Infinite Marvel Picture Frame books

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Nice, Darwin! You've had the magic touch with the square-bound Picture Frames.

Just back from CGC.

Nice, Darwin! You've had the magic touch with the square-bound Picture Frames.

Hey...what gives?

I'm just getting caught up with the thread and the recently posted (square-bound) CGC copies by Dmac538 have (apparently) disappeared.

This thread has been really sleepy for a long time. So in an effort to see what's new in Picture Frame Land and bump this thread, I checked to see if how many of the tough PFs have surfaced since I posted this list of PFs with 1 or zero 9.4 copies in the census.

As you can see, there's not much new. Only 5 new 9.4 or better books have surfaced since November 2013. And there are a number of books on the list that don't have a single 9.0 or better copy: Millie The Model #194, 195, 197, 198, My Love #20, and Rawhide Kid #105.

I noticed Worldwide Comics listed the a raw 9.4 Savannah copy of Rawhide Kid #105 awhile back. But it was gone by the time I saw the listing. Anybody here snag it?

An update from the Department of Useless Information:

 

There are still 19 16 Picture Frame books without a single CGC 9.4 or better copy. And 33 32 with just one 9.4 or better copy.

 

Li'l Kids and Millie the Model continue to be non-existent or elusive in nice shape. Westerns, Romance, and reprint books round out the list. Probably no real surprises here. Although Rawhide Kid #105 stands out for me since the other Rawhides do seem to show up every now and then.

 

Zero copies in CGC 9.4 or better:

Harvey #3

Harvey #5

Li'l Kids #4

Li'l Kids #5 Now 1 9.4!

Li'l Kids #6 Now 1 9.4!

Li'l Kids #7

Li'l Kids #9

Mighty Marvel Western #18 Now 2 9.6s!

Millie The Model #194

Millie The Model #195

Millie The Model #196

Millie The Model #197

Millie The Model #198

Millie The Model #199

My Love #20

Our Love Story #20

Rawhide Kid #105

Ringo Kid #17

Special Marvel Edition #4

 

One copy in CGC 9.4 or better:

Chili #18

Chili #19

Chili #20

Harvey #6

Kid Colt Outlaw #158

Kid Colt Outlaw #164

Li'l Pals #1

Li'l Pals #2

Marvel's Greatest Comics #34

Marvel's Greatest Comics #39

Marvel Triple Action #6

Mighty Marvel Western #16 Now 2 9.4s!

Mighty Marvel Western #17

My Love #14

My Love #16

My Love #18

My Love #19

Our Love Story #17

Our Love Story #18

Our Love Story #19

Rawhide Kid #103

Ringo Kid #13

Ringo Kid #14

Ringo Kid #15

Special Marvel Edition #6

Two-Gun Kid #101

Two-Gun Kid #102

Two-Gun Kid #103

Western Gunfighters #8

Western Gunfighters #10

Western Kid #3

Western Kid #5

Wyatt Earp #31

 

I know some of these books could be out there raw in collections. But it makes me wonder if some of these books will ever show up in high grade.

Thanks, Barton, for putting in the effort to compile these data on picture frame scarcity. For both strategy and a lack of interest, I made a decision in building my slabbed collection to forego the romance and kids titles, and seeing the futility of finding them in high grade, I'm glad I did. It's nearly impossible enough to find all the western, war, and reprint issues.

Collectors got a big lift when the picture frame Suscha News and Twin Cities books came to market. It's been a few years since then, and I have yet to see for sale Don/Maggie Thompson copies of the more esoteric titles. We could use another group of original owner super high grade picture frames to come along.

I didn't think about the Don/Maggie books. I guess there's a still a glimmer a hope that some of these books will surface soon.

Ditto, Bob.

Thank you for the data update and thread bump, Barton!

I too am very curious as to the whereabouts of certain Marvel titles, high grade or otherwise, shortly before, during and just after the PF production run.

Some years ago I theorized in an obscure post (which, for the life of me, I cannot find at the moment) that the aftermarket availability of certain titles during the timeframe might be linked to the (intentional) disorder of the newsstand distribution system and the affidavit return swindle.

What I have gathered up to this point is that in the late 60s and early 70s, local (independent) magazine distributors, who had a monopoly in their city or region, couldn't care less about the pennies on the dollar they made from handling and shorting comic books. It wasn't worth their time and effort. Not when they were selling moneymakers like Playboy and Time. So these distributors either pulped the books outright or sold them out the backdoor and then reported them to the national distributor, and ultimately the publisher, as affidavit returns.

That said, I'm gonna take the theory one step further and opine that some independent distributors took the operation to the next level by cherry-picking books to package and deliver to their retail outlets (superhero titles, for example) that actually HAD positive proven sell through, while deep-sixing the rest.

What led me to this distilled conclusion was the fact that I recently acquired a partial affidavit return collection of Marvel PF books from the timeframe in question. And in that procurement not one book in Barton's data question (romance, humor, western) was represented in the affidavit return assemblage.

So then, before we get to the PF image display of affidavit returns, here's the backstory on the books...

The books were acquired from a seller who bought them from a family representative of the original newsstand outlet owner. The books, including black and white comic-book magazines, had been in warehouse storage since the family business closed some years ago in central New Jersey. The family owned a mom and pop store that sold magazines & comics (newsstand). These books were leftovers from their returns. Most of the returned books for sell ranged from 10 - 20 copies apiece, some less some more, and some of the B&W mags were even close to 100 copies apiece.

In any event, most of the books and magazines this individual was selling looked like they were never handled or placed on the newsstand for retail sell. Any damaged appears to be that of subsequent poor 40-year-old storage conditions or mishandling in the years following their initial distribution.

Here's Some Further Reading:

Comic Book Distribution

Affidavit Returns

And a sample of the Affidavit Return books I acquired...

+1

Remainders were the first back issues I ever bought. Once I got hooked on Marvels in 1972 during the height of the picture frame era, it was natural to look for earlier parts of the story lines. At a local flea market, you could buy scads of remainder copies with the top third of the cover torn off for 10 cents each, or 3 for a quarter.

That's amazing and heartbreaking to see all these books, Mitch.

I've noticed many copies of Marvel's Greatest Comics #34 and Marvel Tales #33 that have the same kind of smudges on the cover. I wonder what it is about these books that made that happen. Maybe something with the print run? Something with the square-bound books?

It's also interesting to see the difference in the paper quality of these books. I'm guessing they were all stored in the same place for all those years. But there's a pretty big variation between some of the books.

Unfortunately, Barton, I don't have much more info. I will note, however, since Bob mentioned it, that the seller told me the store owner sold some of the remainders at flea markets from time to time. That said, I suppose the amount of material that remained, some of the individual B&W magazine numbered in the 100s, and how it was (apparently) haphazardly stored may have led to the inconsistencies of the aged paper.