Thanks KryptoniteRocks for the kind words. Started out about 10 years ago hunting down all the silver age keys but my passion shifted to the classic covers of the golden age shortly thereafter.
Love that you showcase books that are both slabbed and raw! Proof that a great collection doesn’t have to consist of every grail/key/favorite book being slabbed (unless you actually have plans to slab them all, haha)!
Thanks my friend. I've got love for both the raws and slabs. If a book is in that mid- to low-grade range, I"m not so concerned about harming the grade.
Haha. Thanks Ben. Yeah, the DM1 may be my 2nd favorite Schomburg book and it's one of the toughest to get, although USA 7 and Exciting 28 are probably tougher. This particular copy was also in the Jon Berk collection. My #1 is as predictable as yours :-)
@@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842 oddly, I have never had trouble finding USA 7. I’m on my fourth copy in 15 years which still seems tough but quite normal for Timelys 😀exciting 28 I have owned once in the early 2000s- I got the Schomburg Nedors out of my system years ago lol
Thanks for sharing. USA 7 rarely appears in auctions. You must be hogging all the copies. Exciting 28 is tough. I had a 4.0 one time but it didn't have good eye appeal. That 9.4 going up at Heritage nuts! BTW: I don't know if I'll ever get the Schomburg Needors out of my system :-)
I do love More Fun 54, but I personally prefer the cover on 65. The Spectre's reflection in the mirror has that horror tone that works so well with the character. Both covers are Bernard Bailey and The Spectre at their best.
Hi Jeremy. I hadn't looked carefully at MF 65 before, but checked it out on your recommendation. I definitely see the appeal. Some folks I know are enamored with MF 60. Nice covers all around. Bernard Bailey is certainly under-rated in my book.
That 4 Color 199 is a nice cover! I just bid $1950 last night on a Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #20 8.0 on comiclink thinking that would be enough to get it but it sold for $3400! Thats a big new record i think. Crazy!
Never seen that book before. It's great. Love the blazing red cover. Yeah, prices can be all over the place with relatively obscure golden age books. It catches a few people's fancy and boom! Or, a few fanatics of a book happen to miss an auction and the book sells for half price.
Thanks Kirk! Funny enough Amazing Spider-Man 1 was my childhood grail. Now I think AF15 is cooler in just about every respect but still have the most love for ASM1 because it's so deeply ingrained in my psyche.
Fantastic channel. Can’t stop watching. Glad you’ve made such interesting videos And your collection is incredible btw. Or should I say “amazing”. Definitely not uncanny.
Watched again. Mark baker girl cover w shark. That sub mariner by schomberg. Then the starling bender. AF of course. Think is my favorites Id take a restored cap america any day
Thats a great looking top 25 list, I am loving the variation of books and styles from SCHOMBURG to MATT BAKER ( one of the greatest comic book artists for me, its great to see you highlight him here ) from KIRBY to DITKO, your top 25 variation highlights your love of the medium for me, so many different examples, my collecting habits do run along the same lines I love the variation and styles of the great artists and I must admit I do have a weakness for Kirby original art pages as well particually Kamandi he went wild on these, I always wondered why Stan Lee went with a Kirby cover on AF # 15 rather than the Ditko version which has always looked fine to me and equally as good, and likewise with ASM # 1 and he did get Kirby to do the cover to DD # 1 as well where he dident do the interiors and I have always thought surely Bill Everett would have put out a great cover for it maybe he just wanted to keep the familiar house style on all the covers on the news stands at that particular time although I do know as well that Everett was having trouble meeting his deadlines at the time and indeed Daredevil # 1 was supposed to be released with a September 63 cover date, the same month as X - men # 1 but Everett was struggling with the deadline so they had to bring forward their planned release date for Avengers # 1 to fill a commitment they had made with printers and their distributors and knock Daredevil back, I dont think it was the ideal scenario in their minds to bring out two group books in the same month but in the end they had to run with it, great video like I say and always a pleasure to view Schomburg air brushed covers there is just something magical about them they draw you in.
Hi Cap. Thanks for the kind words and interesting information about the silver-age covers. I'm sure Stan Lee, Kirby, Ditko, and company had little idea that those quick decisions back in the early '60s would keep collectors chirping in 2022. BTW: That's one of the best things about youtube....meeting folks from around the globe with similar niche interests. Cheers my friend.
