Have a Cigar! Golden Age only....! 43 43

[Frisco Larson]

On 11/30/2022 at 1:52 PM, Robot Man said:

Yes. Much whiter than the Top Notch. The little chip off the top left makes me wonder though. Wern’t books from this era supposed to be unread?

As I remember the story that's been told, it was the later comics (1944/1945) that were supposed to be the unread issues. I myself always felt that it was perhaps Tom Riley himself that put the ink stamp with his name on the back cover, which would make sense, as that ink stamp generally was absent after around mid 1943. MANY to most of the earlier issues I've seen have that ink stamp on the back cover, but I recall nothing after mid 1943 having it, which was supposedly when he went off to war, if we're able to believe the story we've been told. Anyway, a quick check shows that the earliest confirmed Frisco Star Spangled I can find quickly is #23, which has a penciled capital cursive G code with arrival date, just like your Top Notch and it also has a Riley ink stamp on the back cover. I have seen later books with a lower-case cursive g code without an arrival date or Riley stamp identified as Friscos, like my old copy of Marvel Mystery #60, which as I recall was a 9.0 with white pages. Yours is an interesting combination of somewhat contradictory identifiers ... earlier time period book, with later lower-case g pencil code with no arrival date or Riley stamp. I'd say the best way to be certain is to send it in for grading. Matt has certainly had more Friscos in his hands than I have, and he'd probably be able to give you a quick opinion on the matter. Onto the topic of any general wear in condition, keep in mind that the San Francisco collection was discovered decades ago and it's possible that random dings, nicks and wear have accumulated since their discovery and assimilation into private collections. At any rate, that's a very nice looking copy you've got there!  

[Tri-ColorBrian]

 

[Robot Man]

On 11/30/2022 at 6:12 PM, Frisco Larson said:

As I remember the story that's been told, it was the later comics (1944/1945) that were supposed to be the unread issues. I myself always felt that it was perhaps Tom Riley himself that put the ink stamp with his name on the back cover, which would make sense, as that ink stamp generally was absent after around mid 1943. MANY to most of the earlier issues I've seen have that ink stamp on the back cover, but I recall nothing after mid 1943 having it, which was supposedly when he went off to war, if we're able to believe the story we've been told. Anyway, a quick check shows that the earliest confirmed Frisco Star Spangled I can find quickly is #23, which has a penciled capital cursive G code with arrival date, just like your Top Notch and it also has a Riley ink stamp on the back cover. I have seen later books with a lower-case cursive g code without an arrival date or Riley stamp identified as Friscos, like my old copy of Marvel Mystery #60, which as I recall was a 9.0 with white pages. Yours is an interesting combination of somewhat contradictory identifiers ... earlier time period book, with later lower-case g pencil code with no arrival date or Riley stamp. I'd say the best way to be certain is to send it in for grading. Matt has certainly had more Friscos in his hands than I have, and he'd probably be able to give you a quick opinion on the matter. Onto the topic of any general wear in condition, keep in mind that the San Francisco collection was discovered decades ago and it's possible that random dings, nicks and wear have accumulated since their discovery and assimilation into private collections. At any rate, that's a very nice looking copy you've got there!  

Many thanks. For the record, I don't really believe mine is a SF copy. I thought so when I bought it but think at this point it might just be from the same distributor. Sadly, I don't think at this point, we will ever know the true story of this great collection other than it came out of the Bay Area. I do remember seeing a large pile that Redbeard brought back from up north. They were breathtaking. I was also fortunate enough to get a couple of Marvel Mysterys many, many years ago from Terry Stround and David T Alexander. Just seeing that little pile of unbagged Timely's made my knees weak!

