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Most graded pre-code Golden Age books in CGC census
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35 posts in this topic

Excellent - I was wondering about this when I saw your excellent work on the census toppers. I'm not sure I can provide any sparkling insights, but I will say that I was mildly surprised to see Batman #1 in third place - it seems like an awfully 'big' book to be so common. And I have 10% of the top 50 in my collection - and I strongly suspect it's the bottom 10% by value!

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2 minutes ago, Johnny545 said:

Thing 16 - unreal I know there were a ton given the warehouse find, but my goodness...85 of those 166 (more than half) are 9.0 or better - 10 in 9.8 

Something similar happened with Marvel Tales 109 (smaller scale), some guy was selling the contents of a general store.

Some comics were stored in a trash bag, in a garbage can for the better part of 50 years - he had a bunch of the same issues I believe from the newsstand around the time the general store closed its doors. 

Some had bad paper and staining/water damage, but the ones in the middle were super glossy, smelled new - paper was just ok. 

He had just a few horror issues and then some random comics that there is no real demand for even in nice condition.

About 2 years ago issues of Marvel Tales 109 in HG showed up one after another on ebay, it looked like the same issue over and over, but they were all different - just same seller selling on separate accounts.

 

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3 hours ago, Microbia said:

Nice to see this.  Do the first issue & mega grails like Batman #1 include all of the incomplete copies? If so then that might be skewing the results. 

Interesting point.  How does the census handle the slabbing of individual pages? Separate listing or in with the complete (or nearly complete) copies?  Not clear from a brief look at the census. hm

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1 hour ago, Sqeggs said:

Interesting point.  How does the census handle the slabbing of individual pages? Separate listing or in with the complete (or nearly complete) copies?  Not clear from a brief look at the census. hm

Individual pages are not included in the census because they do not have a number grade. Incomplete copies would be counted if those copies have a number grade and possibly included in the qualifed count. One would need to check the notes for those copies.

For example here is the census for Batman 1.

 

batman1 census.JPG

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22 hours ago, jpepx78 said:

Individual pages are not included in the census because they do not have a number grade. Incomplete copies would be counted if those copies have a number grade and possibly included in the qualifed count. One would need to check the notes for those copies.

For example here is the census for Batman 1.

 

batman1 census.JPG

Good point.  The individual pages are all NGs.  Makes me wonder if they bother keeping track of individual pages.  I would guess not. 

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6 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

Good point.  The individual pages are all NGs.  Makes me wonder if they bother keeping track of individual pages.  I would guess not. 

CGC has to keep track of the NGs because they have unique serial numbers on the CGC label that are in the CGC lookup tool database.  They just don't have NGs in the CGC Census (yet).

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On 6/18/2018 at 11:48 PM, jpepx78 said:

Feel free to update the list since I may have missed some books. I hope you find this list interesting and maybe some of you might use this list to wager a few bar bets and win. Any other thoughts or conclusions?

Here's the list I get when I run the pre-1955 numbers:

