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On 11/15/2019 at 2:48 PM, sfcityduck said:

The Windy City MC 1 (CGC 9.4 OW) on Heritage has now officially entered into record price territory at $492K (with buyer's premium).

Five days to go.  How high will it fly?  

I continue to think it should top the San Francisco/Reilly CA 1 (CGC 9.4 W) that hit $915K in August. 

But will it beat out the All Star 8 (CGC 9.4 W)? 

Can it become the eighth example of a comic book and fourth issue (with Action 1, D27 and AF 15) to top $1M?  

You tell me.

It should.  Outside my pay grade, but that’s a museum piece.  If one were to choose 10 copies of issues on the planet to represent the history of the hobby, that book might make the list.

7 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

Especially when you consider that there's 24 other copies of this book out there in the exact samenot so HTF CGC 9.8 grade.  

Plus another 44 copies in slightly lower CGC 9.6 condition grade that's already knocking at the door and will now be highly tempted to go for some love loving and squeezeable hugs in order to see if they too can get past the door to join their CGC 9.8 graded brethren on the other side.  

Plus all of the other still raw HG copies of this book that's still out there which makes me think the purchaser of this particular copy is going to be in for a whole lot of financial pain and spanking when it comes time to sell this book here.  

I’m doubtful we see that TMNT pop up for sale here.  Didn’t seem like a flip to sell kind of purchase.  After tax, $100k barely breaks even.  I’d hope it was a keeper purchase for the buyer.  Has anyone seen the WWBN 32 9.8 that went for $50k+ go up for sale since?

3 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

Well, what is everybody's post-auction take on the final price of $72K for the CGC 7.0 graded copy of MF 73 here?  

Definitely much more than where they were going for prior to the Aquaman movie hype of 5 years ago, but appears to be a slight drop off from the $93K to $99K that CGC 8.0 graded copies were fetching on CC a couple of years ago.   Especially when you take into consideration that CC was able to fetch $74,500 in once of their Event Auctions for a not the best looking CGC 5.0 graded copy back in March of 2015.  Although that sale does appear to be a bit of an outlier when compared to all of the other MF 73 sales.  

Buy the rumor, sell the news 

The only uber high grade SS 6 slab is the Church.  If someone with the full run decided it was a good idea to slab the early issues but not the later ones, that would be quite the interesting choice.

17 minutes ago, comicnoir said:

3 9.0's and one 9.2 is not that many considering it's deemed a classic cover in Overstreet. I think they were graded, at least the 9.2 and 2 of the 9.0's, before OS recognized it's classic cover status. Of course collectors knew about it long before. It's almost a Tec 27 in it's niche following. That copy that just sold was the same copy sold twice on Ha. Doesn't sound like a lot of copies to me.

I think there’s a strong likelihood that Phantom Lady had a much bigger print run than Seven Seas and earlier issues in a run more copies than later issues.  Look at he number of copies of Frazetta’s run in FF, 209 far more copies than later issues.  PL 17 was at the beginning of the run compared to SS 4 which was relatively late, especially given the issues that came before.  My guess is that’s part of the reason for the disparity

2 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

Yikes! I missed that. Yep, if a 3.0 went for $8K, $10K for a 4.5 does seem reasonable -- if not low! Still only 16 copies on the census, with only seven in 5.5 and above.

The prices of mid-grade Bakers seems to have been softening a bit lately. But clearly there are exceptions!

A 3.0 went for $8400, a 4.0 went for $9800 in public sales.  Each of those were scooped up almost immediately, no more than 5 minutes.  I paid well in excess of either of those numbers for a 4.5.    Let's just say less than double what the 3.0 went for, but substantially more than $10k.    I'd do it again in a heartbeat.  And I know I'm responding to the guy that probably has the best Baker collection of anyone on the planet.

As for the Seven Seas 4, there are 30 graded copies, but rare to see one come to light in high grade, though there are 16 5.5 or higher, how often do you see any of those copies.  Seven Seas 6 is a great book, I'm a fan,  but has clearly been left in the dust by 4.  SS 4 is probably worth 4X what SS 6 is.  There was a poll done not all that long ago.  I don't know exactly when, maybe a year ago regarding Bakers, I think the results were pretty much on point.  Seems the most popular Bakers are CL 25, SS 4, GCE  12, and PL 17.    Other Bakers are Bakers, those 4 books have their own identity and are going for multiples of the rest because of it imo.

