RE:Calling all Old Timers

[langur88]

They haven't changed and their perks are just as long as they were back then.

 

 

[blazingbob]

Let's put High grade in perspective also.

 

Back in the "old days" a lot more Silver Age was in "high grade".

 

To me there was more high grade available back than there is today being that I could go to a convention and basically pick and choose who to buy it from.

 

AS #1 was the Hulk #181 of the day.

 

FF #1's, AF #15's, etc were a lot easier to find than they are today.

 

.50cent boxes were .10cent boxes back then.

[blazingbob]

I wouldn't talk .10 cent box dealer

[shadroch]

Lets just say that in the mid-70s,MH Chuck would be considered a fair grader.

[langur88]

I wouldn't talk .10 cent box dealer

 

I have been making a move into the more lucrative one dollar comics!

High grade too!

 

Or maybe I could dig into that 100 long boxes of bronze age that has been collecting dust on pallets in storage for years. I heard something about crazy prices for high grade books. October 8th in NYC might be a good time to pull out those babies.

[Foolkiller]

I wouldn't talk .10 cent box dealer

 

I have been making a move into the more lucrative one dollar comics!

High grade too!

 

Or maybe I could dig into that 100 long boxes of bronze age that has been collecting dust on pallets in storage for years. I heard something about crazy prices for high grade books. October 8th in NYC might be a good time to pull out those babies.

 

You bring high grade bronze = me show up for sure.

[towards2112]

Before the Internet there were "Big Time Dealers"

 

The "modern term is BSD...

[tth2]

A $100 Hulk #1 made a person shake just as much as the $10,000 copy does today.

Well said!

[tth2]

But where there auctions that had this many quality books in it 7/8 times a year and dealers inventory, where if you wanted to, could assemble most if not all traditional Silver Age characters runs by making a few phone calls? Trying to get a perspective on what seems to me to be a never ending barrage of quality material or am I simply just more aware of things in comics as a consumer because of the internet?

 

The material was there as long as you paid a premium, liked to hunt, had $ and had time to spare.

 

Also helped if you had a network of friends around and across the country helping each other looking for books WITHOUT MAKING MONEY OFF OF YOU. That helped me more than anything.

 

That said, yes, the internet, recored prices(bring stuff out of older collectors collections) and a few good finds of new collections have made things easier.........

The consignment websites like Comiclink and PedigreeComics also help to create the appearance of greater supply. They've become virtual shop windows for owners to display their wares at extremely high prices, because it doesn't cost them anything to list the books.

 

To answer Bob's question above, I definitely don't think there were as many comic auctions being held in the old days. Sotheby's and Christie's only started doing comic auctions in the late 80s or early 90s, if I recall, and they WERE rare events, with more big ticket books gathered in one place than was usually the case, which is why they always generated so much buzz.

 

Who else was doing big auctions in the 80s and early 90s? Verzyl? When did Greg Manning start its comic auctions?

[otherworldsj33]

Gereber did some auctions back then too.

[shadroch]

I don't recall any big time auctions until Christies and Sotherbys got in on it. Manning came later,and sold out pretty quickly.I've often wondered if he was just a front,used to give CGC a little cache.

[Moondog]

towards:

 

Thanks for the flowers, but BTD is so much nicer sounding than BSD. In fact, BSD sounds very childish to me. It's one acronym I'd like to see wither away.

 

--Gary

[Moondog]

Bob, old dealers don't fade away - they just become collectors.

[adamstrange]

But where there auctions that had this many quality books in it 7/8 times a year and dealers inventory, where if you wanted to, could assemble most if not all traditional Silver Age characters runs by making a few phone calls? Trying to get a perspective on what seems to me to be a never ending barrage of quality material or am I simply just more aware of things in comics as a consumer because of the internet?

 

The material was there as long as you paid a premium, liked to hunt, had $ and had time to spare.

 

Also helped if you had a network of friends around and across the country helping each other looking for books WITHOUT MAKING MONEY OFF OF YOU. That helped me more than anything.

 

That said, yes, the internet, recored prices(bring stuff out of older collectors collections) and a few good finds of new collections have made things easier.........

The consignment websites like Comiclink and PedigreeComics also help to create the appearance of greater supply. They've become virtual shop windows for owners to display their wares at extremely high prices, because it doesn't cost them anything to list the books.

 

To answer Bob's question above, I definitely don't think there were as many comic auctions being held in the old days. Sotheby's and Christie's only started doing comic auctions in the late 80s or early 90s, if I recall, and they WERE rare events, with more big ticket books gathered in one place than was usually the case, which is why they always generated so much buzz.

 

Who else was doing big auctions in the 80s and early 90s? Verzyl? When did Greg Manning start its comic auctions?

 

Sotheby's and Christie's started in 91 and only seemed to generate buzz for the first three years. After that, they seemed to have more high quality art then comics as they couldn't produce high enough bids relative to the cost of the sellers and buyers commissions.

 

Manning started about 1998/9 -- shortly before CGC.

[Moondog]

First Sotheby's was awesome. This card distributor (Anderson?) who had all the Wal-Mart's in his pocket, spent over a quarter million on SA and GA keys. Some record prices at the time. I got a few items myself. Herbie 8 cover...

[EastEnd]

I don't recall any meaningful auctions prior to the early 1990s either. I think another reason you see more high grade is because more of it is being created through pressing and cleaning. Admittedly this also happended in the past but today it's turbocharged by the CGC dollars.

[TvComics]

I don't recall any meaningful auctions prior to the early 1990s either. I think another reason you see more high grade is because more of it is being created through pressing and cleaning. Admittedly this also happended in the past but today it's turbocharged by the CGC dollars.

 

So true. Now that there is more $ in the game, it is nice to see all these comics reaching their full potential. Thank god for the profit motive and all the quality non-restoration going on to unleash the full potential of these otherwise deficient comics. It would be sad if folks just left them alone to remain lowly 8.5s when 9.2 was just a clean and press away.

[143ksk]

I don't recall any meaningful auctions prior to the early 1990s either. I think another reason you see more high grade is because more of it is being created through pressing and cleaning. Admittedly this also happended in the past but today it's turbocharged by the CGC dollars.

 

As Joe pointed out, Gerber had at least one amazing auction in the mid '80s (maybe 1985?). I still have the catalog. It makes the average Heritage Signature Auction look, well...average. There were complete runs of just about every GA title in HG (many Church runs ). Really awesome books! I bought the Pep 23-34 run and wish I had had the cash to buy more.

[aardvark88]

My buddy won some Gerber SA Marvel runs like Avengers & X-men. A few had slight color touch. Remember he was actively selling his Gerber resto supplies in Ostreet back then.