly comprehensive. Only the Mound City collection had a smattering of nice early Rocks, along with the storied Salida collection (which, to my knowledge, only contained OAAW 83, 85, and 88. The Salida 83 is no better than an 8.0 or--on a really good day--8.5 structurally.). I know of one better copy than the Salida that's NOT included on the census (at least I don't THINK it's been slabbed), but it's not a 9.4. Might be a 9.0 or 9.2 under the best of all circumstances. . .but then again, it's been a long time since I've seen it.

 

There is NO known pedigree collection that contained GIC 87 which is strange since it comes from a somewhat later era than the OAAW 83. The Mound City Collection was really spotty on the 10¢ perty-thirty. Only 80 and 84 represented (not that that's anything to shake a stick at since there IS no other original owner collection I can recall that had ANY (!!!!!) of the 10¢ perty-thirty).

 

As for 9.4 or above. Even the best of the structurally sound Salidas and Newsboys would rarely surpass a 9.2. I remember seeing the Showcase 4 Newsboy (Motor City) and thinking it was nicer than even the best of the structurally beautiful war comics I bought from the collection. So that really WAS an anomaly of the first order. Not sure that I agree with the 9.6, but it's been nearly 20 years since I've seen that copy.

 

In short, anything's possible. But to suggest that the "old timers" might have ANY war books socked away doesn't reflect the reality of the collecting mindset for the first 40+ years of serious comics collecting. Sorry, but that sort of thing is mostly true for superhero collectors. If there ARE still nice runs of war books out there, they're NOT socked away in old-timers' collections, but more likely to be in unearthed OO collections like the Salida or Mound City groups. . .and maybe that's what Flash105 meant in the first place.

 

A 9.6 AF 15 or Spidey #1. Now THOSE are things that truly exist even on the CGC census. Gotta imagine that they exist raw in pretty healthy numbers with some of the old-timed collectors that Flash105 mentioned.

 

OAAW 83 and GIC 87 in CGC 9.6?

 

Nah.

 

Time will tell.

 

I agree with Mick. Anything is possible, but finding either of those books above 9.0 is a seriously long shot.

 

Sure would like to see one though... in a box in my basement!

 

Shep

 

 

Finding a copy with ow or better pages, proper colors and quality of production on a cgc 9.4 or higher is unlikely for the reasons comick1 states, but possible, as we have certainly seen some surprising finds over the years.

[Flash105]

How many more collections like Mound City are out there. Two months ago we did not think that existed and low and behold he had a Flash 110 in CGC 9.0 an early DC 10 center. That could have easily been a GIC 87. There had to be one guy in this country that kept those books. At least that is my hope. It would be sad if there isn't a NM example to be found.

[thirdgreenham]

How many more collections like Mound City are out there. Two months ago we did not think that existed and low and behold he had a Flash 110 in CGC 9.0 an early DC 10 center. That could have easily been a GIC 87. There had to be one guy in this country that kept those books. At least that is my hope. It would be sad if there isn't a NM example to be found.

 

 

 

That's right, call me a tease again, Jeffro.

[thirdgreenham]

Hey all,

 

Just wanted to give you a head's up that I'm starting a thread for nominations for the best DC war cover comics. Here's the link (click me). It's over in Comics General. I know, I know, but that's where it'll get the most exposure. Plus, I like to see other people enjoy these great covers, not just us geeks.

 

Get over there and start posting your nominations. All will be a part of this contest. This will morph into the Survivor Series that I started up a year ago. So, make sure you post your favourites, (ahem, Mick), and no excuses about how "I don't know how this one didn't make your contest" etc, etc....

 

Andy

[thehumantorch]

Hey all,

 

Just wanted to give you a head's up that I'm starting a thread for nominations for the best DC war cover comics. Here's the link (click me). It's over in Comics General. I know, I know, but that's where it'll get the most exposure. Plus, I like to see other people enjoy these great covers, not just us geeks.

 

Get over there and start posting your nominations. All will be a part of this contest. This will morph into the Survivor Series that I started up a year ago. So, make sure you post your favourites, (ahem, Mick), and no excuses about how "I don't know how this one didn't make your contest" etc, etc....

 

Andy

 

Don't be dumb and post books from other publishers.