My initial thought would be to confirm with Overstreet what criteria they use to come up with these lists.  There are any number of reasons why their lists are way off.  Any subjective list will have room for criticism.  But in this case, people look to them as a trusted guide.  Certainly a list produced from the aggregated opinion of top dealers in brick and mortar stores had a heck of a lot more value in 1989 than 2019.   A list equal part GPA and polls voted on on this site would produce far more accurate results.  Books are bought and sold online and recorded on GPA, online and not recorded on GPA, in private sales, and at conventions way way way more than in stores.  When Overstreet established their relevance, there was no internet, conventions were far less popular, and private sales took place much less as we were less connected.  On top of that, there was no CGC.  No one can take away the positive impact the guide had on the hobby, nor should they view it without that context.  Brick and mortars utility of the guide and that  trusted resource filtering through the hobby from readers and collectors at their lcs helped make the hobby what it would become.  But they're old news.  Yesterday's story.  And they haven't kept up with the times.  They are a relic.  They haven't been remotely relevant for at least 20 years, and in my opinion they were only marginally relevant 30 years ago.  Certainly Gerber's Guide is of more consequence today, even if the overall impact of Overstreet was greater, it's very much past tense.  The hobby was messy circa 1990, but there's a reason that even then, a Wizard, more flash than substance, was more relevant when it came to the pulse of anything.  

They could also just come up with a committee to discuss once a year or vote once a year to come up with a list.   It's easy enough to come up with good people for that.  Just top of mind,  Gator Rick, Bedrock Richard, Harley Yee, RicksNeatStuff, FilterAdam, Metro Vincent, Guru Jeff, Heritage Jim, a handful of others on this board.

One thing is certain, the list they came out with this year is completely bunk.  There's zero argument for it having any validity at all.  Two reasons.  First off, where is Planet Comics 1 on the list?  Did they come up with a new explanation that somehow Planet Comics are not sci-fi?  If so, I'd love to hear an explanation on that one.  How did Planet Comics #1 go from being #1 on their own list years ago to no longer in the top 10 in the same year that the loudest sci-fi sales were the Church Planet copies?   Planet Comics #1 has to be on the Sci-Fi list, and really, it has to be #1.  The fact that Startling Comics #49 isn't there is also absurd.   It should probably be #2.

The other is Cinderella Love #25.  There are likely more fans, collectors, sales, and "experts" of the Romance genre on this forum than anywhere.  Any vote would have Cinderella Love 25 #1, and in fact among Baker books in a poll with scores of voters it finished #1 without a close second.  To boot, removing private sales, just public sales reflect as much.  Whether it's #1 or not is not the issue.  One could make an argument for a couple of others.  But for it to be left off the top 10 is as egregious as leaving Planet 1 off of the sci-fi list.  Giant Comics Edition #9 and #13, Negro Romance #2 and #3?  Then with Sci-Fi Showcase #17 is ranked ahead of Starling #49 and Planet #15?  In what universe?  Then you have the horror list which may be the worst of all of them.  No LB Cole, or Suspense 3, or Punch 12, Mask 1, Startling 11.  Even just ranking EC books, their list isn't remotely accurate.  It's almost like they were intentionally trying to produce a list with no merit whatsoever.    

Break the Suspense Rick!  You're killing us

I also paid more than Rick's price for a Ghost 6 4.5 very recently from someone else and am very happy with my purchase and price, which was fair.  If you search online, you can quickly find a couple listed by reputable dealers at a lower grade for a higher price than Rick's number. I'm not suggesting Rick's too cheap here, but let's just say...if you're going to price shame, at least pick on a listing where your point has any merit at all, and maybe on someone who doesn't consistently sell more volume and to a wider variety of buyers than just about anyone on here.

16 minutes ago, Aweandlorder said:

Of course it's the 20k>25k

unless u had multiple quantities of the others which would yield a higher profit

I bought $2500 worth of Valiants raw, filtered out non 9.8s, got the group signed and slabbed at 3 cons in Tampa, Baltimore, and Portland.   The slabbings cost like $2800.   $5300, sold them  all 6-9 months later for $15k or so net when I decided to liquidate.   Wasn't worth the time or effort.  But I'm happy the books exist now for the collectors. 

4 minutes ago, ygogolak said:

Oh great...

We all know the dealers get big deals done all the time, those that see themselves as brokers do plenty of big deals, but they know they're not doing what the big boys are, and then there's collectors like most of us who have stories just because, but for the most part we're all small potatoes and know it, if that's even a thing.  It's also not why we're in it and it's not what we do for a living.  I prefer to be net positive on books I've sold just because it means I'm not being dumb and maybe can buy more books, but I don't think many of us if any measure ourselves that way.

I bought and sold 2 Punch 11s within about  a week.  Not the most money on a deal made or lost or the highest percentage, but interesting enough nonetheless.    Both about the same grade, 1 a slab, the other raw.    If I take all costs into account, shipping, auction fees, taxes, here's my net, again both same week, probably exact same grade.

Raw, paid $250 sold for $900

Slab, auction won $897 plus tax, so say $980, auction sold $685 minus fees say $580

Net, net not much, maybe +$250

I also bought a FF 52 raw for $700 and sold it for $1400 within 24 hours a few years ago.   Again not the biggest flip by dollars or percentage.

