• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Captain America #1 (CGC 9.4)
5 5

259 posts in this topic

16 hours ago, dem1138 said:

Nick Marcus & Mike Manyak paid a buck for this Captain America #1 Easter weekend 1973. They blatantly lied to Dr Arnheim. A buck each for all those Timely issues they "liberated" by being liars that Sunday at Berkeleycon we hosted on the UC-Berkeley campus.

 

My question:

Who is Dr. Arnheim and why was he selling "Tom Reilly's" collection?  

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Primetime said:

I had heard Nick and Mike paid roughly $1,000 for 60 Timelys on that day...that comes out to $16.66 per book or $98.48/book in today's money. Anybody have a 1973 OSPG? 

Who are these Nick and Mike guys? I assume they have long faded from view . . .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, sfcityduck said:

My question:

Who is Dr. Arnheim and why was he selling "Tom Reilly's" collection?  

 

I believe Dr. A and his wife were Tom's uncle and aunt that were local. The collection was split amongst three sets of relatives. Dr. A, some folks from New Jersey (I think), and another set. That is why the Marvel Mysterys were supposedly absent from the initial pallet that Nick and Mike first saw as the MMs were probably not part of the batch that Dr. A inherited (or possibly, Dr. A had the MMs but he and his wife only brought a portion of the collection that day).  All the Caps, Subbys, and Torchs were present that Easter Sunday. 

Edited by Primetime
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, Primetime said:

I believe Dr. A and his wife were Tom's uncle and aunt that were local. The collection was split amongst three sets of relatives. Dr. A, some folks from New Jersey (I think), and another set. That is why the Marvel Mysterys were supposedly absent from the initial pallet that Nick and Mike first saw as the MMs were probably not part of the batch that Dr. A inherited (or possibly, Dr. A had the MMs but he and his wife only brought a portion of the collection that day).  All the Caps, Subbys, and Torchs were present that Easter Sunday. 

Bob's story is Nick and Mike got the timely's before the books made it into the convention, and then he got the rest.  

It really should not be hard to track down the history of Reilly with all this information.  There was a Thomas Reilly from Sacremento who died as a DNB (died non-battle) during WWII.  Could be him.  Ancestry might be a good place to look for this Arnheim/Reilly connection.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, sfcityduck said:

Bob's story is Nick and Mike got the timely's before the books made it into the convention, and then he got the rest.  

It really should not be hard to track down the history of Reilly with all this information.  There was a Thomas Reilly from Sacremento who died as a DNB (died non-battle) during WWII.  Could be him.  Ancestry might be a good place to look for this Arnheim/Reilly connection.

Yes, I believe that is true. Although, I believe Dr.A and his wife just happened to run into Nick and Marcus first, so they were lucky to snatch up the Timelys that were on the pallet (Cap 1 rolled up in a big rubber band :x). 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Primetime said:

I had heard Nick and Mike paid roughly $1,000 for 60 Timelys on that day...that comes out to $16.66 per book or $98.48/book in today's money. Anybody have a 1973 OSPG? 

Well, since that first load of Timely's on that Easter Sunday were comprised of Cap, Torch, and Subby's, I guess we'll take a look at those only then:  :gossip:

With respect to the Cap's, it looks like Cap 1 was guiding for a whopping $350 at top of guide with the Cap 2 being the only other 3-figure dollar book coming in at $150.  All of the other Cap's were well below $100 for the rest of the first 10 issues and then well below $50 for anything after Cap 10.

Human Torch #2(#3)  was listed at $130 which was then followed by Torch #5 at $90.  All of the other Torch's were well under $50 with the exception of Torch #3 (#2) which came in at $65 in top of guide.  Subby #1 was listed at $100 followed by Subby #2 at $50 with the rest of the first 10 issues well under $50 and anything after Subby 10 well under $20 a pop.

Of course, it should also be pointed out that the Overstreet guide was often referred to as the Overprice Guide back in those early days.  I also believe that Bob used to always mentioned that collectors should not expect to receive full guide prices when selling to a dealer and oftentimes would see only something like 20% due to the costs and expenses that the dealers would have to incur in order to resell a book.  hm

Okay, I am willing to MANNUP and bite the bullet here by offering a full $100 for each of these Reilly Timely's even after taking inflation into account.  :takeit:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

49 minutes ago, sfcityduck said:

Bob's story is Nick and Mike got the timely's before the books made it into the convention, and then he got the rest.  

It really should not be hard to track down the history of Reilly with all this information.  There was a Thomas Reilly from Sacremento who died as a DNB (died non-battle) during WWII.  Could be him.  Ancestry might be a good place to look for this Arnheim/Reilly connection.