[Frisco Larson]

On 12/1/2022 at 12:19 PM, Robot Man said:

Many thanks. For the record, I don't really believe mine is a SF copy. I thought so when I bought it but think at this point it might just be from the same distributor. Sadly, I don't think at this point, we will ever know the true story of this great collection other than it came out of the Bay Area. I do remember seeing a large pile that Redbeard brought back from up north. They were breathtaking. I was also fortunate enough to get a couple of Marvel Mysterys many, many years ago from Terry Stround and David T Alexander. Just seeing that little pile of unbagged Timely's made my knees weak!

Sadly, I also believe that the full story of the collection is lost to the ages. We DO have enough of a story (with corroborating evidence) to believe most of what we've been told over the years and the books themselves, well they're absolutely beautiful from cover to cover! Many have complained that the original size figure was greatly exaggerated, and it would seem that it was, based on how many have been identified as Friscos. Of course, there are likely quite a few that have no identifying markings and have been in private collections since they were first discovered, that few people know to exist. Time usually fills in some blanks on stories like this. I hope we see more hidden Friscos come to light in the coming years! 

[AndyFish]

CAPTAIN MARVEL 48 - fun cover-- this is what I love about the character.  That kids would want his autograph an Cap would oblige.   Man I wish they did comics like this today.

Gorgeous color on this big square bound 1952 Xmas Comic-- I'd never seen this before so I grabbed it.

[Cpt Kirk]

[path4play]

Back in the stash after I sold my other a few years back.  One of my top Good Girl books no doubt about it, so just about as soon as I sold one, I needed another again lol.

 

[path4play]

Also a recent add, a Crippen D.

[path4play]

Exciting coverless score.  A complete Action #17.

 

[Ghastly542454]

Recent pickups!

Why is the Green Lantern #16 a “Classic Cover”.

[frozentundraguy]

Recently back from CGC. I have owned this book for 6 or 7 years and finally submitted it earlier this year. I have been looking off and on over the years for a better copy, but no luck.  Two copies have surfaced on Ebay recently, but this one looks like my keeper.

 

[path4play]

Here are two of several Daisy Air Rifle Company File Copies I added (I've accumulated 26 of them). 

 

 

[Yorick]

On 12/11/2022 at 1:08 PM, path4play said:

Daisy Air Rifle Company File Copies

I seem to recall the Daisy copies had a hand-written "daisy" on them, not "checking copy". 

[D84]

On 12/11/2022 at 3:58 PM, Yorick said:

I seem to recall the Daisy copies had a hand-written "daisy" on them, not "checking copy". 

It's only the front cover on mine, but it says "Daisy."

[path4play]

On 12/11/2022 at 5:01 PM, D84 said:

It's only the front cover on mine, but it says "Daisy."

So sweet!  I was told by the seller this cover (yours) was the highlight of the find - never expected to be so lucky as to see it!  I've grabbed as many as I could - there are only 240 or so in total.  This is the only one I've seen with writing "Daisy", mine are either stamped or nothing (some do have writing or date notations inside).

Edited December 11, 2022 by path4play

[path4play]

On 12/11/2022 at 4:58 PM, Yorick said:

I seem to recall the Daisy copies had a hand-written "daisy" on them, not "checking copy". 

No mystery here. The seller is a boardie.  Here is a list of the entire Daisy stash he found and sold.  https://www.goodgirlcomics.com/13398-2/ 

Looks like at least one had Daisy written on it.  None of those I saw at auction did.

Edited December 11, 2022 by path4play

[Cpt Kirk]

On 12/10/2022 at 1:14 PM, Cpt Kirk said:

I have to thank @MrBedrock for at least a few of my Action Comic books between 100 and 200.   He's a great guy, in my humble opinion.  

[ThothAmon]

Part of an original owner collection that has most of the first 100. Most in very nice shape with a few of the squarebounds having some pages missing. 
 

[WolverineX]

Was looking for more Schomburg but decided to jump up to Baker. 

 

[ThothAmon]

Was checking GPA for a random book I collect and saw this. Not sure the timing for the Promise Collection could have been better … for Heritage that is. FYI there’s another 9.6 on the census.