| Slot: |
Tales to Astonish 59 |
| Item: |
Tales to Astonish 59 |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0006084001
|
Owner Comments
Giant-Man battles the Hulk in his last solo appearance in this title. Once again, 9.6s of this books are readily available, with only one 9.8 topping the census. It is a common story when building a run of TTA, the second highest graded books tend to be common and relatively inexpensive. But you almost never see highest graded copies in most books in the #35-59 range.
2021 Update: There are now two 9.8s topping the census. We’re still looking.....
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| Slot: |
Tales to Astonish 60 |
| Item: |
Tales to Astonish 60 |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1101063007
|
Owner Comments
The Giant-Man Hulk double feature begins with issue #60. There are no 9.8s in the census as of 1/2020. Our 9.6 is tied with six others topping the census. We acquired it in the May 2013 Pedigree Comics auction.
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| Slot: |
Tales to Astonish 61 |
| Item: |
Tales to Astonish 61 |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1130441007
|
Owner Comments
Issue #61 features an Egghead appearance. Our book is tied for second highest graded trailing two 9.8s. We acquired it in the June 2013 CL auction.
As a note, we did place a private bid on the PC 9.8 copy a few years ago, which received a counter-offer. We originally did not accept the counter-offer, but then went back and placed a bid equal to the counter-offer amount. That time the owner not only refused the bid, but took the book off the Exchange. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose when you try to negotiate a better price.
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| Slot: |
Tales to Astonish 62 |
| Item: |
Tales to Astonish 62 |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1200551021
|
Owner Comments
Issue #62 features a cameo appearance by the Leader. Our book is tied for second highest graded trailing a single 9.8. We acquired it in the September 2014 Pedigree Comics auction.
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| Slot: |
Tales to Astonish 63 |
| Item: |
Tales to Astonish 63 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0907416012
|
Owner Comments
Issue #63 features the origin and first full appearance of the Leader, Samuel Sterns. Our 9.8 comes from the Pacific Coast Collection, which is generally considered to be the greatest Silver Age collection to ever surface. It was brought to market by Robert Roter after he discovered portions of it for sale on eBay in 1999. The books were marketed through PCE over the next several years and contained over 7,000 comics and magazines that included Marvel, DC, and Gold Key among others, covering a time span between 1961 and 1977. Many of the highest graded Marvel and DC issues from the early '60s hail from this collection with exceptional page quality. The books do not exhibit any distinguishing markings.
This book was also part of the Doug Schmell Collection, which was auctioned on July 26, 2012 by Heritage and is one of just two 9.8s in the Census. We acquired it off an E-Bay listing on 2/22/2018.
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| Slot: |
Tales to Astonish 64 |
| Item: |
Tales to Astonish 64 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4264512006
|
Owner Comments
Issue #64 features Leader and Attuma appearances. This is a relatively tough book in high grade considering the 1965 date. This copy comes from the Greenwich Collection amd is tied with one other book for highest graded. We acquired our book in the 10/26/2023 Heritage Auction.
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| Slot: |
Tales to Astonish 65 |
| Item: |
Tales to Astonish 65 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1009816006
|
Owner Comments
Our 9.6 comes from the Pacific Coast Collection, which is generally considered to be the greatest Silver Age collection to ever surface. It was brought to market by Robert Roter after he discovered portions of it for sale on eBay in 1999. The books were marketed through PCE over the next several years and contained over 7,000 comics and magazines that included Marvel, DC, and Gold Key among others, covering a time span between 1961 and 1977. Many of the highest graded Marvel and DC issues from the early '60s hail from this collection with exceptional page quality. The books do not exhibit any distinguishing markings.
Our book is tied for second highest graded trailing a pair of 9.8s. We acquired the book in the December 2011 Pedigree Comics Auction.
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| Slot: |
Tales to Astonish 66 |
| Item: |
Tales to Astonish 66 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1009816007
|
Owner Comments
Our 9.6 comes from the Pacific Coast Collection, which is generally considered to be the greatest Silver Age collection to ever surface. It was brought to market by Robert Roter after he discovered portions of it for sale on eBay in 1999. The books were marketed through PCE over the next several years and contained over 7,000 comics and magazines that included Marvel, DC, and Gold Key among others, covering a time span between 1961 and 1977. Many of the highest graded Marvel and DC issues from the early '60s hail from this collection with exceptional page quality. The books do not exhibit any distinguishing markings.
The book is the second of a three issue Pacific Coast run and 4 of 5 from #63-67, missing just issue #64. It is also tied with one other 9.6 topping the Census.
