Doohickamabob

Everything you say sounds initially credible. However since you're new here, there are some who are questioning your story. There are also some who say they've had similar bad experiences with Mr. Beerbohm. I would like to hear his side of the story, if he would be willing to give it. I also think those who know him personally should pressure him to explain himself, and better yet, pay back the money if this story is true. One thing you could do would be to document everything and provide screenshots and other evidence showing your side of the story. If you haven't filed a police report, you should, even if you don't think it will ever go anywhere. You should definitely pursue this in every legal way possible. I fully support outing and shaming somebody who has screwed somebody else over on a deal.

Man that really stinks. Anybody know Robert Beerbohm (BLB Comics)? Have you contacted PayPal or the police about this to find out your options?

Love it... Naughty though it is...

Really cool signed item, there. R.I.P. Larry Hagman.

I dig this thread. More please....

Mine is better!

Doohickamabob = doohickamabob Numerous golden-age comics ending Sunday night (March 24). These include: Crime Suspenstories #22, Chamber of Chills #19, Mystery Tales #40, Horrific #2, True Crime #1, Exposed #1, the Watchmen Zenda Portfolio, and many more.

Too cool, and I think $100 is a great deal considering how pristine that looks.

Second time around, and it sold for "only" $565.

I have an assortment of Golden Age comic books up for auction on eBay, including CRIME SUSPENSTORIES #22 -- which I think will be fun to watch, as it means another entry into the CSS #22 club. Here's more info in a post I put into the Marketplace section

Just to clarify, the above sentence means the winning bidder would not respond to the seller's emails; not that the seller would not respond to my emails (the seller has been very forthright in responding to me). And yeah on the "vintage feedbags"... You can't make that sort of thing up!

I have been watching this item/seller to look for a feedback from the buyer, because I considered it iffy whether the sale would go through at that price. I also emailed the seller about the non-sale. He or she said that the bidder never paid and would not respond to multiple emails asking for an explanation. I don't believe the seller is pulling a fast one; I think the bidder(s) were in a bidding war that got out of hand, and then the winning bidder balked. It seems very unlikely that the seller would be involved in a shilling scheme to pump up this relatively obscure comic.

I own the #2 highest copy of Chilling Tales #16... Mine is almost as nice as yours... Almost... That copy of Worlds of Fear #10 is amazing. It's hard enough to find a copy in 2.0 let alone 9.2.

Very good estimate. Final price: $316.43 Dang you're fast. You're right, the $300 estimate was very astute. Looks like neither the winner nor the underbidder of the previous auction show up in the bidding list for this one.

Well, eBay auction lightning did not strike the same place twice, but $300+ is still a respectable sum for a romance comic.

Wow, very good information there. For anybody interested, here is the Famous #1 that sold . I was watching it and enjoying the auction fireworks. It sat around $1,000 for most of the week and then the snipers descended.

And the ripple effect has begun... Yes, it will be interesting to see how this does. I wonder if yesterday's winner will be watching.

Yeah no kidding! At $138 you must have been last night's underbidder. It looks like avid Marilyn Monroe collectors have known about this comic for a long time, while the comic-book collecting community has been mostly unaware of it. Online I found a catalog of M.M. memorabilia from an auction in the early 2000's that had this comic and listed its value in the $400-$500 range. I was poking around a little more on Google and found a reference to a low-grade copy of this comic selling on eBay in 2010 for a mere $52.09. I feel sorry for the seller, who made the mistake of listing it with a typo in the main title ("Marilyn Mooe") and probably limited the bidders who found it via a search. Here's what he wrote in his description: "Ultra Rare Vintage 1949 Complete Teen Age Diary Secrets Comic Book with a young Marilyn Monroe featured on the cover. This is one of my prized possesions and I hate to let it go but times are tough. I would grade this scarce issue as overall good condition. The main defect is the cover is detached at the bottom staple. The top part of the cover is still attached and the comic displays very nicely. There is also a crease in the lower right hand corner. I cannot stress enough how rare this early Marilyn Monroe comic is. This is the holy grail so don't miss out on adding this to your collection as I seriously doubt you will find another one anytime soon. Gorgeous early scarce Marilyn Monroe item. Very low opening bid of only $9.99 with absolutely No Reserve. Please be sure and check out my other auctions. Thank you for your bids and your support." Anyway, it has been fun learning about this. Maybe word will reach the Overstreet editors and they'll update the listing in the next edition?

