After a few Heritage auctions, how do you feel about the "D" collection?

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

I have to be honest, I haven't gotten involved with a lot of the bidding on the Crippen books for two reasons:

 

- The Foxing was a real detractor for me, especially on a lot of the high grade copies. It was hard to find a book I wanted that didn't have it. I know, I know, Foxing and GA go hand in hand, but it was pretty bad in some instances and killed my enthusiasm for a few books right quick.

 

- Some of the certified grades received by a number of books seemed overally generous to me. I don't want this to come across as a "bash CGC" post, it isn't. I know they are generally more lenient on GA material, but a few books seemed well off the given grade.

 

What do other collectors think about the Crippen books? Have you been happy with your purchases? Have you participated in the bidding wars? Have you withheld your bids for any of the reasons I mentioned above, or others? Where will it ultimately stand in the pantheon of GA pedigrees?

[CentaurMan]

I always like to know the story behind my comics, so for that reason it's nice to know which copies are Crippens, but otherwise it's had zero effect on my desire to have the book or to pay more for a given copy.

[Silver Surfer]

There defintely was a few copies I wanted to buy but two of my favorites both sold for over $5,000 so maybe next time.

[TheEyeSees]

I have to say that while my copy of KEEN DETECTIVE FUNNIES #18 was in nice shape, the inside of the cover was really dark. I thought the book was over graded... I would buy Crippen's again, but I wouldn't favor a Crippen over the same book in the same condition that was non-Crippen.

[GreatEscape]

Bought 3 Crippen books and am very happy with them. I'm especially keen on the mid-grade focus of the collection vs. the uber-HG Mile Highs which command exorbitant premiums.

 

As a result of the breadth of Crippen's interests, I was fortunate to add one of my all-time favorite L.B. Cole covers and scarce book, Eagle Comics #1, to my collection...for a relative bargain.

 

 

GE

[skybolt]

The foxing was a major turnoff for me as well. I did win 1 book, which looked like an accurately graded 9.0 without any foxing.

[Point Five]

Nice Eagle #1!

[Comicdey]

I need ....to buy at least one or two....but I'm holding out to see if they become available.

 

There are many yet to come

 

 

NICE EAGLE #1 too....

[143ksk]

I've bought about 20 Crippens both slabbed and raw. Water damage/foxing is definitely a problem in the midgrade examples I have. Most of them are very nice structurally, but are downgraded because of the foxing.

 

For the titles I collect, there aren't a lot of HG copies floating around, so I'm pretty happy that the Crippen collection is so comprehensive. I also prefer 8.0 to 9.2 copies rather than 9.4 and 9.6, so the Crippen books are a plus from that point of view as well.

 

It seems like most of the water/foxing is on the back covers of the books I've bought, so back cover scans are very useful if you're considering buying a Crippen (especially if it's raw)

[sacentaur]

I am totally avoiding all the Crippen books unless it can be determined that it was one of the "early" books to come out years ago and not one of the recent Heritage horde.

 

I've heard story that Crippen moved after the first small batch came out, and the books were subsequently not stored in a very suitable environment. I saw one example of a recent Crippen book the other week, and it was very, very dark inside.

 

I've also had feedback that some of the books tended to be overgraded (go figure). Riding on the coat tails of the "early" (nice) books, perhaps?

 

So to answer the question, it's no 'D' for me...

 

STEVE Got Larson?

[batman_fan]

I have passed on them as well. Same reason, way too much foxing and I am suspect on the interior cover color quality. The Batman 3 is on CLINK right now (I think it may have sold), but the foxing on the spine is just terrible.

[HouseofComics.Com]

Great idea for a thread! Lots of good info.

[nochips]

I bought two books. One had parts of two pages torn out ( Nm was the grade), and the other had water stains all over the inside cover (VF+ ). I sent them back, and they are sending me a refund any day. They were very cool about it.

 

To many books and they seem to be grading them to fast.

[tth2]

I am totally avoiding all the Crippen books unless it can be determined that it was one of the "early" books to come out years ago and not one of the recent Heritage horde.

