Comic Book Collecting

[MikeAndreas1]

None are in high grade by strict Overstreet standards. Most are in mid-grade with a couple of the earlier issues being in the GOOD range. Some of the later ones are in the FN range or better. I upgraded all of the real beaters some time ago and I'm pleased with the runs as they stand. That said, if I pick up some lots in future I'll upgrade as opportunity presents itself, I'm just not paying high prices to take a G up to a FN.

I'm not a herd-runner concerning the current comic book collecting community. I don't spend an arm and a leg for comics and I don't mind having mid-grade issues. I won't pay extra for a book just because it's slabbed (I usually crack them out anyway). I don't pay the ridiculous price spreads for high grade books- for me a strictly graded VF is very close to being as desirable as a NM (or the mythical 10.0). I don't collect Modern comics, or many from pretty much the last 30 years. I just want to complete runs from the Bronze and earlier with complete mid-grade copies or better (FN-VF is the sweet spot). I don't get books slabbed to keep. I think giving big prices for slabbed Modern variants borders on the ridiculous. Also, I think this mania for pressing and cleaning to resubmit for a "grade bump" is folly. To me a 9.4 is just a desirable as a 9.8 and I think the price differences in the marketplace between the nit-picky upper grades are insanity. It just depends on the 3rd party grader's state of mind that day whether a comic gets assigned a 9.6 or 9.8 (and sometimes a 9.4), or if he actually damages the book by handling it and rifling through the pages to move on to the next book and soak the customer for the next 20 bucks or whatever.

I didn't mean to rant. I'm just on a different page than most current collectors. I watch You Tube comic book auctions for entertainment and find myself eye-rolling frequently. They do their thing and I do mine.

Hep, only the first paragraph is in response to your question. The rest is really just to make conversation about comic book collecting. It isn't intended to inflame an argument or dismiss other people's collecting styles. What's best for some just isn't for others.

It sounds like you have a very focused and practical approach to comic book collecting, prioritizing completeness and enjoying the hobby without getting caught up in some of the current trends. Do you have any favorite runs or specific titles from the Bronze Age that you're particularly proud of completing or still working on?

[horrorhunter]

I focus on Horror/Monster titles, and especially monster magazines. I also have many Superhero titles, as well as War and other genres. I finished most of the main Bronze Horror titles years ago, like Tomb of Dracula, Werewolf by Night, Ghost Rider, Witching Hour, House of Mystery (174up), House of Secrets (81up). I'm still working on a few things like Weird War Tales, Ghosts, Unexpected, and several Charlton and Gold Key titles, among others. What do you collect?

[Mike Scott]

Welcome to the UMA, MikeAndreas1! 

[horrorhunter]

I found my long lost FOOM poster the other day (Steranko art). I thought I may have sold it at some point years ago, but it turned up in the basement under some other junk. I'm really glad to get that back since it's my original one Marvel mailed me with the club kit back in the '70s. It's in decent condition aside from some tack holes where it was tacked to the wall. Here's a net-pic of one:



This brings up another point- "off-the-rack" (OTR) comics. I still have a few early comics I bought OTR from the '60s and early '70s, and those have sentimental value above and beyond any "collector value". Examples of these are Marvel Spotlight #s 1, 2, & 6 and Web of Horror #2. I have hundreds of OTR comics from the mid '70s onward, but those aren't as special to me as the earlier ones even though most of them are in high grade. Other comics that mean a lot to me are important books bought shortly after I started collecting (mid/late '70s) purchased from dealers, other collectors, used bookstores, flea markets, etc. Examples of these are HOS #92, Swamp Thing 1 & 2 (from Bob Overstreet), Tomb of Dracula #1, and Werewolf by Night #32. You have to be of a certain age to even be able to own older OTR. It doesn't matter how much money you have to throw at it, it can't be an OTR comic unless you physically bought it new back in the day, probably off of a spinner rack. Of course, an OTR book only has extra value to the owner, and it probably can't be proved it was bought new off-the-rack, but the owner knows and that's all that matters.

Anyone else have any older OTR comics? If so, which issues and any stories to go along with the purchase? For example, I bought many of my comics while on a vacation or other trip. I used to buy Avengers and Fantastic Four when my family went out of town to read on the long drive.

[Rex fury]

I have lots of OTR comics. I can look at certain issues and remember specific times in my life. While I had a few assorted comics before Amazing Spider-Man 25, that issue started my comic book collecting. I still have it today. At some point the first page got ripped out and I replaced it with a Marvel Tales page. Spidey 39 disappeared around the time my parents built an extension on our house and I think it's entombed behind a wall to this day. One last Spidey memory concerns issue 41. The day I got the comic I got a bad case of the flu. Every time I look at the Rhino charging out of the cover I remember being sick!
I have lots of other memories of buying titles off the rack , many associated with the Fantastic Four. While I sold runs of Avengers, X-Men, etc. I still have all my original FFs.
RF
Ps- I've got some of my MMMS, Marvelmania and Foom  stuff too.

[Most Horrible]

First thing I thought of when I saw this comic collection topic today were my 3 childhood Star Trek comics still in my possession. The photo is not my personal comic from Google image but from Google images and it is an eBay photo at that....Dang if this "good" condition comic is going for about $350. Cripes! Gadzooks!