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| Slot: |
Tales to Astonish 67 |
| Item: |
Tales to Astonish 67 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0743742016
|
Owner Comments
Our 9.8 comes from the Pacific Coast Collection, which is generally considered to be the greatest Silver Age collection to ever surface. It was brought to market by Robert Roter after he discovered portions of it for sale on eBay in 1999. The books were marketed through PCE over the next several years and contained over 7,000 comics and magazines that included Marvel, DC, and Gold Key among others, covering a time span between 1961 and 1977. Many of the highest graded Marvel and DC issues from the early '60s hail from this collection with exceptional page quality. The books do not exhibit any distinguishing markings.
Our book was also part of the award winning Doug Schmell Collection, which was auctioned off by Heritage in July 2012 and is one of just two books topping the census. We acquired the book the July/August 2019 Pedigree Comics auction.
2026 Update: Oops, the census for 9.8s has jumped from two to four, which probably means the value of our 9.8 has been cut in half. Oh well, it’s still the Pacific Coast copy, they can’t take that away from me LOL.
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| Slot: |
Tales to Astonish 68 |
| Item: |
Tales to Astonish 68 Signature |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1227834012
|
Owner Comments
Issue #68 features Human Top and Leader appearances. Our book is the single highest graded Signature Series copy and one of only two 9.8s overall. We acquired the book off an E-Bay listing several years ago. I am always shocked when you find a book like this one on E-Bay, but it does happen.
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| Slot: |
Tales to Astonish 69 |
| Item: |
Tales to Astonish 69 |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1097608011
|
Owner Comments
This issue marks the end of Ant-Man/Giant-Man and Wasp’s lead role in TTA. Our book is the Twin Cities copy and one of four 9.6s topped by a single 9.8 as of 1/2020. We acquired the book in the 8/30/2012 CL auction. We sent the book to CGC and it was screened and pressed, but was not upgraded and is now in a different holder.
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| Slot: |
Tales to Astonish 70 |
| Item: |
Tales to Astonish 70 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1494056017
|
Owner Comments
Issue #70 marks the start of Sub-Mariner’s leading role in TTA, making it a minor key. Our WP 9.8 is one of three highest graded copies in the census. We acquired the book in the December 2020 CL auction.
2026 Update: There are now four 9.8s.
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| Slot: |
Tales to Astonish 71 |
| Item: |
Tales to Astonish 71 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0121989019
|
Owner Comments
Issue #71 features another Leader appearance. Our 9.6 comes from the Pacific Coast Collection, which is generally considered to be the greatest Silver Age collection to ever surface. It was brought to market by Robert Roter after he discovered portions of it for sale on eBay in 1999. The books were marketed through PCE over the next several years and contained over 7,000 comics and magazines that included Marvel, DC, and Gold Key among others, covering a time span between 1961 and 1977. Many of the highest graded Marvel and DC issues from the early '60s hail from this collection with exceptional page quality. The books do not exhibit any distinguishing markings.
The book is tied with five others for second highest graded trailing a single 9.8.
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| Slot: |
Tales to Astonish 72 |
| Item: |
Tales to Astonish 72 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
2087153005
|
Owner Comments
Issue #72 features a Leader appearance. Our copy is a 9.8 with white pages from the Don & Maggie Thompson Collection, so it’s about as good as it gets, The Thompsons were responsible for several publications and writings during the '60s that helped bring together comic book fandom as we know it today. Already adults when Fantastic Four #1 was released in 1961, the Thompsons carefully stored away copies of most Marvel and DC comics throughout the '60s and '70s. Don passed away in 1994, and in 2013 Maggie decided to sell the collection through Heritage, resulting in nearly $1 million in sales, thanks to the pristine condition of their comics, which included an Avengers #1 and Tales of Suspense #39 in 9.4, a Journey into Mystery #83 in 9.2 and a Hulk #1 in 8.5.
Our book is tied with two other copies for highest graded as of June 2020. We acquired it in the 9/1/2019 Heritage Auction.*
2026 Update: There are now four 9.8s topping the census.
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| Slot: |
Tales to Astonish 73 |
| Item: |
Tales to Astonish 73 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
2087171020
|
Owner Comments
Issue #73 features appearances by the Watcher and Leader. For some reason, this is a very tough book to find in high grade, with no 9.8s and only four 9.6s. We purchased our copy, which comes from the Jon Berk Collection, in the 6/17/2017 ComicConnect auction.
2026 Update: There are now five 9.6s topping the census, but still no 9.8s.
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