n2wdw's Tales of the Comic Book Room 15 15

[Ricksneatstuff]

1 minute ago, Sqeggs said:

I think this is the key point.  I believe it applies across the board with Bakers:  His covers with strong GGA appeal -- Seven Seas 4 would be another example -- attract more interest than do his pure romance covers.

I much prefer CL 25 and would bid higher for it if, say, a 7.0 came to auction than I would on a GCE 12 7.0, but I think the GCE would get the higher hammer price.

I agree completely if Two 7.0s came to auction the GCE would beat it because there are fewer high grade copies. I just think the CL would win based on an even census pole position.  

[Robot Man]

2 hours ago, Ricksneatstuff said:

I agree completely if Two 7.0s came to auction the GCE would beat it because there are fewer high grade copies. I just think the CL would win based on an even census pole position.  

I think it did didn't it? There was a poll a while back and I think the CL was #1 and the GCE was #2. So, if a nice GCE comes up for sale, I'm sure you guys will all step aside for me to win it?  

[Ricksneatstuff]

Just now, Robot Man said:

I think it did didn't it? There was a poll a while back and I think the CL was #1 and the GCE was #2. So, if a nice GCE comes up for sale, I'm sure you guys will all step aside for me to win it?  

GCE was down lower.  Two of the Seven Seas were in front of it. 

[comicnoir]

1 hour ago, Ricksneatstuff said:

GCE was down lower.  Two of the Seven Seas were in front of it. 

But that's the boards. There is a whole world of collectors out there who want a GCE 12, who don't collect romance. I was at a small show last week and someone with a passing acquaintance stopped me and asked whether I had a GCE 12 and whether I'd sell. I paused and said no, and he charged off disgruntled.

[Sqeggs]

23 hours ago, comicnoir said:

But that's the boards. There is a whole world of collectors out there who want a GCE 12, who don't collect romance. I was at a small show last week and someone with a passing acquaintance stopped me and asked whether I had a GCE 12 and whether I'd sell. I paused and said no, and he charged off disgruntled.

Trying to remember the last time either book came up for auction.  I think it's been a year or two, maybe longer.

[Dr. Love]

On 3/2/2018 at 6:14 PM, comicnoir said:

But that's the boards. There is a whole world of collectors out there who want a GCE 12, who don't collect romance. I was at a small show last week and someone with a passing acquaintance stopped me and asked whether I had a GCE 12 and whether I'd sell. I paused and said no, and he charged off disgruntled.

if you would have said yes and no, he would have charged at you, instead!

[comicnoir]

16 minutes ago, Dr. Love said:

if you would have said yes and no, he would have charged at you, instead!

Actually I did say yes and no to be clear. Shouldn't do that.

[comicnoir]

2 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

Trying to remember the last time either book came up for auction.  I think it's been a year or two, maybe longer.

ComicConnect has a GCE12 up right now.

[Sqeggs]

14 hours ago, comicnoir said:

17 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

Trying to remember the last time either book came up for auction.  I think it's been a year or two, maybe longer.

ComicConnect has a GCE12 up right now.

When I bombed through their listings, I actually bid on it! 

Purple CGC 2.5, currently at $681 with 18 days to go.  Be interesting to see where it ends.

[szav]

2 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

When I bombed through their listings, I actually bid on it! 

Purple CGC 2.5, currently at $681 with 18 days to go.  Be interesting to see where it ends.

Maybe you can get that small amount of ct removed and come out ahead on it after you accidentally win it...

[Sqeggs]

1 hour ago, szavisca said:

Maybe you can get that small amount of ct removed and come out ahead on it after you accidentally win it...

My tracking bid has been overtaken, so I won't be the winner.  I have a feeling that if it was possible to remove the ct, it would already have been done. But you never know. 

[BakerFanOne]

When looking at Baker prices, you have to look at the overall golden age market for pre-code horror, romance, good girl and wild superhero cover books.  In this context, Baker price movements seems relatively mild and consistent with all other trends.  

