Sqeggs Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 Bought it raw on eBay a few years ago. It really is a spectacular copy, marred only by a small stain at the top of the back cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N e r V Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 1 hour ago, Ricksneatstuff said: That is VIBRANT St. John’s are not as bad with fading as say the Fiction House books are which in my opinion is maybe the worst but like many 1950’s DC books there can be a major difference in the appearance with fading. A good St. John is pretty amazing looking if there is little or no fading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimjum12 Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 1 hour ago, N e r V said: St. John’s are not as bad with fading as say the Fiction House books are which in my opinion is maybe the worst but like many 1950’s DC books there can be a major difference in the appearance with fading. A good St. John is pretty amazing looking if there is little or no fading. .....plus, St John has that cool logo that makes even a bad cover look good.... GOD BLESS... -jimbo(a friend of jesus) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comicnoir Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 I was bidding on the TaR 25, figuring I'd go to just under $2K. This would be an upgrade. Yes, the final amount shocked me, especially since it was 6.0 and not the highest graded. Is this the new normal for rarely seen Baker books? And this one is tough. But if you find a few ppl looking to finish runs and they are dedicated and have the money, this is what happens. Would this occur if the next one shows up? The DS 21 is also a head scratcher. Tough book, highest graded but has little eye appeal since it's quite faded. Also looks less than 6.0. Easier to find than the 25 in my travels, which may explain why it didn't go for $3K. I credit Ha with really bringing home the bacon. torontodesignguy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comicnoir Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 My Diary Secrets 21. szav 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sacentaur Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 4 hours ago, Sqeggs said: Well, since you mentioned it. You can just see the grade through the glare from my scanner. Let me count the ways I love this book...1, 2, 3....4,583,786...4,583,787...4,583,788. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BakerFanOne Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 5 hours ago, comicnoir said: I was bidding on the TaR 25, figuring I'd go to just under $2K. This would be an upgrade. Yes, the final amount shocked me, especially since it was 6.0 and not the highest graded. Is this the new normal for rarely seen Baker books? And this one is tough. But if you find a few ppl looking to finish runs and they are dedicated and have the money, this is what happens. Would this occur if the next one shows up? The DS 21 is also a head scratcher. Tough book, highest graded but has little eye appeal since it's quite faded. Also looks less than 6.0. Easier to find than the 25 in my travels, which may explain why it didn't go for $3K. I credit Ha with really bringing home the bacon. I don't think we can ignore the fact that nearly every classic atomic age cover is now selling for 5 to 15x what it typically sold for three years ago. So on a relative scale this is not very surprising. I am not going to make the argument that Bakers are still undervalued, but unlike many classic horror, crime, GGA and superhero books, there really aren't many high grade pedigree Baker copies out there. That is why a "lowly" 6.0 can command pedigree like prices. So I do believe that these prices are here to stay and will likely see some continued appreciation over the years even if more copies continue to surface. torontodesignguy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BakerFanOne Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 5 hours ago, sacentaur said: Let me count the ways I love this book...1, 2, 3....4,583,786...4,583,787...4,583,788. The colors on that copy are really stunning. Beautiful book and thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BakerFanOne Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 12 hours ago, Sqeggs said: Yeah, I think we may have seen the power of the boards on this one if only because I think with Bakers a pretty significant fraction of collectors participate in (or at least read) this thread. I'm still agnostic about this one but I lean towards it's being Baker. I don't know much about the market for fine art, but my impression (reinforced by reading some of the discussion about the record-breaking auction of a Leonardo a few days ago) is that there are two main factors involved in authentication: 1) Assessment by experts as to whether the painting appears to be by the artist, and 2) provenance. Wrt 1), the majority of boardies who commented made some good points about the figures seeming more like the Thornton rendering of Flamingo than Baker's rendering. Wrt 2), Heritage says the piece was from Phoenix Features, which was the company distributing Flamingo. We also know that other OA from Phoenix has surfaced, including original art from the Seven Seas books, which Phoenix published. The piece does seem to be the sort of thing that was used to sell strips to newspapers. My understanding is that Thornton wasn't involved with the strip during the period before syndication began. With