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Is PCH down?
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149 posts in this topic

2 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

I believe there are several of them.

How does one find them?  I entered "icon", and then "icon cover" in the search, and several thousand threads came up, mostly in the sales forum.

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1 minute ago, fifties said:

How does one find them?  I entered "icon", and then "icon cover" in the search, and several thousand threads came up, mostly in the sales forum.

Try different words instead of just iconic. I’m to tired to search tonight. It’s been done before. Sure of it. 

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Just to play devils advocate some of the counterarguments of why the books are not down is pointing to a few books that are "icons" or well known and saying "look its not down!" Also what makes a cover "iconic" other than the artist or pre-established community opinion. When a new collector finds their first favorite superhero, books with major events surrounding that hero or their arch-nemesis  are keys and it is evident. They dont need to be told or influenced of that. With PCH I don't this directly translates, collector sees cool torture cover with art and drawings he likes so he purchases...decides he no wants to collect PCH, but asks where do I go after that one book? Collect the run? Collect the cover artist? Collect the Publisher?

Most of the times they have no knowledge unless another PCH collector teachers or guides them. So then all new collectors get guided to the same books making them "hot or desirable". I didn't need anyone to tell me that after I started liking luke cage I needed to move on to Iron Fist...I naturally got there because of team up mags. The interest was organic and collecting driven by interest...There are not tons of collectors pushing those characters even less after the netflix iron fist show :$.

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25 minutes ago, 956Ref said:

Just to play devils advocate some of the counterarguments of why the books are not down is pointing to a few books that are "icons" or well known and saying "look its not down!" Also what makes a cover "iconic" other than the artist or pre-established community opinion. When a new collector finds their first favorite superhero, books with major events surrounding that hero or their arch-nemesis  are keys and it is evident. They dont need to be told or influenced of that. With PCH I don't this directly translates, collector sees cool torture cover with art and drawings he likes so he purchases...decides he no wants to collect PCH, but asks where do I go after that one book? Collect the run? Collect the cover artist? Collect the Publisher?

Most of the times they have no knowledge unless another PCH collector teachers or guides them. So then all new collectors get guided to the same books making them "hot or desirable". I didn't need anyone to tell me that after I started liking luke cage I needed to move on to Iron Fist...I naturally got there because of team up mags. The interest was organic and collecting driven by interest...There are not tons of collectors pushing those characters even less after the netflix iron fist show :$.

I agree. I think there's an emperor-has-no-clothes element, too. Collectors all jump on the "iconic cover" bandwagon and refuse to admit that a cover is just average. Black Cat Mystery 50 is a good example. For me, the artwork is mediocre. It never would have occurred to me that it would be a sought-after cover if people on the boards hadn't proclaimed it so. Now enough people are on the bandwagon that dissing it like I'm doing now is probably considered blasphemous.

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37 minutes ago, jimbo_7071 said:

I agree. I think there's an emperor-has-no-clothes element, too. Collectors all jump on the "iconic cover" bandwagon and refuse to admit that a cover is just average. Black Cat Mystery 50 is a good example. For me, the artwork is mediocre. It never would have occurred to me that it would be a sought-after cover if people on the boards hadn't proclaimed it so. Now enough people are on the bandwagon that dissing it like I'm doing now is probably considered blasphemous.

That was considered a classic long before the internet.  And it's not the art that people are after.

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55 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

A lot of talk about books that are "iconic" or "classic". To me, an "iconic" cover is one that defines a genre quickly. There are many examples that I don't feel like getting into. A "classic" cover is one that over a long period of time has been proven to be desirable or sought after. Then there are the rest. Back in the day, most of them were fairly available and actually fairly cheap. Most PCH, Crime and Sci-Fi books were dollar books with notable exceptions such as ECs.

PCH has always appealed to me. Maybe it's the "forbidden fruit" aspect. Or the fact that these were sitting right up front on the newstand to grab your attention. I wasn't around to buy them then. Perhaps Marty or fifties can chime in on this. Given the opportunity to grab a random superhero book or a PCH book, I would always gravitate to the "dark side". I'm not a sick person, I don't enjoy slasher movies or worship the devil, it's just that morbid fascination I guess. I own thousands of comics. I by far own the most horror and crime books. Just what I still like the most I guess.

