Wayne-Tec

In the 2019 guide description of Captain America Comics #1, it includes a note that reads:

into of the "Capt. America Sentinels of Liberty Club" (advertised on inside front-c.)

I don't see any mention of it at all on the inside of the front cover. Am I missing something here?

What is FMV for a complete coverless Batman #1 these days?

Does anyone think we’ll see a blue label Tec #27 come to auction this year?

Where does Tec #33 stand today in terms of FMV when compared to 29, 31 and 35?

Say blue label 2.0’s with equal eye appeal.

Rick,

In all of your years in the hobby, which book made you the happiest as a collector? What was the story behind it and how did it feel to make that acquisition at the time?

That 0.5 on eBay will look like an absolute bargain 2-3 years down the road.

I can’t help but wonder if seeing 2 low grade Cap #1’s sold since March will lead to a break for this one?

It shouldn’t. I’ve never been a fan of perception-based rarity. And this 3.5 is a really, really nice looking 3.5.

If a 0.5 was $39,500 and a 2.5 was $86,000, this 3.5 should be a $120,000-$150,000 book. It presents really well for the assigned grade.

But who knows? 

Cap #1 CGC Universal 3.5 with OW-W pages is coming to Heritage Auctions.

LINK

0.5 Universal missing 4 center wraps sold for $39,500 in March.

2.5 Universal sold for $86,000 last week.

What are your predictions for this one?

8 hours ago, LDarkseid1 said:

The last couple unrestored Batman 1 .5's, one missing a front cover and one a back cover sold for roughly $20K as I recall at auction. I think the copy missing the back sold a grand or two over and the copy missing the front sold for several grand less. So if we're assuming a copy is missing 4 wraps but still garnered a .5 meaning it likely has both the front and back cover such as the Cap 1, I would think around $20K-$25K makes sense .

If a 0.5 Cap #1 missing 4 wraps is a $39,500 book, you’ve got to imagine a Batman #1 in comparable condition would be a $30,000+ book.

There are appear to be a lot more Batman #1’s out there, but it’s absolutely a hot book. Maybe just a cool-down period at the moment?

1 minute ago, G.A.tor said:

It’s too “common” to become the #3 book. I was speaking to relative comparison. Cap 1 is first comics appearance. Bat 1 is what, 10th?

I getcha. Batman #1 is actually his 14th appearance. Joker is considered by most to he the greatest villain in comic book history. How do we compare the No. 1 villain to a Top-10 (but probably not Top-5) hero?

1 hour ago, G.A.tor said:

We relegated ourselves to comparing bat 1 and cap 1 but a more appropriate comparison is cap 1 to Tec 27 or action 1, first appearances an all

IMO, it’s Action #1 and Tec #27 as 1-A and 1-B. If Cap #1 is (or becomes) the No. 3 book in the hobby, it will be a distant 3rd.

What are your thoughts on the subject?

8 minutes ago, Comics-n-ERB said:

Had this for about 10 years now......

 

That’s awesome!

I forgot to include Marvel #1.

1. Action Comics #1

2. Detective Comics #27

3. Captain America Comics #1

4. Marvel Comics #1

5. Superman #1

6. Batman #1

12 hours ago, Chicago Boy said:

Cap 1 for me as well. I can’t think of another mega key that has everything Cap 1 has :

1. Classic cover 

2. Origin story. 
3.  Arch villain first appearance. 
4. Side kick origin and first appearance

5. First appearance of future main player in Winter Soldier  

6. Most importantly to me main Hero’s first appearance. 
7. Only mainstay GA hero still relevant in pop culture today from the # 1 comic publisher 

All good points.

From a “wealth of content” perspective, Cap #1 and Batman #1 may be in a league of their own. The 1st appearances of Superman and Batman top the 1st appearances of Cap and Joker. So the Top-2 books of the hobby are firmly established. How to rank the “other 4 of the Big-6” is the question. 

