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Comic Book Marketplace Memories
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134 posts in this topic

1 hour ago, sacentaur said:

Gary was a great editor to work for, his passion for the hobby was contagious.

Gary and his brother were always friendly to all young collectors (like myself) when they were selling at SDCC. I had Gary sign 1 of my hardcover Overstreets.

Flashback to CBM #15. For sale: FF #1 $2, TTA #27 $3, Hulk #1 $1.25, All-American #61 Solomon Grundy $5. A few of these comics need repair by Scotch tape. Rogofsky, 1964 ad.

VJDI1uO.jpg

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4 hours ago, aardvark88 said:

I think CBM #2 was the 1st issue distributed to local comic shops (not just via mail order) and was issued at least 1 year before Overstreet's Advanced Collector #1:

MZRlAHH.jpg

Still got mine the Ghost Rider cover is where Jon Berk tracked down Lamont Larson and who doesn't love a Larson :luhv:

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On 9/16/2019 at 1:49 PM, Robot Man said:

I was very good friends with Gary Coddington. We met over a couple boxes of GA comics at the Azusa swap meet. We hit all the used book stores like the Book Nook in Pasadena. He was a little older than me and drove me down to Hollywood to Cherokee, Collectors and Bond Street Books. We went to each other’s houses many times. He let me read his Action #1 and Superman #1. I still have the Superman #24 I got from him. His brother collected Batman and had a Tec #27 which I also got to read.

Gary had an amazing collection. Not just comics but toys, premiums, movie posters and the like. Probably, the most serious collector I ever met up to that point. Sadly, Gary had serious kidney problems and passed away in his very early 40’s. His father and brother sold off his collection for real decent prices in the day. Bruce Hamilton was a major buyer I believe. 

@Robot Man I remember meeting Gary many times at the Glendale All American Toy & Collectibles Show. He was very nice. I recall him telling me he owned one of George Reeves Superman costumes from the first or second season and it was all gray since the series was filmed in black and white. There was another Superman collector from NY named Danny Fuchs who advertised himself as “America’s Foremost Superman Authority “. Gary told me Fuch’s collection wasn’t even close to his.

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6 minutes ago, Ghastly542454 said:

@Robot Man I remember meeting Gary many times at the Glendale All American Toy & Collectibles Show. He was very nice. I recall him telling me he owned one of George Reeves Superman costumes from the first or second season and it was all gray since the series was filmed in black and white. There was another Superman collector from NY named Danny Fuchs who advertised himself as “America’s Foremost Superman Authority “. Gary told me Fuch’s collection wasn’t even close to his.

Yes he did. It was amazing. I saw Danny’s collection once and I give a slight nod to Gary. Danny had more stuff, but Gary had better stuff. Harry Matesky also had an amazing collection but no comics to speak of. All 3 great guys and very passionate collectors. 

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I bought quite a few Mile Highs from Gary Carter from 1990-1995. Highlights include:

Action Comics #25, 34, 35, 41, 61, 69, 70 & 102

Detective Comics #91, 109 & 120

Many Leading Comics, More Fun Comics & Star Spangled Comics.

I had a few letters published by Carter & a Hitler cover article published in CBM #31.

Edited by Timely
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On 9/16/2019 at 8:14 PM, adamstrange said:

There were tragic circumstances with respect to Keith and google is unlikely to yield a fair perspective.  The full truth is unlikely to be known and unrelated to comics.

As Keith's best friend for 20+ years, I am definitely going to have a slanted view.

The good part of the Keith story is that even when I met him in the late 80s he had already been a dealer with a great reputation since the early 70s. He and his brother Peter ran the comic section of the Paper Chase in Georgia for many years before that (anyone who lived in the state and collected comics or movie posters in the 70s-90s will remember them and their incredible stock) and Keith was one of the driving forces in the growth of the HG SA market during the 80s and 90s. His columns and rants in both the Overstreet Updates and CBM are required reading for anyone who loves comics. He was trusted and respected by collectors and dealers alike for decades - the original poster who claimed Keith stole $26,000 from him had literally hundred of thousands of dollars of books (and many thousands in cash) with him at any given time for years on just verbal deals. And I don't know of any dealers that weren't happy to send him material upfront for his inspection before purchase.

