n2wdw's comic book room 5 5

[n2wdw]

Major Grail Acquisition - Cindy 37

To have a golden age good girl art collection, there are a few comics that have to be on your want list.  Archie 50.  Fighting Yank 21.  Planet 33 and 35.  Reform School Girl.  Spirit 22.  Torchy 5 (@jimjum12).  Giant Comics Edition 12. The list of classic GGA covers is up for debate (and in fact there are a few threads directed to this topic in the Gold section), but I think these comics would be on most lists (if not all) of the classic GGA covers.

Another one is Cindy 37.  And for some reason, Cindy is really hot right now (sorry for the pun).  Reform School Girl and Torchy 5 seem to be always at the top of everyone's list, but others go in and out of favor.  Right now Cindy is getting a lot of action.   And by the way, the entire Cindy run , #27-40, is GGA gold (before #27 the title was Krazy Komics).

So I finally got my Cindy 37.  Not the highest grade at 3.0, and I don't like the way the crease goes through Cindy's legs (that flaw almost turned me away from the book), but overall presents well (to my eye), it's blue with no writing on the cover, and also nice page quality.  Also I picked up the book from an eBay seller I've done business with before, so it was a win-win for both of us.   Thanks for reading.

Edited May 1, 2017 by n2wdw

[sagii]

1 hour ago, n2wdw said:

Major Grail Acquisition - Cindy 37

To have a golden age good girl art collection, there are a few comics that have to be on your want list.  Archie 50.  Fighting Yank 21.  Planet 33 and 35.  Reform School Girl.  Spirit 22.  Torchy 5 (@jimjum12).  Giant Comics Edition 12. The list of classic GGA covers is up for debate (and in fact there are a few threads directed to this topic in the Gold section), but I think these comics would bon most lists (if not all) of the classic GGA covers.

Another one is Cindy 37.  And for some reason, Cindy is really hot right now (sorry for the pun).  Reform School Girl and Torchy 5 seem to be always at the top of the list, but others go in and out of favor.  Right now Cindy is getting a lot of action.   And by the way, the entire Cindy run , #27-40, is GGA gold (before #27 the title was Krazy Komics).

So I finally got my Cindy 37.  Not the highest grade at 3.0, and I don't like the way the crease goes through Cindy's legs (that flaw almost turned me away from the book), but overall presents well (to my eye), it's blue with no writing on the cover, and also nice page quality.  Also I picked up the book from an eBay seller I've done business with before, so it was a win-win for both of us.   Thanks for reading.

Congrats! One of the 'star' books on the day. Always like to hear when someone acquires a grail. 

[Ricksneatstuff]

Congrats on the Cindy 37 and even more so the 25 years of marriage! 

Great pics!

[n2wdw]

Cindy 37 - Before and After Slabbing

As mentioned in my post yesterday, I recently picked up a major grail, Cindy 37.  The seller provided pictures of the comic prior to slabbing.  I'm struck by 3 things.  First, looking at it raw, I never would have pegged this comic at 3.0.  Second, CGC did an amazing job inserting the comic into the slab.  And finally, related to #2, this shows what you can do to a comic to make it look better while staying short of restoration.

Here are the before pictures:

Here's the slabbed comic:

In the slab, the comic does indeed look like a 3.0 comic to me, but not in its raw form.  The seller told me he was confident the comic would get that grade when he submitted it, so clearly he's a lot better at visualizing the final product than me (which makes sense given that he's a dealer and no doubt has more experience than me with such things). 

I'm amazed looking at the before and after pictures.  In addition to aligning the comic, the slab hides the tears along the staples, spine and the bottom edge.  I asked the seller if he pressed it (perhaps to help with the alignment).  But he said he didn't.  He said pressing probably wouldn't help the comic and might even damage it more given the tears.

So, this is an example where slapping helped the comic.  I'll remember this in the future when I consider slabbing my golden age books.  And no way will I ever be tempted to take this comic out of the slab.

[n2wdw]

Comic-Link and Cerebus

As I watched the Caps win, then lose, then win their playoff game with the Penguins last night, I was also monitoring my bids on C-Link.  This month included a number of early high grade Cerebus.  I have the entire series in raw, and I'm trying to put together a somewhat high grade collection of 2-20.  My #1 is CGC 8.5 and I have no plans to upgrade.  For 2-20 I'd like to target at least 9.4. 