Happy to have found you! You,like me, have a thing for underwaters ! I might be the premier underwater collector there is having spend the last 20+ years amassing every example between 1938 and 1961 (Golden age defined in the broadest terms.) I have indexed and located 440 of the 460+ examples I have identified. You be one of my last remaining grail books ( Seven Seas #4!) of course. I have all the Schomberg examples do cool. You have a great collection for sure! Cheers to you.
Hi Malcolm. What a wonderful message. Do you ever post on the CGC boards? I recall someone who was obsessed with Underwater covers there. Do you have a favorite? Or, if that's too hard, a few favorites? BTW: I barely missed out on that Seven Seas 4, 8.5 that sold on Heritage a few years ago. That was a bargain at the time and a super bargain now! I hope you are able to acquire one.
@@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842 I don't post on CGC board. I collect mostly raw books - the Underwaters cross all genre and I am working on a coffee table book illustrating the whole collection.i do have a to 40 greatest hits in the collection. There are several I am still hoping to land including Seven Seas 4 but I am doubtful it will ever happen given the escalation in price. I still need Hit 5 and Action 15 but I do have many many many others that I love and which few other collectors ever see. Sure Fire 2, Detective Eye 2, Scoop #2? With the mimic cover of Hit 5 ! Just to name a small list. I would love to connect more deeply and share notes ! I have been an avid golden/silver age collector for 40+ year
Dude I wouldn't mind hearing the stories of how you got alot of these!( I know you.briefly spoke about them but wow!!) I only own Amazing Spiderman #300 from this list but I hope to obtain more in the future!
Thanks Lowell. Most of the books I acquired at auction. I do have a couple stories that would be good youtube videos. Hopefully, I'll be able to publish them. In the meantime, I created this video that talks about a few books I didn't win! ua-cam.com/video/EyRFNecPgZQ/v-deo.html
Great collection, Keston. For most of us it would just be an Amazing Fantasy to own even some of them. I only have 5 of your top 25. Do you have any plans to have any of the raw ones graded?
Thanks Rocketfighter for the kind words and amazing fantasy reference :-). Perhaps. The obvious one, in terms of value, would be the Avengers 1. But...I actually enjoy cracking it open now and then. And, the grade is low enough where I'm not going to hurt it with a gentle read.
Had to pause video on Daring mystery 1 WOW! AWESOME, my first golden age comic was a Marvel mystery #9 @ 5.5 to 6.0 I traded it for a table at San Digeo comic con because they were sold out and did that show for 9 more years. What grade is your Suspense #3 ?
Wow. Cool book and story! My S3 is a 7.0, and it's the Crippen copy! I bought it in 2013....thank God. The same money would barely buy a 1.5 copy today.
That how I been getting my bigger books I would pick up 3 or 4 10 to 15 k books then when I see A Monster I put them up and pay with auction winnings and change.
Same here. Several years ago, my collection was much bigger and deeper. Now, I've got about a half dozen truly killer books and others that are nice and/or have sentimental value. I've been working on an ultra-high grade airbrush run. I'm about 80% there after 7 years. It may take me five more years to track down the last few. They don't come to auction often in high grade, and sometimes the bidding gets extreme. For example, I had to let a particular book go a few days ago, b/c this bidder went about 25% higher than FMV.
Love when I see a collector casually show one of the greatest most stupendous collection you’ll ever see. Captain America comics 1 was only 4 on the list👀👀. Who were the honorable mentions sheesh.
Good to see you VerseWonder! Regarding honorable mentions -- sadly -- I had to part way with quite a few great books in order to build my current collection. Here's my video ode to them: ua-cam.com/video/4bFtThrXZ94/v-deo.html
Hi Danilo. Great question. AF 15 is Kirby cover. Ditko does the interior. Kirby and Ditko were credited with cover of ASM 1, Ditko interior art. And, Ditko is credited with the cover and art for ASM 2 and forward for many ASM issues. I checked the CGC labels. Yeah, I had the same reaction b/c Ditko's name is synonymous with early Spider-man art.
I have a question I am very interested in the old comics but do they really hold their value I mean I don’t mind losing some money but not like to spend 5000 on a book and then a year later it’s worth 400 I love your channel I would love to invest in some of them to say I have them I really love your Spiderman number one amazing Spiderman number one
Hi Legend. Great to hear from ya. Comics are like any other investment in that you can lose your tail. That said, I do believe the major silver age and golden age keys will do well. Recently the silver age keys got way over-heated but they are going down now.
LOL..i was just about to record a series where I'll plan to show my top 100 books. I just finished compiling the list. There's one book on it you'll recognize.
