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John Verzyl Collection
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92 posts in this topic

14 minutes ago, clarkkentdds said:

Are those John's books that I've seen on Heritage lately? I thought his son Little John was continuing the legendary collection- or is the estate selling?

I know that he had the treasure trove of MH Timelys...

 

Don't know what their plans are, but I imagine some of both. :)

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On ‎12‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 3:24 PM, Cat-Man_America said:

At present, John Verzyl's closest family members, including his son, daughter & former wife maintain legal control of John's legacy collection (ergo, his Church Timely runs).

There is another party who had a business relationship with John at the time of his passing and had access to portion of his sales inventory including, but not limited to, a modest number of Church books.  

As I understand it, that former associate is in the process of liquidating those assets.  I have no knowledge of where those efforts stand, legally or otherwise, but to those curious or confused by this, rest assured that the bulk of John's collection is in safe keeping, held in trust by his immediate family.  That collection is unlikely to find it's way into the marketplace in the foreseeable future.  

Hope this helps to fill in a few pieces of the puzzle. (thumbsu

Heck, I'd just love to see the Mile High Timely runs, even if they're never put up for sale.

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@Cat-Man_America Much has been said about Mr. Verzyl's Church Timely run. As collectors we have MANY items we cherish.

But would you say that his Church copy of All-American Comics #16 was the 'apple of his eye"? Through the pic i have seen of him holding it graded, he just seemed to beam with owner pride with that one. 

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4 hours ago, sagii said:

@Cat-Man_America Much has been said about Mr. Verzyl's Church Timely run. As collectors we have MANY items we cherish.

But would you say that his Church copy of All-American Comics #16 was the 'apple of his eye"? Through the pic i have seen of him holding it graded, he just seemed to beam with owner pride with that one. 

His marvel 1 was clearly his fav. Followed by his cap 1. he did like the aa16, but it was for sale to the right buyer 

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7 minutes ago, G.A.tor said:

His marvel 1 was clearly his fav. Followed by his cap 1. he did like the aa16, but it was for sale to the right buyer 

Thanks GAtor!

Originally I was going to @ you in original question also.

Still and forever a Boards pillar of knowledge!(thumbsu

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1 minute ago, sagii said:

Thanks GAtor!

Originally I was going to @ you in original question also.

Still and forever a Boards pillar of knowledge!(thumbsu

I always heard the AA 16 9.4 was available for 2 M?  I also heard he had some reservations in getting it graded ? What were the M C 1 & Cap 1 graded at ( if they were ) 

Edited by Chicago Boy
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6 minutes ago, detective35 said:

Captain America #1 (Allentown) 9.6

Saw it and thumbed very carefully through it when Dan Kramer used to own it.

KILLER!

Dwight

Cap 1 is actually a 9.8 Allentown (formerly a 9.6)

 

the marvel 1 John always said was “perfect” (it is ungraded )

Edited by G.A.tor
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34 minutes ago, Chicago Boy said:

I always heard the AA 16 9.4 was available for 2 M?  I also heard he had some reservations in getting it graded ? What were the M C 1 & Cap 1 graded at ( if they were ) 

When the aa16 was first graded John had it sold to a client for just north of a million. That client was a real estate guy and when the bust happened, he couldn’t complete the sale. From there forward John would sell, but in the advent of ever escalating prices he wanted 2x as much to sell (north of 2 mil)

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WOW, I knew it was a 9.6, but never knew it was upgraded to 9.8. 

I remember it being virtually a perfect book, so that does not surprise me.

I remember as well John saying that the Marvel 1 was perfect, flawless.

Gator, what would be your guess as to the price of the Cap. 1 9.8 Allentown if it ever came to auction...2M??

Dwight

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11 hours ago, sagii said:

Thanks GAtor!

Originally I was going to @ you in original question also.

Still and forever a Boards pillar of knowledge!(thumbsu

Alas, as a night owl I was catching zzzzz's this morning.  GAtor's an early riser whose knowledge is second to none until I've had coffee (just kiddin').  Nevertheless, I'm much easier to reach for comment on the night shift.  :grin:

Everything GAtor says is dead-on and consistent with discussions I've had with JV over the years.  Most every comic related collectible John acquired had a price, ...except his Church Timely's.  After several unsuccessful attempts to pry some of those jewels away from him I realized the futility of that endeavor.   BTW, John did love his Church copy of AA #16, but the apple of his eye was always little John.

