mikephoen's Slabbed Batman Collection

[mikephoen]

New arrival from almost 2 weeks ago, that I finally got around to scanning today. Picked this one up on ebay with a Best Offer of $1250.

 

A great deal, but the transaction itself wasnt exactly smooth. First the seller claimed not to have received the money order, which I sent with delivery confirmation. When I checked with Canada Post they said it had been successfully delivered 2 days earlier, but they would begin an investigation. They recommended I cancel the money order, so I emailed the seller telling him this... at which point he said 'Lets wait a couple more days and see if it shows'. That night, miraculously, the money order had arrived....Suspicious to say the least. The seller had immaculate feedback though, and I did receive the book 10 days later or so. I guess everything was on the up and up, but still a little unsettling.

 

Also it was sent regular mail, so it ended up in my mail box at the front of the store, sticking up for all the world to see on a very busy street for probably an hour or so before anyone arrived at work. Luckily no-one took it, but a little scarry thinking of a twelve hunder dollar book just sitting there for anyone to take.

 

As for the book itself, I'm really happy with it. I either need a new scanner, or need to learn to better use the one I have, because my scans rarely do justice to the books. This scan both accentuates minor defects while at the same time muting the colours. For instance the pencil mark visible in the "T" of Batman is much less apparant on the actual book, and the yellows and reds are much more vibrant in person.

 

The book does have a datestamp, something I personnally dont like, but somehow it doesnt seem so bad. Hating datestamps is a holdover from my high grade Silver Age collecting days I think... they dont seem so offensive on mid grade Golden Age books. Or at least thats what I'm telling myself

 

[thedude]

dude, that date stamp is 3 days after the Pearl Harbor attack,... I'd LOVE to have a date stamp like that on one of my GA books< . very cool... !!! oh and nice looking book too.

[action1kid]

Awesome scans !

[action1kid]

Always a pleasure to see those early Bats

[mikephoen]

Wow, I hadnt thought of that. Pretty cool. As a Canadian, Pearl Harbor doesnt have quite the meaning to me that it would to an American, but I do love the WWII covers, and this date stamp is kind a neat crossover between my Batman run and my planned WWII cover collection.

[thedude]

Pretty cool. As a Canadian, Pearl Harbor doesnt have quite the meaning to me that it would to an American,

 

true, but just look at it as a part of (world) history,.. plus whenever you show off your collection to someone, you can say " hey look, this was stamped 3 days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor",

 

definitely one of the coolest date stamps I've seen..

[G.A.tor]

hello all...

sweet looking bat 9....nice PU

rick

[adamstrange]

Very nice looking copy!

 

There's no requirement that you like datestamps, but I've found over time that I've grown to like date stamps, especially when they are neatly positioned on the book.

[Dark Knight]

Congrats on the pickup . Im glad it arrived safely into your hands and not somewhere else. Very lucky that no one picked it up from your mailbox.

[SurfingAlien]

Nice observation - I wonder if there are any books around with an actual 12/7/1941 date stamp? Would be especially interesting to me because it is a) My wedding anniversary and b) My daughter's birthday ( I know...wild coincidence and definitely a day that will live in infamy in this household!)

 

I wonder if anyone specifically collects books with date stamps?

 

 

B/t/w mikephoen... GREAT BOOKS! keep 'em coming

[mikephoen]

Three new arrivals today all from Bob Dumas at Silver Comics. Paid $985 for the #17, $810 for the #20 and $540 for the #33. About 5% higher than my self imposed cap, but Bob threw in free shipping and insurance, which actually makes a difference when you live in Canada.

 

The books themselves are a little bit of a mixed bag... couldnt be happier with the 17, looks great, love the black covers, love the war theme. The 20 has great colour, but a little heavier spine damage than most of my other similar grade books. Still quite content with it, it would have to be a great deal on a beautiful copy to get me to upgrade.

 

The 33 however, was a bit disappointing. Damn those white covers are hard to find looking nice. This one has a little more dirt and discoloration than I would like, especially along the right edge. I personnally think its overgraded at 7.0. Raw in the store there is no way I would give it more than a 6.0 and when I compare it to my 5.5 #11, I think the 11 is supiorior in almost every way. Oh well, my bad luck seems confined to the ones in the 30s. I only have three and all three are also the only ones I am actively looking to upgrade from the entire run so far.

 

Enough rambling, here's the scans:

 

 

 

 

 

[G.A.tor]

hello all..

