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The 1700+ Double Cover collection being auctioned

Started by dekeuk,

97 posts in this topic

dekeuk

dekeuk

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This was already briefly discussed in the GOLD FORUM but who surfs over there? :insane:

 

So ComicConnect (aka Metropolis) is auctioning 1700 books with double covers.

 

A few observations:

 

I think it is too early to sell this many books, the market for double covers has not matured yet. The prices for them are nowhere near the errors of other hobbies like coins and stamps.

 

Also, selling 1700 at once with flood the market and the wallets of the people that want these.

 

I am surprised the bulk of this collection was assembled only in the last 10 years. That indicates to me that either this collector was just determined to outbid everyone else, or that there are not too many collectors seeking them.

 

In any case, I don't know how the owner of this collection will make much money on these. He bought them individually, one at a time on ebay, and had to outbid everyone else, within the last 10 years.

 

So why would those same collectors now pay more for those same books they lose out on in the last 10 years? Especially when 1700 are available at once.

 

I think this part of the hobby needs to mature first some more before people start dropping really big money on these double cover books.

 

Just my 2c

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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dekeuk

dekeuk

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And some more info from the man who assembled the collection

 

==================================

 

 

 

IN THE COLLECTOR'S OWN WORDS

(A Brief Memoir by Joe Desris)

 

As a youngster, I sporadically acquired comics for several years, finally getting serious about buying and saving consecutive new issues in 1967. I went with my dad to used book stores in Milwaukee and Chicago a couple times, which were opportunities to pick up older books. Dad was a writer and involved with publishing, and had an uncanny ability to accurately see that part of a layout was crooked or some text was off-center by 1/32 of an inch. Without using a ruler. While I never visited a company that printed comics, I had been to noisy print shops and seen dylux proofs and smeared set-ups along with stacks of rejected off-register pages, and the buckets where Linotype operators sent rejected metal type to be remelted, so I knew how things were done. Perhaps my interest in double covers originated from knowing that flawed material was not supposed to leave the printer, yet...there it was for sale!

 

On rare occasions, double covers turned up at the newsstand where I bought comics every week. The earliest example that I recall is From Beyond The Unknown #13 in 1971 (for sentimental reasons, I just had to keep that issue, so it is not in this auction; please contact ComicConnect in 40 years!). In 1973, after buying a large collection of about 10,000 comic books from northern Wisconsin, I encountered older comics with more than one cover, probably about 20 in all, going back to the 1940s and 1950s. Of course I would have preferred keeping every one of those 10,000 four-color treasures, but I began setting up at conventions, selling the books to repay my dad who loaned me the money, and then continuing to sell books to help finance my college tuition.

 

On the newsstands, magazines arrived bound with wire, and since comics usually were at the top of a bundle, they received the most damage. I eventually realized that comics were not stacked in the same order, for every bundle, at every store, so by 1975, rather than just pulling a nice one from the middle of the group, I was not only examining every available copy of titles I collected, but had begun scouring additional locations for the best copy. All of which made it a little more likely to happen across printing mistakes. I also bought double covers by mail from advertisers in The Buyer's Guide (later CBG) and at conventions. By the mid-1980s, I owned less than 70 double covers and had never encountered a triple cover. I may have had 100 double covers by the early-1990s, but considered them a minor part of my overall comic collection, probably because they were just so frustratingly uncommon.

 

It was not until logging onto eBay in 1999 that it became possible to build a collection more significant in quantity and quality, and even to focus on certain characters. I was then able to buy from dealers and fans who did not attend shows, from those on other continents whom I would otherwise never meet, from garage sale pickers in Pennsylvania or from folks who set up at antique shows in Florida or were just cleaning out the attic in Kansas. And I quickly learned that it was the comic collectors who called them double covers, and if I searched eBay for phrases such as "two covers" or "duplicate covers" or "error" there were additional opportunities out there. Assembling a collection like this would have been simply impossible without the internet.

 

I once set a goal of acquiring 1,000 double covers, figuring it would probably take a lifetime to get there, but I eventually surpassed that level. With tens of thousands of copies being printed for most comics (and quantities in the hundreds of thousands for gold and silver age books), and nearly every one being a perfect copy when it left the printer, it seemed like a good idea to look for and invest in the rarity, something that nobody else owned. Along the way, I found gems such as Famous Funnies 40 from 1937, the earliest known double cover. Other early examples include Single Series 6 from 1939, Action 28 from 1940, plus Detective 48 and 51 as well as Zip 13, all from 1941. There was Mighty Mouse 45 from 1953, the earliest double cover 100-page book, and Tonto 7 from 1952, the earliest known book with five covers.

