mikephoen's Slabbed Batman Collection

[mikephoen]

Next up is a book that I picked up at the end of October last year that I forgot to scan before putting in the safe deposit box. I might not have it for that long, as I have already upgraded to the blue label 7.0 earlier in the thread. Bought this book from 'the dentist', Dave Anderson on ebay for a hair under $899. I was pretty happy with it at the time... as I think slight professional restored label books are really really cheap. One small tear seal makes the book 40% of guide.... seems like a deal to me.

 

[mikephoen]

This Batman #25 was a bit of an adventure. Bought it on EBay early in December for $932 with a best offer, right at my 85% of Overstreet threshold. Paid by money order, and the seller shipped it out right away, and sent me the tracking numbers. Then the adventure began.

 

The book cleared customs on the 19th, and I expected to see it the next day... but nothing. Each day after I expected the book to arrive, but still nothing. Christmas shipping and all, I wasnt too worried yet.

 

The day before Christmas (a Sunday), Canada Post attempted delivery to the store. They came at 9:00 in the morning however, which was earlier than we opened, so there was no-one there to take delivery. They didnt bother leaving an attempted delivery notice, or if they did, it blew away or somehow went missing. I didnt bother checking the tracking numbers Sunday, as I didnt think there was any chance of them delivering on a Sunday.

 

With all the Christmas and Boxing Day madness it wasnt until the following Wednesday (27th) that I checked the tracking numbers again. Hmm... all it listed was the attempted delivery on the 24th, and then nothing. I contacted Canada Post, and the seller, who contacted USPS. Neither service knew anything.

 

I called my local depot on Thursday and they said they had nothing for me, and nothing under those tracking numbers.

 

Finally, on Friday, after a number more calls, I actually talked to someone who had a clue. Apparantly, someone at Canada Post had entered the book into the system using the Customs number instead of the USPS tracking number. I have no idea why there is a separate Customs number, apparantly just to make things more difficult. The book had been sitting at my local depot since the 24th, who knows if they ever would have sent it out for delivery again, or let me know they had it. Armed with my new knowledge, I drove over to the depot and managed to explain to them to look for it under the customs number (though some protests of 'Thats not how we track packages'), and finally received my book, late on the 29th.

 

I should note that ebayer mbhighlander63 was great though out the process, and was always quick responding to emails.

 

Oh yeah, the book itself. Very happy with it. A great 7.0. I love books in the 5.5 to 7.5 range. They were obviously read and loved by someone, and then kept safe for more than half a century.

 

[Hawkman]

wow. interesting read. thank you.

[mikephoen]

Here's a big one.... hopefully doesnt go down as 'mikephoen's folly'. Some of you might remember this one from its ebay auction that was discussed here in the middle of December. So.... Batman #1, variant missing the dot/period after the 'No' and before the '1'. At least I'm hoping its a variant and not just a hatchet job of restoration. I won it for $5760, as a VG+ to FN- with minor restoration. I'm not sure what CGC will give the book, the restoration is definitely not the most professional job I've ever seen. The book is heavily color touched, and I believe the back cover has been reattached. Most of the yellow on the front cover has been 'painted' over, so its at least possible the dot just got covered over...

 

My semi-scientific attempt to determine if the dot was painted over was to take the book in a dark room and shine a flashlight through the cover to see what I could find. As near as I can tell, there is no dot, and never was. The flash light test clearly shows the difference between the color touch areas and the few areas that dont have color touch. The cover becomes quite translucent with a bright flashlight, so I think if the dot was just colored over I would be able to see it with the light. I checked it out with a black light as well, though that was sort of inconclusive, although it did confirm to me that there was no piece replacement in the top left corner.

 

On the down side, I think the top edge of the cover might have been trimmed.... Its pretty sharp, especially compared to the other edges. I'm going to send the book to CGC soon, and get their opinion. I'm also wondering if they would give the book a variant designation. I'm going to call and ask about this before I send it in... anyone have any idea if there is precident for this? On a Batman #1 or a similar GA book?

 

So the jury is still out on how good this deal was. Worst case scenario I have a heavily restored, trimmed Batman #1, which means I probably paid a little bit too much, though looking at the Heritage archives, some pretty ugly Batman #1s went for similar amounts. Best case scenario, the Batman #1 variant becomes a recognized and highly desirable GA key, and its price breaks away from the more common version. In which case I still only have a heavily restored version.... but hopefully at a good price.

 

[ciorac]

Mike for what you paid, you can't go wrong. Enjoy it!

[mikephoen]

First arrivals of 2007, although they were paid for at the end of 2006. Four more raw books from James Payette. The first 3 were all graded 5.0 by Jim, and the #50 was graded a 5.5. All four are pretty damn sweet, and after the last Payette4.5 came back a CGC7.0, I have high hopes that these will do as well. I would be shocked if any of them come back less than a 5.0, and I'm hoping for 6.0s or 6.5s. I paid $1555 for the four, which breaks down to... Well, I'm not sure what it breaks down to for each one. They arent on the website anymore, and none of my correspondence with Jim has the individual prices.

 

And that brings up another subject. I know at least a few posters here think its a little uncouth to announce what you paid for books. I do it mainly for myself, so when I look back at this thread in the months and years to come I know what I paid. In the old days I kept a physical log of what I paid for each book in my collection, but that seems kind of tedious now, so I like to just jot down my cost in the thread. Hope no-one minds

 

As for the books themselves... #19 is my least favorite of the first 50, with Batman and Robin getting squeezed out for text. Conversely, I love the cover of #48! Not enough cross-section covers on modern comics.