Rarity:

Marvel #1 > Superman #1/Cap #1 > Batman #1

• Total CGC/Voldy slabbed copies in 0.5+ are: 70 Marvel #1, 174 Superman #1, 186 Cap #1, 301 Batman #1. Given the popularity of Superman, it’s possible that there may exist more copies of Superman #1 than Cap #1 “in the wild.”

Cover:

Cap #1 > Superman #1 > Batman #1/Marvel #1

Content:

Cap #1

• 1st app. of Captain America

• 1st app. of the Red Skull

• 1st app. of Hitler (cover only)

• 1st app. of Bucky (later to become the Winter Soldier)

• 1st mention of “Thor, God of Thunder” in Marvel Comics

• 2nd app. of Makkari of The Eternals (The Hurricane)

• Classic cover

Batman #1

• 1st app. of the Joker

• 1st app. of Catwoman

• 2nd app. of Hugo Strange

• 3rd app. of Robin

• Batman’s origin reprinted

• Classic cover

Marvel Comics #1

• 1st “Marvel Universe” comic book

• 1st app. of the GA Human Torch

• 1st app of The Angel

• 2nd app. of Sub-Mariner (1st newsstand app.)

• Classic cover

Superman #1

• 1st comic book devoted to a superhero

• 1st app. of “Ma” and “Pa” Kent

• Action Comics #1-4 reprinted

• Classic cover
 

Content: Cap #1, Batman #1, Marvel #1, Superman #1

Some May disagree with my content-rankings. The “1st superhero solo book” and the “1st Marvel Universe book” are undoubtedly monumental milestones of extreme importance. But from front-to-back, I’m not sure that tops the wealth of content that Cap #1 and Batman #1 bring to the table.

Taking into account rarity, historical significance and content, my rankings today would probably be...

1. Action Comics #1

2. Detective Comics #27

3. Captain America Comics #1

4. Superman #1

5. Batman #1

1 hour ago, Bammoman said:

It's no full book, but couldn't be happier to finally join the club! And a thanks to one of our members for giving us a helping hand with these.. 

 

Welcome to the club! Those pages look really sharp as far as loose pages go. The splash page is one of the best and The Hurricane story has some really cool background to it.

Jack Kirby’s 1st Timely work was on a character named “Mercury” in Red Raven Comics #1. That character, illustrated pretty much the same way, facing the same villain, was re-branded as “The Hurricane” in Cap #1 (his 2nd appearance). The Hurricane was “the son of Thor” and I’m pretty sure Cap #1 has the 1st mention of Thor “God of Thunder” on the splash page to The Hurricane story. 

So you’ve got quite the combo there.

15 hours ago, tth2 said:

How many baseball fans consider Honus Wagner to be their favorite player or the greatest player of all time?

I don't think that's a fair comparison. The T206 came out in 1909-1911. How many collectors today had the opportunity to watch him play live? I'm not so sure that card's desirability is driven as much by the love for Wagner as a baseball player as comic books are by the characters they feature. Put another way, and I don't know how to measure this, but I suspect Action #1/Tec #27 owners are bigger fans of Superman/Batman than T206 owners are fans of Honus Wagner.

One of the things that makes comic books unique is the connection to the characters that collectors love. That connection is reflected in FMV as well. Compare the FMV of the top DC/Timely books to their non-DC/Timely books competitors. Artists, publishers, rarity and classic covers have made a lot of non-DC/Timely books valuable, but overall, it's not that close and that's no coincidence.

No doubt, Action #1's place as the "holy grail" of our hobby has an aura surrounding it that makes the book all the more desirable. Collectors desire the very best, those "holy grail" items. I could write a book about why Action #1 should be the holy grail of our hobby (check out my avatar). There are strong points in favor of both books. But it really doesn't matter how I feel. It matters how collectors feel as a whole as time moves forward.