Now days, especially with the higher prices, people are looking for that next "classic" cover to pimp and make money on. Due to CGC, we live in a very cover centric world. Many, never look inside. I like raw books that I can thumb through, read and enjoy. Condition is important sure, but just owning these books is far more important to me. I can always upgrade if I feel I need to.

For the most part, a lot of my show customers gravitate to these quickly. Mostly, I suspect due to the interest and rising prices. A lot of "flippers" who really don't care about them but just can't wait to post them on IG or Ebay, make a couple quick bucks and move on to the next one. I do have customers though who actually read, and enjoy the stuff. Most aren't too concerned about condition and big dollars but are fans of the medium. (they always get the better deals)...

And a lot of these books are personal. What is "classic" to me might not be to you. The grade or price they sell for is not relevant.

Here is a random shot I took one time of books someone asked me about. Only because he mentioned these issues specificaly. Some of my MANY favorites and some not quite so much. Some, I would consider "iconic", some "classic" and some are just cool. I suspect that if we took a poll on just these specific ones, were would get a lot of different answers as to which fell into each of these three categories. One thing I know for sure, if I wanted to sell them, I would laugh all the way to the bank...:devil:

horrorclassiccovers.jpg

Well, the Weird Mysteries #4 is the only one that's ever been on my want list; I'd probably buy a Shocksuspenstories #6, but I wouldn't go above guide on it.

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1 hour ago, jimbo_7071 said:

I agree. I think there's an emperor-has-no-clothes element, too. Collectors all jump on the "iconic cover" bandwagon and refuse to admit that a cover is just average. Black Cat Mystery 50 is a good example. For me, the artwork is mediocre. It never would have occurred to me that it would be a sought-after cover if people on the boards hadn't proclaimed it so. Now enough people are on the bandwagon that dissing it like I'm doing now is probably considered blasphemous.

As buttock mentions, this has long been a top-ranked classic cover of the genre. The grotesque image of the man's face and fingers rotting away from radium exposure has made it the most sought after Harvey horror book since at least the early 1990s. That doesn't mean you have to like it, I find plenty of "classic covers" to be overrated, in the PCH as well as other genres, but there are books with a decades long history of demand, and BCM #50 is one of them.

There has been a recent elevation of many of the more run-of-the-mill covers that just a few years ago didn't get any special consideration, but thanks to a combination of GGA, skeletons, and creepy or odd settings, have become in demand. Perceived relative scarcity appears to play a role, though that can change when prices bring copies out of hiding. I'll admit to sometimes being perplexed as to why one cover with those collectible elements that make for an interesting, but not historically high demand cover, will sell for around a grand in 5.0 condition, and another for around $250, often from the same publisher. I'm not sure many of these more recent PCH classics will have the legs some of the old favorites have, though with mid-grade copies of many of the perennial classics covers routinely hitting the mid four figures, the newcomers may continue to look like bargains at only $1000 or so.

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2 hours ago, Robot Man said:

Here is a random shot I took one time of books someone asked me about. Only because he mentioned these issues specificaly. Some of my MANY favorites and some not quite so much. Some, I would consider "iconic", some "classic" and some are just cool. I suspect that if we took a poll on just these specific ones, were would get a lot of different answers as to which fell into each of these three categories. One thing I know for sure, if I wanted to sell them, I would laugh all the way to the bank...:devil:

 

W:whatthe:W

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1 hour ago, rjpb said:

As buttock mentions, this has long been a top-ranked classic cover of the genre. The grotesque image of the man's face and fingers rotting away from radium exposure has made it the most sought after Harvey horror book since at least the early 1990s. That doesn't mean you have to like it, I find plenty of "classic covers" to be overrated, in the PCH as well as other genres, but there are books with a decades long history of demand, and BCM #50 is one of them.