Hi James. Back in the day I worked for USPS as a remote encoder. it was the early days of address scanning technology but there were quite a few addresses on packages/envelopes that the scanner couldn't read. The job of my unit was to key those in. Worked with some good folks.
@Comic Books Galore Thanks CBG. I'm working on a 9.0 or higher for each of the 37 Schomburg airbrushed books (Excitings, Thrillings, Wonders, and Startlings). I started in 2015. I'm about 3/4 of the way there in 2023. I'm fortunate to have the two biggest books already in my collection (Startling 49 and Wonder 15).
Amazing collection!
Thanks brother!
You should do a top 25 too!
Awesome books!!
Thanks Reedcomics81!
Some truly amazing books In amazing grades!
Thanks Usual One. They are a little obscure for some people’s taste but I love them.
Nice...very nice...beautiful books!
Thank you David for the kind words.
Great video! Thanks for sharing :)
Appreciate the kind words Harlan.
Nice to see someone who appreciates the golden age
Thanks Ket. Yes. Definitely caught the golden age bug.
You're an inspiration, thank you!
Thanks Dan. I do my best :-)
Gorgeous taste and books. You are indeed a conasuer of good taste 👍
Thanks KryptoniteRocks for the kind words. Started out about 10 years ago hunting down all the silver age keys but my passion shifted to the classic covers of the golden age shortly thereafter.
That was a brilliant idea, my hat of to you for since most were chasing speculation you were chasing classic.
A GrandSlam at the end
Thanks brother. My collection is definitely top heavy. Used to have a deeper collection, but sacrificed many for a few.
Love that you showcase books that are both slabbed and raw! Proof that a great collection doesn’t have to consist of every grail/key/favorite book being slabbed (unless you actually have plans to slab them all, haha)!
Thanks my friend. I've got love for both the raws and slabs. If a book is in that mid- to low-grade range, I"m not so concerned about harming the grade.
Keston, that is one amazing collection you've got there. Loved the added flames to the nostrils!
Thanks Drew. I'm trying to figure out how to make comic covers more dynamic. Flame shooting nostrils is a subtle way of doing so :-)
Amazing eclectic group of books! What taste!
Thanks robotzvfolks1!
Incredible. Thanks for sharing. An amazing collection. Very fun to see.
Thanks Sleepyn. Great to see you.
The man!
Nice Daring Mystery 1, Keston! One of my all time favorite early Timelys...and what a BIG surprise at your #1 spot, LOL.
Haha. Thanks Ben. Yeah, the DM1 may be my 2nd favorite Schomburg book and it's one of the toughest to get, although USA 7 and Exciting 28 are probably tougher. This particular copy was also in the Jon Berk collection. My #1 is as predictable as yours :-)
@@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842 oddly, I have never had trouble finding USA 7. I’m on my fourth copy in 15 years which still seems tough but quite normal for Timelys 😀exciting 28 I have owned once in the early 2000s- I got the Schomburg Nedors out of my system years ago lol
Thanks for sharing. USA 7 rarely appears in auctions. You must be hogging all the copies. Exciting 28 is tough. I had a 4.0 one time but it didn't have good eye appeal. That 9.4 going up at Heritage nuts! BTW: I don't know if I'll ever get the Schomburg Needors out of my system :-)
Great collection! Didn’t realize Venoms first appearance was in the 80s!
HI Jeremy! Yep. That and Deadpool's first appearance (1991) are the two main first appearances when I was collecting.
I do love More Fun 54, but I personally prefer the cover on 65. The Spectre's reflection in the mirror has that horror tone that works so well with the character. Both covers are Bernard Bailey and The Spectre at their best.
Hi Jeremy. I hadn't looked carefully at MF 65 before, but checked it out on your recommendation. I definitely see the appeal. Some folks I know are enamored with MF 60. Nice covers all around. Bernard Bailey is certainly under-rated in my book.
Wow! Wow! Wow! 🤯
Thanks, G Nayr. I thought you'd like the collection.
That 4 Color 199 is a nice cover! I just bid $1950 last night on a Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #20 8.0 on comiclink thinking that would be enough to get it but it sold for $3400! Thats a big new record i think. Crazy!
