Train and comic book

ha, cool

I can't believe any of it.....the track has only 2 rails!!! 

Oh, Doll Man caught on, all right, and was popular in his time.  He just didn't last into the modern era.

 

Doll Man was one of my mother's favorite comics, when she was a kid.

 

Interesting how they obviously patterned after Lionel items. 

 

 

It reminds me of the 1958 children's book "Roundabout Train ", with oddball locos showing Lionel influence. 

 

Nice to know.  From what I read it seemed it was short lived, but as you say didn't catch on for long haul.

Would be interesting to see what engine the artist used as the drawing seems too detailed, especially the front view, almost as though the artist, cut and pasted Lionel catalog pictures and drew Doll Man on top.  Though engine would be generic and does not add to the story line.

His original adventures were from 1939 to 1953, according to what I've read.  But your question piqued my interest, and I discovered that DC comics, the current owner of the character, has apparently revived him from time to time.  I don't follow comic books, so I don't know how true the modern versions are to the original.

 

 

 

Dollman was quite popular until well past many of his counterparts had been cancelled. DC, the publisher that eventually gained ownership to much of the Quality properties, reprinted his tales in the 1970s. His appearances have been true to the Goldenage character. If you want to see a very early very expensive and sought after comic book with a cover featuring a train, look no further than Action Comics #13 - the fourth cover appearance of Superman, the character that launched the Goldenage of comic books. I follow comic books. I'm an advisor to the Overstreet Price Guide.   

 

Peter

 

 

 Somewhere I have some RR & RR Association comics. Silver Age by memory of size & crappy, pulpy paper style, maybe early 70s on one or two(whiter[not age]). Mostly about safety, but "the great loco chase"(I have the little book from the big yellow box Lionel General gift sets too), C Jones, Operations: passenger/freight/MOW etc etc. When they surface again, Ill show them off.  

 

Interesting Peter.

Overstreet was always "thee" guide for stable pricing based on the real market.

A little slow on trends, but that is the cost of accuracy across the board. If your not a trend follower who thinks his beat up goods are suddenly worth big $, but a real reader/ collector....well this is the one I used, esp. for golden age.

Like many train people, a serious reader/collector as a kid, as an adult, I turned the four matching Hologram Spidey books bought at a drug store on a whim, into a business "by accident" Right place, right time, into right orders every time for the glut. Dropped it all just before the crash I was making it, easily, but doing it as a business was killing the fun for me; despite access to books others only dream of . So I shelved that "hobby", and sold off a stores worth till something "sparks" again. Kept enough base to do a decent show table, or two sometime. But I can't lift a small box now, let alone a big one.  

My love for comics isn't more powerful than for a locomotive Id use that Superman cover to wrap & protect my 2037 if it would save it from harm.

But allow me to foam a sec. Frank Miller is Batman... I mean back man! 

The Action Comics with that "Superman cover," even in average copy condition, is worth approx. $10,000 - $12,000. And a nicer copy would sell for $50k or more depending on grade (with a very high grade copy probably selling for 6 figures).  Your 2037 (sorry, not in this hobby long enough to know what that is) must be gold-plated to value it more highly than a rare and incredibly sought after 1939 comic book of the most recognized superhero on planet Earth. Ha!

By the way, for any true train aficionado, L.B. Cole did the artwork for a square bound comic book in the late '50s or very early '60s (as I recall) all about the history of trains. I own it but haven't see it in several years.

Peter

I think the last Superman action comics in mint condition sold for almost 3 million dollars in a recent auction on ebay!

But like trains even "fresh stock" finding the mint one is more difficult than you may think. And that is the one big money fights over.

Pete, I'm somewhat aware of the value, though I don't have a current Golden Age Overstreet copy to be "up to date".  Mr. Cages copy would get used in the same fashion, and I wouldn't trade my train for a solid gold one.

 Trains carry sentimental value for many. Its tends to run a little deeper to the heart than a comic would be to the average collector. (Though I have seen a few people weeping on a page or two, or jumping for joy as they reconnected with their childhood books)

 My 2037, 2-6-4, an Adriatic, Normally an English loco. A train never recorded as being built for any American roster I know of. Basically a Prairie 2-6-2, with a four wheel trailing truck as built by Lionel in American styling... give me a hard time, and I'll say its a booster truck ..(wrong frame)

...was bought before my birth, just for me. Other family each have their own. My Grandfather collected, my Great Grandfather collected, my Brother collects MTH now(a tech nut) Dad fished in the rain, no train

 Comics had me reading at a college level by the end of third grade. What a waste of paper .

Not when it comes to the collector line MPC, plenty of "fresh stock" mint items are still out there and not hard to find :-)

True but the vast majority of comics actually lose value for long periods, before they gain in value. Much like "the under table bins" at train shows contain decent hidden MPC, comic shows have 25¢ & 50¢ boxes you can pick up good sized runs cheaper from, to get a whole story, beginning to end. Even the most popular books have runs that didn't increase much in value even many years later. In fact its the vast majority that don't have much value.

Again like trains, if your in it for investment, your likely to end up in the poor house.

If you enjoy them, you can at least go there happy!   

I was playing around with my old broken cameras and got one half back to life for a bit.

These were the closest things to me, and I remembered mentioning them in this thread.

Some of the focuses are off, but that's nothing new for my standing photography, its physical, sorry. I threw in some old timetable covers from the 40's too since the files were in a group

 

 

 

 

Cool!!!  Those are some neat comics!  The Dollman was fun too, I liked how he regretted derailing the "rare model train"   

I hadn't noticed the word rare. That is great stuff right there.