 

I never wanted to own every double cover on the planet, although Batman and Superboy were personal favorites, and I pursued them relentlessly. Every issue had the company logo in the upper left corner of the front cover. I know it is an acronym for Detective Comics, but it was cool to see them all lined up in a box, each one verified as a DC - Double Cover!

 

A double cover turned up of the first Superman/Flash race in Superman 199, then double covers of the rematch in World's Finest 198 and 199, and other team-ups in Superman 220 and Action 441. Finding both a double and triple cover of Batman 33 was fun, and thanks to some good trades, I was able to repeat that combination for Captain Marvel 50, Jetsons 1, Spider-Man Unlimited 1 and several other books.

 

Double covers are generally a matter of static electricity during the printing and binding process, and can occur for any magazine, not just comics. Printing companies generally eliminate the problem with humidifiers and other techniques, so it does not happen all the time or for every issue. Unlike miswraps, missing colors or other obvious errors which are easily noticed and removed by quality control (and thus even more difficult for collectors to find), double covers can sneak through undetected until actually sold. Double covers before 1965 are more difficult to find, even though print runs were larger; it was not uncommon for some dealers and collectors to tear off the outer cover in order to show a nicer inner cover. This reminds me of a story I once heard from a philatelist regarding a lady who went to the Post Office and insisted on buying a sheet of stamps with perforations. The previous sheet she purchased had no perfs and she had to cut the stamps apart with scissors. Of course she destroyed something valuable. Conversations with dealers who sold comics in the 1960s indicate that golden age double covers turned up more frequently back then, so it is likely that many of those books no longer exist with both covers attached.

 

Multiple double covers of the same issue have surfaced, as can be seen in this auction. Eight copies of X-Men 202 are offered, six of them having come from one source. I know of three more in other collections, making for eleven double covers of that issue, the most for any double cover I am aware of. As a comparison, many collectors of stamps, coins or paper money would consider eleven of any given error to be an extremely low population. Some coin errors have run into the hundreds, allowing collectors to be choosy about condition.

 

Whether found in good, fine or near mint condition, double cover comics typically are unique in today's market. Waiting for a double cover of your favorite comic in a higher grade? It may not exist in any grade, and the likelihood of finding a NM example is slimmer than a pressed copy of Plastic Man. Even all the Dell and Harvey file copies that surfaced in recent years produced few double covers, although the ones that were found had impeccable condition.

 

Grading and encapsulating comics brought an interesting twist to collecting double covers. It helped standardize terminology, it preserves and stabilizes books in the best condition, and probably settled the debate for grading a book by the outer or inner cover (the best cover is what is used). Yet the thrill of a double cover is not condition, but seeing that second (or third, or fourth) cover, especially for the first time. And it's still fun to puzzle out exactly how a miscut or miswrapped book came about, all of which is best enjoyed by holding the book and paging through it. Encapsulation has a lot of positive aspects, but when it comes to double covers, it sometimes seems sort of like not being allowed to open your Christmas presents. You know there is something great inside...but you cannot see it. Of course the plastic case can always be removed for those of us who cannot stand not knowing.

 

Enjoy the auction and good luck with all your bids! However many books you win, I hope you enjoy each book as much as I did.

 

- Joe Desris

 

 

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dekeuk

dekeuk

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$26,077

 

 

 

This must be disappointing to the owner

 

GPA says a double cover 9.6 (probably this copy) sold for $23,575 in 2004 so it has not even kept up with inflation.

 

Also, a 9.2 sold for $17,000 last month so $26k for a 9.6 is very low in comparison.

 

It probably would have sold for more had the outer cover been removed and was slabbed as a true single cover 9.6

 

 

 

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dekeuk

dekeuk

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It probably would have sold for more had the outer cover been removed and was slabbed as a true single cover 9.6

 

In case I forgot, this definitely reminded me that I'm on the CGC Board.

 

 

Let me be clear about this ........ I was not advocating the removal of the outer cover so the seller would make more money. I was just stating an opinion that had that been done, I think it would have sold for more, based on the price a 9.2 copy sold for last month.

 

In fact, I have been the MOST vocal person on these boards regarding my dislike of people taking the single highest graded copy of a book and slapping a signature on the cover to squeeze more money out of the sale. I have stated many times I think it is "criminal" and that it ruins the highest graded copy for all future generations.

 

 

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