RECIL MACON 1928-2008
Recil Ira Elbert Macon was born in Stamford, Texas on July 1 1928, and lived in the area his whole life.
He collected comic books in the 1940's.
His books are now a designated pedigree collection, often referred to as the "poor man's Larson" due to Recil Macon's name written in a similar fashion on the covers. The books however are generally lower in grade than Larson copies.
It has been estimated that there are less than 1000 comics in the Recil Macon Collection. Other estimates suggest the collection is in the thousands but does anyone know for sure? It seems that relatively few of the books have been professionally graded thus far, and that there might be some unidentified copies floating around out there, primarily because a batch of the collection was reportedly stolen.
His comics were sold off in two batches; the first was sold in 1990 by an unidentified individual who (like the Davis Crippen collection) had stolen books from Recil's home. The next batch were sold by Recil himself. Darren Wilson (a part-time dealer in the area) in Abilene, Texas was the primary broker for Recil, but it was Greg Bulls who ultimately acquired about 300 of the books and advertised them on a national stage.
Another report suggests the collection first surfaced in Abilene, Texas in 1990 when Recil's son began selling the collection off to Darren Wilson.
All the books were stored in a cupboard in an outside shed for approximately 50 years or so, in sun scorched Texas. The books exhibit remarkable preservation including many issues with white pages and exceptional colors and gloss. Unfortunately, they were stacked haphazardly, and many books were bent and became warped.
Recil had a habit of writing his name on the books, sometimes on the cover, and sometimes on the back cover and interior pages..sometimes this was done several times as a combination on a particular issue! The name is written either in pencil or pen. Also present on many copies is the distributor code Mid-C. He had a habit also of filling out coupons with his name and address. The address he lived at his whole life, and is recorded as 208 S Anson St, Stamford, Texas 79553-4706.
Using all the above information, identifying a Recil Macon becomes relatively easy.
There are many Timely books in the collection, also DC and Quality etc. A few keys present included All-American #16, Captain America #1, Marvel Mystery #2-30, and Human Torch #1.
In later life Recil founded a scrap wholesale/waste material business in 1959, with just one employee (possibly just himself) he eventually turned over $100,000 per year. He ran his scrap business from this selfsame address.
Recil died in hospital in Stamford on Friday, November 28, 2008 aged 80 years.
His funeral service was held at the Temple Baptist church in Stamford, and he was buried at the Highland Memorial Cemetary.
The Recil Macon pedigree designation is his legacy to the comic book world, brought about by a young boy who bought, read and enjoyed his comic books (much like many other young children). The difference being he stored them away in a locked cupboard in a dusty old shed, and very possibly forgot about them until half a century later. (The books also survived being thrown away by his mother, no doubt because they were not cluttering up her house! How many of us have lost our collections because of OCD obsessed matriachs? Too many)
Probably through more luck than judgement these books were saved and preserved to a decent standard.
One wonders how many more potential 'Recil Macon collections' are still lying hidden away and undiscovered to the world?
He collected comic books in the 1940's.
His books are now a designated pedigree collection, often referred to as the "poor man's Larson" due to Recil Macon's name written in a similar fashion on the covers. The books however are generally lower in grade than Larson copies.
It has been estimated that there are less than 1000 comics in the Recil Macon Collection. Other estimates suggest the collection is in the thousands but does anyone know for sure? It seems that relatively few of the books have been professionally graded thus far, and that there might be some unidentified copies floating around out there, primarily because a batch of the collection was reportedly stolen.
His comics were sold off in two batches; the first was sold in 1990 by an unidentified individual who (like the Davis Crippen collection) had stolen books from Recil's home. The next batch were sold by Recil himself. Darren Wilson (a part-time dealer in the area) in Abilene, Texas was the primary broker for Recil, but it was Greg Bulls who ultimately acquired about 300 of the books and advertised them on a national stage.
Another report suggests the collection first surfaced in Abilene, Texas in 1990 when Recil's son began selling the collection off to Darren Wilson.
All the books were stored in a cupboard in an outside shed for approximately 50 years or so, in sun scorched Texas. The books exhibit remarkable preservation including many issues with white pages and exceptional colors and gloss. Unfortunately, they were stacked haphazardly, and many books were bent and became warped.
Recil had a habit of writing his name on the books, sometimes on the cover, and sometimes on the back cover and interior pages..sometimes this was done several times as a combination on a particular issue! The name is written either in pencil or pen. Also present on many copies is the distributor code Mid-C. He had a habit also of filling out coupons with his name and address. The address he lived at his whole life, and is recorded as 208 S Anson St, Stamford, Texas 79553-4706.
Using all the above information, identifying a Recil Macon becomes relatively easy.
There are many Timely books in the collection, also DC and Quality etc. A few keys present included All-American #16, Captain America #1, Marvel Mystery #2-30, and Human Torch #1.
In later life Recil founded a scrap wholesale/waste material business in 1959, with just one employee (possibly just himself) he eventually turned over $100,000 per year. He ran his scrap business from this selfsame address.
Recil died in hospital in Stamford on Friday, November 28, 2008 aged 80 years.
His funeral service was held at the Temple Baptist church in Stamford, and he was buried at the Highland Memorial Cemetary.
The Recil Macon pedigree designation is his legacy to the comic book world, brought about by a young boy who bought, read and enjoyed his comic books (much like many other young children). The difference being he stored them away in a locked cupboard in a dusty old shed, and very possibly forgot about them until half a century later. (The books also survived being thrown away by his mother, no doubt because they were not cluttering up her house! How many of us have lost our collections because of OCD obsessed matriachs? Too many)
Probably through more luck than judgement these books were saved and preserved to a decent standard.
One wonders how many more potential 'Recil Macon collections' are still lying hidden away and undiscovered to the world?