Where are You Scrooge McDuck and the Rest of My Comic Book Collection?

Everyone has their particular horror-story aboutin any of them.After Mickey Mouse, the ones I liked
something they owned as a child that got thrownthe most were Scrooge McDuck and his square vault.
away and is now worth a small fortune. It's usuallyI had every one, including the jumbo issues. I'm not
some trivial thing that was worthless at the time andsure why, but unca Scrooge seemed to hit a
became a collector's item and very valuable later. Theresponsive chord. Maybe that's why I'm now a very
only thing valuable that I saved from my youth wasfrugal traveler. I also liked Batman, Superman, Spidey
a windup GI Joe in a jeep. It's still in mint condition,and once in a while I'd buy a Tales from the Crypt.
although the box disappeared many years ago. But IThe horror books scared me, so I didn't buy many of
had tons of things that I kept for years and thenthem. At any rate, I had more than three hundred by
threw out. Usually at the prompting of my mother.the time I quit buying them at around age fifteen in
Collectibles dealers know that boys usually threw1954. Probably about the same time I stopped
their stuff away. Girls still have their Barbies. That'swatching Howdy Doody. In 1961 I went into the
why there's so many of them still around.When I wasarmy. When I came back, I lived at home until I got
very young I had all the Wheaties premiums thatmarried. Every once in a while I would visit that
came out, starting with the clear-plastic goggles andtreasured stack of newsprint over the years. I'd take
the WWII patches that came in the boxes just aftera look at them every time I visited the
WWII ended. Every time the Lone Rangerfolks.Sometime in the '80s I happened across a store
announced a new gizmo, I'd send off a box-top andthat only sold comic books. Intrigued, I went inside
a dime. It really hurt when they raised the ante to aand started to go through the thousands of book in
quarter. My favorites were a six-shooter ring and thetheir plastic jackets. Holy ****. A hundred dollars for
one with the miniature atomic-bomb that you coulda Walt Disney Book?I told the owner about my
see sparkles in the dark if you looked into it in a darkcollection. He gave me a dubious look. I expect he
closet. I had a great assortment of magnifiers andhad heard the same story from quite a few people.
whistles, but my favorite was a complete set of theWhen I told him about the Disney books and the
Lone Ranger western town. It was a CheeriosUncle Scrooges, his eyebrows shot up. "You really
premium. I didn't like Cheerios that much but I atehave them all?"Everyone, I told him. No lie.He reached
many boxes just to get the buildings that came onunder the counter and showed me a book he had
the back of the box. They only put some of themwith prices. Scrooge number one catlogued nearly
there, like the barber shop. The rest, like the grain$2000 in mint condition. The others in the hundreds
elevator and the map for the town, you had to buyof dollars each. One of the jumbos was worth nearly
from General Mills by mail. Whatever I got, I kept ina thousand. My Barker Ducks, which I also had a
immaculate condition. My buddies really hated me forcomplete run, were all worth at least a hundred
not letting them play with my things. I suppose that'sdollars each. The owner said he would have been
where the collector in me started.Needless to say, allhappy to take any or all of my comics on
the things I've mentioned are very collectible now.consignment and sell them for a 20% commission,
The complete frontier town sold for nearly $1,500 inbut he would have to sell them at about half the
an on-line auction. But the one sold was never cutbook price. He wished I had put them into bags, but
out from the cereal boxes or removed from theseemed reassured when I told him that the
cardboard frames. I played with my town. Plasticbasement had a dehumidifier and they were still in
soldiers regularly fought pitched battles in the streetsmint condition.As you can imagine, I rushed to my
there until the Lone Ranger would show up to put anparent's house and headed straight for the basement.
end to hostilities. Today, the six-shooter ring regularlyTo my horror, the comics were gone and my baby
sells for up to $200, the atomic bomb ring for slightlypicture was sitting where I kept them."What did you
less. Somewhere in some land-fill there's a box with alldo with my comics?" I shouted."I didn't think you
my box-top premiums. Worse, I expect there'swanted them anymore so I threw them away."Do
another one there, too. The one with my comic-bookyou know how to say matricide? She felt terrible
collection.I loved the Sunday funnies and liked thewhen I told her what she had done. She said that
pictures, even if I couldn't read them. Oddly enough,she had wanted to do something with the basement
my favorite was a little green man called Peter Pain infor years and finally got around to it. Couldn't she
the Ben-Gay ads. Others were Dick Tracy, Winniehave waited just a bit longer?What's the point of the
Winkle, Li'l Abner and Terry and the Pirates. Mom orstory? I'm not sure, except that I am convinced that
Dad would read me the captions. When I could readwhat your heart treasures the most must have
myself, I spent all my allowance (and then some), onsome value beyond it physical manifestation. I visited
comic books. The one's I liked the best were themy comics for years before I found out how much
Disney comics. I could talk Donald Duck talk so Ivalue they had as a collectible. I imagine I would have
really liked Donald. But I had a special soft spot forkept on, even if they hadn't become so valuable.
Mickey Mouse. At one time the publisher used to runFollow your heart. It may not be worth as much in
serials with Mickey and PegLeg Pete and I coulddollars as my comic collection, but it will give you
hardly wait for the next episode. This was during thepleasure all your life.Oh yeah. GI Joe? He's got a
period that comic-book experts call the Barker Duckspecial place in a showcase in our living room. The last
era, and I had complete runs for several years fromtime I had him appraised he was worth about $200,
the late 40s into the mid-50s. (I used to watchbut I would never sell him.Cheers from John.John
Howdy Doody until I was fifteen, I'm ashamed toAnderson is now a full-time writer. He has also been a
say.) As I mentioned, I didn't let any of my friendsTeaching Assistant at the University of Minnesota, a
read my comics. I knew they would damage them,noise- pollution consultant, a census enumerator,
somehow. They retaliated by not letting me readcomputer operator, stock clerk, Army and Navy
their's, but I didn't care. Over the years theyReservist, and a dealer in collectibles. His first novel,
remained in just-printed mint condition. The last time IThe Cellini Masterpiece, was published under the pen
looked at them, when I was in my forties, the papername of Raymond John.
had yellowed a bit, but there wasn't a tear or crease