What is this?

[nochips]

Gary as one of your first customers, I bought from you in your basement way back then, I have a request:

 

I want you to tell the Forun members about the convention we were at in I think 1975 or 1976. Somewhere in the South suburbs of Chicago?? That man walked in and asked if you "still bought comics" like he knew you?? We went to his house after the show and it was a sweet run of high grade unread Marvels. I thought he had them in brown bags?? Two Amazing Fantasy 15, a couple of Spder-man # 1, I remember 2 TOS 39.. Like they were made and stored just for you? I think you bought everything for less than $300.00 back then. You told him your wife was going to klll you for coming home broke!! What was in that collection anyhow?

 

Nice to see your name in print..

 

Stuart

[Moondog]

hkp:

 

Soon after buying the initial lot from Greedy Ben, I wanted to buy the Marvel 1. He wanted $12,000 cash. I went over and counted out the hundreds (it felt like Miami Vice - all this cash on his kitchen table...) and brought the book home. It had a noticeable (but not ugly) sun shadow along the spine and the interior pages were yellowing, but it was a beautiful unread copy. I called Steve Geppi to get his opinion on how it ranked next to the Denver and Mile High copies which I believe he owned at the time. Steve made me an offer to purchase 50% interest, and since I had a business to run, I agreed and shipped him the book. I surmised that if anyone could get a big price for the book, Steve was the guy. Plus I was purchasing thousands of dollars of new comics every week from him through Diamond. We were friends who did a lot of business together. It made sense at the time to have a partner.

 

After he received it he told me it was probably the 3rd best copy in existence. This was encouraging to hear. I had visions of the book selling for many multiples of what I paid.

 

But the reality was that it was the only the third best copy that Steve owned - and the lowest grade of them all. So it kind of just sat there for a few years and I started to get impatient. Steve would say, "Gary, don't worry. We're going to make a lot of money on this book somday." Anyway, one day I got a call from the fellow who owned Keystone Comics - a major Timely collector. We agreed to a price of $22,000 ($24,000?) and I suggested strongly to Steve that we sell it. Steve being Steve was reluctant to go along with this, since he had no doubt that we could do much better. But to appease me he agreed and we sold the book and split the proceeds.

 

I've made a lot of great moves in my business career. Needless to say this was not one of them.

 

Now, this book, I believe, is the White Rose Marvel 1 which sold for $120,000 or so. If I'm wrong, someone please correct me. The Windy City Marvel 1 was never cleaned or pressed while in my possession and I can't believe that Steve would do it without consulting me. But it's my understanding that the "word on the street" is that the Windy City Marvel 1 was "cleaned and pressed". I don't believe that's the case unless the Keystone Comics owner decided he didn't like the sun shadow and had it done, but that sun shadow gave the book "character", and it's a shame if it was.

 

In the opinion of the guys that read this board, does the Windy City Marvel 1 have a "cloud of suspicion" over it?

 

Another strange thing I read a few years ago was an auction listing for the Windy City Green Lantern 3 in the first Heritage auction. There was no Green Lantern 3 in the Windy City collection. I contacted Heritage about it, but I think my message got lost somewhere...

 

I've got a great story about the Captain America 1. But that's one for another day.

 

I believe the Detective 1 is the best in existence or certainly one of the top 3. Jay Maybrook looked at me in wonderment when he saw that book on my table at the '86 or '87 Chicago con. "You don't deserve to own a book like that, " he told me. "Sell it to me." What a pompous [!@#%^&^]. It wasn't more than a year or two after that that he was trying to sell me counterfeit Cerebus 1's out of the trunk of his car as he rode through the Midwest.

 

I think Jay had some major problems in those days...

 

I'm also glad you're enjoying the MM Mags. I still love those covers!

 

I'm glad you guys like these stories. More to come.

 

--Gary

[PUNYHUMAN]

Enjoyed the story!!

[CaptainBackfire]

Ditto, great story! These kind of stories are what I love about these boards!

[tb]

Thanks, Gary, I love these stories. Here's one of your books (that I managed to snipe from Mamanook) - among my favorite.

 

[Bonds25]

Awesome awesome awesome!

[Moondog]

I actually did a deal with Steve back when he was in high school. I want to say it was around 1986 or so. I can't remember all the details, but I had been contacted by a fellow who found a box of old comics in a house he had just purchased. It was a great find: Caps, Marvel Mysterys, Early DC's and Fawcetts.

