Monday, October 7, 2013

Batman and Richie Rich



When it came to Harvey Comics, I was more of a Ghostly Trio fan, but I did read plenty of Richie Rich.  I remember getting a kick out of the high-priced hi-jinks, but thinking that Richie was a bit of a show off.  We get it, you're loaded, you don't have to shape your hedges into dollar signs!  Would Bruce Wayne  have grown to be so frivolous with his money had his parents never died in Crime Alley?  We'll probably never know.

11 comments:

Michael Jones said...

How about Jarvis, Alfred and Cadbury vying for the attention of American Maid?

Anonymous said...

I was more into Hot Stuff (The Good Little Devil) then Richie Rich. But Harvey Comics was definitely a part of my childhood, mores than Archie Comics.

Ted Hobgood said...

"Battling and Buttling"...that is brilliant.

AirDave said...

I never got into Richie Rich. The Harvey characters worked better as cartoons. I was more into Casper. He was the Peter Parker of ghosts.

I read my first Archie comic at the orthodontist waiting for my two older brothers while they got their braces checked. Now, if it had been Richie Rich or Casper instead of Archie...things would have been much different.

It's nice to see the Brave and the Bold Batman make an appearance!

Rojo said...

I lived in India for a time in my childhood and in addition to the Amar Chitra Katha comics depicting various events from Indian history and Hindu mythology (which I actually quite enjoyed, despite being an atheist American) the other comics available were Asterix and Harvey comics. I loved both of 'em. We used to walk down the road to the comic store (which if I remember correctly was a sort of tobacco/chai/sweets shop as well) and you were allowed to trade in the comics you had either for discounted new comics or for trade for other old comics. The Indians were not so much into "collecting" as we think of it in America. Although, I do still have about 50 or so of those Amar Chitra Katha comics from the 1970s. They're in not very good shape, but I wonder if they are worth any money?

pblfsda said...

@Rojo: Indians living in the U.S. may be nostalgic for things like that, moreso than Indian residents. Unfortunately for you, American comics dealers don't have any context for setting prices. If they're not on common sites like Amazon or e-Bay then you'll have to set a ballpark figure. If you can remember what they sold for originally, go online and try to see what their modern counterparts sell for these days. Divide the new price by the old; call the result "A". Do the same with three or four common staple items (in the U.S. we'd use a gallon of milk or a gallon of gas, etc.; if you lived in India and here you'd know better than me what is comparable). If "A" is higher than other rates of inflation, then the new comics have become scarcer than the old ones. If "A" is lower, the new comics are still as common as they used to be. that would mean that your best bet is to sit on them for a while. Otherwise, multiply the current price by "A" and offer one on e-Bay. If it sells in less than four days, sell the next one for ten percent more, etc. Good luck.

Anonymous said...

I think this might be my favorite yet!--Al

Anonymous said...

@ pblfsda & Rojo, it all boils down to how much someone is willing to pay to "recapture" his childhood! There are two comics from my childhood that I might be willing to pay a lot for (if its in mint condition): Hanna Barabaras 1976 Laffalympics; and Marvel's Close Encounters of the Third Kind Giant Movie comic adaption.

pblfsda said...

@Anonymous: both of those items, in the tabloid or 'treasury' format, were technically published under different titles and you might find them listed that way online.

The Laff-A-Lympics was issue #3 (June 1978) of THE FUNTASTIC WORLD OF HANNA-BARBERA.

The Close Encounters adaptation was available as a magazine but also as the larger MARVEL SPECIAL EDITION, also in 1978. The same name was used for a one-shot Spider-Man Treasury in 1975 and the two volume Star Wars reprint earlier in 1978. Because of those, I'm not sure if the Close Encounters edition has an issue number.

I hope that helps. In the meantime, you might enjoy this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kerrytoonz/6097701673/in/photostream/

Anonymous said...

@ pblfsda: Haha, thats a real treat for me to just SEE the covers to comics online ;o)

Ken Roskos said...

Sorry for the late comment, could you have Richie Rich meet Daddy Warbucks? Maybe have Bruce Wayne, or even Tony Stark make an appearance? Just to show that all millionaires aren't crooks.

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