Set Description
Synopsis: This is a complete set of all 162 books with a minimum grade of 9.4. 151 of our books are highest graded examples with eight of those books single highest graded.
Background: DD is a title where I can remember buying a copy of the first issue at the local drugstore. This is a set we would like to complete, but have had a hard time filling the missing slots with high grade books. It is a strange set, as most 9.6s are cheap, but 9.8s can be ridiculously pricey, which I guess signifies a thin market comprised of high-end collectors. So for the most part, this set has been largely unchanged for several years, as we have found better buys in other runs we collect.
The highlights of this collection are five single highest graded issues, starting with #3. Six of the first nine issues are also pedigrees, including four Pacific Coasts. Still there are numerous missing slots in this one.
2021 Update: Well, we have made some progress on this one. Currently, we have filled 161 of 162 slots with 147 9.8s, 12 9.6s and two 9.4s. 150 of our books are at least tied for highest graded. Our #3 mentioned above is no longer single highest graded, but we now have eight examples which are. We also have only three slots not filled with at least a 9.6 copy. Hopefully, we will finish this one off in the next year or so. Ideally, we would like to upgrade our two 9.4s to at least 9.6s, but we may have missed that boat on Issue #1, as 9.6s have soared in price to over $100,000 in 2021. I’m still kicking myself for not buying one of those available for $40,000 in 2020, but that’s a lot of money too.
2022 Update: We made a little progress on this set last year, as we finally acquired a #38 9.6, leaving just two 9.4s in this set. We are probably going to wait on trying to upgrade our #1 for awhile, as I am still not convinced the prices for 9.6 #1s will hold at these levels. The prices for those books have risen over 300% since the COVID outbreak, a rise which to me does not appear justified based on the census. I just feel if we target that book now we would be buying at the top of a bubble, although we would probably similarly benefit from selling our 9.4 in this inflated market. At any rate, it’s a really nice 9.4, and a lot cleaner than many overgraded 9.6s out there. You can’t get them all LOL.