tth2

On 4/7/2024 at 1:10 AM, Lee Enterprises said:

I was the last man standing on the Strange Tales Annual #1 CGC 9.4.

Congrats, a great and super tough book! 

On 4/7/2024 at 11:47 AM, Bigphatpaulie said:

The consignor would be very disappointed if he purchased this back from the August 2018 auction.  Looks like it was regraded too without a change:

https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/four-color-386-uncle-scrooge-dell-1952-cgc-nm-92-white-pages/a/7189-91045.s?gck=aceb26a6-8066-4809-9021-5973a414eb85&utm_source=GoCollect&utm_medium=Growth_Partner&utm_campaign=Sponsored_Listing&utm_term=Four+Color+%23386&utm_content=7189-91045

Ouch!  What makes it even more painful is that the book was in kind of a decade-long doldrums back in 2018, but had seen a resurgence in the last few years, so I'm sure there was an expectation of a nice profit over the 2018 price. 

Congratulations, Peter!  An amazing accomplishment and a true testament to your OCD dogged determination! 

I, along with many others here, wait with bated breath for the rest. 

On 4/7/2024 at 1:35 PM, Hepcat said:

On 4/6/2024 at 3:18 AM, sfcityduck said:

Sad story. Reminds me of the guy who bought and sold the Flash Comics MH run.

I don't understand. Why is the story sad?

Because he took a huge loss.

On 4/6/2024 at 11:51 PM, adamstrange said:

Keller lost between 30 and 40% on the majority of his books, and the GA Flash run was just part of that sale.

Shows how much bigger the dollars have gotten over the course of a decade.  Keller's total losses in absolute dollar terms are dwarfed by the losses of these recent consignees.  The loss taken on the 9.8 TOS 39 alone is probably a multiple of Keller's total losses.  

On 4/7/2024 at 7:25 AM, Bigphatpaulie said:

Some Recent Duck Sales from Heritage:

Four Color #386:  https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/cartoon-character/four-color-386-uncle-scrooge-dell-1952-cgc-nm-92-white-pages/a/7369-93082.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Archive-ThisAuction-120115

This was shockingly low.  I don't know if it was the writing on the cover that put people off or what, but the consignor must've been pretty disappointed.

On 4/7/2024 at 7:25 AM, Bigphatpaulie said:

Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #140:  https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/cartoon-character/walt-disney-s-comics-and-stories-140-dell-1952-cgc-nm-mt-98-white-pages/a/7369-93220.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Preview-ThisAuction-120115

This was surprisingly high.  I can remember when 9.4 was the top grade in the Census for this book, and now there seem to be tons of 9.6s and 9.8s. 

Overall, I thought prices on Day 3 were pretty strong, particularly in SA.

On 4/6/2024 at 11:54 PM, adamstrange said:

On 4/6/2024 at 10:18 PM, tth2 said:

That's my initial feeling too, and that's even without knowing anything about 3.0 prices.

For "must have" books, there's often an increased price for the entry level copy because people will take anything.  So, when an attractive 3.0 comes along it will garner outsized attention compared to a 3.0 of a random issue in the run.

I would agree with you for must have books that don't come to market very often, in any grade.  But Cap 1 (and Bat 1) are not those.

On 4/6/2024 at 2:07 PM, LordRahl said:

Well this should help the terrible narrative be less terrible.... a Silver Surfer 1 sold for over $100K. Say that out loud a couple of times just to see for yourself how crazy the market still is even though apparently it's in the toilet. SS1 is a 6 figure book. Everyone that's been around more than a hot minute knows how utterly silly that sounds, yet that's the reality... and it's completely overlooked as if it's totally normal.

You're preaching to the choir.  The idea of a 1968 Marvel #1 going for 6-figures seems nuts to me, unless maybe it's in 9.9 and even then it's still nuts to me.

It'll be interesting to see if the price is replicable.

On 4/6/2024 at 11:16 AM, sfcityduck said:

On 4/6/2024 at 9:03 AM, kimik said:

Haven’t they been worked on over the years like so many other Church books?

The V family's Allentown CA 1 is a 9.8. It was resubbed after the inferior SF was given a 9.4.

The AT Cap 1 was initially graded as a 9.6.  I guess that wasn't good enough for Verzyl.

On 4/6/2024 at 11:00 AM, Silver Surfer said:

On 4/6/2024 at 9:03 AM, kimik said:

Haven’t they been worked on over the years like so many other Church books?

Who knows they have been locked away for decades and I don't think that many of them are graded? 

As far as I know, none of the Church Timely superhero books have been graded except for Red Raven #1.

On 4/6/2024 at 9:03 AM, kimik said:

On 4/6/2024 at 8:50 AM, Silver Surfer said:

Or made sure that it's an inferior copy because they CPR'd their copy upwards. If the Church Timleys ever make their way back to the market they will be re-subed more times that you can say Excelsior!

