40% Off LABORDAY Sale Plus Signed Frazetta Portfolios
Howdy!
As I anticipated, the commencement of our annual 40% off LABORDAY codeword sale
on all of our back issue comics and magazines has prompted a huge surge in orders.
If you have not yet placed an order with us to enhance your collection at today's
amazingly low prices, I urge you to do so right away.
So you know, our initial marketing focus as regards the LABORDAY sale has been solely
on rewarding those of you who read our newsletter, so we have yet to make any sort
a public announcement about the 40% off sale. Over the upcoming holiday weekend,
however, we will broadcast news of this astoundingly generous sale 40% off sale
throughout the entire online comics community. Need I say more?
WALKING DEAD #17
On a side note, we were able to purchase a major
WALKING DEAD
comics collection on
Monday, which included almost all the issues from
WALKING DEAD
#6-present. Fans who
had these issues as a part of their personal Want Lists on our website received
notices yesterday letting them know that we had these issues back in stock. As a
result, we have already sold quite a few, all discounted by the 40% off as a result
of the LABORDAY codeword.
WALKING DEAD #6
If you have not yet taken the time to let us know which comics you are currently
seeking, you really should. Creating your own personal Want List profile on our
website is really easy, as it only requires that you establish a personal password.
That way no one else can make changes to your Want List. We can then send you
free notification e-mails any time an issue that you are seeking arrives.
Receiving a notification e-mail obligates you in no way, but it can be very
handy when trying to score a title/issue that we seldom have in stock.
FYI, a private collection of 7,000+ different Marvel comics is scheduled
to arrive later today, which includes a bunch of very scarce issues...
In other news, I located a long lost box yesterday of items from the estate
of Steve Allen, the co-founder of the legendary MIDDLE EARTH publishing
empire. Steve, along with his partner Dennis Wakabyashi, were the first
fine art publishers to contact major talents in the comics world, and work
out arrangements to publish incredibly cool portfolios and art prints of
their work. In 1974, I helped them market their earliest portfolios at
the San Diego Comic-Con, earning enough money from that one remarkable
convention to open the very first Mile High Comics retail store.
MIDDLE EARTH continued to publish excellent portfolios throughout the 1970's, but
when Steve contracted cancer and passed away in 1980, Dennis chose to shut down
the company, rather than continue without him. It was soon after this point that
Steve's widow offered to sell me portions of his personal collection. I bought
eight boxes of material from her, including my BARRY SMITH'S 2P #1/1000 portfolio,
and those 6 Frank Frazetta signed
LORD OF THE RINGS #1 plates
that we sold
(in a heartbeat...) two weeks ago.
All of the above having been said, imagine my shock yesterday afternoon when I found
a sealed box of Steve Allen's MIDDLE EARTH portfolios on a top shelf of a remote
locked storage room in our 56th Ave. headquarters building. I realize that this
stretches credibility for me to say I had no idea that box was there, or what it
contained, but that is the God's honest truth. Somehow, between about 1982 when
I purchased it, and today, that box migrated into that hidden room. Maybe I
stashed it there when we moved to our farm in 1990? I simply have no idea.
LORD OF THE RINGS Portfolio #5/1,000 Signed by Frank Frazetta $895
In any event, when I tore open the seal on Steve's box, the very first item that came
into view was the
LORD OF THE RINGS #5/1000 portfolio, signed and numbered by Frank
Frazetta! As I delved deeper, I discovered more Frazettas in that incredible
treasure box, along with a mixture of portfolios by over a dozen other highly
talented artists. I just cannot believe this treasure stashed away by Steve Allen
disappeared 30+ years ago, only to reappear yesterday. I am still amazed...
In all honesty, my first thought when I found that wonderful treasure box yesterday
was that I wanted to put it right back in my comics vault, where it should have been
in the first place. As I have mentioned in several recent newsletters, however,
I recently celebrated my 60th birthday. Given that I have had two major occurrences
West Nile Encephalitis of the Hypothalamus since 2003 (either of which could have
easily have killed me), my four daughters have all expressed concern that I might
leave them with a nightmare of obscure collectibles, which only I am capable of
effectively marketing. Given that I own 9,000+ pieces of Pueblo pottery and 20,000+
pieces of comics original art, fanzines, and Underground Comix, I can see their
point.
What this means for you is that I am going set aside my own initial impulse to give
you an opportunity to purchase some of the very rare items from Steve Allen's estate.
Below is the listing of what I am going to offer everyone today:
LORD OF THE RINGS Portfolio #5/1,000 Signed by Frank Frazetta $895
LORD OF THE RINGS Portfolio #27/1,000 Signed by Frank Frazetta $595
LORD OF THE RINGS Portfolio #39/1,000 Signed by Frank Frazetta $595
EDGAR ALLEN POE Portfolio #480/2,000 Signed by Berni Wrightson $395
NIGHTCAP Portfolio #395/1,000 Signed by Mike Ploog $95
CELTIA Portfolio #348/1,000 Signed by Jim Fitzpatrick $195
Steve also had the prescience to stash away two unopened copies of THE STUDIO, the
record album-sized book published by Dragon's Dream, in 1978. This incredible book
features artwork by Michael Kaluta, Jeff Jones, Barry Smith, and Berni Wrightson from
the legendary time period when they shared a large loft in New York City. I found a
used copy for my own collection three years ago, and gladly paid $150 for it, even
though the glue binding the cover to the book was failing (as do they all...). Little
did I know that I had two pristine copies of THE STUDIO (still in their original shrink
wrap!) stashed in that magical closet. If you would like to add one of these copies for
your collection, they are my bargain of the day at only $295 each.
STUDIO at $295 each
That's it for today. Please don't forget to take advantage of the 40% off LABORDAY sale,
before I open it up to the general public. All ten million of our back issue comics and
magazines can be discounted by 40% off when you type LABORDAY into the codeword box
on our order form. Only new comics, books, CGC's, and a few variants are not a part of
the codeword sale.
Happy Collecting!
Chuck Rozanski,
President - Mile High Comics, Inc.
September 2, 2015
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