Buying My First GA Book

[Anfield Fox]

Hey guys,

 

I'm hoping to buy myself my first GA book towards the end of the year. I've been saving up for a while and was looking for advice. Now im not comic illiterate (i've been collecting for almost 20 years) and know a fair bit about this era as i love to study the history of comics. However im not in tune with it all either as i specialise in Silver to Modern. Neither am i planning to refocus my collecting into the Golden Age. I'm just hoping to add one nice book to my collection.

 

So what am i looking for? My criteria is as follows:

 

1. Superhero

2. High grade (or at least presents well in a mylar)

3. As cheap as possible

4. Nice cover

 

With those in mind, what would be my best options? I suppose my favourite character from this era is Batman followed by Captain America and then Superman in at third. What i really wanted to know is if there was a particular book that had large quantities available in high grade (perhaps due to a warehouse find) ... much like ASM 33 is very common and relatively cheap in high grade when compared to the rest of the surrounding issues.

 

Thanks for the advice!

[G.A.tor]

hello all...

what is your price range...there are a lot of Great Bat covers (in both Tec and Bat), but if you want high grade, are we talking about spending $200?, $500? $10,000?...

that will determine what you can get (IMO)

rick

[Anfield Fox]

Hey Rick, thanks for the reply.

 

The most i would probably want to spend would be in the $350 region. Anymore and i would rather put it into some Silver Age Spider-Man

[seank]

$350 could get you a decent Batman, but probably not a Captain America. Presenting well in mylar is a better goal than high grade at your price ceiling.

 

Since you only want one nice book, consider checking with some of the dealers here like Esquire who do lots of GA business.

 

Early Batmans - pre-50 - seem to be easier to find than later GA Bats. 51-100 can be difficult in higher grades.

 

P.S. to the other GA guys: Don't tell him about GGA.

[Theagenes]

Hey Rick, thanks for the reply.

 

The most i would probably want to spend would be in the $350 region. Anymore and i would rather put it into some Silver Age Spider-Man

 

Your criteria somewhat limits your choices unfortunately. Cap is out unless you're willing to go 4.0 or less. You can probably get a later Batman Joker cover (52, 55, etc.) for around $300-400 in 6.0ish. The problem is you get a big jump in price for GA books that are 8.0 and above.

[G.A.tor]

 

Early Batmans - pre-50 - seem to be easier to find than later GA Bats. 51-100 can be difficult in higher grades.

 

hello all...

this is a very true statement...I am only missing 4 copies pre issue 50 in higher grade, but missing a ton from 51-100....so I would look for an issue in the 20-40 range, as those are the "easiest" to get in nice looking vg/fn (your $350 range)....I would personally pick issue 23, but issue 28 is relatively common, and you can find nice looking copies in your price range...also consider 32 as it is pretty common too (I just can't find one in 8.0 or better for my customer)

rick

[benz]

Hey guys,

 

I'm hoping to buy myself my first GA book towards the end of the year. I've been saving up for a while and was looking for advice. Now im not comic illiterate (i've been collecting for almost 20 years) and know a fair bit about this era as i love to study the history of comics. However im not in tune with it all either as i specialise in Silver to Modern. Neither am i planning to refocus my collecting into the Golden Age. I'm just hoping to add one nice book to my collection.

 

So what am i looking for? My criteria is as follows:

 

1. Superhero

2. High grade (or at least presents well in a mylar)

3. As cheap as possible

4. Nice cover

 

With those in mind, what would be my best options? I suppose my favourite character from this era is Batman followed by Captain America and then Superman in at third. What i really wanted to know is if there was a particular book that had large quantities available in high grade (perhaps due to a warehouse find) ... much like ASM 33 is very common and relatively cheap in high grade when compared to the rest of the surrounding issues.

 

Thanks for the advice!

 

Buy a Detective 27 or a Batman 1 unrestored in VF condition

[Anfield Fox]

Thanks for all the sugestions! I've looked at all the covers everyone mentioned and i love the Joker covers in particular

 

One book i've always wanted is Batman 66. Cool cover and the "boner" story. Is that a tough one?

 

Also i would like to add that if the right were to come along, i would be willing to go over $350 - maybe to $500 tops.

 

Thanks guys

[Norrin_Radd]

Thanks for all the sugestions! I've looked at all the covers everyone mentioned and i love the Joker covers in particular

 

One book i've always wanted is Batman 66. Cool cover and the "boner" story. Is that a tough one?

 

Also i would like to add that if the right were to come along, i would be willing to go over $350 - maybe to $500 tops.

 

Thanks guys

 

Classic cover! Here is a 7.0 that Heritage sold for $431.

 

 

It'll take some searching, but I'm sure you can find one. I started the GA Dealer List for just this sort of search.

