Ask Redbeard Tales of a veteran comic book dealer 5 5

[lou_fine]

3 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

Odds are good that he might have bought these at the Casual Con in Anaheim before Chuck made the list. I got a bunch there as did many SO CA collectors. And, these were probably priced between $10-$20.   I didn't see them and probably would have bought them if I had. For sure the #12.

Looks like all of the ones he had listed in his MH catalog were all going for under $10 a pop, although I am quite sure he would have listed the Punch #1 at a higher price point because that was the trend back in those days before classic covers, whereby the first issue always seem to get a premium.

I remember being down at one of the SD Con's in the mid 90's when they were having a dinner to honor all of the DC GA writers and artists and I was lucky enough to be sitting right next to Joe Smekyl.  He took out the minty fresh looking Hawkeye copy of Punch 10 which he had just required from a collector after selling it off a few years prior to that.  

[MrBedrock]

50 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

Looks like all of the ones he had listed in his MH catalog were all going for under $10 a pop, although I am quite sure he would have listed the Punch #1 at a higher price point because that was the trend back in those days before classic covers, whereby the first issue always seem to get a premium.

I remember being down at one of the SD Con's in the mid 90's when they were having a dinner to honor all of the DC GA writers and artists and I was lucky enough to be sitting right next to Joe Smekyl.  He took out the minty fresh looking Hawkeye copy of Punch 10 which he had just required from a collector after selling it off a few years prior to that.  

 

[MrBedrock]

Cat pee...

 

[clarkkentdds]

Ron,

I know we've chatted about this before, I but wanted to get this on the boards...

Where are all the MH Supermans and Bats? I know Dave A. bought Action 1-24, but there are conflicting reports that he doesn't have the Supes and I've seen MH Actions (#25-up) sell in recent years. Verzyl told me a colelctor in Florida has the MH Supes.  I only know that Becharra has your Sup #1 MH. I saw a mid grade Sup #4 MH a few years ago, I no of no others. I know the early issues were mid grade, but the later issues are supposedly typical high MH grade. Are they also in Virginia?

 

CZ

Edited August 28, 2018 by clarkkentdds

[Timely]

9 minutes ago, clarkkentdds said:

Ron,

I know we've chatted about this before, I but wanted to get this on the boards...

Where are all the MH Supermans and Bats? I know Dave A. bought Action 1-24, but there are conflicting reports that he doesn't have the Supes and I've seen MH Actions (#25-up) sell in recent years. Verzyl told me a colelctor in Florida has the MH Supes.  I only know that Becharra has your Sup #1 MH. I saw a mid grade Sup #4 MH a few years ago, I no of no others. I know the early issues were mid grade, but the later issues are supposedly typical high MH grade. Are they also in Virginia?

 

CZ

Good question.  I owned over 30 Action MH's from #25-102.  My friend owned the Superman #4 MH in the 90's that came from Geppi. I do know Sparkle City put out an ad in the 80's offering up many Superman MH's, but none of them have resurfaced publicly. Verzyl told me the 1st or one of the 1st MH's he ever owned was the Superman #12.  He said that cover was so bone white he was instantly hooked!

Edited August 28, 2018 by Timely

[clarkkentdds]

I heard about that #12. I am aware of the 2-10 being 2nd hand copies. As I have never seen anything else in over 25 years of collecting, it is either a long time collector still holding, or with D.A.

Edited August 28, 2018 by clarkkentdds

[Redbeard]

On 8/26/2018 at 4:21 PM, Robot Man said:

Looks like his "kitty" didn't like Chesslers much...

PUNCH #12!!!  That cat would be living on the street...

Hey, I'm 74. But, I don't remember John having a cat. Agreed on the Punch 12.

[Redbeard]

3 hours ago, clarkkentdds said:

Ron,

I know we've chatted about this before, I but wanted to get this on the boards...

Where are all the MH Supermans and Bats? I know Dave A. bought Action 1-24, but there are conflicting reports that he doesn't have the Supes and I've seen MH Actions (#25-up) sell in recent years. Verzyl told me a colelctor in Florida has the MH Supes.  I only know that Becharra has your Sup #1 MH. I saw a mid grade Sup #4 MH a few years ago, I no of no others. I know the early issues were mid grade, but the later issues are supposedly typical high MH grade. Are they also in Virginia?

 

CZ

I never handled most of the Actions. I did own the 23 years ago. I still have several SF Actions in the 50-60 range. Geppi had more of the Actions/Supes. I had most of the Bats/Tecs. Dave Anderson has Action 1-17 or 19. They were sold in one lot to Snyder and then to Dave. John bought them to sell to David.

[Redbeard]

6 hours ago, lou_fine said:

Looks like all of the ones he had listed in his MH catalog were all going for under $10 a pop, although I am quite sure he would have listed the Punch #1 at a higher price point because that was the trend back in those days before classic covers, whereby the first issue always seem to get a premium.

