miraclemet

Well fell asleep and missed the live bidding for the Blue Bolt 106 that was in this weeks Heritage Auction. There was a small run being auctioned of mid grade 106, 107 and 108 Sci-Fi issues. Already having an 108 in similar grade (5.5) I was most interested in the 106, and put in a GPA level bid (or so I thought). Long story short, the 106 went for almost $400, while the 108 went for under $300. I paid a little less for half a grade less this past year on the 108, so the pricing was fine, but I was surprised that the 106 went so high. Census on 108 is 16 Universals in census, with 12 of the issues between 5.0 and 7.0 meanwhile Census on 106 is 14 in Universal in census with 11 of the copies grouped between 4.5 and 7.5 (a little more spread) So is the fact that 106 is the "first"of the small run of Blue Bolt Sci-Fi covers? They're all LB Cole covers...and the 107 sold in line for what the 108 did... Maybe just two bidders needing the book. Oh well. On with the show. In other 50s Sci-Fi action... the last few auctions were flush with Space Adventure Books, though a lot of them were slabbed non-CGC. Which usually suppresses prices for all but the most desirable books... I missed on SA13 in 9.6 last month on CLINK (went for $300 and I was thinking it was more of a price starting with a 2. But with that info I readied for last months ComicConnect auction. There were a range of pedigrees (mostly Bethlehem and River City) but the grades were mostly in the 7s and 8s, so I planned to pass on them unless they went cheap (they didnt). Was interesting to see the SA27 9.4 Bethleham go for $285 (I have a White Mountain in 9.6, so I was happy to see the result). Early SA books went pricey, SA3 in 7.5 went for $454, SA8 in 7.5 went for almost $200. SA10 in 8.5 with the Ditko cover went for $850 (yowza). I was only interested in one book, SA32 in 9.4, both the highest copy, and the Bethlehem copy. Knowing the SA13 went for $300, I bid up, but in the end lost cause it went for $353, which again, in comparison to the SA13 was very strong pricing (and made me wish I'd gone harder for the SA13). So fast forward to this month's CLink offerings, and there was the lovely SA17 in 9.4 from the Bethlehem Pedigree. Knowing recent outcomes I knew that my days of $200 copies were behind me I put my tracking bid, and then once all the tracking bids were in I popped in a big number to see who would follow me. One other bidder joined me in the clouds and put a bid past me, and there I knew my competition. In the end I got the book for $300, which I felt was fair and still a decent deal, in line with the other winning bids in the last few months.

Met him years ago before CGC SS was a thing (or at least before it was a thing to me). I've been trying to get a SS of anyone who ever worked on the GL title, and with the announcement was gripped with worry cause I couldnt remember if I had gotten a Wrightson SS yet! Granted he only contributed a bit to the line, a little inking over Adams back during the Denny/Neal years, and a smattering of short stories over the decades... then I found this in the box and was relieved. I hope Bernie enjoys his retirement even if it didnt come on his terms.

Take GL 131 and 142

Take it! Shocked it took that long,congrats! Been needing to replace the Cardy SS I sold off a while back, and thrilled to get a nice deal from Chuck!

Take it!

Was not gonna lose. First addition to my Space Adventures collection in maybe a year My 3rd or 4th Bethlehem for the set

It's already more than double last sale and equal to the 1.5 sale. I don't think it has more than a grand left in increasing... It looks great but it is a completely split and detached cover.

Sites that dont let me just look at GA books are further down on my list of sites I browse....

JerkFroZEN?

I never bother looking at their sales side... I've missed out on a book or two over the years, but I just think of all the time I saved trying to search thru all the bad listings....

Teen humor is really getting a boost these days. I cant figure if it's riding the coattails of the Romance boom, or if there's just a general GGA boom/expansion beyond just Baker to now include more "cartoony"GGA like DeCarlo and others.

Some interesting stuff in an upcoming auction... that's all I'm sayin'

two most likely targets: Beauty & the Beast (another big Disney production) comes out 15 March in Theaters and is live action so a SW8 trailer wouldnt be totally mis-applied. Or if they wanted to give a little more time to it Star Wars Celebrations is April 13-16 in Orlando and would be a big splash.

from reports mid-December The #HanSolo movie will shoot in Feb and we'll see some #StarWarsEpisodeVIII stuff towards Spring says Lucasfllm President Kathleen Kennedy"" Kennedy said she didnt want to overshadow Rogue One while it was still in theaters.

Those low grade Baker covers may set an interesting floor and lead to books that previously were being kept raw (low grade GA books) but if the auction prices justify slabbing we'll sell a wave of those low grade ones come in...