I had hopes of picking up some 9.8s in the auction.  I especially wanted to win #6, as that's the first appearance of Jaka and the first CGC 9.8 I've ever seen. 

But bidding was stronger than I expected.  #6, the Jaka issue, closed at $351 -- my max bid was $250 so I wasn't even close.  In fact I didn't win any 9.8s, with the closing bids twice my max bids for most of them.

I did manage to pick up two 9.6s (#14 and 18).  I bowed out of the bidding for #9 CGC 9.8 (it closed at -- egad! -- $245) and switched my attention to the CGC 9.4, which I won for $16 (!).   In fact, I won the #18 CGC 9.6 for only $21.  So other than the 9.8s the bidding was soft.  Still, I'm happy to pick up other people's undercopies.

[n2wdw]

Here are the books I won:

 

[Ricksneatstuff]

Great buys! Cerebus is fantastic. Cerebus, Bone, Concrete and The Crow were my favorite books. 

[n2wdw]

"Arched Back" GGA - Jungle Comics 75

In his thread, @Robot Man recently posted books in his collection that fit the "girl chained to a wheel" theme.  I got a kick out of that because I have that same folder on my computer.  I drop scans of all my comics in the "My Comics" folder.  But, I also have folders covering different themes I collect, and "Bondage Tied to Wheel" is one of them. 

I find that having these folders help me focus my collecting.  If I'm thinking about buying a comic, I ask myself "which theme will this comic fit into?"  It's a strike against the book if it doesn't fit into any of the themes.  It doesn't mean I won't buy it, but it's less likely.

Some of the themes I collect are pretty standard for GGA collectors, like "headlights" and "humor."  Books often fit into more than one theme, like both "girl chained to a wheel" and "damsel in distress."

Two of my other themes are "hands tied above head" and "arched back."  You might be thinking "Is this guy serious? Does he really collect around these themes?"  But you don't have to collect comics for too long before you see these poses cropping up on covers again and again.  And many of them are considered classic GGA covers.

Recently I picked up Jungle Comics 75 that fits the "arched back" theme.  Another one is Planet Comics 30.  (Planet 30 also goes into my "classic GGA" folder).

As I mentioned before, I really enjoy looking at the house ads of Fiction House books.  Below is the house ad for Jungle 75.  It shows 2 of my favorite Fictions, Fight 43 and Rangers 28.  Both go in the "damsels in distress" theme, which catches a big part of my GA GGA collection, along with "GGA humor."

 

Edited May 5, 2017 by n2wdw

[n2wdw]

May the Fourth Be With You

So the May 4 joke is getting old.  It used to be my kids raced each other to be the first to text "May the 4th be with you" in our family chat, but now they think it's uncool.  But still the day is an occasion to display some Star Wars stuff. 

Here are a few from my collection, and because of recent events I'll focus on Princess Leia.  I never thought Carrie Fisher would die so young.  What a tragedy.  Hopefully everyone else will be with us for a long time.

[n2wdw]

The Bittersweet Story Of A Grail - Matt Baker's Giant Comics Edition 12

This happened at the ACC Tournament.  Not the basketball tourney, or even football, but the ACC swimming tournament.  My daughter swims for Georgia Tech and she made finals in the tourney (as a freshman no less!).  As my wife and I waited for her event, this auction closed on eBay.

It was for Giant Comics Edition 12.  For me, THE Matt Baker grail.  I entered my max bid before getting to the venue, but because things got behind I was able to watch the seconds tick down on my phone.  I was very aggressive with my max bid, because I'd lost on too many GCE 12s before.  And, at the end, I ended up winning it.

So why is this a bittersweet story?  Because within a few weeks, another GCE 12 (this one CGC 3.0) appeared on eBay.  Really?!  It made me wonder if my aggressive bidding prompted the seller to put his (her?) copy up on eBay.  (I might be paranoid, but that doesn't mean everyone's not out to get me!)  The 3.0 sold for 16% higher than mine (about $370 more).  So, who got the better deal, me or the other guy?

Well, it all depends on the grade of my comic, right?  So I sent my GCE 12 to CGC.  I really liked the bright colors on the cover of my comic, and it had great page quality.