There has been a recent elevation of many of the more run-of-the-mill covers that just a few years ago didn't get any special consideration, but thanks to a combination of GGA, skeletons, and creepy or odd settings, have become in demand. Perceived relative scarcity appears to play a role, though that can change when prices bring copies out of hiding. I'll admit to sometimes being perplexed as to why one cover with those collectible elements that make for an interesting, but not historically high demand cover, will sell for around a grand in 5.0 condition, and another for around $250, often from the same publisher. I'm not sure many of these more recent PCH classics will have the legs some of the old favorites have, though with mid-grade copies of many of the perennial classics covers routinely hitting the mid four figures, the newcomers may continue to look like bargains at only $1000 or so.

This is something about modern collecting that I don't understand.  In a matter of less than a week, a previously banal book will become hot out of nowhere and people will call it a "classic".  I understand that tastes change, but that's generally a slow process.  

I think it's in part due to an influx of newer collectors without prejudice, and also the fact that so many long held classic books aren't offered, so the new money gets focused on more attainable issues.  

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17 minutes ago, fifties said:

A few of mine.  Would they be considered icons?  Certainly at least the Strange Tales Lawbreakers and Fight Against Crime issues.

WTOF 8.jpg

Witches Tales 25.jpg

Witchcraft 5.jpg

Witchcraft 2.jpg

Tomb of Terror 16.jpg

The Beyond, 25.jpg

Strange Tales 28.jpg

Spook 27.jpg

SCi Fi Space Adv 12.jpg

Lawbreakers SS 11.jpg

Ghostly Weird 122.jpg

Fight Against Crime 20.jpg

CDNP 33.jpg

Blue Bolt Weird 115.jpg

Ghostly Weird and Witches Tales best two covers in that lot in my opinion. Awesome books. Thanks for sharing!

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21 minutes ago, fifties said:

A few of mine.  Would they be considered icons?  Certainly at least the Strange Tales Lawbreakers and Fight Against Crime issues.

WTOF 8.jpg

Witches Tales 25.jpg

Witchcraft 5.jpg

Witchcraft 2.jpg

Tomb of Terror 16.jpg

The Beyond, 25.jpg

Strange Tales 28.jpg

Spook 27.jpg

SCi Fi Space Adv 12.jpg

Lawbreakers SS 11.jpg

Ghostly Weird 122.jpg

Fight Against Crime 20.jpg

CDNP 33.jpg

Blue Bolt Weird 115.jpg

Iconic? Maybe FAC 20 & LBSS. Classic? Everything but Space Advs, Spook, Beyond And Witchcraft #2 which although great covers are neither iconic or classic to me at least. 

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While those are all in demand now, I wouldn't call them all "iconic", some like the Spook, Beyond and the Tomb #16 weren't breakout books just a few years ago IIRC, though they might have been a bit more popular than other issues in the runs. "Iconic" may the wrong word to describe some undisputed classics, but most are definitely that, books that most every PCH collector would want for their collection, and the top or one of the top covers for their respective runs. 

 

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5 hours ago, jimbo_7071 said:

I agree. I think there's an emperor-has-no-clothes element, too. Collectors all jump on the "iconic cover" bandwagon and refuse to admit that a cover is just average. Black Cat Mystery 50 is a good example. For me, the artwork is mediocre. It never would have occurred to me that it would be a sought-after cover if people on the boards hadn't proclaimed it so. Now enough people are on the bandwagon that dissing it like I'm doing now is probably considered blasphemous.

I don't think you are very far off. I will join you in unpopular opinions. Although I agree Cole is extremely talented, I have no idea why anyone likes that blue bolt 112. That book is even rising in price, and I see oohs and ahhs when posted on the board. But I am frankly not impressed or compelled to it with so many other rich PCH covers.

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3 hours ago, 956Ref said:

I have no idea why anyone likes that blue bolt 112.

You obviously don’t have to like every book others do but when you say things like this, well, if you can’t see why this would be a desirable book, then I can’t explain it to you.:foryou:

135A49BA-7B85-4556-81EB-D71CFBAEFD98.jpeg

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