DanCooper

Try this link. Jim's is a three-parter: http://www.comiczoneradio.com/jim-payette.html

Found an archived post from 20+ years ago that a long time boardie - Darthdiesel - seemed to have some familiarity with the collection. Don't know if he is still around here. Darthdiesel wrote: "I am most familiar with the Top Cow Collection and that's how it was designated on the label for high grade witchblade 1's prescreened at 9.4 and up from the Top Cow comic vaults (Silvestri's office?)"

Really hope Vinny gets the chance to do another interview with Jay Maybruck of the original Sparkle City Comics fame, since his original Comic Zone interviews were lost due to some computer glitch/transfer years ago.

The following were the original CGC grades for the "Newsboy" collection Showcases, when Heritage auctioned off the books originally in 2009: #1 - 9.0/ #2 - 8.5/ #3 - 8.5/ #4 - 9.6/ #5 - 9.4/ #6 - 9.0/ #7 - 8.0/ #8 - 9.2/ #10 - 9.4 #11 - 9.6/ #12 - 9.4/ #13 - 9.2/ #14 - 9.0/ #15 - 9.2/ #16 - 9.0/ #17 - 9.0/ #20 - 8.0 All had WHITE pages, except for two issues, which were OW/W (#15 and #17) Neither Heritage, nor CGC, defined these as from the "Newsboy" collection (Heritage in 2009 referred to it as "From the Motor City Showcase run" for Mike Goldman of Motor City Comics, who purchased the collection. It even lost that notation in future auctions of the books). A shame, since it was a small collection worth noting, to keep track of for the future. I believe a few copies may even have been cracked out and re-subbed for higher grades than above, since some serial numbers don't exist any longer in the CGC lookup. These recent Morrison Showcases looked to be the RARE opportunity to acquire low number Showcases in 9.0+, which seemed to be the initial objective of this thread.

And I believe this is coming from a high-end Legion aficionado no less! (YOU!)

I see there is a little confusion on the recent Showcase 17 in CGC 9.2 sale at Heritage. Was it a final price ($84,000) thing? I could rationalize "top of the census" chasers, but won't. But, it makes perfect sense when comparing it to other things, when living on the planet Heritage! After all, Superman 147s are now going for $50,000+ up on planet Heritage!

I did catch the three-parter on Netflix. Leans mostly on one of the original, and more famous, suspects in the case - Arthur Leigh Allen. Also, gets the perspective from a family (the Seawaters) who knew him well back in the day. Don't want to ruin anything/spoilers for anyone, in case they want to catch it, but found some elements interesting on the case (especially, they expand upon an interesting connection to Albany NY, that appeared in that History Channel documentary I posted a YouTube clip from earlier in the thread) Netflix does do their documentaries rather well, overall.

GREAT pickup there on the Show 19, Chiparus! There's nothing like a jet black cover with white pages! Goes to show, those first 22 issues in 8.0+ are nice, when putting together a run I'm also glad it passed all emissions and blood tests with it's CVA sticker!

I think that article meant to say that items from Christine's collection will be up for auction from now through the summer of 2025 (Heritage currently has over 700 lots up for auction from the collection, and will utilize weekly auctions and others) Here is a recap from Scoop on the recently held main auction last week: https://scoop.previewsworld.com/Home/4/1/73/1012?articleID=278374

Thanks for these reports! GREAT seeing Gene Carpenter healthy and active on the current circuit!

I think this is the thread you are looking for involving Fishler/Metro seeking Marvel 1 info: https://boards.cgccomics.com/topic/151467-marvel-1-info-needed/#comments

A CGC 9.0 just sold a month ago on Heritage for $96,000.00. Reeces price of $150,000.00 seems a bit aggressive. Is it the same copy? Yes, same copy, but notice page quality changed from Cream/Off White to straight Off White (but retained same CGC number 1159172001 and 9.0 grade) Heritage: Reece:

That book has had a colorful history being available on all "Big 3" auction sites at some point: Graded at CGC in November 2005 (same label) Sold at Heritage for $83,650 in January 2007 Sold at ComicLink for $121,000 in August 2008 Sold again at Heritage for $675,000 in January 2023 Available now at ComicConnect for $775,000 Buy it Now I bet Jim Payette would remember if that was original spine wear when he bought the collection, being such a big, key book.