Problem was, my comic had a big chunk out of the back cover.  And Gloria had written her name on the cover.  Could I possible get 3.0, or even just 2.5, with these flaws?

Well ... no.  As I suspected (and feared), I ended up getting only 1.8.  At least it came out blue. 

So I feel some buyer's remorse over this comic.  In time I know that will go away.  The only comic buys I've regretted long term are the ones I didn't make.  And, even though the grade is only 1.8, I'm happy with this particular comic.  The colors are bright and the main focus of the cover -- the girl -- is not marred by the other flaws of the cover.  Also, the inside pages are all in good shape.  That means I have no urge to upgrade, so I can permanently check this one off my want list.

 

Edited May 6, 2017 by n2wdw

[Ricksneatstuff]

I like copies like that Mike. I prefer the front cover to your copy. Give me a great presenting front cover with a back cover flaw any day.  

[jimjum12]

Here's a cool GGA Timely, Mike...... it was way, way, way more than I wanted to spend, but it's been an annoying hole in my collection for too long. GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[n2wdw]

7 hours ago, jimjum12 said:

Here's a cool GGA Timely, Mike...... it was way, way, way more than I wanted to spend, but it's been an annoying hole in my collection for too long. GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

 

Congrats, what a great book!  Sun Girl is on my want list but I have yet to pick any up.  I remember a Chicago Comicon a few years ago when I could have picked up nice copies but I thought they were too expensive.  Now they'd be cheap at that price.

 

[jimjum12]

1 hour ago, n2wdw said:

Congrats, what a great book!  Sun Girl is on my want list but I have yet to pick any up.  I remember a Chicago Comicon a few years ago when I could have picked up nice copies but I thought they were too expensive.  Now they'd be cheap at that price.

 

I remember passing on a NM copy in the 70's for $ 30........ I remember thinking, " 30 DOLLARS ???!!!!????? .... has this guy lost his mind ?"..... GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[n2wdw]

Another Sunday, Another Annandale Fire Station Con, and my Mid-Life Crisis

I went to another local con today.  This is the most cons I've gone to in many years.  I think it's a function of my kids growing up.  Both my wife and I have more time for ourselves.

As I mentioned before, I don't go to this con with any specific goals.  I find the internet much better for selection, condition and price as far as comics go.  If I was collecting runs I'd be all over the $1 and $5 boxes.  That's how I used to be.  But I've pretty much finished all the titles I want to collect, and I find myself less and less interested with starting any new titles. 

Part of it is space -- my new comic room in our someday-to-be retirement beach cottage is small.  Nowadays, making the decision to expand my collection by even one more long box is a big decision.  But also, I don't have the energy or patience to chase after new runs anymore.  I'm having fun finishing off collections I've been working on for years (like my Legion of Super-Heroes and Wonder Woman collections), but I don't want to start anything new.  I'm no longer a title collector.  I collect covers.  For some men, their mid-life crisis is a Camaro.  For me, its good girl art.

At this con, I picked up this poster of the Betty Pages Annual, signed and numbered by the artist Greg Theakston.  I also got this Frazetta print.  I got the pair for $40.

From the same dealer I got this Ann-Margret movie poster (for $25).  I'm not a big movie memorabilia collector, but at cons I just go with the flow and pick up what grabs my interest. 

At the last con, I bought a ton of statues at 50% off from Patriot Comics, and they were displaying toys again at this con.  Here's their setup:

I bought a few statues (not nearly as much as last time), although my major pick-up was a Space 1999 LP signed by Martin Landau.  Also, I got this vintage Easy Bake Oven.  I'm really excited about the Easy Bake Oven.  I got it for about $35 (with my repeat customer discount) and it's in great shape (it works!).  You can buy Easy Bake cake and cookie mixes on Amazon. 

My wife and kids are excited to play with it.  It'll be a fun family thing to do in the summer.  Maybe after grilling burgers we'll get together around the table and make Easy Bake cakes for dessert.   It might not sound exciting to you, but when your kids get older, you look for anything to get them to spend time with you.

