sfcityduck

For the good of the books, replacement with vintage staples should carry no stigma.

https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/superhero/captain-america-comics-1-mile-high-pedigree-timely-1941-cgc-apparent-vf-nm-90-slight-p-off-white-pages-one-of-fandom/a/804-5111.s

Not sure what the problems are. Are the buyer and seller really unknown (I'm sure some folks posting here know who both sides of the transaction are)? Or was it Bechala? Buyer anonymity is a given in most every auction. The grade bump is not surprising. The same serial number is, and it is a welcome change! Minimal color touch is noted just as it always was. Apparently, the market does not view insignificant CT as a significant problem.

I don't think so. Never heard that. And when Borock and Fischler have reported on their inspections of the book, they haven't said that.

Never heard that analogy made, and it is a great one. So true.

It's not a pedigree. He side by sided the MH with the copy he has and his copy was better. That guy has proven to be the most astute buyer of high grade comics ever, and it is clearly out of love as he's not sold any of the top books without an upgrade.

Some of (maybe all of) those markets (especially video games) appear to be manipulated. I wonder about sports cards. That market collapsed once. Most of the big bucks are being paid for manufactured collectibles. It appears to have more in common with beanie babies than comic books. I was talking to a dealer of fine art who also deals in cards. He's been buying multiples of rare Deshaun Watson rookies and now he's dumping them all to cash out while the getting's good - says he'll garner around $500K. Watson is only 26 and he plays for the Browns - which finished third in their division. That dealer is now looking for cheap cards he thinks might be the "next big thing." One focus is Marvel "rookie cards." You guys going to "invest" in those? He's a smart guy, so he could be ahead of the curve.

More of an extrapolation than speculation. We're talking about the top graded Action 1, Detective 27, Superman 1, and Batman 1, which all have comparables on less desirable copies that easily support the extrapolation. Top prices paid: Action 1 8.5 - $3.25M (4th best) Detective 27 7.0 - $1.5M (10th or 11th best) Superman 1 8.5 - $5.3M (2nd or 3rd best) Batman 1 9.4 - $2.2M (2nd or 3rd best) That's a total of $12.25M for undercopies ranging from 11th best to 2nd best. That's not a huge leap based on the data. But, a leap from $5M for a single comic to $20M is a huge leap that I'm not prepared to predict would happen today. But, you may be right. Time will tell.

Hariri is a super rich comic lover. A lot of the key moves into the seven figures seem to have been made by comic lovers. But, the pool must be getting smaller. If you are looking for an investment, paying a record price for a comic book is, facially, a risky one. The comic has no intrinsic value - the "investment" value is based on the notion that you can pass the hot potato on to the next guy. That depends on the coolness of the comic and the depth of the pool. That's a notion that will make professional investment entities more than a bit nervous. Because if the market moves high enough that the buyer pool is only other investment entities, you lose the coolness factor. The equation stops being love of the comic, coolness, and boasting rights, and shifts to "will there be a buyer in x years." And as soon as the investment entities think a market has reached that point, it will likely lose all appeal to them. If they want to sell, why would another sophisticated investment entity want to buy? I think the market for the highest level of collectibles and fine art is driven by love, coolness, and boasting rights. Wealthy individuals appear to drive prices more than investment entities. And some of those wealthy individuals have an added incentive, building out a nice museum, which I don't think drives comic buyers or general investment entities..

That is a big premium that is all speculation until someone writes the check. The pool of buyers is getting very small at that level. Too much of a hot potato for someone to buy for any reason other than love.

CA 1 does not make my top five. The MH Superman sale just confirms what we already know about that book - it is a solid no. 3 in price.

The dentist and his son must be happy. The top four books he owns might just be $20M in value based on a sale like this.

Some guy named CGC Mike keeps making posts disappear. Something about politics. I'm generally ok with that (let's keep debates about whether Putin is an admirable guy to other sites) so long as we can discuss political issues directly related to comics (e.g. why the Punisher logo was changed or why Maus is being censored) with respect for one another. But, the folks who leap in to lower those legit conversations with ad hominem comments (like the "beta" comments you see the losers spout on the far reaches of the internet) deserve to be placed on ice. .

Yep. More importantly, the attorneys (and their investigators) hired by the insurer will figure it out.

Boy are they going to have a surprise next January!

Stamps manifestly do not hurt grades of GA books, at least up to 9.6 with my submissions (now at a better home):

Don't know about CIS. Typically, an insurer will obtain its own valuation information, not rely on what you represent unless it is the certified appraisal submitted to obtain the insurance (which is why you need to update appraisals and limits if values change significantly). I would advise that you carefully document the contents of your collection, taking pics of certified and uncertified high value books for which evidence of condition might be required to substantiate their value, and that information be stored at a different location than where the collection is located (e.g., if your collection is in your house, have a copy of the docs in your bank box and vice versa or a family members house, etc.).

I insure my fine art, including original paintings, through my homeowners policy. All that is required to get a one of a kind painting insured is an expert appraisal. The experts make the appraisal based on comparable sales by the same artist. The same methodology of referencing comparable works can be used for comics, even supposedly "one-of-a-kind" items. It is worth noting that in the comic world rarity does not equate to value. Many of the most valuable books in the hobby are not at all rare. In contrast, there are books that are so rare no market has ever really developed for them and there price remains surprisingly low (if they can be found). Hence the reason I asked you what books you are referencing. An insurer is not going to insure even a desirable super rare comic (like a Supergear or a Nightingale) for what the owner might think the comic is worth. Instead, they will require an appraisal at the time the insurance is obtained (which likely will be low) or at the time of paying the claim (which also likely would be low). And that appraisal will based on the available facts not speculative opinions (which is why it will be low). There should be no problem appraising a signed comic or a "rare in grade" comic. So I'm not sure what impediment you face in with getting your comics appropriately appraised.

Is there really such a thing? What would it be? To get insurance, you generally have to get an estimate of the comic's replacement cost or market value. So what is this "one of a kind / irreplaceable CGC comic."

I've got a few issues. Toth, Cardy, Giordano, Adams, what's not to like? When my son was young loved Hot Wheels cars. To play with, not to keep locked upon their plastic vaults. One of the greatest toys ever to play with. The one Hot Wheel I wouldn't mind owning, and not opening, is the Wonder Woman invisible plane they had at Comic Con. Better than a CGC "invisible comic" LOL!

I've always viewed the Crowley's as an individual's comics, not PUBLISHER file copies. To me they are a pedigree, not "file copies" in the way I view the term.

Bob, I'm guessing that's you. Makes me remember my own heavily patched 501s. If that's you, man you were early 70s cool!

Wow. A comic record collectors would covet!

The most I have seen any go for is low six figures. But if those volumes came on the market now I would think they would go for multiples of that since one was an Action run starting with 1 and the other was a Detective run starting a bit before 27. In a world where a tiny piece of the cover of Action 1 can hit mid-four figures, single pages are being snatched up, and bionic books garner big dollars, then sky might just be the limit for the most valuable bound copies.