I remember being down at one of the SD Con's in the mid 90's when they were having a dinner to honor all of the DC GA writers and artists and I was lucky enough to be sitting right next to Joe Smekyl.  He took out the minty fresh looking Hawkeye copy of Punch 10 which he had just required from a collector after selling it off a few years prior to that.  

John made a huge buy from Chuck after the catalogue. He stacked up all the lesser price stuff since it was cheap including most of the unsold romance books.

[Redbeard]

Just now, Redbeard said:

John made a huge buy from Chuck after the catalogue. He stacked up all the lesser price stuff since it was cheap including most of the unsold romance books.

I am referring to the Book Sail and not Verzyl.

[Redbeard]

A story of the past. Several years ago, there was a guy who called himself Al Tonti. He was trading many dealers/collectors for things he wanted offering original cover art like Science 1 by Lou Fine, Planet, I think 42, Master cover by Raboy, a Ghost Rider cover by Frazetta, a Brundage pastel painting of a Weird Tales cover, etc. The BS hit the fan when too many of us claimed ownership of the same piece of art in our collection. The guy was forging many, many pieces. The weird thing is he wasn't trying to sell them, he wanted trade. Well, I caught up with him at a Creation Con in Oakland. I took him outside and we talked. I mean to tell you the guy looked like someone that would emerge from a closet after being locked in there for the past 10 years. Very thin and very quiet type of guy. After our talk I let him go if he would return the next day at the show with what he had acquired. He did this and I took possession of his spoils. I then attempted to return the items to their rightful owners. I learned a bad lesson in this case. One of the guys I returned stuff to was such a jerk he didn't reimburse me for the shipping costs to send him his stuff. That left a very bad taste in mouth. So, when SD Comic Con came up, I went outside with Maggie Thompson, Bruce Hamilton and Russ Cochran. I wanted Maggie to run a story in CBG to eliminate the possibility of those forged pieces being resold to an unknowing collector down the road. Bruce and Russ both countered that it would create a major negative in the original art market. In the end Maggie went with Bruce and Russ opinion. Now forward to a few years ago at most. PBS was running a special on this art forger. It seems that this guy would go to small art museums in local cities, never the large galleries. He would tell them that his family was from France and after his sister's recent passing he wished to donate some original paintings to their museum. He asked for no compensation. This went on for several years until some of the local museums were claiming ownership of the same piece of art. It quickly became obvious to these museums that something was wrong. Yep, the party was forging relatively unknown French artists paintings from the late 19th century and the early 20th century. Take a wild guess who the forger was? Yep, you got it. It was the same guy who was doing the forged comic art all those many years before.

[PUNYHUMAN]

There was definitely some and still are, charactors in this hobby. Love hearing stories like this. Keep posting Ron.

[adamstrange]

11 hours ago, Redbeard said:

A story of the past. Several years ago, there was a guy who called himself Al Tonti. He was trading many dealers/collectors for things he wanted offering original cover art like Science 1 by Lou Fine, Planet, I think 42, Master cover by Raboy, a Ghost Rider cover by Frazetta, a Brundage pastel painting of a Weird Tales cover, etc. The BS hit the fan when too many of us claimed ownership of the same piece of art in our collection. The guy was forging many, many pieces. The weird thing is he wasn't trying to sell them, he wanted trade. Well, I caught up with him at a Creation Con in Oakland. I took him outside and we talked. I mean to tell you the guy looked like someone that would emerge from a closet after being locked in there for the past 10 years. Very thin and very quiet type of guy. After our talk I let him go if he would return the next day at the show with what he had acquired. He did this and I took possession of his spoils. I then attempted to return the items to their rightful owners. I learned a bad lesson in this case. One of the guys I returned stuff to was such a jerk he didn't reimburse me for the shipping costs to send him his stuff. That left a very bad taste in mouth. So, when SD Comic Con came up, I went outside with Maggie Thompson, Bruce Hamilton and Russ Cochran. I wanted Maggie to run a story in CBG to eliminate the possibility of those forged pieces being resold to an unknowing collector down the road. Bruce and Russ both countered that it would create a major negative in the original art market. In the end Maggie went with Bruce and Russ opinion. Now forward to a few years ago at most. PBS was running a special on this art forger. It seems that this guy would go to small art museums in local cities, never the large galleries. He would tell them that his family was from France and after his sister's recent passing he wished to donate some original paintings to their museum. He asked for no compensation. This went on for several years until some of the local museums were claiming ownership of the same piece of art. It quickly became obvious to these museums that something was wrong. Yep, the party was forging relatively unknown French artists paintings from the late 19th century and the early 20th century. Take a wild guess who the forger was? Yep, you got it. It was the same guy who was doing the forged comic art all those many years before.

