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Show me your Timely's and I'll show you mine. Have a Cigar...
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22,992 posts in this topic

6 hours ago, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

Cat, between the 33 and the 66, you are cornering the market on the New York City covers

I'm so glad you picked up on that.  There's an interesting aspect of these two great Schomburg covers that ...to my knowledge... hasn't been explored.  

Issue #33 (dated July '42) is Schomburg's first war cover for Marvel Mystery Comics after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor drew the U.S. directly into World War II (Alex's prior cover for MM #29, the March buzzsaw bondage cover hit the newsstands on Jan. 16, 1942).  This was Alex's last pre-war cover, the next three covers for Marvel Mystery, done by Al Gabriele, focused on Remembering Pearl Harbor.  

Issue #66 (dated Sept. '45, newsstand arrival date of July 17), Schomburg's last actual war cover for Marvel Mystery, focused on the constant fear of Japan deploying some kind of super weapon, this prior to the U.S. dropping atomic bombs ...another WMD... on Japan in early August, effectively prompting Japan to seek terms for surrender, ending the war.

So, we have two awesome Schomburg covers touching on the greatest fears of American civilians from more sneak attacks by Japan during the war, in each case unleashed on NYC.  The first, an invasion cover following on the heels of Pearl Harbor, and finally, the ironic use of some super-secret weapon (an Empirial Japanese Death Ray) to force America into submission.

In honor of Stan Lee (and the survival of NYC): Excelsior! (thumbsu

Edited by Cat-Man_America
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3 hours ago, Cat-Man_America said:

I'm so glad you picked up on that.  There's an interesting aspect of these two great Schomburg covers that ...to my knowledge... hasn't been explored.  

Issue #33 (dated July '42) is Schomburg's first war cover for Marvel Mystery Comics after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor drew the U.S. directly into World War II (Alex's prior cover for MM #29, the March buzzsaw bondage cover hit the newsstands on Jan. 16, 1942).  This was Alex's last pre-war cover, the next three covers for Marvel Mystery, done by Al Gabriele, focused on Remembering Pearl Harbor.  

Issue #66 (dated Sept. '45, newsstand arrival date of July 17), Schomburg's last actual war cover for Marvel Mystery, focused on the constant fear of Japan deploying some kind of super weapon, this prior to the U.S. dropping atomic bombs ...another WMD... on Japan in early August, effectively prompting Japan to seek terms for surrender, ending the war.

So, we have two awesome Schomburg covers touching on the greatest fears of American civilians from more sneak attacks by Japan during the war, in each case unleashed on NYC.  The first, an invasion cover following on the heels of Pearl Harbor, and finally, the ironic use of some super-secret weapon (an Empirial Japanese Death Ray) to force America into submission.

In honor of Stan Lee (and the survival of NYC): Excelsior! (thumbsu

Hey Kat, on a more serious note, did you find the Marvel Mystery prices strong or soft?  I don't follow them too closely but the run in the last and the next auction are pretty spectacular.

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On 12/1/2018 at 4:14 PM, batman_fan said:

Hey Cat, on a more serious note, did you find the Marvel Mystery prices strong or soft?  I don't follow them too closely but the run in the last and the next auction are pretty spectacular.

The results were a little mixed, but strong enough overall. Like Richard pointed out earlier, the Marvel Mystery #13 result was quite strong.  My copy, which is the same grade, slightly better PQ, but no pedigree is now acting like a prima donna, demanding special treatment (wanting me to change out the desiccants more often). 

There are so many factors involved in analyzing bids & realized prices that it's like a blind man with arthritis trying to calculate a soft Mars landing using a slide rule.

For instance, does a large number of high-grade high profile Marvel Mystery's pull in more bidders, scare off potential bidders or just encourage bidders to be more selective about which books they go after?

Has the change in individual state tax collection ...which isn't easy to calculate during a bidding session... concerned bidders enough to hesitate given HA's high buyer's premiums?   

Do any of the other close proximity auctions (Hakes, ComicConnect, CLink, etc.) with desirable Marvel Mystery consignments have any impact on the bidding in this HA?

Are lower grade Marvel Mystery Comics in other auctions more attractive to bidders because they're easier to rationalize on a budget? Is the holiday season or current economic forecasts a factor in bidding?

Is the CGC census grade or pedigree status influencing bidding? First appearances/origins? Media popularity (films/TV)? Cover art? ...And so on.

My crystal ball is hazy when it comes to predicting strong/soft trends from one auction held in close proximity to others, especially for a blue-ribbon title like Marvel Mystery.

That said, it never stops us from trying!  :insane:

Edited by Cat-Man_America
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On 12/1/2018 at 1:49 PM, Cat-Man_America said:

So, we have two awesome Schomburg covers touching on the greatest fears of American civilians from more sneak attacks by Japan during the war, in each case unleashed on NYC.  The first, an invasion cover following on the heels of Pearl Harbor, and finally, the ironic use of some super-secret weapon (an Empirial Japanese Death Ray) to force America into submission.