 

I've heard story that Crippen moved after the first small batch came out, and the books were subsequently not stored in a very suitable environment. I saw one example of a recent Crippen book the other week, and it was very, very dark inside.

Interesting. But wasn't all of the collection accumulated and stored for most of the time in his parents' home in Washington DC (which is the first major strike against the collection, as anyone who knows DC's climate, particularly in pre-air conditioning times, can attest to)?

 

Hadn't he moved to NY (still not a great improvement in storage conditions) by the time the first small batch came out (as the rumor seems to be that one of the guys working on his place in NY stole the small batch)? If so, the storage conditions of the small batch shouldn't be different from the remainder of the collection, unless the major deterioration took place in NY (and therefore the small batch didn't suffer from being stored in NY as long as the remainder).

[Norrin_Radd]

I bought two books. One had parts of two pages torn out ( Nm was the grade), and the other had water stains all over the inside cover (VF+ ). I sent them back, and they are sending me a refund any day. They were very cool about it.

 

To many books and they seem to be grading them to fast.

 

Yikes.

[drbanner]

I bought two books. One had parts of two pages torn out ( Nm was the grade), and the other had water stains all over the inside cover (VF+ ). I sent them back, and they are sending me a refund any day. They were very cool about it.

 

Sorry 'bout the books, but glad to hear their "no return policy" isn't as rigid as they might have us believe...

 

I picked up a nice looking Crippen book, but it did have the foxing (which I knew beforehand).

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

I bought two books. One had parts of two pages torn out ( Nm was the grade), and the other had water stains all over the inside cover (VF+ ). I sent them back, and they are sending me a refund any day. They were very cool about it.

 

To many books and they seem to be grading them to fast.

 

I've also been even more wary of the raw offerings, and your experience backs this up pretty well.

 

Some of the grading in the recent auctions has been

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

I have passed on them as well. Same reason, way too much foxing and I am suspect on the interior cover color quality. The Batman 3 is on CLINK right now (I think it may have sold), but the foxing on the spine is just terrible.

 

True. But I think its a bit more acceptable for a mid-grade book. The Bats # 3 you mention has the old label, are we to infer its from the "first batch" of books that came out years ago?

 

Foxing aside, looks like someone got a pretty sweet deal on it for a 6.0, considering the 5.0 Bats # 3 has a bid on it for $2,500 and a 4.5 sold for $2,100.

[EastEnd]

I've bought about 15 of them thus far from varying periods and genres. All the issues I've bought are VF or better and my experience thus far is that they're structurally sound (flat, tight, etc) but some do have foxing issues. Having said that, I'm impressed with the breadth of the collection... the books span from the early Golden Age right through to the Atom Age. Unlike the Church collection, there seems to be plenty of high grade pre-code horror in the Crippen collection (one of my collecting priorities these days). I've managed to pick up some key books in high grade that you rarely see for sale in ANY grade (e.g., Millie the Model #1, Dark Mysteries #1).

 

Another anectodal observation I'd put out there is the trend in pricing. When the first big load of Crippens were auctioned in August, I left internet bids on about 12 of them and wound up winning 10. And I did not think I was bidding aggressively (for the most part I bid around Overstreet). In the September auction I left about 10 internet bids (again pretty much around Overstreet) and won only 1 book. I'm also not winning many Crippens in the weekly Heritage auctions lately (I had won a few when the Crippen's first appeared in these auctions). So, not sure if it's purely anecdotal or if it's a trend but seems to me that the Crippen books are getting more expensive to buy -- perhaps the building publicity accounts for this. Long-term though, we'll just have to wait and see.

 

Overall, I think it's a great collection and I rate it better than a lot of other pedigrees out there based on it's breadth. And I'm very happy to particiapte in it's dissemination to the collecting community -- which I never had a chance to do with some of the better known pedigrees.

[nochips]

I think the no return policy has some wiggle room. Especially on a NM book with two pages torn severly. It's an obvious oversight. If you complain a VF+ is a VF minus that won't fly. But if they drop the ball why not step up and make it right. They did for me. I will continue to buy from them as Ed Jaster has always been fair with me and it showed here. He didn't flinch, he said send them right back.