I agree, 6.0 on the 33 is "fair", but maybe there is something else to the book that made the CGC folks go higher (nice corners and good registration)...

all in all, outstanding PU's...especially that 17....wow

rick

[mikephoen]

hello all..

I agree, 6.0 on the 33 is "fair", but maybe there is something else to the book that made the CGC folks go higher (nice corners and good registration)...

all in all, outstanding PU's...especially that 17....wow

rick

 

Thanks rick! I should also note that the slight whitening just below the eagles wing on the 17 is actually just on the CGC shell, not on the book itself. Someday CGC is going to improve the CGC holder and make it scratchproof and we're all going to make them rich resubing all our books to get new holders.

[skybolt]

 

Love those early Batmans.

[ciorac]

Great stuff again Mike!

[mikephoen]

New arrival on Monday. Picked this one up from Motor City Comics for $999.99 in one of their Ebay auctions. Overall a great experience dealing with them, they even drove the book across the border and mailed it from the Canadian side, which saved me from paying tax. It also arrived in less than a week, and cost them twice what they charged me in shipping! I've heard a few negative comments about Motor City on the boards, but I have to say their service to me was top notch.

 

I'm also quite pleased with the book itself. Presents better than the 6.5 #20 from earlier in the thread. Colors are very nice, and I've always been a sucker for yellow covers. Slight dustshadow along the top and right edge, but its not as bad in hand as it is in the scan. And its Batman and Robin in an Army Jeep, whats not to love.

 

[mikephoen]

Also on Monday, I got the raw #6 back from above back from CGC. All I have to say is 'Buy your raw books from James Payette!' Just stay away from the Batmans, they're mine! . James graded this a VG+ and it came back from CGC a 7.0 with Off-White to White pages! I actually paid $3.88 more for a Slight Professional 7.0 #6 than I did for this unrestored one..... and I thought I got a good deal on the Slight P! Which makes this one quite the steal.

 

I have to say I would never have graded this a 7.0 personally, but CGC seems to be a lot more forgiving than I am on spine splits. Its a beautiful book other than the half inch split at the bottom, and I guess that was good enough for the Sarasota boys. I havent decided what I'm going to do with two #6s (which reminds me, I forgot to scan and post the other #6 before I put it in my safe deposit box), for now I'll hang on to them both I guess.

 

Here's the now incarcerated #6:

 

[ciorac]

Also on Monday, I got the raw #6 back from above back from CGC. All I have to say is 'Buy your raw books from James Payette!' Just stay away from the Batmans, they're mine! . James graded this a VG+ and it came back from CGC a 7.0 with Off-White to White pages! I actually paid $3.88 more for a Slight Professional 7.0 #6 than I did for this unrestored one..... and I thought I got a good deal on the Slight P! Which makes this one quite the steal.

 

I have to say I would never have graded this a 7.0 personally, but CGC seems to be a lot more forgiving than I am on spine splits. Its a beautiful book other than the half inch split at the bottom, and I guess that was good enough for the Sarasota boys. I havent decided what I'm going to do with two #6s (which reminds me, I forgot to scan and post the other #6 before I put it in my safe deposit box), for now I'll hang on to them both I guess.

 

Here's the now incarcerated #6:

 

 

Way to go Mike!

[mikephoen]

Time to catch up on this thread. I've been really busy lately, but I finally had a chance to scan a bunch of books the other day, so here is the first one!

 

The book that I guess started it all. I picked this one up raw almost a decade ago, as a VF-, for I believe $300. I do remember there being a small amount of rust on the staple when I bought it back then, not sure if its got worse over the years. Maybe... or maybe I'm just remembering it with less. I know at the time I thought it was a little overgraded, but I thought it was a cool cover anyway, and being pre-Ebay and pre-internet, I figured I would never see one like it without going to a major US convention, so I picked it up at an outdoor convention.

 

Yes, thats right, back in the day my buddy used to run an end of summer outdoor comic convention in his parking lot behind his store. He ran it for 5 years, and had perfect weather every time, but the last time, about half an hour after the last dealer packed up, we had a HUGE rainstorm move in very quickly. I guess he decided he'd tempted fate enough, and that was the last of the outdoor shows.

 

Took me ten years to pick up the next book for my Batman run... but I'm making good headway now.

 

[adamstrange]

Nice book -- and even better story! It's always fun to hear how a collection was built.