[batman_fan]

Dude, I am going to hook you up with a book that comes pretty close to meeting all your criteria. Many of the Batman covers are a little lame (Please, no one flame me), but Detective has some really cool covers. Here is a link to one of the coolest Detetcive covers, CGC 7.0 with WHITE pages. This is not my book, but I have a copy in the same grade and it is one of my favorite covers. Slightly higher than you want to spend but pretty close. This is NOT my book so I am not pimping my own stuff (but I guess I am pimping for someone else )

 

Detective 145

[seank]

Dude, I am going to hook you up with a book that comes pretty close to meeting all your criteria. Many of the Batman covers are a little lame (Please, no one flame me), but Detective has some really cool covers. Here is a link to one of the coolest Detetcive covers, CGC 7.0 with WHITE pages. This is not my book, but I have a copy in the same grade and it is one of my favorite covers. Slightly higher than you want to spend but pretty close. This is NOT my book so I am not pimping my own stuff (but I guess I am pimping for someone else )

 

Detective 145

 

I agree that Detectives have great covers. Much better than many of the Batman covers. Plus, Redbeard, the seller of the linked book above, is a good guy who deserves the business.

 

Plus, I'll be in London over New Years. I could save you some $$$ on shipping if you're patient.

[Norrin_Radd]

Many of the Batman covers are a little lame (Please, no one flame me), but Detective has some really cool covers.

 

Your preachin' to the choir.

[Anfield Fox]

wow thanks for all the replies. everyone here is so nice compared to the other parts of the boards

 

One more question if you will tolerate me. Are Tecs in similar grades with the same cover dates as Batman's generally cheaper, more expensive or around the same?

[Anfield Fox]

Plus, I'll be in London over New Years. I could save you some $$$ on shipping if you're patient.

 

That's funny. I'm heading in the opposite direction in a couple of weeks

[seank]

Plus, I'll be in London over New Years. I could save you some $$$ on shipping if you're patient.

 

That's funny. I'm heading in the opposite direction in a couple of weeks

 

I'll wave hello out the window as our airplanes cross paths over the Atlantic.

[adamstrange]

Many of the Batman covers are a little lame (Please, no one flame me), but Detective has some really cool covers.

 

Your preachin' to the choir.

 

I think Detectives have that reputation because of the pre-Bat and pre-Robin covers. After all, the Batman title is part of the Robin era. When you compare them across the same time period, they are pretty similar in the quality covers. Is there are anything particularly weak about Batman 3, 9, 11, or 17?

[Dr_Neff]

Batman 25 or any detective 34-50 minus the keys

[batman_fan]

Many of the Batman covers are a little lame (Please, no one flame me), but Detective has some really cool covers.

 

Your preachin' to the choir.

 

I think Detectives have that reputation because of the pre-Bat and pre-Robin covers. After all, the Batman title is part of the Robin era. When you compare them across the same time period, they are pretty similar in the quality covers. Is there are anything particularly weak about Batman 3, 9, 11, or 17?

 

I actually don't like 3 that much because it is pretty plan, 9 is okay, 11 is a classic, 17 does not do too much for me. My favorites are 1, 13, 15, 20 (I really like this one), 23 (Sprang at his best), 25 (especially Sprang's re-creation), 37, 43, 45, 48, 49, 66, 73. But it is easier for me to list off the Detectives I don't like since that would be a pretty small list. As a side note, I have the complete run of Batman's so it is not like I hate the title or anything like that.

[Timulty]

You know, I have had great success with getting GA Captain Marvel(Whiz or Captain Marvel Adventures) for that price range in 8.0 and above. Here is my gallery and I kept well within the budget what I had.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/timulty/sets/72057594099560828/show/

[Point Five]

Hey guys,

 

I'm hoping to buy myself my first GA book towards the end of the year. I've been saving up for a while and was looking for advice. Now im not comic illiterate (i've been collecting for almost 20 years) and know a fair bit about this era as i love to study the history of comics. However im not in tune with it all either as i specialise in Silver to Modern. Neither am i planning to refocus my collecting into the Golden Age. I'm just hoping to add one nice book to my collection.

 

Hey Anfield,

 

As I always like to say: "Welcome to the madness!"

You think you're just going to buy one GA book...that's how it always starts!

 

My advice is to spend some time browsing the various Batman and Tec covers, and whittle down your list to a couple that you really like, before you plunge in. When you're starting out, there are so many cool GA books you've never seen that I think it becomes tempting to jump at the first good deal out there (there's always a "now or never" book/offer in front of you) and then later realize that there's other books you like even more. Take some time, and have some patience (not an easy thing with GA), and find something you really, really love and will enjoy looking at all the time.

 

Also, and this is quite subjective, given your budget, possibly consider lowering your grade standards a bit to get an earlier book. Personally (just one guy's opinion), if I were going after Joker covers, I'd rather have a nice/presentable low-grade copy of (say) Detective #69 or #71, or Batman #23, than a mid-grade copy of one of the less iconic Joker covers from the late 40s/early 50s. Which is not to dismiss your suggestion of Batman #66 (I think it's an awesome cover)...just to suggest maybe going after one of the WWII era books. If you're only going to have one GA book, kinda cool to have one of the really old ones...in hand, they have more "heft" to them, are full of house ads for other early DC books, and really speak of a different era. Just my two cents...very much look forward to seeing where you end up.

 

Best of luck!

 

--Jon