I had a bunch of huge flips percentage wise on raw books that I got signed, slabbed, came back 9.8s and rare.   

I bought an Archer & Armstrong Gold 0 for $50, signed by Shooter and Layton slabbed comes back 9.8, traded for Eternal Warrior Gold Flat 9.8 signed by Frank Miller, sold that Miller slab for $1500.  Slabbing, press, fast track and sigs costs etc was I think $70

 or so.  So $120 to $1500,  I gave away a flip on a slab a couple months ago that was $6500 to $10k within a week because I was cash poor in the moment. 

As a percentage or in dollars?  

Which one of these is the better flip?

$25 to $150

$100 to $500

$250 to $900

$700 to $1400

$2500 to $4000

$10000 to $13500

$20000 to $25000

5 minutes ago, comicjack said:

Doesn't mean there isn't one that has been in the past with certain books

I hear you.  More often than not, that kind of thing doesn't remain a secret though.  I mean the guys at Metropolis must have been told right?

5 minutes ago, Artboy99 said:

I wasnt aware the Church collection did not include a Planet 65.

You might be right.  I don't know either way.  I just know it wasn't part of the group in the Event Auction from last year.  

11 minutes ago, szav said:

Two other things that added to this copy in my opinion were, even though its unrecognized on the label, its a Maurice Whitman cover, and it apparently has an exceptional color strike for the issue.  I say apparently because I don't trust HAs images anymore.  Still unless they turned oranges all the way red, you don't usually see 59 with such nice reds.

That all said, late run Rangers Firehair covers are kind of my thing, and even I tapped out at $550 think it was just too steep.  I cant help but feel this was the work of two (or more?) deep pocketed people trying to reassemble the Okajima collection.

...my $1000 figure was stretching honestly, out of respect for the bidders above that.  I agree with your $550 number or thereabouts.  I tapped below that.  Figured it'd take $600-1000+ to win it, and decided not to.  It's ironic though,  I think it's safe to say we really like the book, just at what price.  The intro to Firehair, great cover, Rangers 21, highest graded 9.2 went for over $6k a couple months back, might have even been $7k.  No pedigree.  I absolutely loved the book, couldn't stretch near that far on it.   Not only did it go that high, but was sold for more shortly thereafter.  I think the Camp copies are uber special, due to the rarity and significance, but this isn't a camp copy.  The 59 last night feels like a confluence of a lot of things, like you said, it just takes 2. 

8 hours ago, szav said:

Was kinda wondering what was going on with all the hype and high prices for the camp coded books lately, and had been meaning to post in this thread asking.  Then this goes for $1,800, not even a camp era book.  Granted it seems to be a tough issue to find and this is the current highest graded (though probably not a safe one at 8.5).

How much of this price was that its Rangers 59 and how much was that its the pedigree?

https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/adventure/rangers-comics-59-okajima-pedigree-fiction-house-1951-cgc-vf-85-off-white-to-white-pages-only-the-second-copy/a/121925-17764.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Open-MyBids-101116

I think part of this is the term Rick coined last week, so many see themselves as “dealectors”.  Everyone sees the same aspects with this book.  It’s a beautiful cover with great color strike, we don’t see often, desirable pedigree, highest graded, hot genre.  But it’s not a key.  It’s not a classic cover.  It’s not a camp book.  It’s not safe at 8.5 as highest graded of 3.  It doesn’t stand out as much different from a bunch of other books on the run or from the publisher.  So, I think you have a desirable book with a lot going for it that deserves a multiple to Overstreet.  20x all in, probably not.

I felt like if I had been willing to stretch to $1000 on it, I would’ve given myself an out for stretching relative to fair value because I liked the book.  But maybe a lot of folks felt that way.  In the end, a book is what people will pay.  It’s a beautiful book I’d love to own, just thought that was a bit much.  That said I’d love to own it.  

Anyone know who owns the Cosmic Aeroplane 65 7.0?...and if there are any other known pedigree 65s?  It’s interesting that not only is it missing from the Church collection, but almost every other pedigree as well.

42 minutes ago, manetteska said:

But only one has eight attached tentacles.

it's funny, you have two of the best artists the medium has ever known, two gorgeous covers, and yet the Famous Funnies, what's up with Buck's back?  ...and to your point Baker was too gifted, almost wasn't fair, so he forgot a tentacle, it happens. 

31 minutes ago, Ricksneatstuff said:

Definitely firing one up for this lone second highest graded Cosmic Aeroplane copy of All Top 16, one of my favorite Baker covers 

Straight up NFS... for real..I mean it...

Underrated Awesomeness

4 minutes ago, Comcav said:

take per PM

BUMP, will close end of day.  2 of them left, both reduced:

Amazing Mystery Funnies vol. 2 #7 CGC 7.0 SOLD

Punch #12 CGC 0.5 (Restored) $2500  $2300