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The Catalogue for the First Monthly Auction of Collectors Book Store, 15 Nov 1978

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Artwork Details

Title:	The Catalogue for the First Monthly Auction of Collectors Book Store, 15 Nov 1978
Artist:	None Specified
Media Type:	Photograph
Art Type:	Other
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	245
Likes on CAF:	1 2
Comments:	0
Added to Site:	6/17/2021
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Description

One day in the fall of 1978, Leonard Brown asked me a rathe strange question: how much money could I come up with every month to buy comics.? I told him I would guess about $300, and Leonard responded that that wouldn't be enough! Boy was he right. The reason was that Collectors Book Store was about the begin a series of monthly actions.

From the very beginning, each auction offered more great comic books, pieces of animation art, and Disney items than I could ever hope to buy. I knew that Leonard had taken home from the store high grade comic books for his own collection, but I had no idea how many he had taken or how high the condition was of most. From Leonard's private collection, I bought many like-new issues of Batman, a fabulous condition copy of Action No. 15, a NM+ copy of Flash Comics No.2, a mint copy of the hard to find last issue of All-American Comics, No. 102, fabulous copies of All-American No. 61 and All-Star No. 33, both Solomon Grundy issues, and many others. After collectors saw the high prices the auctions were achieving for prime material, a high grade Action Comics No.1, PERFECT copies of Amazing Fantasy No. 15 and ASM No.1 (which sold for the then high amounts of $700 each) and countless other comics made their way into auctions.

Leonard had always been unhappy that Chuck Rozansky ended up with the Mile High Comics, telling me more than once how, in the early 60s, he had advertised all over the Denver area that he was buying old comics. One day Leonard walked up to me with a big smile on his face. He told me that e had gotton some great condition comics for the auction and that he was sure that they were in at least as good condition as the Mile Highs. The minute he showed them to me, I saw that they actually were Mile High copies, as indicted by the small penciled details on the covers. He had the Adventure 54, 57, 62, and Action 23. None of these were listed on the original Mile High three section list of the collection, because that list was printed after the comics had been offered at at least one comic convention, in Anaheim, CA, prior to their first appearance at a San Diego Con. I bought the Adventure Comics out of Leonard's auctions.

As his part of the agreement with Leonard, Malcolm Willets also sold through the auctions his incredibly important collection of Disney items obtained in a trade with the Disney Studio. He sold several very- rare one-sheet cartoon posters, including the early one for The Mad Doctor, the Merebabies poster, a pre-Mickey, almost unheard poster for an Alice comedy, and several others. He also sold his perfect Disney children books in perfect dust jackets. I bought the Wise Little Hen, Three Orphan Kittens, Tortoise and the Hare, and Robber Kitten books. I also bought a few of Malcolm's file copies of Mickey Mouse Magazines. Because I was outbid on the Goofy and Wilbur MMM, I met someone who soon became a source for buying animation art. He had returned the magazine because of some little ink spots on the cover, undoubtedly the result of a dirty printing drum when it was printed in 1939. While he was making his return, he approached me and gave me his business card. As the underbidder, I was able to buy the MMM without having to bid in a second auction for it, and I ultimately bought the publicity/poster drawing that was used for the magazine as well as the cartoon poster.

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Joined:	April 2006
Last Login:	August 2025
Country:	UNITED STATES
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