the Leonardo there were a number of (but not all) knowledgeable people saying that for various reasons the painting didn't resemble Leonardo's other work. But there did seem to be a chain of ownership dating back to the time of composition (although some people also dispute this). I guess we have something similar here with doubts being raised about the whether the drawings resemble Baker's other work, while Heritage thinks the provenance is right. The provenance would be clearer, I think, if we knew more about the when, why, and how of the Phoenix OA surfacing. I have previously gone on the record as stating this piece is very clearly not Baker, but someone doing their best to imitate him. I guess another way to look at this is even if there was some Baker in the piece, it is clearly not his best Flamingo work. So if I were looking to buy some Baker original art, I would not be willing to break the bank on a piece that is either not at all by Baker or contains some of his sub-par work like we see on some of his earlier covers on Crown or Bomber. That being said, I think Baker would be turning in his grave knowing that piece is being attributed to him. ? MBFan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BakerFanOne Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 5 hours ago, comicnoir said: My Diary Secrets 21. Historically, I cannot recall seeing a nice copy of this book going back to the early 1990s. Recently, we have all seen a bunch turn up on the boards, eBay, etc.... but almost always in that fair to gvg range so anything above vg is pretty special on this one in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorick Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 21 hours ago, Sqeggs said: Well, since you mentioned it. You can just see the grade through the glare from my scanner. I must chime in with the rest of the chorus on this one; what an incredible copy! That looks like a 9.0 to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorick Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 22 hours ago, comicjack said: I'm finding that if a corner of a page is brittle they sink the whole book with that notation.Nice Bakers ! I have several of these box-top-beater copies where the tops are all frayed from being stacked with "normal" size comics. The top edge is certainly brittle, but it does not intrude further. It makes finding a nice copy a very special occasion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorick Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 All right - picture time. Without looking at the census, guess the grade CGC gave this one: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricksneatstuff Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 14 minutes ago, Yorick said: All right - picture time. Without looking at the census, guess the grade CGC gave this one: I would say 7.0-7.5 but is there a very very light stain in the upper right-hand corner that is getting penalized greatly? I have had books with that little corner spine chip come back 7.5. It’s a little hard to tell on my cell. I am going to go with a very pretty 6.5? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorick Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 12 minutes ago, Ricksneatstuff said: I would say 7.0-7.5 but is there a very very light stain in the upper right-hand corner that is getting penalized greatly? I have had books with that little corner spine chip come back 7.5. It’s a little hard to tell on my cell. I am going to go with a very pretty 6.5? Grader notes only say "tanning cover, tanning pages" (which is obvious just looking at the cover). There appears to be a dirty smudge line across the top right. Tiny tear and the two chips on the top edge. I had expected at least a 7.0. I was not given it. sagii 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricksneatstuff Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 1 minute ago, Yorick said: Grader notes only say "tanning cover, tanning pages" (which is obvious just looking at the cover). There appears to be a dirty smudge line across the top right. Tiny tear and the two chips on the top edge. I had expected at least a 7.0. I was not given it. I was THIS CLOSE to saying 6.0 Pretty book anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorick Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 Here's another that caught me by surprise. I'll give you the raw scan first. I think there's a "golden age red-heads" thread somewhere on these forums. Maybe I should post it there too. szav and torontodesignguy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorick Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 One more? I'll put this one up for Tri-color in appreciation of his "nude" Baker cover post the other day... Boobies!!! torontodesignguy and szav 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricksneatstuff Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 1 minute ago, Yorick said: One more? I'll put this one up for Tri-color in appreciation of his "nude" Baker cover post the other day... Boobies!!! 5.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricksneatstuff Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 47 minutes ago, Yorick said: Here's another that caught me by surprise. I'll give you the raw scan first. I think there's a "golden age red-heads" thread somewhere on these forums. Maybe I should post it there too. 5.5 - but a nice one. Mini spine split ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
