Saturday, December 19, 2015

TEX's BACK-ISSUE QUEST 2.0 EPISODE 5


Tis' the Season to be forgiving,

Fa-la-la-la-laaaa, la-la-la-la!

    And that's what TEX needs to do.

    You see, the summer before last, TEX had taken a semi-break from comics. I wasn't really visiting the ComicsPriceGuide.com Forums, nor keeping up to date with comics news. In fact, I wasn't buying many comics, nor reading them either. I was even thinking about selling my prized collection to help my son out with his college expenses. It was the perfect set up for what happened next...


   As a comics enthusiast, I really haven't had the pleasure of meeting any one important in the comics industry face-to-face. Sure, I've spoken with a few awesome comics creators on the phone, and via e-mail or websites, but never in the flesh. The aforementioned summer, a big-time comics seller contacted me by phone to set up a meet to buy my collection. I was very pleased to find out that he was not only an important buyer/seller, but he personally knew, or had known many of the legendary comics creators that I hold near and dear to my heart. So, he visited, and we talked of Gil Kane, Bill Sienkiewicz, and others. He was welcomed into my home, and given free access to my collection. He expressed interest in nearly everything I had, but he wanted an ice-breaker deal. He pulled out my Strange Tales #110, the first appearance of Doctor Strange, and tells me that we'll start there. He shows me the most recent Overstreet, that says that my comic is worth about $400, so we settle at about $350. I thought it was a good deal with more to come. He left for the night to return in the morning to seal "a few thousand dollars worth of deals." There was, however, an itch in the back of my brain that I just had to scratch. I checked eBay that night, and ST #110 in conditions lower than mine were selling for over $1000! The reason? A new Doctor Strange movie was in the works with Benedict Cumberbatch attached to play Stephen Strange. As you can imagine, I was fuming - not really at the buyer, but at myself for not having been correctly prepared to sell. Even still, I've never misrepresented anything to anyone to make a buy - I've even shown people the prices that their comics were garnering on eBay just so they would know for themselves (of course, buying on eBay is different - bidding is controlled not by any particular value save how much the bidders want the book).  I have never been dishonest in a deal - it is my belief that those those will come back around to you.

  So, the downside is that I lost one of my prize comics. The upside? It sparked a new vigor in me that led to more buying, and a newly cultivated habit of keeping up to date on comics news, and the value of my collection. And boy-oh-boy, did the value of my collection skyrocket! Through some great, available and strategic buys, I more than quadrupled my loss on Doctor Strange.  I got back to reading my moderns and having a good time with my brothers on the now-defunct CPG Forums.

  So, I'm letting the hate flow through (and out) of me. LOL. And to celebrate, let's get STRANGE!!


It's my two copies of Doctor Strange vol 1, #169 - this issue begins the first solo title for Doctor Strange. Marvel had just launched a new printing deal in 1968 that allowed them to print more titles, so Doctor Strange got his own, continuing the numbering from Strange Tales. This book gives the most in-depth treatment of origin Doctor Strange up to that date, extending the origin story first given in ST #115.

FUN FACT: Strange Tales would be revived in the early 70s, starting with #169, featuring the 1st app of Brother Voodoo / Doctor Voodoo, Jericho Drumm.



Here is my copy of Doctor Strange vol 2, #1, with a stunner of a cover by Frank Brunner, published in June of 1974. This book features the 1st appearances of Agamotto's Dimension, and Silver Dagger, Strange's enemy.




Finally, here are my two Doctor Strange action figures. The second figure comes from the Marvel Legends line from Toy Biz. It's from series 9 (Galactus Series), done in about 2005. The first figure comes from the Marvel Select line, from Diamond Select Toys. This figure was released this year...And it is THE COOLEST Marvel Select figure ever. With my discount on my monthly pull list from my lcs, this action figure ended up being absolutely free!! Can you dig it, baby?

Here's a video review of the new figure, if you're interested:



   So, what's the moral of the story? Forgive and live. More than likely, there'll be something better waiting around the corner for you. Don't worry. Don't fret. Life's not over yet.

   HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!


Thanks for reading!

13 comments:

  1. Great write Tex on a legendary book/s.
    I don't have Dr. Strange #169 but i do (as you well know) have a sweet copy of Dr.Strange #1 CGC 9.4. I bought it for $35 back 3-4 yrs ago.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. YES YOU DO HAVE THAT GORGEOUS 1st ISSUE!!!

      Mine is definitely not a 9.4! It's a 8.5 on its best day, LOL!!

      Why don't you get STRANGE and post that beautiful CGC'ed Marvel goodness for all to see?

      Delete
    2. Well I might just do that Tex.
      I've been very busy lately, Haven't had time to scratch my butt Lol.

      Delete
    3. I totally understand. Happy Holidays to you and yours, Gil!!!

      Delete
  2. I think the Brunner issues are my fav.
    169 is a great origin story. And it's not another Stan radiation/mutants origin. Those start to get similar. But come on. Just look at the #1 cover. I don't know what that fights about, but I sure want to find out.


    One of the great things about the Disney/Marvel movies is that they don't feel like each other. There's no way this movie will feel like any of the others.

    I hope Strange gets to pop into a Netflix show. So far, movie people don't do the TV shows. The pay is too different.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey Robbie,

    Brunner's Strange is great - I always dug that cover. For some reason it reminds me of a Conan cover I've seen somewhere.

    The Marvel movies do vary in tone. On the extreme light side is Ant Man, and on the other extreme you have movies like Blade and the last Punisher film (the Punisher film with Thomas Jane had lots more ha-ha moments than it should have). It'll be fun to see if DC can do the same - although I'll admit that I've always been attracted to DC's gravitas when it comes to films.

    I don't think we'll see Strange on Netflix for just the reasons you said. Marvel hasn't much mixed its TV and movie universes; Phil Coulson and Nick Fury are the only exceptions so far. DC has gone another route: all characters are game for both the TV and film universes; however, it seems that the actors ARE NOT. So we'll see Green Arrow and Flash on the big screen, but not played by Amell and Gustin, which is sad, because I love them both.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Those walls in the background sure looks like the type of place where Conan would hunt for treasure.

    And when Coulson started doing TV, he stopped being in movies. Everyone still thinks he died in NYC.

    Ant-Man is a light-hearted heist adventure. Cap 2 is more of a "All the President's Men" movie...


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Captain America: Winter Soldier is easily my favorite Marvel Film...well it's a toss up between Cap 2 and Blade 2, depending on my mood.

      Cap 2 does remind me a bit of All The President's Men or Three Days of the Condor. Not just because Rob Redford was in all three, but because of the theme of paranoia that permeates all those movies. People who were adults of the 70s are intimately acquainted with paranoia, I'm sure, because of the lies that our government were caught telling about Vietnam, and Watergate - it's a paranoia that has never really gone away for some. Cap 2 does tug on that old American paranoia. Growing up in the 80s, we feared Russia way more than our own government.

      Delete
  5. I need to get me one of those!

    Books is going to be popular soon.
    Nice figurines Tex!!

    I tried making a post/blog thingy but couldnt figure it out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To make a post, hit the new post button in the upper right hand area of the screen (it only shows when you scroll to the very top). Then click onto the title area and give'er a title, then click onto the blank sheet and post away. Too add a pic or video, look in the upper left part of the screen and you'll see all the tools you need - it's a bit like a barebones MS Word. Try again, I want to see what'cha bought!

      Delete
    2. I dont think im authorized, can you resend permission again?

      Delete
  6. Thanks, BC!

    I was glad I was able to grab a dupe of Doctor Strange #169 (#1). It's only semi-hot right now, but I expect it will heat up a bit more as the movie draws closer. Doctor Strange v2 #1 has seen a nice gain in value already. it's about time. It's a cool series.

    You could have knocked me over with a feather when my LCS owner laid that deal on me! I got the new Marvel Select Doctor Strange figure FREE! 'm fighting the urge to unbox it - it is a VERY cool figure. All my figures are MIB, but this one might be a keeper.

    ReplyDelete