  BookName Publisher Date Restored Total
1. Mad 1 E.C. Comics 10-11/52 25 376
2. Four Color 386 Dell Publishing 3/52 13 310
3. Batman 1 D.C. Comics Spring 1940 135 251
4. Superman 76 D.C. Comics 5-6/52 25 237
5. Batman 23 D.C. Comics 6-7/44 28 233
6. Batman 6 D.C. Comics 8-9/41 39 230
7. Batman 4 D.C. Comics Winter 1940 58 220
8. Batman 3 D.C. Comics Fall 1940 61 218
9. Superman 53 D.C. Comics 7-8/48 26 218
10. Superman 4 D.C. Comics Spring 1940 58 214
11. Batman 5 D.C. Comics Spring 1941 40 210
12. Batman 11 D.C. Comics 6-7/42 38 205
13. Batman 47 D.C. Comics 6-7/48 30 205
14. Crime SuspenStories 22 E.C. Comics 4-5/54 20 204
15. Batman 25 D.C. Comics 10-11/44 28 195
16. Batman 20 D.C. Comics 12/43-1/44 21 188
17. Batman 40 D.C. Comics 4-5/47 13 188
18. Superboy 1 D.C. Comics 3-4/49 39 188
19. Superman 2 D.C. Comics Fall 1939 60 186
20. Batman 7 D.C. Comics 10-11/41 32 185
21. Batman 2 D.C. Comics Summer 1940 71 184
22. Superman 14 D.C. Comics 1-2/42 35 182
23. Batman 14 D.C. Comics 12/42-1/43 31 180
24. Batman 13 D.C. Comics 10-11/42 26 178
25. Batman 18 D.C. Comics 8-9/43 13 178
26. Batman 19 D.C. Comics 10-11/43 20 178
27. Superman 11 D.C. Comics 7-8/41 27 178
28. Mad 2 E.C. Comics 12/52-1/53 5 176
29. Batman 16 D.C. Comics 4-5/43 41 175
30. Batman 27 D.C. Comics 2-3/45 19 172
31. Mighty Midget Comics 11 Fawcett Publications 1942 2 170
32. Superman 3 D.C. Comics Winter 1940 47 167
33. Superman 6 D.C. Comics 9-10/40 39 167
34. Superman 9 D.C. Comics 3-4/41 33 166
35. Thing 16 Charlton Comics 9/54 7 166
36. All Star Comics 8 D.C. Comics 12/41-1/42 40 164
37. Superman 7 D.C. Comics 11-12/40 38 162
38. Superman 30 D.C. Comics 9-10/44 19 161
39. Batman 17 D.C. Comics 6-7/43 19 159
40. Superman 10 D.C. Comics 5-6/41 26 159
41. Batman 10 D.C. Comics 4-5/42 22 158
42. Batman 24 D.C. Comics 8-9/44 12 158
43. Batman 9 D.C. Comics 2-3/42 33 158
44. Superman 24 D.C. Comics 9-10/43 16 158
45. Captain America Comics 1 Timely Comics 3/41 73 157
46. Superman 5 D.C. Comics Summer 1940 49 156
47. Superman 8 D.C. Comics 1-2/41 23 156
48. Batman 26 D.C. Comics 12/44-1/45 15 155
49. Batman 37 D.C. Comics 10-11/46 17 153
50. Shock SuspenStories 6 E.C. Comics 12/52-1/53 8 153
51. Batman 49 D.C. Comics 10-11/48 9 152
52. Wonder Woman 1 D.C. Comics Summer 1942 48 152
53. Four Color 178 Dell Publishing 12/47 6 151
54. Batman 38 D.C. Comics 12/46-1/47 10 149
55. Four Color 147 Dell Publishing 5/47 14 149
56. Detective Comics 140 D.C. Comics 10/48 15 148
57. Batman 12 D.C. Comics 8-9/42 20 143
58. Batman 15 D.C. Comics 2-3/43 23 143
59. Batman 28 D.C. Comics 4-5/45 14 142
60. Superman 1 D.C. Comics Summer 1939 87 142
61. Batman 41 D.C. Comics 6-7/47 10 140
62. Batman 22 D.C. Comics 4-5/44 19 139
63. Batman 59 D.C. Comics 6-7/50 7 139
64. Mad 4 E.C. Comics 4-5/53 3 139
65. Superman 17 D.C. Comics 7-8/42 15 139
66. Batman 43 D.C. Comics 10-11/47 6 138
67. Batman 8 D.C. Comics 12/41-1/42 26 138
68. Batman 42 D.C. Comics 8-9/47 11 136
69. Batman 36 D.C. Comics 8-9/46 5 134
70. Superman 32 D.C. Comics 1-2/45 12 133
71. Batman 30 D.C. Comics 8-9/45 9 131
72. Mad 5 E.C. Comics 6-7/53 8 129
73. Superman 18 D.C. Comics 9-10/42 18 128
74. Four Color 159 Dell Publishing 8/47 6 127
75. Batman 66 D.C. Comics 8-9/51 9 126
76. Strange Adventures 1 D.C. Comics 8-9/50 16 125
77. Batman 33 D.C. Comics 2-3/46 3 123
78. Batman 29 D.C. Comics 6-7/45 7 122