It was a big deal for me back then, a mere kid, to cough up the money to purchase the comic at the local Five & Dime.



cheers and everyone take care,
mh

ps - I am not a collector...just hangin' on to what I still have from when I was a kid..

[horrorhunter]

I bought a bunch of Sad Sack comics from eBay sellers.







I already had a few from the '60s and I've been looking for cheap lots of them on eBay but haven't had much luck until recently. I even got that 3-pack from 1973 pretty cheap. Most eBay sellers want 2-5 bucks each for them these days in lots for really low-grade beaters. These are pretty nice with most in the FN-NM range, and they ended up being less than $2 each. I buy them mostly to read but I prefer them to be in at least FN condition (the way I kept mine as a kid).

I've always liked the various Sad Sack titles and characters. The stories are very simple and a bit weird, but I've always enjoyed them. I mostly collect Horror/Monster and Superhero comics, but I have a few Harvey comics like the afore mentioned Sad Sack, Casper, Hot Stuff, and Richie Rich. They were always on the spinner racks when I was a kid, so they have a place in my heart. I even have the first issue of Friendly Ghost Casper from the late '50s which I bought for around 50 cents at an antique mall several years ago. Never really got into Archie comics though.

[Mike Scott]

I even got that 3-pack from 1973 pretty cheap.

Wow! Three 20 cent comics for only 59 cents! Sign me up! 

[Mike Scott]

LE variant cover for a new Archie comic called "Judgment Day" #1.  Imitates the old "Jughead" #79 from the '60s.

[Rex fury]

I just bought a comic called Unusual Comics from eBay. It's issue number2 and is a Canadian reprint of an issue of Dynamite Comics. The reason I bought it was the cover features a hard hat diver battling an octopus. Lately, I've begin to stray away from more mainstream comics and look for more esoteric material. I also purchased a comic book giveaway from Willeys advertising the Jeeps they were building in the late Forties.
I probably overpaid for both of these books, but how often do you see them for sale? I'm not part of the slabbing crowd but did get a kick out of learning there's only one other slabbed copy of Unusual Comics and ( to the best of my knowledge) no slabbed copies of the Jeep advert.
RF

[judd]

I just purchased a reprint of the 1977 Marvel Comics Godzilla number one.  It sells for about $5.  Marvel is going to release a collection of reprints of the run of Godzilla comics but it's pretty expensive. 

I also purchased some older James Bond comics.  I have a reprint of the Classics Illustrated Dr. No.

[Rex fury]

How's the classics version of Dr No? I've been meaning to purchase the DC Showcase edition, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I didn't know that Classics had covered the story too!
RF

[horrorhunter]

Finally received The Complete Web of Horror hardback by Fantagraphics from an eBay seller. This is an impressive book very well printed and bound at 259+ pages with a lot of background info on the legendary monster mag from 1969/1970. My own fascination for Web of Horror began in the Winter of 1969 at the age of 10 when I bought WOH #2 off-the-rack and read it to death. I still have that OTR copy (minus the art contest centerfold). At the 2001 Monster Bash I bought all three Web issues in nice condition (FN-VF). In the last decade or so I've run down all of the fanzines which published the stories (and copy of the cover by Wrightson) intended for the never-published WOH #4. I guess I'm a little obsessed with Web of Horror, and it's my favorite monster mag run. The whole backstory of the creation and demise of WOH I find interesting and hella fun. Editor Terry Bisson jumping ship to join that silly hippie commune, publisher Robert Sproul losing interest and ducking out on the scheduled meeting with proposed new editors Bernie Wrightson and Bruce Jones (and taking the original art for future issues with him), and ballsy Frank Brunner sneaking into the Cracked offices later to steal the art back and give it to the original creators (which they weren't that grateful for considering they thought it might actually get published), seems more like high drama than monster mag publishing...but it actually happened. I had already pieced together what would have probably been Web #4 after picking up Scream Door #1, Reality #s 1 & 2, and other fanzines, but one of the coolest parts of this new Complete Web of Horror book is "The Lost Pages" featuring pages of art for future WOH stories that were never published. Anyone interested in monster mags or even comic book history in general should grab a copy of this book while it's cheap and plentiful. I ordered my copy from an eBay seller for $40 and change with free shipping. Maybe I'll finally get around to doing that WOH video and it will feature this new book prominently.


https://www.fantagraphics.com/products/the-complete-web-of-horror

Here's a YT video covering the new book. I don't agree with some of the opinions expressed but I thought it worth posting. Also posted is a YT podcast which is pretty interesting once you get past the annoying BS in the first five minutes or so.

[Rex fury]

I picked this up too. I highly recommend it Fantagraphics is reprinting some prime material these days.

[judd]

How's the classics version of Dr No? I've been meaning to purchase the DC Showcase edition, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I didn't know that Classics had covered the story too!
RF

It's an adaptation of the movie Dr. No not the novel.  The DC showcase version is pretty much the same comic with a few minor variations.  I believe some of the black characters in the original were changed to white for the DC showcase version.  I guess the DC editors thought the way the blacks were drawn in the original might be considered racist to American readers.