 

The books were notable for having a name written on the cover: Guy Holcombe.

 

The seller had moved from Chicago to Philadelphia so I was asked to travel there to view the collection and make an offer. He told me he had also contacted a "big New York dealer" - Steve Fishler. Now, at this time Steve was just starting out and I had had only a brief correspondence with him regarding the Fawcett ashcans. So I called him and we agreed it made sense to work together on this deal.

 

I flew out to Philly and we were to meet the fellow at the airport. He had rented a small room at a local airport motel. Steve and I were to get together first and plan our strategy. You can imagine my surprise when I met this bespectacled young man - and his parents! I had never imagined he was only in high school 17 or 18 years old. I remember distinctly that he was prepared and focused and ready to do business. His folks were delightful people and they told me they wouldn't allow him to make this deal unless they came.

 

Anyway, we made the deal ($25,000...) and decided to split up the books. Even this went very smoothly. Steve was an interesting kid then. Very knowledgeable about condition and key books. You could tell he was serious. Anyone who met him that day would not be surprised at his success today - he was that focused.

 

Does anyone have any Guy Holcombe books in their collections?

 

--Gary

[Moondog]

Stu (No Chips):

 

That Sunday back in 1977 or so is one of those days you can never forget.

 

I just started dealing back issues and had yet to open my first store. During this time there was usually a small show every weekend in the Chicago area. Leroy Szidic (spel) ran a show at the Dolton (IL) Holiday Inn on the 1st Sunday of each month. The Wabash Ave. YMCA had a show on the 2nd Sunday, and a few other swap meets filled out the month. I was buying and selling part time then and befriended a group of high school kids who used to come over to my home and help me bag comics and do other odd jobs.

 

It was great. They would paint my redwood fence. Shovel snow. Cut the grass. And I would pay them in comics!

 

My wife was always amazed at what these kids would do for a few "funny books".

 

Anyway, I usually needed help on Sunday mornings schlepping boxes, setting up, and watching my booth. So I'd get an okay from their folks and then pick up one or two of the guys and drive down to Chicago and goof off selling comics for the day. These guys worked their tails off and I bought them lunch and gave them comics in return for their efforts. It was a pretty good deal for both parties since none of these kids was rich.

 

One Sunday at the Dolton show I was sitting behind my table when a strange, little fellow came into the room. I had never seen him before and my "dealer sense" went off. I knew this guy wanted to either buy comics or sell some. He came up to my table and looked at some key books I had taped to the wall behind me (this was a classy show...). When he saw a VG Hulk 2 he remarked, "I have one of those." This got my attention and we started to chat. He said he had a "bunch of comics" for sale. We kinda hit it off and agreed I'd come by after the show. He gave me directions and walked out.

 

When the show closed Stu and I packed up and drove the few miles to his place. It turns out it's in a gated community and the security guards gave us a stern looking over. After confirming we were guests of this tenet, we were allowed in. We parked and walked to a very nice building that turned out to be high-end condos. We took the elevator to the 3rd floor and knocked on the door.

 

The guy opens the door and invites us in. This is a BIG condo. 3 bedrooms. Dining room; family room, living room, and a huge kitchen. What struck me as strange immediately was that there was no furniture in the place except for a TV, an easy chair, a TV tray, and a mattress on the floor. It appeared that he was just moving in or getting ready to move out.

 

I figure this guy is an eccentric rich dude. And when he showed us the comics - I knew he was an eccentric rich dude.

 

There in piles - and I mean piles - are hundreds of comics. All kinds. From Charltons to Marvels. Funny books. Super Heros. You name it. It made no sense. They weren't in boxes. There was no order to them. Just piles of comics.

 

Now this was before buying comic bags was easy. Back in the day, many collectors simply used Saran Wrap and tape to protect their books. And that's what this guy used. But the Saran Wrap was all yellow and the tape had become so sticky that EVERY SINGLE BOOK was stuck to the other. But the Saran Wrap did its job. Carefully ripping apart each book from the other, I would open the Saran Wrap to find a perfectly preserved, unread book. To this day, I have never purchased a collection of such high grade Marvels. I sold the AF 15 for $300 a few months later at the Chicago Comicon. (God, I wish I had that book today...the buyer was from Toronto.) I distinctly remember finding a damaged TOS 39 and remarked to Stuart, "This is too bad, the one damaged book is the first Iron Man..." then finding a perfect one two copies later!