Given the high value books Verzyl bought, flipped, repurchased and flipped again, he was quite well off.  If he'd wanted to live a lavish lifestyle John could've easily done so while maintaining the bulk of his legacy collection, but gentrified life just wasn't his thing.  John was a dealer through and through.  He enjoyed bartering and the endless conversations with customers that were part of the process.  John's work was his fun, something rarely experienced in other professions. 

Now that I've transitioned from coffee to ale my understanding of the difference between pillar of knowledge and fountain of knowledge is much clearer.  Cheers!

11 hours ago, Chicago Boy said:

I always heard the AA 16 9.4 was available for 2 M?  I also heard he had some reservations in getting it graded ? What were the M C 1 & Cap 1 graded at ( if they were ) 

Having Church pedigree books third party graded is a double edged sword as it can depress the market for other high grade books in your inventory.  John & I discussed this on several occasions and my impression was that the impact on the market along with the added expense of grading books he was reluctant to sell anyway weighed on him.  

Edited by Cat-Man_America
sober spelling
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4 minutes ago, Cat-Man_America said:

Alas, as a night owl I was catching zzzzz's this morning.  GAtor's an early riser whose knowledge is second to none until I've had coffee.  Nevertheless, I'm much easier to reach for comment on the night shift.  :grin:

Everything GAtor says is dead-on and consistent with discussions I've had with JV over the years.  Most every comic related collectible John acquired had a price, ...except his Church Timely's.  After trying to pry several of those jewels away from him over the years I knew the futility of that endeavor.   BTW, John did love his Church copy of AA #16, but the apple of his eye was always little John.

Given the high value books Verzyl bought, flipped, repurchased and flipped again, he was quite well off.  If he'd wanted to live a lavish lifestyle John could've easily done so while maintaining the bulk of his legacy collection, but gentrified life just wasn't his thing.  John was a dealer through and through.  He enjoyed bartering and the endless conversations with customers that were part of the process.  John's work was his fun, something rarely experienced in other professions. 

Now that I've transitioned from coffee to ale I have a much clearer understanding of the difference between pillar of knowledge and fountain of knowledge.  Cheers!

Having Church pedigree books third party graded, is a double edged sword as it can depress the market for other high grade books in your inventory.  John & I discussed this on several occasions and my impression was that the impact on the market along with the added expense of grading books he was reluctant to sell weighed on him.  At least that was my take away from our conversions.

Cat, always appreciate your commentary and I have learned a lot from your posts (and I'm sure will continue to do so) since I've joined these Boards. 

After two years (one as a 'serious' lurker), the other my first as a Boardie,  I quickly became aware of who are the Hierarchy here for several reasons, all tied to knowledge first and incredible collections next (though the latter means different things to different people) You are one of such people in my book.

I know now to @ you in the evening lol:tink:

Let's see: a pillar,  a fountain, now who is the 'book"?(:

 

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I saw the Cap #1 Allentown when it was owned by Al Capp in the 90's . It was a lovely book.

When John bought the Marvel 1 MH from Geppi in the 80's it was graded Mint. When John went to get the book he figured he could find a defect on the Marvel, argue that it was not Mint, and get a discount. John told me he looked at the book for 30 minutes trying to find something, anything wrong with it to get that discount. He told me he paid full ask.

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1 hour ago, Timely said:

When John bought the Marvel 1 MH from Geppi in the 80's it was graded Mint. When John went to get the book he figured he could find a defect on the Marvel, argue that it was not Mint, and get a discount. John told me he looked at the book for 30 minutes trying to find something, anything wrong with it to get that discount. He told me he paid full ask.

That boggles my pea-brain!! :makepoint:

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8 hours ago, G.A.tor said:
8 hours ago, detective35 said:

Captain America #1 (Allentown) 9.6

Saw it and thumbed very carefully through it when Dan Kramer used to own it.

KILLER!

Dwight

Cap 1 is actually a 9.8 Allentown (formerly a 9.6)

Yes, I guess Veryzl wouldn't have been interested in the Church copy since it had a tiny bit of restoration work done to it.  I remember the only time I was up in Fisher's office back in the mid-90's and he asked me to take a look at the Church Cap 1 to see if I could spot where the resto work was.  

Any idea if the Allentown copy was upgraded due to a straight resub where CGC simply graded it different on the second go round or did the book get a little bit of intervening help to push it up a notch?  hm

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