Doohickamabob

Great info, thanks!

I am aware of the face predating Mad, etc. and being used in various places. What is the basis for saying this Wurra-Wurra thing is inauthentic? (It looks like it could be a joke, just curious what the backstory to that is -- was it part of a Mad self-parody article, or something like that? The Wikipedia entry doesn't mention it.)

A friend sent this to me and told me it is the original basis for the Alfred E. Neuman kid. It's an ancient Irish idol called the Wurra-Wurra. I'm not sure if this is on the up-and-up or something that was fabricated as a joke, but here it is --

Last week there was an eBay auction for a 1944 card with Alfred E. Neuman type faces. The card (and envelope) sold for more than $150. I thought it was pretty awesome so I saved the images. Here it is:

Speaking of comics with decapitated heads and such... This auction just ended: It looks like it could be a VG+. Is that a good price? I was thinking it might go for more but the value is mostly in the cover since the inner stories are reprinted variety stuff.

Here are the Weird Mysteries that sold in the auction last Saturday, along with their grades and the final-value price. Note that this is the final-value price BEFORE the 21% auction-house premium and California state sales tax. Actual cost of the lot is closer to $4,000 -- so these sold for an approximate average of $800 each.

9.8, wow.... From Lewis Wayne Galleries -- figures.

Those two airborne floating round things make this a great cover. The UFOs are cool too. (Obligatory....and my apologies). By the way, fantastic grade!

Excellent!

Look at the size of that joint compared to her torso! (Great cover and book....I watched one of those in auction and it went for big bucks.)

You have a very unusual approach. To sentence structure. I think you are. Ending your sentences before they are. Finished. My money is on smart phone typing. Hit the space bar twice too fast and it adds a period and caps the first next letter. You know. What? That sounds. Like a very plausible. Explanation. Never avoid taking a shot, huh...? Oh, it's just a harmless joke.... And your. Point is?

You have a very unusual approach. To sentence structure. I think you are. Ending your sentences before they are. Finished. My money is on smart phone typing. Hit the space bar twice too fast and it adds a period and caps the first next letter. You know. What? That sounds. Like a very plausible. Explanation.

You have a very unusual approach. To sentence structure. I think you are. Ending your sentences before they are. Finished.

That clown is the stuff of nightmares.

Anybody watch the Abell auctions? All I can say is HOLY SH#& !!! There were about 20 or so comic lots, each containing from 1 to 10 pre-code horror titles, with the average grade being VG. I settled on a few of them to place bids on, writing down my estimated top bids well in advance so I wouldn't get caught up in irrational bidding. Without fail, ALL of my estimations were exceeded by at least 2 to 3 times the value. One lot I had pegged at being worth about $900, so I figured I'd throw a $1,200 bid at it and hopefully win. Nope -- it went for somewhere in the realm of $3,500. My jaw was dropping the entire time, and I pretty much set the mouse aside and watched the spectacle. There were a few lots where eventually I had to say, "Who are the EEDIOTS bidding on this stuff?" Most of the bidding was floor bidding and I think they must have been a bunch of novices who recently read the headlines about Action #1 selling for $2 million and figured no price was too steep. The only other explanation would be if the comics were severely undergraded and bidders realized they were looking at VF-range copies. Almost all the wins were floor bidders, with maybe only 1 or 2 being internet bids. At one point, there was a lot of 3 comics that I figured might be worth about $50 each for a $150 total. It sold for more like $850. It's almost as if everybody bidding just figured each comic was worth $300 plus and multiplied from there. Some highlights of the auction were nice copies of Haunt of Fear #15 (#1), several Basil Wolverton issues of Weird Tales of the Future, several copies of Mister Mystery, Chilling Tales, Voodoo, Haunted Thrills, Menace, Spellbound, Journey Into Mystery, Strange Mysteries, several issues of Weird Mysteries, the LB Cole spider cover of Startling Terror Tales #11, Lawbreakers Suspense Stories #11 (where the man has cut off all the tongues), The Thing, Beware Terror Tales, Horrific, Tales of Suspense, Spitfire #1, Kid Komics #9, and Daredevil #1 (Marvel). The auction made me want to sell off all my comics under similar circumstances. I don't know what Kool Aid these people were drinking but I hope to find the recipe and serve it to people at an auction where my stuff is up for bidding.

Great shots. Love the Atomic #4.

ISF #33 is very hard to get in grade at all... Congratulations. Really nice blue on that copy!

Wow, is that a UK-only thing? Those are the roundest robots I've ever rubbernecked.

I think a lot of potential buyers were wiped out from all the other auctions. I completely forgot about the Heritage Sunday auctions. It's too bad because I had my eye on Camp Comics #2 in CGC 7.0, and it went for what I consider a pretty low price.

That's so cool, and it's always nice to find 3-D comics in grade and with the glasses. I wish there were a way to take a photo of how the art looks in 3-D.

I had no idea what netsuke was... So I looked it up -- ------------------- Netsuke (Japanese:根付) are miniature sculptures that were invented in 17th-century Japan to serve a practical function (the two Japanese characters ne+tsuke mean "root" and "to attach"). Traditional Japanese garments—robes called kosode and kimono—had no pockets; however, men who wore them needed a place to store their personal belongings, such as pipes, tobacco, money, seals, or medicines. Their solution was to place such objects in containers (called sagemono) hung by cords from the robes' sashes (obi). The containers may have been pouches or small woven baskets, but the most popular were beautifully crafted boxes (inro), which were held shut by ojime, which were sliding beads on cords. Whatever the form of the container, the fastener that secured the cord at the top of the sash was a carved, button-like toggle called a netsuke. Netsuke, like the inro and ojime, evolved over time from being strictly utilitarian into objects of great artistic merit and an expression of extraordinary craftsmanship. Such objects have a long history reflecting the important aspects of Japanese folklore and life. Netsuke production was most popular during the Edo period in Japan, around 1615-1868. Today, the art lives on, and some modern works can command high prices in the UK, Europe, the USA, Japan and elsewhere. Inexpensive yet faithful reproductions are available in museums and souvenir shops. --------------------- Very interesting! How can you tell when a netsuke is authentic? Does CGC encapsulate netsuke?

Awesome, and thanks for posting. I love the quote: "Related in the strange gibberish used by teen addicts..." etc. Yep, these truly are teen-age dope slaves.

You know what they say -- four heads are better than one.

I don't see the value of that one ever dipping much.

Man that is creepy.