#4177119 - 08/02/1010:14 PMWhere are the Mad Magazine collectors?
DoohickamabobDoohickamabob
FACT if I stop posting, trillions and trillions of transistors would be out of work.
Registered: 03/18/09
Posts: 4987
Just a cursory glance at the subjects makes it seem there aren't many Mad Magazine collectors in here. Either that or I'm looking in the wrong forum. Do the Mad fanatics have a different site or section where they congregate?
I'm a longtime Mad collector going back to my humble 7-year-old self. A few years ago I fetched all my mags out of my dad's garage and decided to "complete the run before I sell it all, because then it will be worth more!" Since then I've learned that a Mad collection is hardly a ticket to mega-wealth, although trying to finish it can be a ticket to the poorhouse. (I've run into other sellers online who had the same delusion I did.)
Still, collecting Mads offers quite an array of challenges and areas to choose from:
-- The first 23 comics -- Magazine issues #24 through about #100 -- The early More Trash, Worst From, and Follies special issues (complete with bonus inserts) -- The paperback books (especially first-printing Signets) -- The early merchandise: Cufflinks, Alfred Bust, Straitjacket, other -- The myriad foreign issues, esp. the ones from the 1960s -- The hundreds of specials from the 1990s -- The yearly calendars -- The vinyl records -- "The Ridiculously Expensive Mad" book with inserts, etc. -- Branching out to satire copycat comics/mags, like Cracked, Nuts, Crazy, Eh!, Get Lost -- Following Harvey Kurtzman's post-Mad career with Trump, Humbug, Help!, Annie Fanny -- Original artwork -- Printed materials from before Mad existed that show an Alfred E. Neuman likeness -- Board games, card game, Spy vs. Spy game -- Ecch-cetera...
If other Mad freaks are out there, maybe this would be a good place to share collecting stories, post some photos, and other fershlugginer potrzebie idiocy.
#4178466 - 08/03/1005:55 PMRe: Where are the Mad Magazine collectors?
[Re: namisgr]
SilverRichSilverRich
Up 20 words per minute since I signed up
Registered: 03/27/08
Posts: 1008
Loc: The Twilight Zone of S. Philly
My avatar should be a dead giveaway, but I'm a full-fledged member. I have a full run from 1-500, plus all Trash, Worst and Follies (inserts intact), and the Specials from the first thru somewhere in the early 90's. To keep the run complete, I've been a subscriber for the last 8 years or so, but decided to stop at #500. I sold off all of my paperbacks a few years ago.
I started reading Mad when I was about eight or nine-years-old (circa-1964) and it was very influential in forming my sarcastic and cynical outlook on life. I'm not sure if it's just my getting older, but Mad has been a rag for the last 20 years or so, especially since they started accepting outside advertising (a forced economical move). Regardless, my Alfred E. bobble head remains proudly standing on one of my display shelves.
I still love to open the older ones up and enjoy the exceptional work from the truly-masterful "Usual Gang of I-diots." I've only slabbed 1-5, but was so happy when CGC started grading mags, so that my bright, beautiful, perfectly registered #24 had the opportunity to be under-graded at 9.2 by the powers that be. I'm not on my own PC right now, but I'll post some scans later if this thread stays afloat.
If it doesn't... What, me worry?
Edited by SilverRich (08/03/1006:00 PM) Edit Reason: They wouldn't allow i-d-i-o-t-s - it's sad when talking Mad
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"I mean, it's literally like someone took America by the East Coast and shook it, and all the normal girls managed to hang on."
#4178482 - 08/03/1006:02 PMRe: Where are the Mad Magazine collectors?
[Re: SilverRich]
SilverRichSilverRich
Up 20 words per minute since I signed up
Registered: 03/27/08
Posts: 1008
Loc: The Twilight Zone of S. Philly
BTW... nice books, Bob
_________________________
"I mean, it's literally like someone took America by the East Coast and shook it, and all the normal girls managed to hang on."
Registered: 04/22/07
Posts: 11148
Loc: Oklahoma City, OK
I'm not a huge MAD collector, but I have almost all of the MAD Specials/Super Specials from 1 thru 54 (missing 7 or 8 I think), a few of the MAD comics (once had 17 of the 23 comics), a good number of the mags up through about issue 200 and these slabs:
1st MAD magazine
I also have a raw copy of #24 that's in about 5.0-6.0 condition that I plan on slabbing at some point.