The real question is why were these books so grossly undervalued for so many years?   A good 50% or so of his St. John romance covers can be deemed a classic cover whereas a normal run of comics of that era might have 1 out of 30 be a so called above average cover and maybe 1 in 100 be deemed a must have classic.

But this is an exciting time as prices are fluctuating like crazy and not everyone is in the know so the thrill of the hunt continues as Bakers can still be had for < $50.  So I think the real question is not whether Baker prices go down, but what are the remaining few undervalued treasures?

[sacentaur]

10 hours ago, BakerFanOne said:

The real question is why were these books so grossly undervalued for so many years?   

While there are a variety of reasons for this, one reason is that it seems quite a few dealers were out-of-the-loop on Baker romance books (and the entire genre, for the most part) for a long time. Only just recently have they caught-up after seeing and experiencing growth.

I wonder if Overstreet will ever approach reality on these books (I have my doubts)?

[aardvark88]

On ‎2018‎-‎03‎-‎05 at 7:16 AM, BakerFanOne said:

The real question is why were these books so grossly undervalued for so many years? 

the thrill of the hunt continues as Bakers can still be had for < $50.  So I think the real question is not whether Baker prices go down, but what are the remaining few undervalued treasures?

Out of sight, out of mind regarding the scarce Baker romance comics. Almost no availability in Western Canada. I only stumbled across my Teen Age Romances #19 and #21 by accident when it was part of estate auction being sold next to a Produce Stand in Vancouver, BC.

it will take Overstreet years to make adjustments on Baker comics valuations like the relatively common Classics Illustrated with Lorna Doone. Multiple printings but seems under priced if you can find a decent mid-grade copy with HRN at or before 1964 for about  $20-30.

[n2wdw]

Emerald City Comic Con Report

Here's my ECCC report.  It'll be short, because I didn't go.  I bought tickets, but then because of work I was not able to go.  So what to do with the tickets? 

Rather than try to sell them, I decided to give them away to a boardie here.  I was hoping to pay back someone who did a favor for me in the past, either because they've given me discounts on sales or otherwise done me a solid.  I was happy to give the tickets to @modelmaker.  A few years ago he went to ECCC and got me this Gwen Stacy sketch cover from Joe Benitez.

So I mailed the tickets to modelmaker.  And once again, he did major favors for me.   Through him, I bought this sketch cover from Terry Moore.  And MM did the legwork to submit it to CGC.

On top of that, he was able to convince Terry to do a commission for me.  I think this is the only commission Terry did at ECCC.  Here it is, on Terry's Instagam.  The commission is the Gwen on the right.  The sketch cover is on the left.  So I want to publicly thank modelmaker for the big favors.  It really shows how great this community is!

[BakerFanOne]

On 3/5/2018 at 5:28 PM, sacentaur said:

While there are a variety of reasons for this, one reason is that it seems quite a few dealers were out-of-the-loop on Baker romance books (and the entire genre, for the most part) for a long time. Only just recently have they caught-up after seeing and experiencing growth.

I wonder if Overstreet will ever approach reality on these books (I have my doubts)?

Without a doubt that was true.  I started going after Baker romance in the early 90s and no one seemed very interested.  Most dealers would sell me solid VG copies for $20 a piece and they seemed glad to sell them.  

However when the Gerber guides came out, it was interesting that so few got turned onto Baker.  With the exception of Phantom Lady, almost all Baker remained pretty cold until a few years ago.  I do think the lack of general interest in Romance comics is part of it.  I also believe  that the more subtle and suggestive nature of Romance comics vs. the over the top gore of Precode horror was another factor in Baker being somewhat neglected.

Finally, I do think the collecting interests of many boardies has become more sophisticated as they appreciate the incredible talent  of Baker without necessarily having crazy bondage and voluptuous buxom babes on the covers.  Not that any of us mind that but we have grown to appreciate Baker’s incredibly clean and elegant lines.