In honor of Stan Lee (and the survival of NYC): Excelsior! (thumbsu

Does make you wonder about Schomburg's grasp of geography (or maybe his assumptions about how well his readers grasped geography).  An invasion of NYC by Japan would have been quite the logistical feat.  Or maybe Timely figured that with more readers in the northeast than in CA, an invasion of NYC seemed more gripping.  

Kind of like this cover, which in addition to an invasion of NYC, refers to the Japanese as Mongols, which, of course, they weren't.  If any of the combatants could (with a quite a stretch) be described as Mongols, it would have been the Chinese, who were, of course, U.S. allies and not terribly likely to be invading NYC.

min1.24a_zpsf8brzcr4.JPG

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14 minutes ago, Sqeggs said:

Does make you wonder about Schomburg's grasp of geography (or maybe his assumptions about how well his readers grasped geography).  An invasion of NYC by Japan would have been quite the logistical feat.  Or maybe Timely figured that with more readers in the northeast than in CA, an invasion of NYC seemed more gripping.  

Kind of like this cover, which in addition to an invasion of NYC, refers to the Japanese as Mongols, which, of course, they weren't.  If any of the combatants could (with a quite a stretch) be described as Mongols, it would have been the Chinese, who were, of course, U.S. allies and not terribly likely to be invading NYC.

min1.24a_zpsf8brzcr4.JPG

Considering NYC was the hub for comic companies, artists & readers in general, I'm not surprised at the amount of cover scenes that took place in NYC. With its huge population, it is far more dramatic to see NYC being attacked than it would Dallas, Tampa or San Diego!

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3 hours ago, Timely said:

Considering NYC was the hub for comic companies, artists & readers in general, I'm not surprised at the amount of cover scenes that took place in NYC. With its huge population, it is far more dramatic to see NYC being attacked than it would Dallas, Tampa or San Diego!

Good to know that Dallas has been safe from conquering foes, no matter how dramatic the attack! (thumbsu

Edited by Cat-Man_America
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8 minutes ago, Cat-Man_America said:
3 hours ago, Timely said:

Considering NYC was the hub for comic companies, artists & readers in general, I'm not surprised at the amount of cover scenes that took place in NYC. With its huge population, it is far more dramatic to see NYC being attacked than it would Dallas, Tampa or San Diego!

Good to know that Dallas has been safe from conquering foes, no matter how dramatic the attack! (thumbsu

Texas wasn't safe from the Okie horde from Norman last weekend. :facepalm:

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11 minutes ago, MrBedrock said:

Texas wasn't safe from the Okie horde from Norman last weekend. :facepalm:

Okies invaded Texas long ago; ...by now they should be considered an indigenous species.  

PS: There is a historic precedent for Norman invasions.  (:

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54 minutes ago, Cat-Man_America said:

Okies invaded Texas long ago; ...by now they should be considered an indigenous species.  

PS: There is a historic precedent for Norman invasions.  (:

The main reason Texas hasn't fallen in the Gulf is because Oklahoma sucks so hard.

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3 hours ago, BuscemasAvengers said:

Posted this raw several months ago, but after what seemed like eons in Sarasota, it arrived safely back in my hands with a "better-than-I-had-thought" grade (tied for 3rd on the census) ... sorry for the glare!

20181204_181706_resized.jpg

20181204_181151_resized.jpg

That's pretty awesome.  The Young Allies books have some great covers.

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23 hours ago, Timely said:
On 12/4/2018 at 4:36 PM, Sqeggs said:

Does make you wonder about Schomburg's grasp of geography (or maybe his assumptions about how well his readers grasped geography).  An invasion of NYC by Japan would have been quite the logistical feat.  Or maybe Timely figured that with more readers in the northeast than in CA, an invasion of NYC seemed more gripping.  

Kind of like this cover, which in addition to an invasion of NYC, refers to the Japanese as Mongols, which, of course, they weren't.  If any of the combatants could (with a quite a stretch) be described as Mongols, it would have been the Chinese, who were, of course, U.S. allies and not terribly likely to be invading NYC.

min1.24a_zpsf8brzcr4.JPG

Considering NYC was the hub for comic companies, artists & readers in general, I'm not surprised at the amount of cover scenes that took place in NYC. With its huge population, it is far more dramatic to see NYC being attacked than it would Dallas, Tampa or San Diego!

Right, as I noted, the greater population of the northeast compared with California or Hawaii made NYC the more interesting site for an invasion cover.  So far as I know, there aren't any covers depicting a Japanese invasion of Hawaii, something that might have happened if the battle of Midway had ended differently.

The most plausible invasion cover I can think of is Subby 6, which, of course, shows an invasion of the Panama Canal.  Not terribly plausible, but a lot more likely than NYC.

Edited by Sqeggs
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On 12/4/2018 at 8:12 PM, MrBedrock said:

The main reason Texas hasn't fallen in the Gulf is because Oklahoma sucks so hard.

This morning we dropped off our failing vacuum to Evans Vacuum Cleaner Co. for repair.  No suction at all, but Evans will fix it. 

That's Texas know how for ya.  :baiting:

2127095f-0765-45a9-8c1a-9ce9e9679ba8_zps

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