tb Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 This book is one of my favorites for an unusual reason. I first bought it from Harley Yee in 1991 as a VF+ (no hard feelings about the grade - almost impossible to grade this 8 page giveaway and it turned out to be a good investment anyway). Then, I reluctantly had to sell it a few years later along with most of my collection to finance my studies in the US (which led to the career and life that I now have in California). I was able to buy it back in 2001 but had to sell it again last year as part of a deal on a rare Barks original. Today, it arrived for the 3rd time after I was able to buy it back once again. Measured by dividing the Overstreet value with the number of pages, the SCE copy of the '54 Kite Fun Book is by far the most valuable Disney comic ever published (guide is actually low on this book - I sold it and bought it back for considerably more). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonds25 Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Nice! What's the story about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tb Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 The story is very atypical for Barks in that there is none - it is just a series of rules teaching kids to watch out for power cables etc. when flying kites. The last page is a summary of the rules. Barks collectors love it because it is so different from anything else he ever did. Quite scarce too - I have not seen a copy on eBay for 4 years. One more interesting footnote about this book is that it actually was one of the most expensive of all comic books back in the '70s. In the '77 guide, it came in at #18 just ahead of More Fun 52. It's sibling, the PG&E version, came in at #21 - far ahead of All American 16 and Detective 33. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arty Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Nice! What's the story about? if you wan't to read that story....here it is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
143ksk Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Very cool book! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjpb Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 One more interesting footnote about this book is that it actually was one of the most expensive of all comic books back in the '70s. In the '77 guide, it came in at #18 just ahead of More Fun 52. - I seem to remember reading that in the first OSPG, newspaper reprint comics from the 30s & early 40s were more valued than GA Superhero books for the most part - can anyone verify this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lou_fine Posted June 5, 2004 Share Posted June 5, 2004 One more interesting footnote about this book is that it actually was one of the most expensive of all comic books back in the '70s. In the '77 guide, it came in at #18 just ahead of More Fun 52. - I seem to remember reading that in the first OSPG, newspaper reprint comics from the 30s & early 40s were more valued than GA Superhero books for the most part - can anyone verify this? No, the superhero books were still the most expensive with Action #1 coming in at $300; 'Tec #27 coming in at $275; Marvel #1 coming in at $250. I do know, however, that the newspaper reprints such as Famous Funnies, etc were also valued rather highly and more than the next tier of superhero books. For example, More Fun #52 came in at $100; Adventure #40 came in at $75; Green Lantern #1 at $60; and All-American #16 came in at $50. This $50 was a popular price since it also apply for books such as Comic Cavalcade #1, Hit #1, Looney Tunes #1; Mystery Men #1, National #1, Planet #1, and Sensation #1. Other genres were also more highly valued than now as evident by Four Colour #10 (Flash Gordon) which was the most valuable FC at $125; Mickey Mouse Mag #1 at $125, Adventure #1 & More Fun #1 at $100. I can't remember for sure, but I know that the Prince Valiant book was one of the most expensive books at the time. Oh my God, Ian......the Big Book of Fun was grossly overpriced at $2.00 in Mint. Can't blame you for not picking one up back then for that outragous price. In fact, the collectors were all so upset with the first guide that they started referring to it as the Overprice Guide stating that nobody in their right minds would ever pay these kind of prices for comic books. Maybe Joe C was around even back then hyping the coming crash of the comic book market even before we had the internet in place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonds25 Posted June 5, 2004 Share Posted June 5, 2004 Thanks guy - gotta love the internet!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kryptonitecomics Posted June 5, 2004 Share Posted June 5, 2004 I know this is in the grading section already, but since so folks don't frequent that section and I am darn happy to show off my first More Fun Comics: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttock Posted June 5, 2004 Share Posted June 5, 2004 That's a great pickup. Toward the end of the series, More Fun was absolutely unsellable. DC did NOT want to be publishing the series, but it was the Editor's pet (I forget who it was at the time), so it kept on getting published. However, in order to minimize losses, they only published the bare minimum - reportedly 10,000. This kept going until the editor was gone, and then the series was cancelled. So the later issues are now especially hard to find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timely Posted June 5, 2004 Share Posted June 5, 2004 Did you guys know ONE OF THE MORE FUN'S IS MISSING FROM THE GERBER GUIDE??!!!!!? I believe it is More Fun #116, with a cool Lion cover! Gerber trivia! Timely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjpb Posted June 6, 2004 Share Posted June 6, 2004 I do know, however, that the newspaper reprints such as Famous Funnies, etc were also valued rather highly and more than the next tier of superhero books. Thanks lou_ fine for doing the research, Actually you do confirm what I recall, as I posted that I that I remembered reading that "newspaper reprint comics from the 30s & early 40s were more valued than GA Superhero books for the most part" - I would have been surprised if they had exceeded the value of the big three GA keys. I wish I'd kept my old price guides, I think the first one I bought was the 3rd edition when I was in 8th grade. I remember I was too cheap to spring for the 2nd, and just memorized the prices from my friend's copy when looking for books at comic-cons. I still remember the the 2nd con I ever went to in 1971, it was also the first time I set up as a dealer. I was 12 years old, and was dumping my DC books to raise money for early Marvels. I rented a table for $5, automatically saving $2 on admission for me and a friend, and had all my comics sitting in wooden crates - unbagged. I remember being thrilled at selling a small stack of early 50s Blackhawks for a buck apiece, since I had purchased them for only a quarter apiece a few months earlier. My big purchasess for the day were JIM 83 for $17, and Hulk 1-6 for a total of $35. Condition was probably around VG for all of them, but back then, when the Good/Mint gap was only 2:1 condition wasn't as important as having the books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgillock Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 I blew off the Big Apple Con this past Saturday, but I did go by and see Roger at Time Machine and he gave me a sweet deal on these four Crime and Punishments: I'm especially fond of the cover of 56... A bit too much thought seemed to go into some of the Lev Gleason b&t covers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
143ksk Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 Very nice! I like the #56 a lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
143ksk Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 (edited) My latest addition. It's my first Zip. This issue features the first appearance of Wilbur (Kinda the poor man's Pep 22) and the most amazing headlight cover too Edited June 8, 2004 by 143ksk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttock Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 She looks cold... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CentaurMan Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 That's a fantastic More Fun 124. I once tried to collect a full run of the More Fun humor issues, because they're cheap-yet-challenging, but I ultimately gave up. The content wasn't good enough to keep my interest up, and most of the copies that I found were real beaters. Your 124 looks superb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kryptonitecomics Posted June 9, 2004 Share Posted June 9, 2004 That's a fantastic More Fun 124. I once tried to collect a full run of the More Fun humor issues, because they're cheap-yet-challenging, but I ultimately gave up. The content wasn't good enough to keep my interest up, and most of the copies that I found were real beaters. Your 124 looks superb. Thanks, no grade was given and the scans were pretty small, but I took a chance on this one. I still can't believe it wasn't even in a comic bag when it arrived Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUNYHUMAN Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 143, Cool Cover, Love the Headlights!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batman_fan Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 Here are my two most recent pick-ups. Got them off Ebay for what I would call a reasonable price. I love the Green Hornet Series!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