Edited March 7, 2018 by BakerFanOne

[BakerFanOne]

15 hours ago, aardvark88 said:

Out of sight, out of mind regarding the scarce Baker romance comics. Almost no availability in Western Canada. I only stumbled across my Teen Age Romances #19 and #21 by accident when it was part of estate auction being sold next to a Produce Stand in Vancouver, BC.

it will take Overstreet years to make adjustments on Baker comics valuations like the relatively common Classics Illustrated with Lorna Doone. Multiple printings but seems under priced if you can find a decent mid-grade copy with HRN at or before 1964 for about  $20-30.

No doubt out of sight out of mind was a huge factor.  I noticed there were a lot of fanzines from the 70s and 80s on Frazetta and Wood as well as many EC reprints.  And a lot of the good girl reprints in the 90s focused on Phantom Lady and Jungle reprints.  

What will be interesting is the price multiples for a solid VG vs. a Fair-good.  We all see a ton of low grade copies on eBay for $400 buy it now prices.  I think collectors understand that not all Baker romance is created equal in terms of scarcity, desirability, and market value and are hesitant to pull the trigger on more common low grade copies > $250.  These  escalating prices have undoubtedly helped encourage more and more collectors to sell their Baker romance.   But I have not seen a lot of solid VG+ copies go up for sale and when they do, prices > $600 for the better covers seems to be the the minimum starting point.  I do feel that  Overstreet will eventually reflect these considerable price changes but honestly I never even look at Overstreet anymore to determine value.  An even more likely scenario will be that Overstreet will break out some of the the classic covers like Cinderella Love 25 and keep the surrounding issues at more conservative price ranges.

Edited March 7, 2018 by BakerFanOne

[n2wdw]

@BakerFanOne - To your point, you probably saw this one last night on eBay, closing at $1313.  My max bid was $550.  I didn't expect to win it.  The first thing I did when I woke up this morning was look at the closing price.  I was shocked.  I suppose that's FMV now for a nice looking Baker, but personally I will not pay that much for a romance comic that really has no historical significant, except for a few classic comics.  I know others disagree and that's fine; that's what makes collecting fun, that we all have our own priorities.  But $1313?  Whew, that's a lot of money.

 

[BakerFanOne]

14 minutes ago, n2wdw said:

@BakerFanOne - To your point, you probably saw this one last night on eBay, closing at $1313.  My max bid was $550.  I didn't expect to win it.  The first thing I did when I woke up this morning was look at the closing price.  I was shocked.  I suppose that's FMV now for a nice looking Baker, but personally I will not pay that much for a romance comic that really has no historical significant, except for a few classic comics.  I know others disagree and that's fine; that's what makes collecting fun, that we all have our own priorities.  But $1313?  Whew, that's a lot of money.

 

I have to admit that I am continually impressed with the prices being realized on Bakers.  But I then look at the prices on silver and golden age and then the prices don’t seem so outlandish.   

The great news is that we live in a democracy and we can all vote with our wallets as we are the ultimate arbiters of value.  Sure there are outliers and many will feel regret about missed opportunities and overzealous bidding.  But when I look at other hobbies like baseball cards, stamps and coins, comic collecting is without a doubt the best hobby around!

[Ricksneatstuff]

2 hours ago, n2wdw said:

@BakerFanOne - To your point, you probably saw this one last night on eBay, closing at $1313.  My max bid was $550.  I didn't expect to win it.  The first thing I did when I woke up this morning was look at the closing price.  I was shocked.  I suppose that's FMV now for a nice looking Baker, but personally I will not pay that much for a romance comic that really has no historical significant, except for a few classic comics.  I know others disagree and that's fine; that's what makes collecting fun, that we all have our own priorities.  But $1313?  Whew, that's a lot of money.

 

I wasn’t surprised to see it pass $1100. I’ve seen most of these in 6.0 or better go $1000 or more.  I think fine or better Baker girl centric covers are $1000 and up pretty regularly now.