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Thoughts on basement find
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11 posts in this topic

I have close to 150 comics from the early 50s to 60s.  They all came from my father in-law's childhood collection and he gifted them to our family for his grandchildren to read.  They sat in a box in our basement for about a year before I finally went through them and found an X-Men #1 (in poor condition-- see my PGM post).  Of course I got excited and looked up every book that had a cover.  Due to their condition (brittle, ripped pages, deteriorating spine, missing covers, etc), most were valued by online searches at less than $2-3.  

My plan for now is to preserve the "best" or "favorite" books, and let the kids enjoy reading the rest.  My father in-law is happy to see the kids enjoy them-- and I don't get too worked up when little pieces fall off the books when they're handled because I know most of the value is sentimental.

I'm curious what the comic book collecting community thinks about this plan... What have others done with their large decomposing collections?

Edited by kcma
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7 minutes ago, kcma said:

I have close to 150 comics from the early 50s to 60s.  They all came from my father in-law's childhood collection and he gifted them to our family for his grandchildren to read.  They sat in a box in our basement for about a year before I finally went through them and found an X-Men #1 (in poor condition-- see my PGM post).  Of course I got excited and looked up every book that had a cover.  Due to their condition (brittle, ripped pages, deteriorating spine, missing covers, etc), most were valued by online searches at less than $2-3.  

My plan for now is to preserve the "best" or "favorite" books, and let the kids enjoy reading the rest.  My father in-law is happy to see the kids enjoy them-- and I don't get too worked up when little pieces fall off the books when they're handled because I know most of the value is sentimental.

I'm curious what the comic book collecting community thinks about this plan... What have others done with their large decomposing collections?

Sounds like a solid plan.  Bag anything over $10 or so,  and let the kids at the rest.  When they're a bit older let them at the bagged books.

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It's easy for us collectors to drift away from the fact that comics were meant to be read, enjoyed, tossed around and played with by kids. 

I think you have a good plan. Bag and board the best and your favorites. Maybe sell books like X1 if your not interested in keeping it. 

But hopefully your kids will enjoy them the way they weren't meant to be enjoyed. 

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1 hour ago, Mmehdy said:

Photo's?

I’ll try to get some good ones— there are just so many books!  Too many to put out for my kids to read— I may look for a local collector interested in purchasing them in bulk.

I went through them today and found lots of:

Archie

Dell Comics (lots of Disney)

Little Iodine

Felix the Cat

Howdy Doody

Western Comics

Classic Stories Comics

Tarzan

 

 

Edited by kcma
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12 hours ago, kcma said:

I have close to 150 comics from the early 50s to 60s.  They all came from my father in-law's childhood collection and he gifted them to our family for his grandchildren to read.  They sat in a box in our basement for about a year before I finally went through them and found an X-Men #1 (in poor condition-- see my PGM post).  Of course I got excited and looked up every book that had a cover.  Due to their condition (brittle, ripped pages, deteriorating spine, missing covers, etc), most were valued by online searches at less than $2-3.  

My plan for now is to preserve the "best" or "favorite" books, and let the kids enjoy reading the rest.  My father in-law is happy to see the kids enjoy them-- and I don't get too worked up when little pieces fall off the books when they're handled because I know most of the value is sentimental.

I'm curious what the comic book collecting community thinks about this plan... What have others done with their large decomposing collections?

Great idea!  My love of comics of the late 40s and 50s arises in large part from the fact my dad gave me his collection, and because his collection included not only decent shape issues, but also a healthy amount of "remaindered" comics undoubtedly obtained by my grandfather, the manager of a Woolworth's.  I read a huge amount of later 40s to early 50s comics and gained a love of that period of DC, Fiction House, Duck books, etc. that still firmly resides within me today.  

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47 minutes ago, gadzukes said:

As low grade as your X1 is..... it's NM compared to this X1 I sold recently.  Just so you know..... I was paid $1500 for this, so your PR X1 is still quite valuable.

 

1.jpeg

Wow! Just curious, that much water damage, did it smell of mold? I'm happy for you but the market is wack, baby, wack! 

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4 minutes ago, Badger said:

Wow! Just curious, that much water damage, did it smell of mold? I'm happy for you but the market is wack, baby, wack! 

I didn't smell it, but I suspect it did.

Yes, the market is whack when someone will throw big money as a comic that looks like that.  I was happy to take it.

The funny thing is..... they can probably flip it and make a profit right now.  :roflmao:

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