I have spent numerous hours on this, and it's not as easy as you might think.  We've been given kernels of info, but nothing very solid.  Bob says he thinks the name was Arnheim.  We don't know his first name, or his wife's name.  We don't know Tom's parents names.  We don't know names for any of the other relatives.  Bob believes the Arnheims were from Moraga, Calfornia, and the Reillys were from Piedmont, but that info hasn't enabled me to nail down a single solid lead.  I'm waiting to hear back from the historical society in Moraga to see if they have phone directories from the late 60s/early 70s that might list a Dr. Arnheim, in hopes that I can get his full name and perhaps his wife's. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, nearmint said:

I have spent numerous hours on this, and it's not as easy as you might think.  We've been given kernels of info, but nothing very solid.  Bob says he thinks the name was Arnheim.  We don't know his first name, or his wife's name.  We don't know Tom's parents names.  We don't know names for any of the other relatives.  Bob believes the Arnheims were from Moraga, Calfornia, and the Reillys were from Piedmont, but that info hasn't enabled me to nail down a single solid lead.  I'm waiting to hear back from the historical society in Moraga to see if they have phone directories from the late 60s/early 70s that might list a Dr. Arnheim, in hopes that I can get his full name and perhaps his wife's. 

Good points Jeff. A cluttered and undocumented history made for many Reilly books to have been lost to time. I believe you posted a suggested yearbook picture of Tom long ago in a past thread...? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Primetime said:

Good points Jeff. A cluttered and undocumented history made for many Reilly books to have been lost to time. I believe you posted a suggested yearbook picture of Tom long ago in a past thread...? 

I may have, but it would have only been a possibility.  I suspect some elements of the story are incorrect.  I guarantee you that if a Tom Reilly from Piedmont California had died as a result of a Kamikaze attack, it would have made the papers in small town Piedmont, but I've found nothing. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, nearmint said:

I may have, but it would have only been a possibility.  I suspect some elements of the story are incorrect.  I guarantee you that if a Tom Reilly from Piedmont California had died as a result of a Kamikaze attack, it would have made the papers in small town Piedmont, but I've found nothing. 

The kamikaze attack sounds like misinformation from the family or dealer puffery.

Not sure why it matters, though.  The story of the OO rarely enhances the value of the books.  Do Allentown's get a boost because they are great books or because of the identity of the OO? 

And in this case the OOs who were purchasing the books were not Tom Reilly, they were his parents. Whether he died from a Kamikase or as a DNB really doesn't impact the value of the books.  

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, sfcityduck said:

The kamikaze attack sounds like misinformation from the family or dealer puffery.

Not sure why it matters, though.  The story of the OO rarely enhances the value of the books.  Do Allentown's get a boost because they are great books or because of the identity of the OO? 

And in this case the OOs who were purchasing the books were not Tom Reilly, they were his parents. Whether he died from a Kamikase or as a DNB really doesn't impact the value of the books.  

 

I'm not talking about the value of the books.  My interest is in finding out who Tom Reilly was.  Every piece of information we have is a data point to be researched, and either verified or refuted. 

With that said, yes, sometimes the story behind a pedigree matters.  Okajimas being the best example.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, nearmint said:

I'm not talking about the value of the books.  My interest is in finding out who Tom Reilly was.  Every piece of information we have is a data point to be researched, and either verified or refuted. 

With that said, yes, sometimes the story behind a pedigree matters.  Okajimas being the best example.

Agreed. The story is what sells me on a piece. Larsons - great story, the drugstore sets the books aside for a young kid who carefully reads them and they get stored in a barn. Thanks to Jon Berk, we know who Lamont is and have been able to reconnect him to his past. Okajimas are a great story too. There's still a lot of puzzles in the Reilly story. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Primetime said:

I had heard Nick and Mike paid roughly $1,000 for 60 Timelys on that day...that comes out to $16.66 per book or $98.48/book in today's money. Anybody have a 1973 OSPG? 

 

2 hours ago, Primetime said:

I had heard Nick and Mike paid roughly $1,000 for 60 Timelys on that day...that comes out to $16.66 per book or $98.48/book in today's money. Anybody have a 1973 OSPG? 

:whistle:

bbb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, lou_fine said:

 

With respect to the Cap's, it looks like Cap 1 was guiding for a whopping $350 at top of guide with the Cap 2 being the only other 3-figure dollar book coming in at $150.

 

This would help explain why Mitch couldn't buy one for $400.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
5 5