How did speculators obtain multiple copies of comics in the 60s? 3 3

[Microchip]

2 minutes ago, Tri-ColorBrian said:

And all 9.8s too...

Savage.

Still, I'd hold onto them too.  A great piece of history right there.

 

[BlowUpTheMoon]

2 minutes ago, Microchip said:

5 minutes ago, Tri-ColorBrian said:

And all 9.8s too...

Savage.

Still, I'd hold onto them too.  A great piece of history right there.

 

All the same book.  Never opened bundle.  No 9.8s I assume.

Edited September 20, 2018 by BlowUpTheMoon

[Tri-Color Brian]

5 minutes ago, BlowUpTheMoon said:

All the same book.  Never opened bundle.  No 9.8s I assume.

I was joking...

[Microchip]

15 minutes ago, BlowUpTheMoon said:

All the same book.  Never opened bundle.  No 9.8s I assume.

Seriously cool.

[jimjum12]

8 hours ago, DevilLand said:

Was he? He hadn't really done much before Conan, just a couple issues each of X-Men, DD, and Avengers (and the Conan tryout), and he was basically a Kirby clone until Conan. Why was he so hot?

I was a young fellow when his X-Men and DD'S came out.... I thought they were not so good. I may have even skipped buying them. By the time he hit the Avengers he seemed to be discovering his own style, and I liked those. Like Brian said, Conan was his real "coming out" party …. and those just kept getting better and better until the pinnacle in the last few issues he did in the title. He did well in self publishing after that for a long while, prints and portfolios with an Art Noveau influence. Gorblimey Press was the name of his company and examples can sometimes be found on eBay. GOD BLESS..

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

Edited September 20, 2018 by jimjum12

[shadroch]

As anyone could walk in and buy from a newsstand distributor in 1976, I think it's safe to assume someone could have done the same ten years before.

I think it's safe to say Robert Bell wasn't buying his future stock from multiple 7-11s.

[ComicConnoisseur]

1 hour ago, jimjum12 said:

I was a young fellow when his X-Men and DD'S came out.... I thought they were not so good. I may have even skipped buying them. By the time he hit the Avengers he seemed to be discovering his own style, and I liked those. Like Brian said, Conan was his real "coming out" party …. and those just kept getting better and better until the pinnacle in the last few issues he did in the title. He did well in self publishing after that for a long while, prints and portfolios with an Art Noveau influence. Gorblimey Press was the name of his company and examples can sometimes be found on eBay. GOD BLESS..

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

I put the first 100 Conans on par with first 100 Spider-Man and first 100 Fantastic Four comics.

Just great reading and art. It must have paid off because in the 1980s there was two Conan movies before FF and Spider-Man movies. That's how popular Conan The Barbarian was at one time.

Edited September 20, 2018 by ComicConnoisseur

[RockMyAmadeus]

2 hours ago, shadroch said:

As anyone could walk in and buy from a newsstand distributor in 1976, I think it's safe to assume someone could have done the same ten years before.

I think it's safe to say Robert Bell wasn't buying his future stock from multiple 7-11s.

Ok. If we entertain that premise, how did that work? You looked up "magazine distributor" in the phonebook and then walked in?

I don't think Robert Bell was buying his future stock from 7-11s, either, but Robert Bell wasn't your typical collector, either.

[jimjum12]

5 hours ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

Ok. If we entertain that premise, how did that work? You looked up "magazine distributor" in the phonebook and then walked in?

I don't think Robert Bell was buying his future stock from 7-11s, either, but Robert Bell wasn't your typical collector, either.

If you look up one of the show reports by The_Leader_Knows in this SA Forum, he has the audio transcripts for the interview he did for CBM on his site. It is linked at the top of each report. Much of this sort of material is covered.... the Audio even has segments that were not included in the printed piece due to space constraints. GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[Ken Aldred]

8 hours ago, ComicConnoisseur said:

I put the first 100 Conans on par with first 100 Spider-Man and first 100 Fantastic Four comics.

Just great reading and art. It must have paid off because in the 1980s there was two Conan movies before FF and Spider-Man movies. That's how popular Conan The Barbarian was at one time.

As Conan 1 to 100 was the first complete run I ever assembled, I must concur.

Besides BWS, I rate John Buscema just as highly, and there’s also bits of high-quality Adams, Brunner, Kane, Ploog and Starlin, here and there - including the magazines, as well.

Edited September 20, 2018 by Ken Aldred

[Pirate]

I wasn't born until 1970, but I would hit the local 7-11.  Around 1985 a comic store opened up about 40 miles from where I lived.  My dad would drive me up every couple of weeks.  I remember having a pull list of 2 of everything that came out as i had a job that paid $7 an hour cash (that was bank in the mid 80's for high schooler).  I would read one and store the other type stuff.  Still have my 80-90s collection stored 4 books to a bag.    If you liked comics, you were a nerd weirdo who was below the D&D kids on the social ladder.  How times have changed.