 

The #29 and #50 are both decent ones, not among my favorites but cool none the less.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[innocuous]

Congrats Mike. As for the #1 . . . it's a #1, so, to me, a great buy.

[podboy66]

 

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.

 

Ben and Marty???

[mikephoen]

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.

 

Ben and Marty???

 

Yeah, mostly Ben. I think Marty was smart enough to know what a long shot it was to actually work out. The last one must have been just before you came back to Calgary. It was quite the wacky idea... somehow it always turned out great. One year it rained pretty much every day in August, except the day of the show.

 

I also remember one year almost all the dealers got wicked sun burns on one side of thier faces, from standing behind thier tables, facing the same direction all day.

 

Ask Ben or Marty about it next time you see them.

[G.A.tor]

 

hello all...

great PU on the 50...I had asked Jim about it last year when it first hit his site, and forgot to confirm I wanted it...when I remembered a month later, he told me he sold it...glad it went to a good home, but I need one! if you upgrade

rick

[G.A.tor]

 

hello all...

tough to tell from the scan, but the "no" looks to be a repaint/resto, which I hope does not mean that yellow C/T did cover up the "."...but, as someone mentioned, it is a Bat 1, so for $5K or so, how can you go wrong!

about time for a new post, mike?

rick

[mikephoen]

hello all...

tough to tell from the scan, but the "no" looks to be a repaint/resto, which I hope does not mean that yellow C/T did cover up the "."...but, as someone mentioned, it is a Bat 1, so for $5K or so, how can you go wrong!

about time for a new post, mike?

rick

 

It is about time! I do have one new arrival that I havent had time to scan, but hopefully soon. After that one though... things have been slow. I got outbid on another 22 (this is at least the 3rd time I've been outbid on 22), and there hasnt been much else to choose from. There hasnt been a new book on CLink in forever and nothing on ebay other than the afore mentioned 22. I'm trying to stay patient though....

[G.A.tor]

hello all...

mike, nice to see that you and I only have one book we need in common...the batman 45....still kicking myself for not snagging your 50 when I had the chance...c'est la vie, S. will find me one

rick

[RaccoonRaccoon]

Thanks for posting all of these amazing books. I really enjoyed looking at the covers and more importantly reading your comments!!

 

[mikephoen]

Thanks for posting all of these amazing books. I really enjoyed looking at the covers and more importantly reading your comments!!

 

 

Glad you're enjoying my humble little thread! Now I just need someone to list some issues I need on ebay with no reserve so I can continue to add to the thread. I still havent had a chance to scan my latest acquisition. Hopefully Friday I will have battled my way through my backlog of work at the store and have a chance to scan and post.

[G.A.tor]

Thanks for posting all of these amazing books. I really enjoyed looking at the covers and more importantly reading your comments!!

 

 

Glad you're enjoying my humble little thread! Now I just need someone to list some issues I need on ebay with no reserve so I can continue to add to the thread. I still havent had a chance to scan my latest acquisition. Hopefully Friday I will have battled my way through my backlog of work at the store and have a chance to scan and post.

hello all...

mike, you are just collecting 1-50, right?...

rick

[mikephoen]

hello all...

mike, you are just collecting 1-50, right?...

rick

 

Yup, just 1-50 for Batman for now. I dont really like the goofy 50s Bats, so I dont plan to go past #50. In my opinion the 50s are all about EC, and I intend to put some more effort/$$$ into ECs once I get the Bats done.

[Norrin_Radd]

hello all...

mike, you are just collecting 1-50, right?...

rick

 

Yup, just 1-50 for Batman for now. I dont really like the goofy 50s Bats, so I dont plan to go past #50. In my opinion the 50s are all about EC, and I intend to put some more effort/$$$ into ECs once I get the Bats done.

 

There are still some very good Joker/Two-Face stories after #50, but I agree that the first fifty are the most solid part of the run ending with a great Two-Face cover.

[mikephoen]

hello all...

mike, you are just collecting 1-50, right?...

rick

 

Yup, just 1-50 for Batman for now. I dont really like the goofy 50s Bats, so I dont plan to go past #50. In my opinion the 50s are all about EC, and I intend to put some more effort/$$$ into ECs once I get the Bats done.

 

There are still some very good Joker/Two-Face stories after #50, but I agree that the first fifty are the most solid part of the run ending with a great Two-Face cover.

 

Thats true, there are a few great covers after 50, and obviously once you hit the Adams ones in the late 60s you have some of the best covers ever. You and rick should be careful, you might convince me to start competing with you for those after 50 covers...

[G.A.tor]

hello all...

I tell you, from a collecting standpoint, the 50-100 are the toughest in batman to get in grade...look at my list...I had the majority of 1-50 completed in no time, just secured a 45, so i am only missing the 50 (and I have a beat on one now)...when I needed 30 copies to complete 1-103, 25 were from 50 on..now I need less than 10, and you guessed it, all from 50 on...all the tough ones I have been nailing down the last 6 months, have been from 51-103 (end of the GA Bats)...that is inded a challenge (nothing challenging about 1-50, other than choosing which copy you want...but sometimes just find a 86 is tough!)

just my 2 cents...true, the stories are not as classic, but there is some great stuff there

rick