Set Description:
This journey officially kicked off at SDCC in July 2022. Being a run collector, I was looking for my next run to collect. Didn't want something with only a few issues, but not a massive run either. Knew I wanted it to be a Golden Age set, ideally with about 20-30 issues in the run. Something hard to find, but not impossible. Wanted superheroes, WWII, and PCH - early 1940s. Had to be 'affordable' - some runs from this period I simply cannot afford to collect. What better set than Blue Ribbon Comics from MLJ? It checked all the boxes. However, I wasn't sure I'd be able to get a full universal run, as many of these only have about 10 copies or so on the census. So not only would I have to track them down, I wasn't sure how much they might cost.
Well, I'm inputting this set into the registry in October 2023, 15 months later. I somehow managed to get 2 full runs during that time with just a couple of exceptions where I only had 1 copy. Some issues I even had 3 or 4 copies of, which is wild. I would buy whatever I could get my hands on. I decided to sell the vast majority of my dupes, so others can enjoy these rare books, but since this has been so fun (and challenging) putting together, figured I'd share my set on the registry for others to see.
The first issue that kicked off my journey was #6, not my favorite cover in the run, but it was a start.
For me, issue #14 has been the toughest to find.
My personal favorite cover is issue #21.
I've read some but not all of them.
Stories started picking up with issue #9 when Mr. Justice was first introduced - then issues #16-#19 were probably the peak of the storytelling - but still some amazing artwork and fun stories up until the end with issue #22.
Some of these I bought raw and had slabbed myself. Others I bought already slabbed. Some were even purchased in the 'the other guys' slabs - so I had them regraded by CGC.
I managed to get a Larson and a Rockford. The colors on #18 are dripping, the book looks like it could have been printed yesterday. If you get into collecting this run, you will find that the reds on the covers are often orange - I didn't even realize reds could be THAT red until I got this Rockford copy of #18 and was just blown away.
This has been a really fun journey over the past 15 months putting this run together. I have a lot of people to thank, you know who you are, thank you. 'Sagii' (Corey) was really the primary person who opened my eyes to this amazing run, he even contributed to my set by selling me his Rockford #18. 'gino2paulus2' (Gino) was also a great inspiration putting this together. He also contributed a #18, but I upgraded, so no longer own that contribution. There are plenty of others to thank as well, but just wanted to point out Corey and Gino, thank you my friends.
I hope you enjoy the set - if you happen to have any issues graded higher than mine, are reading this, and are willing to consider selling or trading please reach out to me.
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