The bad of his story is that a troubled marriage (and troubled step-child), combined with the launch of his mobile-vet business, led to an arrest, some false charges, the confiscation of his money and assets, and a depression that he could not find his way out of.

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12 hours ago, Tsp99 said:

CBM was hands down my favorite zine. for less than a $100 you could buy a full page ad.  Those were the days. Here's the first issue ......

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Old timer's will remember Alan Light's first "The Buyer's Guide" #1 ad in RBCC #76 circa Nov, 1970 where a full tabloid sized ad page could be had for $16 with circulation of about 5,000. Overstreet #1 was also solicited in same issue.

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Edited by aardvark88
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On 9/16/2019 at 5:54 PM, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

Just google "Dr. Keith Contarino"

I talked to his brother who runs a movie poster auction site now.  I had no idea Keith was his brother but when we started talking about comics, he told me and of course I knew the name.  Interesting story, Peter (Keith's brother) would put his name in his comics and they were sold off over the years but they had very nice SA books but Keith purchased some books years later and found a copy of Peter's n the pile.  

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3 hours ago, Crowzilla said:

As Keith's best friend for 20+ years, I am definitely going to have a slanted view.

The good part of the Keith story is that even when I met him in the late 80s he had already been a dealer with a great reputation since the early 70s. He and his brother Peter ran the comic section of the Paper Chase in Georgia for many years before that (anyone who lived in the state and collected comics or movie posters in the 70s-90s will remember them and their incredible stock) and Keith was one of the driving forces in the growth of the HG SA market during the 80s and 90s. His columns and rants in both the Overstreet Updates and CBM are required reading for anyone who loves comics. He was trusted and respected by collectors and dealers alike for decades - the original poster who claimed Keith stole $26,000 from him had literally hundred of thousands of dollars of books (and many thousands in cash) with him at any given time for years on just verbal deals. And I don't know of any dealers that weren't happy to send him material upfront for his inspection before purchase.

The bad of his story is that a troubled marriage (and troubled step-child), combined with the launch of his mobile-vet business, led to an arrest, some false charges, the confiscation of his money and assets, and a depression that he could not find his way out of.

I just saw your post after I had posted about talking to Keith's brother not too long ago.  Do you know Peter?  He was great to talk to and full of information.  I thought Peter said something about who Keith's ex-father-in-law was but cannot remember.  I want to say Beerbohm but I may be way off.

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3 hours ago, telerites said:

I just saw your post after I had posted about talking to Keith's brother not too long ago.  Do you know Peter?  He was great to talk to and full of information.  I thought Peter said something about who Keith's ex-father-in-law was but cannot remember.  I want to say Beerbohm but I may be way off.

Yes, of course I've known Peter for many years. We have a 1-sheet poster of Pluto's Christmas Tree that we send back and forth to each other every other Christmas to display (an item we both had wanted, and saw it together at a show, so we share rather than having to fight over it)

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12 minutes ago, Crowzilla said:

Yes, of course I've known Peter for many years. We have a 1-sheet poster of Pluto's Christmas Tree that we send back and forth to each other every other Christmas to display (an item we both had wanted, and saw it together at a show, so we share rather than having to fight over it)

I bid weekly in his movie poster/paper auctions.  It was a lot of fun talking with him.   He has done so much with the auction site.  

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Some old photos of current boardies from the magazine. I doubt any would mind because they were published in CBM anyway. These were all SDCC shots from an article on the 1997 SDCC. Even though I was at all these shows, it was always fun to see dealer shots and reviews on the con. A few of them have sadly passed on to the great comic con in the sky...:sorry:

bedrockSDCC1997.jpg

garycoddingtonSDCC1997.jpg

redbeardSDCC1997.jpg

stevecareySDCC1997.jpg

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