79. Detective Comics 168 D.C. Comics 2/51 23 122
80. Ghost Rider 1 Magazine Enterprises 1950 9 122
81. Superman 23 D.C. Comics 7-8/43 7 122
82. Tales from the Crypt 33 E.C. Comics 12/52-1/53 4 122
83. Superman 12 D.C. Comics 9-10/41 18 121
84. All-Flash 1 D.C. Comics Summer 1941 34 120
85. Four Color 108 Dell Publishing 4/46 7 120
86. Four Color 596 Dell Publishing 12/54 1 120
87. Mad 3 E.C. Comics 1-2/53 1 120
88. Sub-Mariner Comics 1 Timely Comics Spring 1941 49 120
89. Superman 29 D.C. Comics 7-8/44 4 120
90. World's Best Comics 1 D.C. Comics Spring 1941 34 120
91. Batman 21 D.C. Comics 2-3/44 14 119
92. Batman 69 D.C. Comics 2-3/52 8 119
93. Detective Comics 38 D.C. Comics 4/40 55 118
94. New York World's Fair 1940 D.C. Comics 1940 20 118
95. Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen 1 D.C. Comics 9-10/54 13 118
96. Batman 31 D.C. Comics 10-11/45 11 117
97. Batman 34 D.C. Comics 4-5/46 5 117
98. Four Color 9 Dell Publishing 8/42 18 117
99. Four Color 456 Dell Publishing 3/53 2 116
100. Batman 32 D.C. Comics 12/45-1/46 9 115
101. Batman 39 D.C. Comics 2-3/47 5 115
102. Mighty Midget Comics 12 Fawcett Publications 1943 0 114
103. Superman 13 D.C. Comics 11-12/41 18 113
104. Famous Funnies 209 Eastern Color 12/53 7 112
105. Superman 28 D.C. Comics 5-6/44 6 112
106. Superman 26 D.C. Comics 1-2/44 13 111
107. Batman 73 D.C. Comics 10-11/52 5 110
108. Detective Comics 45 D.C. Comics 11/40 21 107
109. Mystery in Space 1 D.C. Comics 4-5/51 23 106
110. Superman 25 D.C. Comics 11-12/43 11 106
111. Superman 36 D.C. Comics 9-10/45 3 106
112. Walt Disney's Comics & Stories 1 Dell Publishing 10/40 20 106
113. Action Comics 23 D.C. Comics 4/40 29 105
114. Batman 48 D.C. Comics 8-9/48 12 104
115. Green Lantern 1 D.C. Comics Fall 1941 34 104
116. Superman 19 D.C. Comics 11-12/42 15 104
117. Superman 20 D.C. Comics 1-2/43 9 104
118. Superman 38 D.C. Comics 1-2/46 10 104
119. Human Torch 2 (#1) Timely Comics Fall 1940 38 102
120. Marvel Family 1 Fawcett Publications 12/45 8 102
121. World's Finest Comics 3 D.C. Comics Fall 1941 16 102
122. Batman 35 D.C. Comics 6-7/46 2 101
123. Batman 55 D.C. Comics 10-11/49 5 101
124. Batman 62 D.C. Comics 12/50-1/51 5 101
125. Shock SuspenStories 1 E.C. Comics 2-3/52 2 101
126. All Star Comics 3 D.C. Comics Winter 1940 43 100
127. All Star Comics 5 D.C. Comics 6-7/41 22 100
128. Crime SuspenStories 20 E.C. Comics 12/53-1/54 9 99
129. Superman 16 D.C. Comics 5-6/42 10 99
130. Captain Marvel Adventures 18 Fawcett Publications 12/42 6 98
131. Startling Comics 49 Better Publications 1/48 3 98
132. Batman 44 D.C. Comics 12/47-1/48 6 97
133. Batman 52 D.C. Comics 4-5/49 9 97
134. World's Finest Comics 71 D.C. Comics 7-8/54 7 96
135. Captain America Comics 3 Timely Comics 5/41 35 95
136. House of Mystery 1 D.C. Comics 12/51-1/52 12 95
137. Batman 46 D.C. Comics 4-5/48 12 93
138. Batman 68 D.C. Comics 12/51-1/52 4 92
139. Four Color 29 Dell Publishing 9/43 16 92
140. Young Allies 1 Timely Comics Summer 1941 21 92
141. Action Comics 30 D.C. Comics 11/40 7 91
142. All Winners Comics 1 Timely Comics Summer 1941 37 91
143. Captain America Comics 2 Timely Comics 4/41 27 91
144. Sensation Comics 1 D.C. Comics 1/42 33 91
145. All Star Comics 6 D.C. Comics 9/41 18 90
146. Detective Comics 66 D.C. Comics 8/42 17 90
147. Superman 33 D.C. Comics 3-4/45 8 90


