lou_fine

Any bets that the consignor of this copy of Bat 1 that sold for only $552K a short 2 weeks ago is really wishing this Rally Road transaction at $2M had taken place first: https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/batman-1-dc-1940-cgc-fn-60-off-white-pages/a/7338-91028.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

The person that really made a killing on this transaction here percentage wise and good for them if it does go through in the end is the Goldin purchaser who ends up making over 200% on his net outlay for the book in just 16 short months after buying the Larson Batman 1 off Goldin for a "mere" $1.47M.

Well, if you had it and put it up for auction, it would take care of not only your roofing issue here, but also a whole lot more than that: Hope that wet spot is not as bad as you think it is.

Can we please call it the book formally known as a 9.9? Some here have said that based upon its current condition and the extent of the SCS damage, there wouldn't be a "9" on either side of the decimal point in the CGC grade.

Can't be important as the Hulk 340 cover by McFarlane and I wonder what that one would go for if it ever came to market?

Congrats on being able to bring the book back home to its long lost family where it belongs. Any idea if the trimming was done by your Dad or was it done by the subsequent owner who ended up buying this book from your Dad's collection?

How soon we forget as I only now remember boardies were discussing that $3.4M sale back in September. Is this Rocket Copy like a pariah that no buyer wants to hang onto it once they get their hands on it, although Vinnie sure puts a positive spin on the sale which of course is no surprise: https://blog.gocollect.com/action-comics-1-rocket-copy-sells-for-record-3-5-million/ In January 2022, the Action Comics #1 “Rocket Copy” sold for $3.18 million at public auction. Then in September 2022, a Goldin sold the same book for $3.4 million. Just a few months later, ComicConnect eclipsed both sales. What makes this feat so impressive is that Zurzolo was able to broker the deal so soon after the book had sold, and for a significant profit during a time of sagging stock markets, continued inflation, and a troubled world economy. But this issue isn’t just any comic book. It’s a legendary copy, distinctive because the 13-year-old buyer in 1938 plunked down his dime, then stamped the image of a rocket ship next to the title – hence the “Rocket Copy.” Making the collectible even cooler, Zurzolo said, is that the actual stamp that produced the rocket ship imprint was included in the sale. “I love the rocket stamp!” he said. “It fits perfectly, since Superman came to earth in a rocket ship as a baby.” The buyer, a prominent figure in the tech industry, is choosing to remain anonymous. Well, I don't see how Vinnie can say the seller is making a "significant profit" on this sale, unless Metro/CC is willing to forgo a good portion of their fees in light of the publicity they are hoping to get for this sale. If it's the standard auction and commission fees, the guys making the big money on these two sales would be the auction houses themselves. Cue the new buyer here....................is Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg in the building now?

Then again, unless it was own by Metro, what is the owner's real rate of return after purchasing it for $3.18M and now after factoring in their discounted selling fees? Yes, at least they hopefully didn't end up losing money on it in the past year which is probably what might have happened if they had put the money into the equity markets or even in the real estate market over the same time frame.

From a valuation or auction result POV, being a long time collector from the old days, I guess I am still just much more used to books taking a step-by-step incremental increase over a period of time as it climbs up the valuation charts. Then again, with this current generation of buyers and being hyper charged with the crypto and/or Covid lockdown mentality, it seems to be much more about the "now" and simply paying up all the way to acquire what you want right now. With respect to the former traditional way of thinking, I would say that the highest auction result to date as far as I am aware of is the CGC 8.5 graded copy that sold for just over $14K or over 5X condition guide value back in 2017. Definitely a book on the rise as subsequent sales, albeit only in mid-grade condition, have all been running in the 5.5X to 8X condition guide values, with the higher multiples on the lower graded copies. As a result, my ball park estimate for this copy here using the old fashion way of thinking would be more in the $60K to $80K range. Now, if it was a big name pedigree copy like the Church copy, sure, a much much better chance at hitting 6-figures. For the Davis Crippen copy, maybe not so much at 6-figures just quite yet. Then again, considering the relative scarcity of this book in high grade condition (i.e. CGC 9.0 or higher) with only a scant 4 copies reaching this exalted "9" condition grading level and not a single new entrant being slabbed in this condition grade of >9.0 in the past 20 years, your $100K estimate might just be achievable here. So, maybe if you want a true HG copy of this top GGA book here, this just might be your best possible chance to acquire one for the foreseeable future. It definitely doesn't hurt potential bids when it's also the promo cover image for this auction here. It will most definitely be interesting to watch and see how it all shakes out in the end though.

All I can say is that are these guys at Metro/CC involved in virtually every single major sale of an Action 1 one way or the other (i.e. either as a buyer or seller) for the past several years because it sure seems that way?