Haven’t they been worked on over the years like so many other Church books?

The Church Timely superhero books are all sitting ungraded in John Verzyl's family's collection, with the only exception I'm aware of being the Red Raven #1 because Chuck held on to that one and then sold it directly a few years ago.  

On 4/6/2024 at 8:58 AM, Aman619 said:

On 4/5/2024 at 1:39 PM, tth2 said:

Did the 9.2 Cap 1 go for too little, the 3.0 Cap 1 for too much, or both, or do people think they both went for about the right price?

Both!

That's my initial feeling too, and that's even without knowing anything about 3.0 prices.

On 4/6/2024 at 1:00 PM, FFB said:

On 4/5/2024 at 4:40 PM, tth2 said:

But they pale in comparison to whoever flipped the 9.8 TOS 39 in this auction.  A $1.2m loss! 

When did that book sell for $2mm? 

It's listed on Clink somewhere.

On 4/6/2024 at 3:18 AM, sfcityduck said:

On 4/5/2024 at 4:40 PM, tth2 said:

But they pale in comparison to whoever flipped the 9.8 TOS 39 in this auction.  A $1.2m loss! 

Sad story. Reminds me of the guy who bought and sold the Flash Comics MH run.

Jay Perrino?

On 4/6/2024 at 5:43 AM, Matches_Malone said:

John Totleben Miracleman 16 orgy page was a bargain IMO. Alan Moore tends to go higher for this kinda stuff. 

IMO, it's because it just didn't look that good in B&W.  In color, it's much more impressive.  Still, I thought it would go higher just because it's Moore and Totleben.

On 4/6/2024 at 5:31 AM, Matches_Malone said:

Jill Thompson Sandman #49 Story Page 20 @ $66K.  Very Very Strong.

Seems like the Gaiman Auction effect is still ongoing.

I was very happy to hear that this was her direct consignment so she's getting all the upside from the huge rise in Sandman pages.

Deleted because Gene already said "DC discount".

On 4/6/2024 at 2:47 AM, PhilipB2k17 said:

Megaton Man 1 full issue goes for $50,000.

Wow. 

There's a lot of nostalgia for those 1980s indies among people who were kids when they came out and who are now in the peak earnings part of their lives.

On 4/6/2024 at 12:01 AM, buttock said:

Why bother yourself with such low-grade drek?

I wouldn't, but I'm trying some empathy exercises my therapist gave me.

On 4/5/2024 at 11:34 PM, buttock said:

Overstreet guide is $715K

Did Lou_Fine hack your account?

On 4/5/2024 at 11:34 PM, buttock said:

The 9.2 is a weird book  because there are 3 9.2s, 2 9.4s, and a 9.8.  So it's not going to a BSD who wants it to have the highest graded, and I'm convinced there are people who bid on HA with little to no collecting knowledge but are just told by the house to buy anything in 9.4 or better.  So there's not a whole lot of cache' to having a 9.2, even though it's great.  So why pay up.  The SF 9.4 broke $3M, so even the prior sale of this 9.2 was pretty weak by comparison.  

Not arguing, just thinking out loud.

Yeah, I just tend to think of prices in terms of how they relate to each other.

So if a 9.2 sells for $750k and a 3.0 sells for $156k, then in my mind at least one of the buyers should be upset, and maybe even both!   

On 4/5/2024 at 1:49 PM, szav said:

On 4/5/2024 at 1:39 PM, tth2 said:

Did the 9.2 Cap 1 go for too little, the 3.0 Cap 1 for too much, or both, or do people think they both went for about the right price?

That 3.0 presented exceptionally well for the grade, pretty clean looking with pretty solid colors too.  Most of the defects were well obscured spine splits and tape on the interior.  I think any other 3.0 goes for way less right now.

The thing about paying up for a book that presents better than its grade is the risk that when it comes time to sell, the market response is "Yeah, it looks better than a X.X, but the label says X.X, so the price we're willing to pay is a X.X price". 

On 4/5/2024 at 9:47 PM, buttock said:

I think the market for books over ~$200k is pretty thin.  There have been several HG Cap 1s, including this retread, offered lately.  So when they come out in relatively short time the hammer is more unpredictable. At least that is probably part of it IMO. But just thinking about it, I could scratch up $156K without it causing too much pain.  I couldn't do $750k without a lot of work and sacrifice.  And I'm a high earner.  

Sure, I get that, but there's still a valuation component that has to be factored in.  If one can get a 9.2 for $750k, then one should be able to get a whole lot more book for $156k than just a 3.0.

The CGC 7.0 W October 1933 ("Batgirl") Weird Tales went for $30k.  It'd been sitting at $25k pretty much since the first few days of online bidding, so not much movement during the floor auction. 

A helpful pricing benchmark for one of the first CGC copies of one of the hobby's most iconic books.