The $13,000 comes from the original 1979 Washington Post article. Here's the excerpt: The Comic Payoff The Comic Payoff: Marvel No. 1 Goes for a Record $13,000 Marvel No. 1 Goes for Record $13,000 By Carol Krucoff October 10, 1979 at 8:00 p.m. EDT When John Snyder paid $600 for a Donald Duck comic book four years ago, his wife thought he was crazy. A year later, after he sold the rare 1940 issue for $1,000, his wife told him to buy more. This week the 36-year-old government relations specialist from Alexandria made a record deal for what several experts say is the most valuable comic book in the world. After five hours of negotiation, Snyder paid $13,000 (or $8,600 an ounce) for a 1939 near-perfect copy of Marvel Comics No. 1 that he will never read. "The dealer wanted $15,000, so I was lucky to get it," he said. "I know people think that's crazy. When a noncollector hears that kind of price he just can't comprehend it.

That would make sense Rob - Geppi flipping it for more than a $500 agent fee in 1979 and Snyder getting exactly double back in 1984 ($35,000) Snyder in that "Comic Zone" interview did mention a $13,500/1979 price figure a couple of times, but that could be confusing it with the actual $17,500.

I agree with Sean here, that the Mile High/Church Marvel 1 stayed in that Baltimore/DC/Virginia area for a decade until John Verzyl acquired it in 1989. Possible timeline/ownership/pure speculation for the MH Marvel 1: Edgar Church - 1939 (10 cents) Chuck - 1977 (roughly $1 ) Geppi - 1979 ($13,000 - acting as agent for Snyder) Snyder - 1979 ($13,500 - possible $500 agent "flip" fee for Geppi) Geppi - 1984 ($35,000) John Verzyl - 1989 ($? + trade) Again, just pure speculation.

In that Comic Zone interview link I posted, Snyder is claiming he bought a Marvel 1 from Geppi in 1979 for $13,500 (he mentions it around the 53:00 - 55:00 minutes mark) He stated that the sale was picked up by the media nationwide (Washington Post, LA Times, etc) The actual 1979 Washington Post article from October 1979, says that Snyder bought the Marvel 1 for $13,000. No mention of Geppi as the dealer though in that article.

I went back and listened to an interview John Snyder did on a "Come Zone" interview with Vinny Z. At around the 52:00 - 55:00 minute time marks of the first segment of the interview, John S. recounts how he bought a Marvel 1 from Steve Geppi in 1979 for $13,500 and the media sensation it caused all over the country: http://www.comiczoneradio.com/john-snyder.html

Didn't John Verzyl buy the Mile High Marvel 1 from Steve Geppi in the 1980s? A post that Timely/West made in 2019: Here is that thread with a picture of the MH Marvel 1 in it: https://boards.cgccomics.com/topic/443516-john-verzyl-collection/page/3/#comments

I spoke with someone recently, who has close familiarity with the collection, and most, if not all, of the Mile Highs in the upcoming auction were purchased by Chris from the Carter family (Gary and his dad Nick) at San Diego cons she attended.

WOAH! That's top of CGC census for a 17 (replaces the 9.0 Newsboy copy) If I may ask, where did you get that picture/scan of this 9.2? (Heritage is currently showing it as a "Coming Soon"/ no picture and it doesn't even look like it made the census yet) Is that yours? I know you are more a keeper collector. I got to really figure out the secret handshake/password to that exclusive Showcase clubhouse, where all the high graders hang out and get the inside scoops!

Here's an old archived CGC thread you may be interested in: https://boards.cgccomics.com/topic/118612-50-rarest-ga-books-cbm-survey-1993/#comments

Believe it is CBM #11, which had a Top 50 Rarest Golden Age list by Duncan McAlpine. Looks like Double Action 2 was at #18

Doesn't look like it is from Chris's collection. It will be in the Heritage Signature auction in November: https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/superhero/coming-soon-/p/7384-156001.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515