EDIT:  This list was updated 6/22/2018.

Edited by valiantman
corrections
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4 hours ago, valiantman said:

Here's the list I get when I run the pre-1955 numbers:

  BookName Publisher Year Restored Total
1. Mad 1 E.C. Comics 1952 17 368
2. Four Color 386 Dell Publishing 1952 10 307
3. Superman 76 D.C. Comics 1952 19 231
4. Batman 1 D.C. Comics 1940 112 228
5. Batman 23 D.C. Comics 1944 16 221
6. Batman 6 D.C. Comics 1941 28 219
7. Superman 53 D.C. Comics 1948 22 214
8. Batman 4 D.C. Comics 1940 45 207
9. Batman 47 D.C. Comics 1948 28 203
10. Batman 3 D.C. Comics 1940 41 198
11. Batman 5 D.C. Comics 1941 28 198
12. Batman 11 D.C. Comics 1942 28 195
13. Crime SuspenStories 22 E.C. Comics 1954 10 194
14. Superman 4 D.C. Comics 1940 37 193
15. Superboy 1 D.C. Comics 1949 35 184
16. Batman 25 D.C. Comics 1944 16 183
17. Batman 40 D.C. Comics 1947 7 182
18. Batman 20 D.C. Comics 1944 10 177
19. Batman 18 D.C. Comics 1943 10 175
20. Batman 7 D.C. Comics 1941 22 175
21. Mad 2 E.C. Comics 1953 3 174
22. Superman 11 D.C. Comics 1941 23 174
23. Batman 13 D.C. Comics 1942 22 174
24. Batman 14 D.C. Comics 1943 24 173
25. Superman 14 D.C. Comics 1942 25 172
26. Batman 19 D.C. Comics 1943 14 172
27. Superman 2 D.C. Comics 1939 45 171
28. Mighty Midget Comics 11 Fawcett Publications 1942 2 170
29. Batman 2 D.C. Comics 1940 54 167
30. Thing 16 Charlton Comics 1954 7 166
31. Batman 16 D.C. Comics 1943 30 164
32. Batman 27 D.C. Comics 1945 11 164
33. Superman 9 D.C. Comics 1941 28 161
34. Superman 30 D.C. Comics 1944 15 157
35. Superman 6 D.C. Comics 1940 29 157
36. Superman 24 D.C. Comics 1943 14 156
37. Superman 7 D.C. Comics 1940 31 155
38. Batman 10 D.C. Comics 1942 18 154
39. Batman 9 D.C. Comics 1942 29 154
40. Batman 17 D.C. Comics 1943 14 154
41. Batman 24 D.C. Comics 1944 7 153
42. Superman 3 D.C. Comics 1940 32 151
43. Superman 8 D.C. Comics 1941 17 150
44. Batman 26 D.C. Comics 1945 10 150
45. Batman 49 D.C. Comics 1948 7 150
46. All Star Comics 8 D.C. Comics 1942 26 150
47. Four Color 178 Dell Publishing 1947 5 150
48. Shock SuspenStories 6 E.C. Comics 1953 4 149
49. Superman 10 D.C. Comics 1941 15 148
50. Batman 37 D.C. Comics 1946 12 148
51. Batman 38 D.C. Comics 1947 8 147
52. Four Color 147 Dell Publishing 1947 12 147
53. Wonder Woman 1 D.C. Comics 1942 40 144
54. Detective Comics 140 D.C. Comics 1948 11 144
55. Superman 5 D.C. Comics 1940 35 142
56. Batman 28 D.C. Comics 1945 12 140
57. Mad 4 E.C. Comics 1953 2 138
58. Batman 41 D.C. Comics 1947 8 138
59. Batman 12 D.C. Comics 1942 15 138
60. Batman 43 D.C. Comics 1947 5 137
61. Batman 15 D.C. Comics 1943 17 137
62. Batman 59 D.C. Comics 1950 4 136
63. Superman 17 D.C. Comics 1942 11 135
64. Batman 42 D.C. Comics 1947 9 134
65. Batman 22 D.C. Comics 1944 13 133
66. Batman 8 D.C. Comics 1942 21 133
67. Batman 36 D.C. Comics 1946 2 131
68. Superman 32 D.C. Comics 1945 9 130
69. Batman 30 D.C. Comics 1945 7 129
70. Mad 5 E.C. Comics 1953 6 127
71. Four Color 159 Dell Publishing 1947 4 125
72. Strange Adventures 1 D.C. Comics 1950 15 124
73. Batman 66 D.C. Comics 1951 6 123
74. Batman 33 D.C. Comics 1946 2 122
75. Tales from the Crypt 33 E.C. Comics 1953 3 121
76. Superman 18 D.C. Comics 1942 11 121
77. Superman 23 D.C. Comics 1943 6 121
78. Mad 3 E.C. Comics 1953 1 120
79. Ghost Rider 1 Magazine Enterprises 1950 7 120
80. Four Color 596 Dell Publishing 1954 1 120
81. Four Color 108 Dell Publishing 1946 7 120
82. Superman 29 D.C. Comics 1944 3 119
83. Batman 29 D.C. Comics 1945 4 119