[Unca Ben]

On 9/19/2018 at 7:24 PM, jimjum12 said:

I was a young fellow when his X-Men and DD'S came out.... I thought they were not so good. I may have even skipped buying them. By the time he hit the Avengers he seemed to be discovering his own style, and I liked those. Like Brian said, Conan was his real "coming out" party …. and those just kept getting better and better until the pinnacle in the last few issues he did in the title. He did well in self publishing after that for a long while, prints and portfolios with an Art Noveau influence. Gorblimey Press was the name of his company and examples can sometimes be found on eBay. GOD BLESS..

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

Yep, a couple issues into Conan, Barry Smith was pretty darn hot.  Barry also took over the Ka-Zar feature from Kirby in Astonishing Tales at about the same time he started Conan - it was very good as well.
By the time Smith did his mini avengers run he was already mid-way through his Conan run (unless you're talking about some earlier Avengers issues that escape me at the moment...)

edit;  That's right, Smith did a couple issues of the Avengers after Colan left the title  - a year or so before starting Conan.  I'm gettin' old.  

Edited September 28, 2018 by Unca Ben

[jimjum12]

56 minutes ago, Unca Ben said:

Yep, a couple issues into Conan, Barry Smith was pretty darn hot.  Barry also took over the Ka-Zar feature from Kirby in Astonishing Tales at about the same time he started Conan - it was very good as well.
By the time Smith did his mini avengers run he was already mid-way through his Conan run (unless you're talking about some earlier Avengers issues that escape me at the moment...)

edit;  That's right, Smith did a couple issues of the Avengers after Colan left the title  - a year or so before starting Conan.  I'm gettin' old.  

Yeah.... 66 and 67 I believe.... they blew me away at the time, even though they weren't the Buscema masterpieces that I was used to. GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[ComicConnoisseur]

On 9/20/2018 at 8:30 AM, Ken Aldred said:

As Conan 1 to 100 was the first complete run I ever assembled, I must concur.

Besides BWS, I rate John Buscema just as highly, and there’s also bits of high-quality Adams, Brunner, Kane, Ploog and Starlin, here and there - including the magazines, as well.

Yes,agreed about John Buscema. Smith gets all the praise,but big John's Conan art was on par and could hold it's own 

 

[mosconi]

On ‎9‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 5:05 PM, BlowUpTheMoon said:

All the same book.  Never opened bundle.  No 9.8s I assume.

Might be a few 9.2's and 9.4's in there!   Makes me wonder: between the damage from bundled comics, damage from rifled newsstand copies and spinner racks, lack of proper comic storage, and very few high grade collectors, how did so many 60's comics survive in 9.2 or better condition?  Warehouse finds

Edited September 28, 2018 by mosconi

[namisgr]

7 hours ago, mosconi said:

Might be a few 9.2's and 9.4's in there!   Makes me wonder: between the damage from bundled comics, damage from rifled newsstand copies and spinner racks, lack of proper comic storage, and very few high grade collectors, how did so many 60's comics survive in 9.2 or better condition?  Warehouse finds

- Bundling was usually not as destructive as that example, except perhaps for the comics on the top and bottom of the pile.  Many distributors used ridged metal bands the width of fettuccini noodles, and even today you can identify issues that were once at the top or bottom of a distributor's pile by the presence of horizontal track marks on the front and back cover, respectively.

- If a collector got to the spinner rack on the day new comics arrived (Wednesdays in my part of the country), the books weren't all riffled yet.

- Another common source of new comics was the town news agency or bookstore.  Most of them didn't use spinner racks, as stacks of each new issue were displayed on wooden cases made for showing magazines.

- Storage was often done by piling comics up on the floor of a cedar chest, drawer, or closet, where they sat largely untouched for extended time.  You can still smell the mothballs that were used to keep the bugs out of the closets or chests that the White Mountain pedigree was accumulated in.

- And yes, warehouse finds.  And the rare ultra high grade Silver Age book really is a freak among the ordinary.

Edited September 28, 2018 by namisgr

[bondtrader54]

from personal experience i was reading comics in the mid  60's  so i missed all  the early issues of  Marvel  for the  most part. I saved them but i can't say i thought it was collecting until i suddenly had 30 or so in a run. I scoured candy stores that had piles of comics for back  copies. As to multiple copies Star Wars1 i grabbed  5 copies off the newstand.

[Gaard]

On 9/12/2018 at 2:50 AM, HouseofComics.Com said:

when a store owner in Grand Rapids

Captain Tardy (Collector's Comics)?