 

Now, he had been to my table and saw that I had a Hulk 2 in VG for $50. His Hulk 2 would be a 9.6 today, but back then it was only Mint... He knew it had to be worth more than my copy. AND THAT WAS ONLY ONE BOOK! There was probably close to a thousand books here. There was no way I would be able to buy all these since the show was slow and I had less than $300 and he knew what they were worth.

 

Then the little guys says, "I'm moving and I want to sell these now." So I start to panic. I don't know what to do. They had to have been worth at least $10,000 even at '77 Guide prices! So I took out all the money from my wallet and said, "My wife will kill me but all I have is $283."

 

And then the most amazing words I ever heard came from his mouth: "Sure. No problem." I couldn't believe it. He just didn't care any more about them and wanted them out of his life and I just happened to be the right guy at the right time. He may have even thrown them out if he hadn't seen that little sign by the side of the road advertising the show at the Holiday Inn. It was truly a miracle!

 

After that it was all a blur. I told Stu to "start packing the comics now!" And I gave the seller his money. For the next 20 minutes I kept waiting for him to change his mind. But it never happened. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when we drove out of the complex.

 

That had to be the strangest deal I ever made.

 

--Gary

[BEAUMONTS]

Superman Comics #nn Ashcan (DC, 1939) CGC VF/NM 9.0 Off-white pages

[143ksk]

Thanks for the great stories Gary.

 

I still remember one of the Chicago MiniCons (circa 1985 I would guess) where you had several piles of very nice pre-hero Marvels for sale. I bought the Tales of Suspense 1, Tales to Astonish 2, a virtually perfect Tales of Suspense 9 and several other books that escape me at the moment. I'm sure I didn't pay more than $200 for the lot. Those were the days

 

Anyway, keep the stories coming.

 

Steve.

[Moondog]

Beau:

 

I'm really surprised to see this book so low. It is literally the first edition of Superman Comics - and the best one that exists. I have the only other copy known to exist and that one is graded 7.5.

 

With BP, it sold for $36,000 + in Mastro's first Americana auction (2000? 2001?).

 

I believe it once traded hands around $25,000 also. Heck I'm almost tempted to try to get it back! But then again, I'm also in love with these books...

 

--Gary

[Moondog]

Beaumonts:

 

I see where the Supes Ashcan sold for $34,500 (including BP).

 

--Gary

[Norrin_Radd]

If ever a thread was worth a , this is it.

 

Enjoy!

[Comicdey]

This thread was a good read,

 

I'll bump it by saying that I have the Windy City Cow Puncher #1, unslabbed, up here in Alaska. It's likely a VF by CGC standards.

 

I had the Giggle #1, but sold it prior to CGC. I think it only graded out as Fn/VF.

I also had the Kilroys #1. Not sure what it graded out at, but it sure was a nice black cover.

 

Not keys, but nice pedigree fun.

 

Good stories,

 

Thanks for sharing Moondog et all.

[Moondog]

I've recently been contacted by a fellow who's publishing a book on famous comic book collections. He would like to include the Windy City collection and asked me to review the information he already had (Matt's piece in Gerber).

 

I thought it would help if I could re-connect with the seller. I wasn't sure if he was still around but after one phone we found out he now lives 3 blocks from my office!

 

So we spent a couple of hours reminiscing last night...and had a blast! I found out some very interesting information I wasn't aware of and it was just cool talking about a collection of books that really is unique in the annals of our hobby.

 

Talking to him now - 20 years after he sold me the collection - I had a completely different view of him. He's now almost 80 and retired. He had a long career with Nestle's as a salesman. He has a great family with grown children and grandkids. I came to realize he wasn't "greedy" back then. He just wanted to get the most for his books as he could. He also didn't buy them for a song either - he paid a "decent percentage of guide" for them to the seller.

 

We both laughed and cringed when I told him the Marvel # 1 (CGC 8.5) sold for $128,500 in a Heritage auction a year or so back. He has no regrets (nor do I) but it's only human nature to say, "what if we didn't sell them and you or I had kept them...what they would be worth today!"

 

It was a very nice evening. I'm glad I can be a small part of this upcoming book. It should certainly appeal and be of interest to everyone here on the boards.

 

--Gary

[lou_fine]

I've recently been contacted by a fellow who's publishing a book on famous comic book collections. He would like to include the Windy City collection and asked me to review the information he already had (Matt's piece in Gerber).