I do have some duplicate MAD Super Specials so if anyone needs any let me know and I'll see what I've got. Maybe we can do some trading for specials I need.
#4178720 - 08/03/1009:00 PMRe: Where are the Mad Magazine collectors?
[Re: namisgr]
DoohickamabobDoohickamabob
FACT if I stop posting, trillions and trillions of transistors would be out of work.
Registered: 03/18/09
Posts: 4987
Originally Posted By: namisgr
I subscribed to Mad as a 13-18 year old kid. Still have my original run, but all the back covers are folded:
Nice photos and selection! It's always heartening to see a copy of Mad #18 that doesn't have the dots connected. Your #22 looks great even though the grade is not visible in the scan. Gotta love "The Godfather" parody -- that's a movie that I am actually planning to see in a couple days on DVD, so I might have to dig up the Mad parody afterward. Those movie parodies age very well. The other day I watched "Grease" on TV and read the Mad parody during it, and the jokes were spot-on. Regarding folded back covers, that is one element of condition that doesn't bother me too much, though it's nice to find unfolded ones. It is hard to complain if the previous owner actually enjoyed the mags the way they were meant to be enjoyed.
#4178745 - 08/03/1009:09 PMRe: Where are the Mad Magazine collectors?
[Re: SilverRich]
DoohickamabobDoohickamabob
FACT if I stop posting, trillions and trillions of transistors would be out of work.
Registered: 03/18/09
Posts: 4987
Originally Posted By: SilverRich
My avatar should be a dead giveaway, but I'm a full-fledged member. I have a full run from 1-500, plus all Trash, Worst and Follies (inserts intact), and the Specials from the first thru somewhere in the early 90's. To keep the run complete, I've been a subscriber for the last 8 years or so, but decided to stop at #500. I sold off all of my paperbacks a few years ago.
Holy guacamole, we have a winner! Somebody with ALL the Trash, Worst, and Follies! That is a deceptively TOUGH collecting accomplishment. Finding the issues is one thing, but finding them WITH the inserts is a whole other level of hunting.
Originally Posted By: SilverRich
I still love to open the older ones up and enjoy the exceptional work from the truly-masterful "Usual Gang of I-diots." I've only slabbed 1-5, but was so happy when CGC started grading mags, so that my bright, beautiful, perfectly registered #24 had the opportunity to be under-graded at 9.2 by the powers that be. I'm not on my own PC right now, but I'll post some scans later if this thread stays afloat.
Between the specials collection and your CGC 9.2 copy of #24, you've got some great stuff. I only have raw copies of most issues, but I do have a CGC 5.0 copy of Mad #1. Talk about variations in value on a comic -- a high-grade copy is worth as much as $20,000 (and once over $30,000), but a lower-grade copy is barely worth $400.
Thanks for chiming in. Oh yeah, about the last 20 years of Mad kinda sucking, that seems to be the general consensus. However, I do open newer issues and sometimes find myself pleasantly surprised and even occasionally laughing out loud. It's pretty much a downhill slide after losing publishers and editors like Gaines/Feldstein.
#4178749 - 08/03/1009:11 PMRe: Where are the Mad Magazine collectors?
[Re: Shark]
DoohickamabobDoohickamabob
FACT if I stop posting, trillions and trillions of transistors would be out of work.
Registered: 03/18/09
Posts: 4987
Originally Posted By: Shark
I do have some duplicate MAD Super Specials so if anyone needs any let me know and I'll see what I've got. Maybe we can do some trading for specials I need.
I love Mad #24 even in 2.5 shape, which still looks nice. As a kid, to own a Mad #24 would have been a real dream come true. As for Mad #44, I love that cover but especially the BACK cover, which completes the joke and makes the front cover more stalkerish/creepy.
Registered: 02/23/03
Posts: 36507
Loc: Baking cookies of discontent.
My regular issue run goes from #44 to present and I'm only missing 3 books in the middle. The run is otherwise complete in that I have every alternate or variant copy of every issue.
My Super Specials are complete from 1 through 57 and I'm only missing a handful through present.
I also have a lot of foreign issues including the first British issue and first Quebec issue. I also have a very large run of the Australian issues.
Additionally I have almost full runs of all the offshot titles, including More Trash, Follies, Wost From, Collector Classics, Gross Outs, XL, etc, etc, etc. Also a lot of the big books.
I'd like to end up with full runs of everything, and I have a pretty good jump on it.
