2nd Edition Overstreet Price Guide Hardcover 2 2

[bronze johnny]

On 2/5/2019 at 3:33 PM, David Stone said:

I was half afraid the book might have been privately bound with the black cover. It sold for more than $400, so the risk was not negligible.The consignor insisted it was black, even after I asked questions and pointed out the hardbound #3 had a blue cover. But the fabric of the cover looked right in the picture and the gilt lettering was a match for other copies I had seen, so I took a chance on it. I asked around the comics department at Heritage and posted a question on the Message Boards, but no one believed in a black cover variant, so I was pretty nervous until the book arrived.

David, I'm curious as to why Bob decided to print a hardcover version after starting out exclusively with the softcover 1st Edition. Any idea why?

[David Stone]

5 hours ago, bronze johnny said:

David, I'm curious as to why Bob decided to print a hardcover version after starting out exclusively with the softcover 1st Edition. Any idea why?

I don't have any inside knowledge about Bob's decision, but his ad in the RBCC, where he first talked about the hardbound issue, said the hardcovers were for people who wanted a more durable version of the Guide. The first edition was heavily used and the saddle stitched binding did not hold up very well. A lot of those books just fell apart, so producing a more durable edition makes sense. I also think it's natural for any creator to want to see his work preserved for posterity. The Guide was a real labor of love for Bob, so it would be important to him to have it produced in a form that would stand up to the rigors of time. I don't think anyone was thinking about the Guide as a collectible in itself back then, but Bob was ahead of his time on a lot of issues, so who knows? Of course, there may have been a simple financial motive as well. The number 2 hardbound was priced at $10, which probably represented a steep markup over production cost. The number 3 hardcover was similar to the number 2 in every way, but Bob lowered the price on it to $8.50. 

[bronze johnny]

On 2/7/2019 at 1:12 AM, David Stone said:

I don't have any inside knowledge about Bob's decision, but his ad in the RBCC, where he first talked about the hardbound issue, said the hardcovers were for people who wanted a more durable version of the Guide. The first edition was heavily used and the saddle stitched binding did not hold up very well. A lot of those books just fell apart, so producing a more durable edition makes sense. I also think it's natural for any creator to want to see his work preserved for posterity. The Guide was a real labor of love for Bob, so it would be important to him to have it produced in a form that would stand up to the rigors of time. I don't think anyone was thinking about the Guide as a collectible in itself back then, but Bob was ahead of his time on a lot of issues, so who knows? Of course, there may have been a simple financial motive as well. The number 2 hardbound was priced at $10, which probably represented a steep markup over production cost. The number 3 hardcover was similar to the number 2 in every way, but Bob lowered the price on it to $8.50. 

Any reason for why Bob did not include an inside cover for the 3rd Edition?

[David Stone]

2 hours ago, bronze johnny said:

Any reason for why Bob did not include an inside cover for the 3rd Edition?

Again, I can only speculate. I know Bob Overstreet and his family actually glued the covers on the softcover number 2s themselves, so he would only have to pay the bindery for one binding operation to get the softcovers bound in for that edition. For the number 3s, he would have paid to get them bound in softcover first, then have those covers bound in the hard bound version. He probably decided to just skip the soft cover to save on cost. Come to think of it, maybe that's why he could lower the price for the number 3 hardbound, from $10 to $8.50. Don't know if that's what happened, but it makes sense.

[David Stone]

On ‎7‎/‎29‎/‎2018 at 4:32 PM, blue808 said:

Has anyone ever seen another one like this before? I believe my father ordered this back in 1972 from an add in the Comic Buyers Guide. He said the was an option to purchase either the soft cover or hard cover. 

 

I think this must be the ad your father ordered the book from. It was in The Buyer's Guide #22 from 1972.

[David Stone]

3 minutes ago, David Stone said:

I think this must be the ad your father ordered the book from. It was in The Buyer's Guide #22 from 1972.

Interestingly, the hardbound #2 in the ad appears to be the first printing, May binding variant. You can tell by the arrangement of the text on the front cover. Your father actually received the June binding variant, so maybe the ad was repeated later and he ordered from that one,

[lou_fine]

On 2/5/2019 at 9:37 AM, David Stone said:

I traced six copies of the #2 HC, but I did not know about this one. I presume the same owner has had it since 1972? Gary Carter did a lot of research on the Guide in the Comic Book Marketplace in the 1990s, conducting surveys, etc. He also found six copies, but whether they are the same six I found is unknown. The book in this thread does not appear to be one of the six I found, but it may have been reported in Gary's surveys. On the other hand, it might be a previously unknown copy. It's possible there are 13 known survivors, if these citations all represent different books. I found three different varieties of the #2 HC, with different dates on the binding stamps and different arrangement of the text on the cover. This book is the same variety as the one from Bob Overstreet's collection. I thought this variety might be some kind of prototype, since I could only find one example and it belonged to Bob, but this second example sort of works against that theory. Every time a new copy surfaces we expand the knowledge base for this very rare and important issue.