I may have blocked a few hours in my calendar for a "meeting" this morning...with CLink!

I think there are two main approaches Lie in the weeds... put in a tracking bid and then wait for the last few minutes of the auction to put a "full value"bid. Big Dog/Over the Top... put in a full value bid and hope to scare off the tracking bidders who just see that they cant get to be high bidder. I always worry about the state of the CLINK servers, and network connections and dont want to leave a bid to the last second.... I would say avoid last second sniping, but there are definitely a rush of bids on popular books in the last 5 minutes....

Speculating on a related title or a crossover issue is a good idea if the shop knows what you're into; it's easier to drop an extra in your bin, than having to reorder later if the book sells out. There should be no obligation to buy what you didn't ask for, though. I am not "speculating" on anything, and NO it is NOT a good idea. It is ludicrous. When I give my list in writing and some person decides they know better than me, that is NOT a service. It is a hard sell tactic that cost them a return customer. If there's no obligation for you to buy, how hard of a sell is it? If my pull list has multiple Matt Fraction books in it, and they toss a copy of a new Matt Fraction book in my pickup stack with a "did you see this one?"note, isn't that customer service? It's no different than a suggestion at the register. Or "hey we saw you getting all the Civil War titles and crossovers, did you notice that She Hulk had a one issue tie in?" We want comic shop owners/retailers to be good business people, but then crucify them for making an effort? Now if they slip extra books in and try to make you think you ordered them, then yep thats horrible and I'd walk out. Now I'd imaging that if you ask the retailer to put a note in your pull list file that says "no suggestions" they'd stop saving you suggested books.

what ever floats your boat man. no judgement. (just make sure you have a safe word ok?)

Im assuming there's nothing to compare this against with another title? Some single owner holding the majority of a pedigree of a title and then selling them at once (or at least them coming to market in a relatively small window of a few months of auctions). I'd love to see the HA/CLINK fight for that auction right! Most interesting to me would be the copies where there is not a ton of scarcity, but the pedigree copy would give collectors a big standout vs other (non-pedigree) high grade copies.

Ok lets make this a three-fer! Another raw purchase. Another book I remember trying to win from time to time as far back as when I started collecting GA Sci-Fi. As always I'm drawn to the black of space type covers (but alas they show damage so easily!) This one, Speed Carter Spaceman #1 is a nice VG copy with not to much stress damage. Most of its around the spine and some color rub off at the top edge. But the main image is nice and clear and undisturbed. The composition of the shot between the moon/planet rise over the horizon line, and the diagonal of the rocket ship just make for a nice balanced image by Bil Everett. Lots of Maneely art inside as well as a Romita drawn story. I got a Spaceman #6 years ago (it's been in my sig line ever since), and Spaceman #1 was the only other issue of the title that I knew I just HAD to have.

Another Sci-Fi classic that's been on my list forever is the Brick Bradford #6. The giant robot. The yellow background giving the image a lot of "pop." The reds. There's so much right with this cover. Feels very Flash Gordon-y. Not sure if it's definitive, but it seems like an Alex Schomburg cover. Would love to see this done in the painted/airbrush style of his other famous covers from the era. Another raw I was able to get here on the boards, and again nice condition with few striking defects beyond some crinkling and creasing. Most of which might benefit from a pressing (outside of that lower right side color breaking crease). . Again, just a well designed cover with nice colors.

It's been 10 months since I've updated this! Yikes. Well the last year has allowed me to do some buying, but it seems the market, and other collectors are also going after many of the same books as I am, leading to me getting out bid on some books, and watching prices skyrocket for other books that I sold off for 1/2 the price just a year ago... oh well! on with the show. Space Adventures 12 is a great book for many reasons, and it seems like I've just missed out on the few that were offered on the boards over the years, but this year I was able to snag one during an infamous charity/support thread. Regardless, it's a great book. Some classic Ditko GGA, and most of the condition issues are relegated to the corners and the spine leaving a nice clean center image of our damsel in distress (even if she doesn't know it yet). Probably the key book in the Space Adventures run, I'll probably send this in for grading once I get some time to enjoy it in hand.

I would hazard a guess that he is still at his parents place as he has been busy posting about the "end of the world" and sharing other not so nice things on his Facebook Page. About 8 posts in the last 24 hours. ...I think Gabe is starting to go "down the rabbit hole" on top of his "other issues". Yes I'm still at my parents and the "not so nice things" are the truth of what's going to happen whether you believe it or not. .. would you mind posting a link to your Facebook Page? Holy , found it...