Boris the Savage
Savage Sword of Conan 9

COMIC DETAILS

Comic Description: Savage Sword of Conan #9 Universal
Grade: 9.8
Page Quality: WHITE
Pedigree: Suscha News
Certification #: 1029886005
Owner: Rune

SET DETAILS

Winning Set: Boris the Savage
Date Added: 8/31/2011
Research: See CGC's Census Report for this Comic

Owner's Description

One of the best covers ever - and currently it is very difficult to find this book in high grade. In August 2011 only one copy of Savage Sword of Conan the Barbarian #9 had been registered at 9.8, namely this book. So until more are found, if ever, this is indeed one of my rarest books. Furthermore the book has vivid and saturated colors, is part of the Suscha News Pedigree Collection and has pure White Pages - so this is simply an utterly amazing book.

The collector behind the Suscha News Pedigree Collection described his collection in these words:

"I didn’t start out as a “comic collector.” Born in 1949 and growing up in Sheboygan, Wis., in the 1950s and ’60s, I was the kind of fastidious child who always used the kickstand on his bike and dusted off his model cars and planes every Thursday afternoon without fail. Because I treated my few possessions well – and had no brothers or sisters to help destroy them – I tended to accumulate things, including comic books.

[…]

By 1970, I was married and in my own place, although the comics remained in my parents’ house, relocated to the basement. After a few close calls with relatives rifling through the collection for poolside reading and even a threat to burn it all, I bought dozens of boxes and moved everything to a duplex I was renting. Over the next 20 years, I would move nine times, and the comics were always the heaviest, most delicate and time-consuming items in my household.

Although comic books were only 15 to 25 cents each at the time, buying more than a hundred a month represented a big chunk of my tiny, $3-per-hour paycheck. The books were mainly purchased at newsstands and drug stores.

[…]

In 1978, I moved to Tucson, Arizona, and two years later was in a new home with a special feature – a large, fireproof, walk-in vault big enough to accommodate the comic book collection, which by now took up a 6-foot-wide by 5-foot-long by 6-foot-high stack. Property crimes, particularly home burglaries, are a major problem in southern Arizona, and the vault seemed a necessity to protect my comics, guns, cameras and other valuables. The arid conditions of Arizona were a godsend for storing comics.

It was now the early ‘80s. My wife at the time often tried to pressure me to sell the collection. In those days before blockbuster movie franchises based on comic books and the Internet, the books were worth a tiny fraction of what they bring today. Had I caved in and sold then, I literally would have realized just enough money to buy a used pickup truck, which would have gone to the scrap yard years ago.

Over the years, I kept track of the collection with a big piece of graph paper, about five feet long by three feet wide. This pencil-and-paper record somehow disappeared over the years, so in 1998 I cataloged everything in an Excel spreadsheet and repackaged each comic book in a poly bag with a backing board. I put the bagged and backed comics back into the 1976 boxes.

Two years later, we moved to the woods of North Idaho, far from the desert of southern Arizona. The climate here is relatively dry and crime is very low, but I missed my big secure vault. The comics were kept on industrial shelving in a large room in the lower level of the house, where I kept humidity in the mid-40 percent range with a dehumidifier. The collection was “hidden in plain sight” by turning the contents labels of each box toward the wall, and placing fake “Professor Owl Remedial Reading Workbook – Grade 5” labels on the visible side. I figured no burglar would be interested in stealing a half-ton of identical teaching aids.

When I reached 60 years old, I seriously began to consider selling the collection. I didn’t want to end up the guy with the most comic books in the graveyard".

Read the full story here: http://www.cgccomics.com/news/viewarticle.aspx?IDArticle=1809&Suscha-News-Collection?
  
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