I wouldn't be shocked to see Action #1 remains No. 1. But for that to happen, all of those collectors born after 1980 are going to have to say "No, I prefer to spend just a little more on a character I didn't grow up liking that much." Those collectors, if presented with an auction that featured both an Action #1 and Tec #27 in comparable grades, need to stay "I'm going to pass on the Tec #27 that features my all-time favorite character so I can spend more money on a book featuring a character I didn't grow up liking that much."

I'm generalizing too much, but you get the idea. I'm just not sold on that being the future of the hobby.

3 hours ago, jimjum12 said:

Sometimes popularity can be gauged by what is NOT being sold … do Action 1 and Detective 27 both come to market at a similar rate ? GOD BLESS....

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

I don't have data to back this up, but I feel like we see more Action #1's.

8 hours ago, Crowzilla said:

I think you are really underestimating the impact the 60s show had on a lot of young kids/collectors. One who didn't grow up with George Reeves as Superman. A lot of them fell out of collecting and were brought right back in as adults by the 89 film and started collecting again. Saw lots of them in our shop at that time. The first Action #1 I ever sold went to a guy just like that, he loved Batman more than anything, but it was still Action #1.

I agree there are lots of kids who like Batman more than Superman, but who knows if they are ever going to want a Tec 27 or Acton 1?

Fantasy #15 has been the #1 SA book for such a long time, it's hard to remember back when it wasn't. It has actually been the #1 book for more years now than it hasn't been #1.

For as great as that show was (and I'm a big fan), I just don't know if a 2-year run + re-runs was enough to come anywhere close to closing the popularity gap, in totality. No character remains No. 1 every month of every year, but in overall, Superman topped Batman with some degree of consistency before the late 1980s. From the success of 1989's Batman, through multiple billion dollar films, into today's generation where these characters are just as popular amongst adults as they are children...collectors born from 1980-present have been part of a DC/Marvel generation unlike anything we've ever seen before, and it's going to be another 10-20 years before we'll be able to see which book they choose to invest more money into.

Since we don't know if individual buyers end up paying the 3% BP on CL, I've revised the recent sales to remove CL BP.

Cap #1 CGC 0.5 (missing 4 center wraps) sold for $39,500 in total. ($79,000 per-point)

Cap #1 CGC 2.5 sold for $86,000. LINK ($34,400 per-point)

Batman #1 CGC 4.0 sold for $110,100. LINK ($27,525 per-point)

Batman #1 CGC 3.5 (slightly brittle PQ) sold for $83,000 in total. LINK ($23,714 per-point)

The entry-level market for Cap #1 is aggressive. I'm sure the same is true for Batman #1. How much do you feel a Batman #1 Universal 0.5, missing 4 center wraps, would go for today?

7 minutes ago, Sensei Ryan said:

No, I mean above in the text box (the 0.5 missing the 4 center wraps that sold for 39K) - do you have a pic of that one you could post?

NVM I found it  - My bad...

You ended up landing a copy?

with some recent sales.

Batman #1 CGC 4.0 sold for $110,100. LINK ($27,525 per-point)

Cap #1 CGC 2.5 sold for $88,580 with BP. LINK ($35,432 per-point)

Batman #1 CGC 3.5 (slightly brittle PQ) sold for $83,000 in total. LINK ($23,714 per-point)

Cap #1 CGC 0.5 (missing 4 center wraps) sold for $39,500 in total. ($79,000 per-point)

These books have gone back and fourth. Are we back to Cap #1 reigning supreme?

On 5/8/2020 at 4:24 PM, Wayne-Tec said:

Predictions for the Universal 2.5 coming to CL auction?

LINK

Closed for $86,000.

With 3% BP, $88,580 in total.

5 minutes ago, Sensei Ryan said:

Hey - do you have the link to the above (or can you post a pic of it if you can find it)?  I'd be interested to see it if so!  

It’s posted right above.

7 hours ago, Primetime said:

Sure, the next "best" thing...just like ASM 1 if an AF15 can't be had. Or a Supe1/Action 7 in place of an Action 1. It may only be partial satisfaction for some collectors, but it is the closest thing to the top. 

+1

This was the $39,500 CGC 0.5 copy.