 

It was a very nice evening. I'm glad I can be a small part of this upcoming book. It should certainly appeal and be of interest to everyone here on the boards.

 

--Gary

 

Gary;

 

Any idea when this dang book is ever going to be published?

 

We've been hearing about this book for years now and still nothing in the pipeline yet. Even though we have been given the option of paying in advance for this book since sometime last year.

[greggy]

I've recently been contacted by a fellow who's publishing a book on famous comic book collections. He would like to include the Windy City collection and asked me to review the information he already had (Matt's piece in Gerber).

 

It was a very nice evening. I'm glad I can be a small part of this upcoming book. It should certainly appeal and be of interest to everyone here on the boards.

 

--Gary

 

Gary;

 

Any idea when this dang book is ever going to be published?

 

We've been hearing about this book for years now and still nothing in the pipeline yet. Even though we have been given the option of paying in advance for this book since sometime last year.

Matt delayed it again until next year. He told me a few months ago that he bought a complete run of the CBG and he wanted to add additional information such as original for sale lists..etc. Hopefully it doesn't get delayed anymore, as I did reserve one by paying him the $10 deposit!

[Moondog]

No idea on a publishing date, but an editor mentioned to me that he hoped to have all the content by October.

[esquirecomics]

I've recently been contacted by a fellow who's publishing a book on famous comic book collections. He would like to include the Windy City collection and asked me to review the information he already had (Matt's piece in Gerber).

 

It was a very nice evening. I'm glad I can be a small part of this upcoming book. It should certainly appeal and be of interest to everyone here on the boards.

 

--Gary

 

Gary;

 

Any idea when this dang book is ever going to be published?

 

We've been hearing about this book for years now and still nothing in the pipeline yet. Even though we have been given the option of paying in advance for this book since sometime last year.

Matt delayed it again until next year. He told me a few months ago that he bought a complete run of the CBG and he wanted to add additional information such as original for sale lists..etc. Hopefully it doesn't get delayed anymore, as I did reserve one by paying him the $10 deposit!

 

I think you guys are talking about two different books.

[ft88]

Probably the best part of collecting is coming across a virgin collection or large collection and being able to buy it for at least a good price even if its not dirt cheap.

 

I was contacted by a guy who emailed to me that he had Superman 1-100 and saw that I was buying comics. The BS meter was pegged on high and I asked him if he'd let me see them. He lived about 4 hours drive so I really didn't want to waste my time and anyone who throws out Superman #1 is 99% full of it. I think I asked him three times "These are from the 40's right?" So I head out there to meet him at a bar where he knew the owner and the bar would be closed for the two of us to use.

 

He had spread out all 100 on 2 pool tables. The colors of seeing that image was just amazing. Only then did I realize that he was serious and actually had the books and I was going to have to do some figuring on the spot. I had very little experience with Golden Age and knew that these were likely restored as he bought them in the 80's at conventions etc. I looked at the #1 and it was restored. The story with that was he had it submitted for restoration and the guy actually stole his and other collectors comics worth at the time around $50,000.

 

We started talking price and value for restored books both for the #1 and the rest. With that I was going ot have to come back to make an offer as well as come up with the money in the form of cash. Never a good sign walking away from a collection like that and from a knowledgable collector with no hurry to sell and is calling dealers in the area. I figure my odds were slim at best.

 

A month later we agree to meet again, this time at his new house (the reason why he was selling) Of course we can't agree on a price since he wants $30k for the #1 and I can only offer 15 so I make an offer of 20k for the run 1-100 and another one thousand for the Superman run he had from the 130's to 400. Only issue 3 and 9 from the first 10 were unrestored and a smattering from 11 to 50 were restored. The run from 13 to 26 graded out at 6.5 to 8.0 and the issues form 50 on up graded at 6.5 to 8.5 and I still have a few of those.

 

Then he shows me his other collection of 10 boxes of every Richie Rich comic including Little Dot #1. I have no idea of their value so I throw out an offer of $2000 for all of them and he accepted. The Dot #1 and Richie #1 were color touched but still the collection as a whole was pretty impressive and Richies were on fire I came to find out. I only have about 4 of those left out of about 3000 books.

 

I threw in a Superboy #1 for $1500 and the deal was complete.

 

He went from a collection of 3000 books to about 5 books in one day. He still has the Superman 1 and just won't sell it for less than $30k - more power to him.