 

On 2/6/2019 at 6:16 AM, bronze johnny said:

Excellent article!

+1

Definitely an interesting article indeed.  

I would suspect there must be a lot more copies of this hard cover edition out there than just the handful which has been identified to date.  Like most other rare or HTF books, probably only a very small handful if you are talking about being extant in uber high grade or unopened Mint condition.  The theory of this book being on a "print to order" basis is definitely interesting and would appeared to be supported by the different variants that you have identified in your article.  

[lou_fine]

22 hours ago, David Stone said:

Interestingly, the hardbound #2 in the ad appears to be the first printing, May binding variant. You can tell by the arrangement of the text on the front cover. Your father actually received the June binding variant, so maybe the ad was repeated later and he ordered from that one,

Similar to the Marvel Comics #1 October and November printings, I imagine the May stamped version of this hard cover should in theory be worth more since it is the first printing then.  

I would assume the June stamped version would be worth less since this would be like the second edition, similar to how the Blue cover version is worth slightly less than the White cover version for the 1st editions of the Overstreet guide.  

[David Stone]

On ‎4‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 8:07 PM, lou_fine said:

Similar to the Marvel Comics #1 October and November printings, I imagine the May stamped version of this hard cover should in theory be worth more since it is the first printing then.  

I would assume the June stamped version would be worth less since this would be like the second edition, similar to how the Blue cover version is worth slightly less than the White cover version for the 1st editions of the Overstreet guide.  

What you say about the pricing makes sense to me, at least in the abstract. Not only is the May printing the earliest, it seems to be more elusive, as well. So far, I have only identified one copy of the May binding variant. Of course, as you say in your other post above, it is likely some more examples of this issue will surface as time goes by and knowledge of the books spreads. In addition to the six examples I mentioned in the article, I have now learned about the June binding example blue808 exhibits in this post, and both moon dog and bronze johny say they own, or once owned, other examples of the #2 hardbound (binding date not specified). If they are all different books, that would bring the known total up to nine. In addition, Gary Carter identified six examples in the 1990s which, if there is no overlap between the groups, could bring the surviving population up to 15 copies. Bob Overstreet told Gary Carter only 75 copies were printed, so that would be 20% of the total print run, a fairly reasonable estimate of the surviving population.

     So far, knowledge of the different printings has been so limited that it has not been a factor in pricing. I have never seen a public offering that even mentioned there were different print runs. Additionally, the only offering of a first printing I have seen was for a copy I would grade VF 8.0, while at least two of the June printings are solid NM 9.4s, so condition would definitely favor those books. I think we are still in the early learning phase about this issue and I for one, continue to be surprised by what turns up!

[greggy]

Here's my June copy signed by Bob Overstreet.

[David Stone]

1 hour ago, greggy said:

Here's my June copy signed by Bob Overstreet.

Really cool! Is the text on the spine spaced like this

Or like this

FYI, the May binding looks like this

[greggy]

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[Wipple]

Well, I came across a overstreet 1 hardcover. Is it real?  I just reread this thread and came away more confused than I started. Thanks in advance for any insight.

[ADAMANTIUM]

I'm not sure @Wipple but awesome find regardless, I await the verdict!  

[sfcityduck]

4 minutes ago, Wipple said:

Well, I came across a overstreet 1 hardcover. Is it real?  I just reread this thread and came away more confused than I started. Thanks in advance for any insight.

Based on the state of the interior cover versus the state of the exterior, it looks like it may have been bound more recently.  E.g., a real OPG 1 that was subsequently bound.

[Wipple]

15 minutes ago, sfcityduck said:

Based on the state of the interior cover versus the state of the exterior, it looks like it may have been bound more recently.  E.g., a real OPG 1 that was subsequently bound.

looking at the pictures now, I would have to agree. In hand the pages seemed more consistent in condition. thanks

[ThothAmon]

Interesting thread for sure. I don’t have a two in hardcover but they are very nice.  Am I correct that they are bound softcovers?  If so that would definitely explain the made to order nature of the #2 hardcover. Not sure whether May or June matters much in valuing if the interiors had all been printed at one time. Thanks for the great information. 

[lou_fine]

6 hours ago, Wipple said:

6 hours ago, sfcityduck said:

Based on the state of the interior cover versus the state of the exterior, it looks like it may have been bound more recently.  E.g., a real OPG 1 that was subsequently bound.

looking at the pictures now, I would have to agree. In hand the pages seemed more consistent in condition. thanks

+1

That's definitely also my take on the whole situation here with respect to your copy of Overstreet 1 here.  

[PopKulture]

2 hours ago, lou_fine said:

+1

That's definitely also my take on the whole situation here with respect to your copy of Overstreet 1 here.  

+2

I concur - a version bound some time later and really, really great pick-up. Congrats!! 

[campued1010]

If any one has one they want to sell, please pm me. Only Hardcover I'm missing for my collection