Reminiscent of this guy

 

[Sqeggs]

20 hours ago, Redbeard said:

A story of the past. Several years ago, there was a guy who called himself Al Tonti. He was trading many dealers/collectors for things he wanted offering original cover art like Science 1 by Lou Fine, Planet, I think 42, Master cover by Raboy, a Ghost Rider cover by Frazetta, a Brundage pastel painting of a Weird Tales cover, etc. The BS hit the fan when too many of us claimed ownership of the same piece of art in our collection. The guy was forging many, many pieces. The weird thing is he wasn't trying to sell them, he wanted trade. Well, I caught up with him at a Creation Con in Oakland. I took him outside and we talked. I mean to tell you the guy looked like someone that would emerge from a closet after being locked in there for the past 10 years. Very thin and very quiet type of guy. After our talk I let him go if he would return the next day at the show with what he had acquired. He did this and I took possession of his spoils. I then attempted to return the items to their rightful owners. I learned a bad lesson in this case. One of the guys I returned stuff to was such a jerk he didn't reimburse me for the shipping costs to send him his stuff. That left a very bad taste in mouth. So, when SD Comic Con came up, I went outside with Maggie Thompson, Bruce Hamilton and Russ Cochran. I wanted Maggie to run a story in CBG to eliminate the possibility of those forged pieces being resold to an unknowing collector down the road. Bruce and Russ both countered that it would create a major negative in the original art market. In the end Maggie went with Bruce and Russ opinion. Now forward to a few years ago at most. PBS was running a special on this art forger. It seems that this guy would go to small art museums in local cities, never the large galleries. He would tell them that his family was from France and after his sister's recent passing he wished to donate some original paintings to their museum. He asked for no compensation. This went on for several years until some of the local museums were claiming ownership of the same piece of art. It quickly became obvious to these museums that something was wrong. Yep, the party was forging relatively unknown French artists paintings from the late 19th century and the early 20th century. Take a wild guess who the forger was? Yep, you got it. It was the same guy who was doing the forged comic art all those many years before.

Wild story!

[Robot Man]

Redbeard:

What was your best "find"? Not something through the usual dealer/con curcuit. You had to have had a few lucky breaks in your tenure as a dealer. 

[Robot Man]

OK, guess you haven't ever had a lucky find...

Let's try another one. What was the weirdest buy you ever made?

Example: I once bought about 150 GA comics out of an un-plugged refregerator from a group of sketchy low rider types in the heart of "the hood" East LA. Nicest Cap 74 I have ever seen to this day...

[Redbeard]

On 8/29/2018 at 3:12 PM, Robot Man said:

Redbeard:

What was your best "find"? Not something through the usual dealer/con curcuit. You had to have had a few lucky breaks in your tenure as a dealer. 

The best would have to be the books that were sent to me each year. It started with me buying some books from him out of a CBG ad. When I got the books, John Snyder and I spoke. I can't recall who called whom. We talked about the books we got from this seller in Colorado. We were aware they were all MH books. My first purchase were some Amazing Man issues. Well that is the only ad he ran, but around Christmas time, I sent out cards to good customers and sellers. Because of that Christmas card he contacted me and asked if I was interested in more books. No need to pay in advance he said, he'll send me the books and I should let him know what I will pay. We'll from there he sent me a box of books every year. After the first couple of years he no longer called in advance. He just shipped me the books. So once a year, surprise, a box books. Now remember, each of these books were the MH copy. I used to take the box to Dave Smith's store in Garden Grove where we would open the box. It was the greatest, opening those boxes full of MH books over the years, never knowing what surprise was inside. Many key 50's books including key SOTI books, etc. I got were sent to me. HIs name is Jim Payne. I don't know if Jim is still alive, but those days were very, very special to me.

Edited September 7, 2018 by Redbeard

[Redbeard]

2 hours ago, Robot Man said:

OK, guess you haven't ever had a lucky find...

Let's try another one. What was the weirdest buy you ever made?

Example: I once bought about 150 GA comics out of an un-plugged refregerator from a group of sketchy low rider types in the heart of "the hood" East LA. Nicest Cap 74 I have ever seen to this day...

I will never be able to match the amazing finds both of you have had over the years. Unlike Sal (Dichiera) and you, I never attended flea markets and paper shows where some of your amazing tales Bob have occurred.

[Redbeard]

On 8/29/2018 at 5:53 AM, adamstrange said:

Reminiscent of this guy

 

That's the guy. Only problem I have had with the comic art forgeries is that the owners of those forgeries never sent them to me in exchange for the return of their merchandise. I only hope that these forgeries were destroyed and not sold to some unsuspecting collector. That was the brunt of my argument to Maggie Thompson to get the story published.

[Redbeard]

On 8/28/2018 at 2:39 PM, clarkkentdds said:

I heard about that #12. I am aware of the 2-10 being 2nd hand copies. As I have never seen anything else in over 25 years of collecting, it is either a long time collector still holding, or with D.A.

You are correct on the 2-10. Chuck had them at a SD Con many years ago and offered to me first. I passed since they all were not the unbelievable MH books like the rest. They all had 2 pencil lines down across the cover. Chuck's grade on these Sups was FN. None of them were graded NM or NM+. If memory serves me correctly, I think John Verzyl bought them.