Agreed, none of the other women looks like Marilyn. The quoted text is potentially misleading, because it says Bernard's photos were used for those covers, but that could mean the other models were also in Bernard's photos. (Probably the writer was fudging it because he didn't know one way or another whether Monroe appeared on any of the other comics.) By the way, I found another article about Bruno Bernard (which mentions Teen-Age Diary Secrets) in the New York Times archives .

Anybody watch this auction on eBay, for a nice-looking (though spine-rolled) copy of Teen-Age Diary Secrets #6? I saw this earlier in the week and thought to myself, "That's an attractive woman and an appealing cover -- I might try to bid on this later." Then yesterday I noticed the bids had skyrocketed to $140, which is astounding for a romance comic. So I looked it up on Overstreet and "aha," it's a St. John comic with some Matt Baker art -- 2 or 3 pages' worth. That must be the reason for the price, I thought. There are some really competitive collectors of Baker art, and those St. John romance comics can be very rare. Then, this morning I looked at the auction.... The price ballooned to $2,355! Turns out there was a bidding war between two people....but why? Let's look a little closer at that woman's face.... Why does she look so familiar... Hmmm, it's a 1949 comic... A certain 23-year-old actress took a break in her stagnant movie career to return to modeling in 1949... A woman originally known as Norma Jeane Mortenson... Yep, it's Marilyn Monroe! Cool! So I checked Overstreet again, and it has no reference to this having Marilyn Monroe on the cover. There is not a single sale of this comic in the Heritage Archives. The Grand Comics Database doesn't mention it being Monroe. There aren't any copies at MileHigh or any other sellers I checked. There's not a single copy of this in the CGC census, though it is a Gerber 5. I ran a few searches on the CGC message forums and as far as I can tell, nobody here has ever mentioned a Marilyn Monroe cover of Teen-Age Diary Secrets. Yet in a Google search there is a 2011 Vanity Fair article that does refer to Marilyn Monroe appearing on the cover of this comic, so apparently it's really her. Plus if you look at the photo of her from the same time period (see below), the hair, sweater and (ahem) torpedo bra are a match. I can only imagine the reaction of the seller, who started the auction at $2.99 and whose previous auctions are primarily for "Vintage Feed Sacks" (!). The brief auction text states, "I found these comic books while cleaning my parents attic." It sounds plausible that this is really the story behind these comics, and this seller was sitting on what appears to be one of the rarest and potentially most valuable of all the St. John romance comics (okay, with the exception of that one with the Baker cover that says "She will do anything to hold ").

That cover sure reminds me of Mardi Gras.

Did I pay too much? ($50) I would've passed... due to the condition- but I have yet to come across another copy... If you want something bad, you gotta go for it.

She looks like Veronica.

On eBay I am auctioning several EC comics that all end tonight (Sunday). Here are the auctions. Comics include Crime Suspenstories #22, Weird Science-Fantasy #29 (with the Frazetta cover), Mad Comics #4, Mad #24 (first magazine), a Tales From the Crypt, Weird Science, War Against Crime, Crime Patrol, several other Crime Suspenstories, the four early Picture Stories From the Bible (published by DC), numerous #1 issues of titles like Valor, Aces High, MD, Piracy, Psychoanalysis, Extra!, Impact, etc. And lots of other interesting stuff. I hope you enjoy browsing the auctions. Here's a photo that shows some of the highlights:

Drool...