Never seen that book before. It's great. Love the blazing red cover. Yeah, prices can be all over the place with relatively obscure golden age books. It catches a few people's fancy and boom! Or, a few fanatics of a book happen to miss an auction and the book sells for half price.
amazing collection fam! 🙌🏾
Thanks my friend!
what a collection! Subscribed! Man -- as a 90's kid, that AF#15 for me is the holiest of holys
Thanks Kirk! Funny enough Amazing Spider-Man 1 was my childhood grail. Now I think AF15 is cooler in just about every respect but still have the most love for ASM1 because it's so deeply ingrained in my psyche.
Fantastic channel. Can’t stop watching. Glad you’ve made such interesting videos
And your collection is incredible btw. Or should I say “amazing”. Definitely not uncanny.
Haha. Thanks MB! Perhaps it could also be Suspenseful.
Watched again. Mark baker girl cover w shark. That sub mariner by schomberg. Then the starling bender. AF of course. Think is my favorites
Id take a restored cap america any day
Thats a great looking top 25 list, I am loving the variation of books and styles from SCHOMBURG to MATT BAKER ( one of the greatest comic book artists for me, its great to see you highlight him here ) from KIRBY to DITKO, your top 25 variation highlights your love of the medium for me, so many different examples, my collecting habits do run along the same lines I love the variation and styles of the great artists and I must admit I do have a weakness for Kirby original art pages as well particually Kamandi he went wild on these, I always wondered why Stan Lee went with a Kirby cover on AF # 15 rather than the Ditko version which has always looked fine to me and equally as good, and likewise with ASM # 1 and he did get Kirby to do the cover to DD # 1 as well where he dident do the interiors and I have always thought surely Bill Everett would have put out a great cover for it maybe he just wanted to keep the familiar house style on all the covers on the news stands at that particular time although I do know as well that Everett was having trouble meeting his deadlines at the time and indeed Daredevil # 1 was supposed to be released with a September 63 cover date, the same month as X - men # 1 but Everett was struggling with the deadline so they had to bring forward their planned release date for Avengers # 1 to fill a commitment they had made with printers and their distributors and knock Daredevil back, I dont think it was the ideal scenario in their minds to bring out two group books in the same month but in the end they had to run with it, great video like I say and always a pleasure to view Schomburg air brushed covers there is just something magical about them they draw you in.
Hi Cap. Thanks for the kind words and interesting information about the silver-age covers. I'm sure Stan Lee, Kirby, Ditko, and company had little idea that those quick decisions back in the early '60s would keep collectors chirping in 2022. BTW: That's one of the best things about youtube....meeting folks from around the globe with similar niche interests. Cheers my friend.
Happy to have found you! You,like me, have a thing for underwaters ! I might be the premier underwater collector there is having spend the last 20+ years amassing every example between 1938 and 1961 (Golden age defined in the broadest terms.) I have indexed and located 440 of the 460+ examples I have identified. You be one of my last remaining grail books ( Seven Seas #4!) of course. I have all the Schomberg examples do cool. You have a great collection for sure! Cheers to you.
Hi Malcolm. What a wonderful message. Do you ever post on the CGC boards? I recall someone who was obsessed with Underwater covers there. Do you have a favorite? Or, if that's too hard, a few favorites? BTW: I barely missed out on that Seven Seas 4, 8.5 that sold on Heritage a few years ago. That was a bargain at the time and a super bargain now! I hope you are able to acquire one.
@@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842 I don't post on CGC board. I collect mostly raw books - the Underwaters cross all genre and I am working on a coffee table book illustrating the whole collection.i do have a to 40 greatest hits in the collection. There are several I am still hoping to land including Seven Seas 4 but I am doubtful it will ever happen given the escalation in price. I still need Hit 5 and Action 15 but I do have many many many others that I love and which few other collectors ever see.
Sure Fire 2, Detective Eye 2, Scoop #2? With the mimic cover of Hit 5 ! Just to name a small list. I would love to connect more deeply and share notes ! I have been an avid golden/silver age collector for 40+ year
Hi Malcolm. Wow, man. That is amazing. Would love to catch up with you to talk more. What's the best way for me to get hold of ya. -Keston
I love the cover of TOS39! Its so bad its good. I also love the TOS trade dress as well as ASM and FF.
Haha. That's a good way to put it.
My favorite Baker cover is Cinderella Love 25
You have great taste. Perhaps the most elegant art to ever grace a comic book cover.
Awesome books.
My only question...when did "combooks" become a word???
Yeah,I'm just griping lol...but it drives me nuts!!
Dude I wouldn't mind hearing the stories of how you got alot of these!( I know you.briefly spoke about them but wow!!) I only own Amazing Spiderman #300 from this list but I hope to obtain more in the future!