Edited May 8, 2017 by n2wdw

[cupny]

On ‎5‎/‎1‎/‎2017 at 1:50 PM, n2wdw said:

Cindy 37 - Before and After Slabbing

As mentioned in my post yesterday, I recently picked up a major grail, Cindy 37.  The seller provided pictures of the comic prior to slabbing.  I'm struck by 3 things.  First, looking at it raw, I never would have pegged this comic at 3.0.  Second, CGC did an amazing job inserting the comic into the slab.  And finally, related to #2, this shows what you can do to a comic to make it look better while staying short of restoration.

Here are the before pictures:

Here's the slabbed comic:

In the slab, the comic does indeed look like a 3.0 comic to me, but not in its raw form.  The seller told me he was confident the comic would get that grade when he submitted it, so clearly he's a lot better at visualizing the final product than me (which makes sense given that he's a dealer and no doubt has more experience than me with such things). 

I'm amazed looking at the before and after pictures.  In addition to aligning the comic, the slab hides the tears along the staples, spine and the bottom edge.  I asked the seller if he pressed it (perhaps to help with the alignment).  But he said he didn't.  He said pressing probably wouldn't help the comic and might even damage it more given the tears.

So, this is an example where slapping helped the comic.  I'll remember this in the future when I consider slabbing my golden age books.  And no way will I ever be tempted to take this comic out of the slab.

For me, its hard to believe that this is the same book.  It looks 1000% better in the holder than out.  Just incredible.  Thanks for sharing in detail.

[ThothAmon]

On 5/1/2017 at 1:50 PM, n2wdw said:

Cindy 37 - Before and After Slabbing

As mentioned in my post yesterday, I recently picked up a major grail, Cindy 37.  The seller provided pictures of the comic prior to slabbing.  I'm struck by 3 things.  First, looking at it raw, I never would have pegged this comic at 3.0.  Second, CGC did an amazing job inserting the comic into the slab.  And finally, related to #2, this shows what you can do to a comic to make it look better while staying short of restoration.

Here are the before pictures:

Here's the slabbed comic:

In the slab, the comic does indeed look like a 3.0 comic to me, but not in its raw form.  The seller told me he was confident the comic would get that grade when he submitted it, so clearly he's a lot better at visualizing the final product than me (which makes sense given that he's a dealer and no doubt has more experience than me with such things). 

I'm amazed looking at the before and after pictures.  In addition to aligning the comic, the slab hides the tears along the staples, spine and the bottom edge.  I asked the seller if he pressed it (perhaps to help with the alignment).  But he said he didn't.  He said pressing probably wouldn't help the comic and might even damage it more given the tears.

So, this is an example where slapping helped the comic.  I'll remember this in the future when I consider slabbing my golden age books.  And no way will I ever be tempted to take this comic out of the slab.

Wow.  Was the cover attached?  This will make me look at my books in a whole new light.  Makes me very happy with my lowly 2.0.  Thanks to a fellow boardie.

[Ricksneatstuff]

That 2.5 copy is freaking beautiful- it really is a 6.5 with a printers crease and 3-hole punch @ThothAmon

[n2wdw]

On 5/8/2017 at 4:30 PM, ThothAmon said:

Wow.  Was the cover attached?  This will make me look at my books in a whole new light.  Makes me very happy with my lowly 2.0.  Thanks to a fellow boardie.

That's a nice looking 2.5.  I love binder holes.  They bring the cost way down but don't detract from the cover art. 

I bought my Cindy already slabbed, but I think the cover was attached -- that's what the seller told me, and I assume the grade would have been lower if not.

Edited May 11, 2017 by n2wdw

[n2wdw]

Comic Shopping After the Local Con

As I mentioned, I barely bought any comics at the local con I went to this past Sunday.  I picked up a couple Wonder Woman's (1st series) for $5 each, as I'm working on completing the run from #178 (1st new look WW) to #329 (the end of the series).  With these 2 comics, I just need 12 more.  I also picked up a few comics from the 75 cent and dollar boxes, but just to read; I won't be adding them to my collection.

So when I got home I had an itch for comics.  I didn't spend my total budget at the con, so after getting home I went on a small online shopping spree.  First I won this auction on eBay for Amazing Spider-Man Annual 1.  This completes my ASM Annual run.

I also picked up 2 of my favorite Betty & Veronica covers.  The B&V Annual #7 has writing on the cover but fortunately doesn't interfere with the art.  I'm probably in the market for an upgrade though.