Leading up to The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #50 release, Gemstone Publishing will commemorate the milestone by diving into the publication’s rich history. Over the Guide’s five decades in print, thousands upon thousands of comic books have been priced, the market has been meticulously studied, and creators, characters, and publishing houses have been featured with detailed coverage. With the 50th edition comes time to revisit how comic values have steadily (sometimes astronomically) risen over the years and reflect on contributions made in crafting the Guide.
Comic books and their characters have provided inlets to multiple types of toys and collectibles for fans young and old. As part of the Guide’s study of the industry, articles have appeared throughout the book’s 50 years that celebrates these collectibles and the enjoyment they bring. For The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #13, “Little” Jimmy Dempsey shared his expertise on “Great Old Time Radio Premiums,” which is presented here:
Recently, I was very pleased to be asked by Bob Overstreet to write for his many thousands and thousands of Comic Book Price Guide readers (myself included) the introduction to the rarest of collectibles: radio premiums. Those great little secret rings, decoders and all the other wonderful gadgets were offered by our comic book heroes from their 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s daily radio broadcasts, plus the hundreds of premiums we sent for right out of the Sunday Funnies newspapers and, yes, many from our comic books themselves. I’m sure I don’t have to go over this wonderful period in our lives with the 35- to 60-year-old readers, but to all the young kids and teenagers of today who still admire and read our superheroes, this is something they have only heard and dreamed about. The kids of today would totally flip out to be able every week to send for a Superman Secret Compartment Ring, or a Space Patrol Cosmic Smoke Gun, a super Captain Midnight Secret Decoder and Manual, a Lone Ranger Complete Town to build, a Sky King Detect-O-Scope, a Sergeant Preston 10 in 1 Trail Kit, a Tom Mix Signal Arrowhead and so many of the other great items.
Radio premiums have always been a part of my life. As I mentioned in my own books, The Encyclopedia and Price Guide of Radio Premiums and The Wonderful World of Radio Premiums, I was born with a rare bone disease, and while most kids were out playing, I was inside by my radio with Jack Armstrong, Terry and the Pirates, Straight Arrow, the Shadow and all the rest of my heroes. I sent for just about everything they offered, and believe me there were tons of items – I would say about 2,000 nice collectible premiums. About 350 or 400 of these premiums were the little rings which were always my favorite, and believe me, these rings would and could perform every function imaginable. Very few of these great pieces of Americana remain. To begin with, the premiums were manufactured in small quantities, tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands. You take the ones that were lost, broke, thrown away, or used for material in the war years, or stored away in old attics and basements, and it leaves very few remaining premiums. Most of the premiums today are in the hands of the better known collectors. Just look at some of the fantastic prices that some of these premiums bring and remember – all these great premiums cost us only a box top or label and a dime to a quarter, and some free just for writing in.
I am listing my 1983 prices on the “Top 30 Most Expensive Rings” and “Top 30 Rings” and “Top 30 Most Rare Miscellaneous Premiums.” As you will note, prices do not always determine which premium is rarest. The No. 1 “most rare premium” may not be the No. 1 “most expensive premium.” This is based on the demand and popularity of the character. Again, this is only an introduction to radio premiums for most of you never experienced those thrill days of yesteryear.
Now, let’s all head for the attic, basement, flea markets, and antique shows and see what we can turn up. I would like to share with you some fabulous photos, but first you might want to give a special thanks to The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide for allowing you to again see or maybe for the first time see the rarest of the collectibles, the “Great Old Time Radio Premiums.”
Top 30 Most Expensive Rings
(Values determined in 1983 for items in excellent condition)
#1 – Superman Secret Compartment ring (1939) – $1,000
#2 – Tom Mix Deputy (1934) – $500
#3 – Radio Orphan Annie Altascope (1942) – $450
#4 – Shadow Blue Coal (1941) – $350
#5 – Captain Midnight Queen of Sheba (1948) – $250
#6 – Captain Midnight Sun God (1946) – $225
#7 – Major Mars Tele-Coder (1949) – $200
#8 – Buck Rogers Repeller Ray (1934) – $200
#9 – Captain Video Rocket (1951) – $195
#10 – Buck Rogers Ring of Saturn (1944) – $195
#11 – Green Hornet Secret Compartment (1947) – $195
#12 – Sky King Mystery Picture with Photos (1948) – $195
#13 – Shadow Magic Carey Salt (1947) – $180
#14 – Space Patrol Rocket Compass (1951) – $175
#15 – Buck Rogers Birthstone Initial (1934) – $170
#16 – Hopalong Cassidy Compass Hat (1940s) – $165
#17 – Jack Armstrong Mystic Dragon’s Eye (1941) – $160
#18 – Superman Action Comics (1940) – $160
#19 – Dick Tracy Secret Compartment (1938) – $155
#20 – Captain Midnight Aztec (1940) – $150
#21 – Gene Autry Good Luck (1940s) – $150
#22 – Tom Mix Signature (1942) – $150
#23 – Captain Marvel Movie Serial (1941) – $150
#24 – Terry & the Pirates Crocodile (1948) – $150
#25 – Captain Marvel Rocket Raider Compass ’41 – $150
#26 – Buck Rogers Halo Light (1953) – $150
#27 – Melvin Purvis Sacred Scarab (1937) – $145
#28 – Captain Midnight Flight Commander Plastic (1955) – $145
#29 – Frank Buck Ivory Initial (1939) – $135
#30 – Tom Corbett Club Metal (1950) – $135
The remainder of Dempsey’s lists will appear in future issues of Scoop.