Thanks Lowell. Most of the books I acquired at auction. I do have a couple stories that would be good youtube videos. Hopefully, I'll be able to publish them. In the meantime, I created this video that talks about a few books I didn't win! ua-cam.com/video/EyRFNecPgZQ/v-deo.html
Great collection, Keston. For most of us it would just be an Amazing Fantasy to own even some of them. I only have 5 of your top 25. Do you have any plans to have any of the raw ones graded?
Thanks Rocketfighter for the kind words and amazing fantasy reference :-). Perhaps. The obvious one, in terms of value, would be the Avengers 1. But...I actually enjoy cracking it open now and then. And, the grade is low enough where I'm not going to hurt it with a gentle read.
Had to pause video on Daring mystery 1 WOW! AWESOME, my first golden age comic was a Marvel mystery #9 @ 5.5 to 6.0 I traded it for a table at San Digeo comic con because they were sold out and did that show for 9 more years. What grade is your Suspense #3 ?
Wow. Cool book and story! My S3 is a 7.0, and it's the Crippen copy! I bought it in 2013....thank God. The same money would barely buy a 1.5 copy today.
That how I been getting my bigger books I would pick up 3 or 4 10 to 15 k books then when I see A Monster I put them up and pay with auction winnings and change.
Same here. Several years ago, my collection was much bigger and deeper. Now, I've got about a half dozen truly killer books and others that are nice and/or have sentimental value. I've been working on an ultra-high grade airbrush run. I'm about 80% there after 7 years. It may take me five more years to track down the last few. They don't come to auction often in high grade, and sometimes the bidding gets extreme. For example, I had to let a particular book go a few days ago, b/c this bidder went about 25% higher than FMV.
Amazing collection! What grade is your Suspense 3?
Thanks Carlonbass. It's a 7.0., the Crowley Copy.
@@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842 Whoa. Impressive book. Love your content. Really extra special stuff. Thanks. Looking forward to more.
Love when I see a collector casually show one of the greatest most stupendous collection you’ll ever see. Captain America comics 1 was only 4 on the list👀👀. Who were the honorable mentions sheesh.
Good to see you VerseWonder! Regarding honorable mentions -- sadly -- I had to part way with quite a few great books in order to build my current collection. Here's my video ode to them: ua-cam.com/video/4bFtThrXZ94/v-deo.html
The cover art for Amazing Fantasy #15 is by Jack Kirby? I thought it was by Steve Ditko
Hi Danilo. Great question. AF 15 is Kirby cover. Ditko does the interior. Kirby and Ditko were credited with cover of ASM 1, Ditko interior art. And, Ditko is credited with the cover and art for ASM 2 and forward for many ASM issues. I checked the CGC labels. Yeah, I had the same reaction b/c Ditko's name is synonymous with early Spider-man art.
I dare you to say "Alec Schaumburg" 10 times on each video!
Haha. Believe it or not, I had to exclude several Schomburg books to provide more variety in 25 through 10. Yeah, obsessed.
I have a question I am very interested in the old comics but do they really hold their value I mean I don’t mind losing some money but not like to spend 5000 on a book and then a year later it’s worth 400 I love your channel I would love to invest in some of them to say I have them I really love your Spiderman number one amazing Spiderman number one
Hi Legend. Great to hear from ya. Comics are like any other investment in that you can lose your tail. That said, I do believe the major silver age and golden age keys will do well. Recently the silver age keys got way over-heated but they are going down now.
LOL..i was just about to record a series where I'll plan to show my top 100 books. I just finished compiling the list. There's one book on it you'll recognize.
Haha. I think I know.
You must be unemployee or the postal service huh my dad is too
Hi James. Back in the day I worked for USPS as a remote encoder. it was the early days of address scanning technology but there were quite a few addresses on packages/envelopes that the scanner couldn't read. The job of my unit was to key those in. Worked with some good folks.
Actually, AF 15 should be higher on your list. Even at a 3.5 it is worth $46k+. Recently, a 2.5 sold for $52k.
Subby 11 is in that range. I’m fairly confident the other five would sell for more :-)
@Comic Books Galore Thanks CBG. I'm working on a 9.0 or higher for each of the 37 Schomburg airbrushed books (Excitings, Thrillings, Wonders, and Startlings). I started in 2015. I'm about 3/4 of the way there in 2023. I'm fortunate to have the two biggest books already in my collection (Startling 49 and Wonder 15).