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Now that was July 4th

Wonderful. I would have loved to go to some of those shows.

JULY 4TH!

 

To some of us who were in the New York area back in the seventies this meant one thing; Phil Seuling's annual comic convention! Held for many years in the old Commodore Hotel, an establishment that had long since seen its luster fade away. But as a boy and later teenager walking into the ballroom I might as well have been walking onto Pinnochio's Pleasure Island; a four color fantasy was at hand. I have so many amazing memories; I'll share a few.

 

I remember those days as well.

I started going to the NY cons in the mid 60's.

That was a great time to be a collector.

Here are a few of the convention books I saved from those days.

1966 1967 1968

1969 1970 1971

Awesome BangZoom; I'll take it up where you left off but we are missing 1972! This is my GOLDEN AGE of convention going in one picture.

The inside of these are kind of fun and you can see some of the scrappy folks who worked the business back then.

In '74 I went on an autograph hunt; I helped Jim Warren fold a sheet on his table so he wrote me a nice note. In '76 I only stopped long enough to catch Gil Kane apparently.

very nice set...

Seems like the right time to bump this thread since there's an auction underway...

For this'n I'm just posting then and now photos. Alas, I haven't posted much to this thread in awhile, but with the upcoming OAFcon there should be some kewl images to add. In the meantime, here are two photographs from SF conventions that were taken approximately 21 years apart to get the FANDOM ball rolling again.

Apologies in advance because I'm in both of 'em (especially since I'm not imbibing ale in either), but the reason these are special is because both feature one of my long time buds, Mitch Bentley, science fiction artist (we were originally members of the notorious Hung on the Wall Gang of science fiction artists from Okla.). Mitch also used to assist me as auctioneer at a lot of conventions back in the 80's & 90's.

Our paths rarely cross since Mitch moved to the east coast just prior to the new millennium, but this past weekend he was the Artist Guest of Honor at FENCON right here in the Metroplex. I've been main auctioneer since the first FENCON back in 2004. This weekend Mitch once again assisted with the convention pro-art & charity auction, so it clearly fits into the fandom nostalgia category.

Here then, is the Wayback Machine shot (during the auction, SoonerCon, circa '94)...

From this past weekend (at the hotel restaurant)...

Here's an article out of the Rocky Mountain News (Denver) from '77 that I found tucked away in an old '77 convention program...

Tomorrow I'll post some convention programs from the 70's I've been scanning!

Great stuff David.

What's interesting is that the writer DIDN'T resort to the "Wham Smash Pow" article title cliche and really didn't play up the "look at how much money people are paying" aspect either.

Howard the Duck a $1,000 comic? . Maybe, but it's 38 years on and I'm still waiting

 

Great stuff David.

 

What's interesting is that the writer DIDN'T resort to the "Wham Smash Pow" article title cliche and really didn't play up the "look at how much money people are paying" aspect either.

 

Howard the Duck a $1,000 comic? . Maybe, but it's 38 years on and I'm still waiting

$1,000 maybe by 2050

]

 

 

KEN DONNELL AT HOUSTON 1973 HAVING JUST BOUGHT ACTION1 and SUPERMAN #1 FOR $100.00 EACH !!!!!

I bought a copy of Action 1 with tape in the same spot. The Tape was all that was left of the spine i paid 3000 cash and trade. 1979 Hayward C.A. Brian Copland ran that show. I got a perfect mint Hulk 1 from Hal Verb missing a small chunk top left side great old days.

 

CHARLIE FREDGREN having just won the HOUSTONCON 75 doorprize of a C.C. Beck CAPTAIN MARVEL recreation..standing NEXT to...C.C. BECK !!

Wow what you think thats worth now?.

 

Comic Historian, LEE BOYETTE showing off some old worthless comic that nobody ever wanted hahha!

Your right i had to give my Red Raven away.

someday I will post my entire collection...when I have the time...good stuff from the old days...

Still Waiting

Which will come first? Seeing one of Mitch's books or the Pedigree Book???

 

CHARLIE FREDGREN having just won the HOUSTONCON 75 doorprize of a C.C. Beck CAPTAIN MARVEL recreation..standing NEXT to...C.C. BECK !!

 

Wow what you think thats worth now?.

I wonder what happened to it?

 

Comic Historian, LEE BOYETTE showing off some old worthless comic that nobody ever wanted hahha!

 

Your right i had to give my Red Raven away.

Robert Bell bags!

Which will come first? Seeing one of Mitch's books or the Pedigree Book???

Pedigree Books. Would love to see Mitchs first.

]

 

 

KEN DONNELL AT HOUSTON 1973 HAVING JUST BOUGHT ACTION1 and SUPERMAN #1 FOR $100.00 EACH !!!!!

 

I bought a copy of Action 1 with tape in the same spot. The Tape was all that was left of the spine i paid 3000 cash and trade. 1979 Hayward C.A. Brian Copland ran that show. I got a perfect mint Hulk 1 from Hal Verb missing a small chunk top left side great old days.

this was before Ken's fingers were permanently stained with printers ink

Covers of four rare programs for in-between conventions (Wintercons & Springcon) held by the OAF back in the 70's & 80's...