Show Us Your Ducks! 15 15

[AJD]

I'm a bit suspicious of those 'Dell file copies'. I have other Dells that are file copies, and are clearly marked as such by a large rubber stamp:

But others are designated as file copies but have no distinguishing marks at all as far as I can see. Here's one I own, cracked out. It's a nice copy, for sure, but I'm not convinced it ever lived in Mr Delacorte's filing system.

Edited April 17 by AJD
Fixed spelling of Delacorte

[Hepcat]

Dells from the early 1940's to mid-1962 nevertheless seem to be far more common than other comics from the same years.

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

I don't know if the file copy story was ever written down but there were rumors of them going back to shows in New York in the late seventies. I think there are many sources for these (Racine, Poughkeepsie, New York, Random House); so other than the stamped Racine copies I don't know how it is determined they are file copies. Here is the old Racine office by the way back in the early 2000's.

Edited April 15 by 50YrsCollctngCmcs

[Hepcat]

On 4/15/2024 at 2:07 PM, 50YrsCollctngCmcs said:

I don't know if the file copy story was ever written down but there were rumors of them going back to shows in New York in the late seventies.

Who are "them"? The file copies or certain individuals connected to Dell?

On 4/15/2024 at 2:07 PM, 50YrsCollctngCmcs said:

I think there are many sources for these (Racine, Poughkeepsie, New York, Random House)....

I have some of the Random House "File" copies. But how were any of these outfits associated with Dell or Western Printing?

Edited April 15 by Hepcat

[AJD]

On 4/16/2024 at 2:14 AM, Hepcat said:

Dells from the early 1940's to mid-1962 nevertheless seem to be far more common than other comics from the same years.

They sold more in the first place. No mystery there.

[Transplant]

On 4/6/2024 at 10:27 PM, tth2 said:

On 4/6/2024 at 6:25 PM, Bigphatpaulie said:

Some Recent Duck Sales from Heritage:

Four Color #386:  https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/cartoon-character/four-color-386-uncle-scrooge-dell-1952-cgc-nm-92-white-pages/a/7369-93082.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Archive-ThisAuction-120115

This was shockingly low.  I don't know if it was the writing on the cover that put people off or what, but the consignor must've been pretty disappointed.

I agree, very low.  If I was looking for a high grade copy, that writing is fairly distracting and I would guess was a contributing factor.  It sold at basically 25-50% off other 9.2s in the last 2 years.  Compared to other recent 9.4s, it's a whopping 65-75% discount.  9.2s are not overly abundant in the census (top graded is 9.6) so I view it as a bad auction and not a market indicator.  

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

On 4/15/2024 at 12:39 PM, Hepcat said:

Who are "them"? The file copies or certain individuals connected to Dell?

I have some of the Random House "File" copies. But how were any of these outfits associated with Dell or Western Printing?

I think a Google search might reveal some information on Random House. Also, if you want to read about Western / Dell / Gold Key I'd recommend Mark Evanier's blog. I don't recall where I read it but the story of George Delacorte (Dell) and Helen Meyer his right hand woman is quite interesting. As I was verifying Mr. Delacorte's name I just noticed Helen Meyer passed away in 2003 at the age of 95. There is a nice obituary in the NY Times but you need a subscription.

Edited April 17 by 50YrsCollctngCmcs

[Hepcat]

On 4/16/2024 at 11:03 PM, 50YrsCollctngCmcs said:

I think a Google search might reveal some information on Random House.

The first thing that comes to mind is dictionaries. I have one. I see that Random House though eventually acquired Dell's remaining assets:

In 2001, Random House purchased Golden Books' book publishing properties effectively reuniting the remnants of Dell and Western Publishing.

Edited April 17 by Hepcat

[Bigphatpaulie]

I have a question.  Four Color #16 is considered the "First Mickey Mouse in Comics"

What about Donald Duck?  I never found a definitive answer:

There's Four Color #4 which is his first appearance in an American Standard Comic Book, but that's a cover and the book are reprinted comic strips, and I think Four Color #9 was the first original story devoted to him. Then there are the appearances before that. The Oversized Comic of him, that Yellow Linen Cover Book, Mickey Mouse Weekly which was his first original story, and finally there's Mickey Mouse Adventures #1 from 1931.  It has a duck named 'Donald' but he looks quite different, like a prototype. 

I personally lean towards FC #4 as the general first app but wanted to throw the line here and see what you all think

Edited Wednesday at 02:33 AM by Bigphatpaulie

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

I had reason to be on the Walt Disney Studios lot yesterday and went over to see if I could snap a picture of the Carl Barks Legends plaque. I found it fairly quickly and snapped my photo. I wanted to look for Walt Kelly but I am not sure if he was ever given a plaque or not. I know I have seen Kay Kamen (KK Publications) before but did not see it on this trip. Enjoy!

[sfcityduck]

On 4/15/2024 at 12:39 PM, Hepcat said:

Who are "them"? The file copies or certain individuals connected to Dell?

 

I remember a lot of discussion of the Poughkeepsie file copies back in the late 70s early 80s. Especially in the Barks Collector and the dealer who published that fanzine's own sales lists. The story was that they were owned by a former employee. I think it was presumed he just took the issues home as they published them or stole them out of the offices. Supposedly they were sold to various dealers. Another story is he died in 1980, and his wife and daughter sold the last 1,600 he had to Fishler who brought them to market in 2003 as Poughkeepsie copies. Presumably, Fishler knew who the original source was to have pulled that deal off.

The Random House archive was sold by Heritage in 2005. They were warehoused for many years. Whether you want to call those "file copies" or "warehouse copies" - they were uncirculated copies that never left the publisher. This contrasts with copies held by someone like Crowley which were gathered for his personal records or enjoyment and not retained by the publisher at all. To me, a "file copy" should have been saved by the publisher - whether warehoused or "filed" (whatever that means) - things like the Gaines copies and the Random House archives and a number of books called Harvey file copies were were clearly kept by the publisher I think.  The copies that were used in the production process, like the Racine and some of the Poughkeepsie, were also clearly kept by the publisher given the "file" stamps. The copies kept by employees may be a different thing. But we call them all file copies - and I'm ok with that as long as we attach the name of the employee to them. 

Edited 9 hours ago by sfcityduck

[sfcityduck]

On 4/15/2024 at 12:39 PM, Hepcat said:

 

I have some of the Random House "File" copies. But how were any of these outfits associated with Dell or Western Printing?

I think you now know this, but for everyone else per Wikipedia:

Dell was acquired by Doubleday in 1976.^[29] Doubleday was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1986, who formed Bantam Doubleday Dell as its US subsidiary.^[30] Bertelsmann acquired Random House in 1998 and renamed its US business after the acquisition.^[31] After the merger, Bantam was merged with Dell Publishing.^[32] In 2001, Random House purchased Golden Books' book publishing properties^[33] effectively reuniting the remnants of Dell and Western Publishing. Bantam Dell became part of the Random House publishing group in 2008.^[34] Ballantine Books was merged with Bantam Dell in 2010.^[35] In 2013, Random House merged with Penguin to form Penguin Random House.^[36]