Definitely also respect your opinion here, but I imagine it's really a case of to each their own in terms of their preference. Especially since you are here in a thread where some fellow boardies are even stating that they prefer the cover image for Seven Seas 6 over the Seven Seas 4 one. And we haven't even gotten into the long time established GGA cover like Phantom Lady 17 and Blue Beetle 54 or even Brenda Starr 14. Heck, even with those all-time GGA classics, there's some controversy since some favor the PL 23 over the PL 17 and likewise to a lesser degree, some prefer the Blue Beetle 52 over the Blue Beetle 54. So, being a relative newcomer to the GGA genre in terms of its current demand, not sure if it can be ranked as the top GGA at this point in time.

He's even luckier than that and should really be jumping for joy then since he was specifically referring to the Marvel BA keys such as HG gems like Hulk 181 and GSXM 1 which have dropped by some 50% or more from their Covid peak.

Yes, the super super rare Canadian variant copy here and who wants that "common as dirt" American version after seeing this rarity here. Now if we can just get one of those MA variant chasers here to see this, they'll be throwing you oodles of moolah for this unique one of a kind variant here.

Definitely a drop dead gorgeous copy of SS 4 here, but unlike you, I'd be totally shocked if it did in fact hit $100K on this go round here: https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/adventure/seven-seas-comics-4-davis-crippen-d-copy-pedigree-universal-phoenix-feature-1947-cgc-nm-92-off-white-to-white-pages/a/40216-81340.s?ic16=ViewItem-Auction-Archive-OtherAvailable-081514 Then again, I guess you just never really know with some of these in-demand classic cover books until the final hammer comes down on them. Especially since this is one of the Top 4 graded copies out there, and clearly a toughie to find in grade as rather surprisingly, there hasn't been a new entrant to enter into this exalted Top 4 grouping since way back in 2003. So, without the Promise of another HG copy of this book to come into the marketplace any time soon, this one here will definitely be interesting to watch.

Yes indeed, a big congrats to our resident Prof on his purchase of a gorgeous looking copy with the classic Baker foxy looking "tart" on the cover.

Well, if you are surprised about the $2,880 on the #34, then how about the $6,600 on the Teen-Age Romances #39? Especially when the #34 is the single highest graded copy while the #39 one of two highest graded with just as many prior sales listed on HA.

Did you look at only the 9.8's to make this determination or did you also take into consideration the 9.6 graded copies? Especially since there are a lot more 9.6's (i.e. 34 graded copies) and as we all know here, grading is really nothing more than a subjective opinion, albeit a so-called expert one, when the book crosses a grader's table. As such, grading can be influenced by a lot of factors and is still really more of an art than an exact science. Probably the reason why we see some CGC 9.6's that presents just as nice, if not nicer than some of the slightly off-center CGC 9.8's.

So, if I have a sealed record for one of these GRR, it should still hopefully carry some extra value if I certify the comic PLUS include the record as part of the same lot.

How about the CGC 9.9 graded copy of Hulk 181, as rumors have it that it would have a tough time even getting into the 9's with its now severe and possibly not completely fixable case of SCS damage?

Absolutely love this drop dead gorgeous red Surfer cover and even to the point that I actually ended up bidding and winning a copy for one of the very few Marvel slabs in my collection.

Why are you asking us the question when you give us the answer right away in your next sentence: This actually reminds me of the Iron Man 30 when the only CGC 9.8 copy in the entire universe at the time sold in a CC auction for some $15K back in 2016: https://www.comicconnect.com/item/689571 All I can say is that since there are now 6 copies in CGC 9.8, I just hope that the subsequent sales for them helped to reinforce that initial $15K purchase price for the buyer like it should, but I somehow strongly doubt it.

Hey Roy; Did this copy of the ASM 1 GRR come with the record or was it just the comic book on its own without the record? Just wondering if they are worth more with the record if it's still sealed, and if so, how would CGC then be able to grade the book then? Especially since in the rest of the collectibles world, a sealed collectible is always worth much more than an opened collectible.

I guess that's probably also due to CL's customer base which generally tends to be the home for the more speculative type of buyer from my POV. With the more speculative type of buyer, I believe they tend to jump in when the market is going well and more likely to leave when the market is not going so well.

So, am I correct in assuming that the above Grader Notes would be referring to the exterior 7.0 cover? If so, I feel it would impart a lot more info to the submittor and/or potential bidders if they specify notes for both the interior 9.4 and exterior 7.0 covers.

Seeing those two gorgeous Promise copies of SS 3 and SS 5 above makes me wonder if we will see the Promise copies of both or either of the Seven Seas 4 and/or the Seven Seas 6 magically surface into the marketplace out of absolutely nowhere?