84. Superman 12 D.C. Comics 1941 15 118
85. Superman 1 D.C. Comics 1939 62 117
86. Batman 34 D.C. Comics 1946 5 117
87. Batman 69 D.C. Comics 1952 6 117
88. Batman 31 D.C. Comics 1945 9 115
89. Batman 39 D.C. Comics 1947 5 115
90. Batman 21 D.C. Comics 1944 10 115
91. Four Color 456 Dell Publishing 1953 1 115
92. New York World's Fair 1940 D.C. Comics 1940 16 114
93. Mighty Midget Comics 12 Fawcett Publications 1943 0 114
94. Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen 1 D.C. Comics 1954 9 114
95. World's Best Comics 1 D.C. Comics 1941 28 114
96. Detective Comics 168 D.C. Comics 1951 15 114
97. Batman 32 D.C. Comics 1946 7 113
98. All-Flash 1 D.C. Comics 1941 26 112
99. Four Color 9 Dell Publishing 1942 13 112
100. Superman 28 D.C. Comics 1944 5 111
101. Superman 13 D.C. Comics 1941 15 110
102. Famous Funnies 209 Eastern Color 1953 5 110
103. Batman 73 D.C. Comics 1952 3 108
104. Superman 26 D.C. Comics 1944 8 106
105. Superman 36 D.C. Comics 1945 2 105
106. Superman 25 D.C. Comics 1943 9 104
107. Mystery in Space 1 D.C. Comics 1951 20 103
108. Superman 19 D.C. Comics 1942 14 103
109. Detective Comics 38 D.C. Comics 1940 40 103
110. Shock SuspenStories 1 E.C. Comics 1952 2 101
111. Superman 20 D.C. Comics 1943 6 101
112. Batman 35 D.C. Comics 1946 2 101
113. Walt Disney's Comics and Stories 1 Dell Publishing 1940 14 100
114. Superman 38 D.C. Comics 1946 6 100
115. Batman 48 D.C. Comics 1948 8 100
116. Batman 62 D.C. Comics 1951 4 100
117. Marvel Family 1 Fawcett Publications 1945 5 99
118. World's Finest Comics 3 D.C. Comics 1941 13 99
119. Batman 55 D.C. Comics 1949 3 99
120. Action Comics 23 D.C. Comics 1940 23 99
121. Green Lantern 1 D.C. Comics 1941 29 99
122. Startling Comics 49 Better Publications 1948 3 98
123. Detective Comics 45 D.C. Comics 1940 12 98
124. Superman 16 D.C. Comics 1942 7 96
125. Crime SuspenStories 20 E.C. Comics 1954 6 96
126. Captain Marvel Adventures 18 Fawcett Publications 1942 4 96

Seems like some books from the first list are missing on this one? (Including the Timelys: Cap 1 and Subby 1)

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Thanks for expanding the list valiantman. It appears your census data is not up to date since I find 251 copies of Batman 1 and you have 228 copies and you are missing a few publishers like Timely. The list has so many Batman and Superman books that other books like Mighty Midget Comics, Four Color 596 (Turok) and Ghost Rider 1 really stand out from the list.

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I am really surprised that there is only one Action Comics (unless I overlooked one) and no Adventure Comics.  I would have thought both of those would have had print runs big enough that there would have been more survivors and they certainly have enough value that I would think they were worth slabbing?  Anyone with ideas as to why the fewer numbers?  Were folks more likely to keep the Batman and Superman issues rather than the anthology titles?

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1 hour ago, jpepx78 said:

Thanks for expanding the list valiantman. It appears your census data is not up to date since I find 251 copies of Batman 1 and you have 228 copies and you are missing a few publishers like Timely.

I figured out the problem... CGC's change to letters and numbers for restored books has them listed in the CGC census as "A-1" and "B-3" and even "SS C-1", but my database wasn't expecting those types of labels.  Time to update!

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