Vote - How much would ACTION #1 Dentist Copy sell for in an auction?

[Aman619]

The Honus Wagner card is now up to 1.6 million, so the best Action 1 is worth at LEAST that. How much more depends on the circumstances of the sale.

[mar-vell]

4-6 mil was my vote

[tth2]

I personally think the best thing Dave Anderson could do is keep the book hidden all these years. People have seen it and veryified it's existence. Now people are dying to see it.

I disagree with this. I think the comic hobby is behind the publicity curve compared to stamps and baseball cards precisely because the magical, headline-grabbing $1 million mark has never been publicly broken. With stamps we see the headline-grabbing Inverted Jenny sales, and more recently, Bill Gross' Z-grill stamp purchase, and the "Gretzky" Wagner card has steadily risen through the years past the $2 million mark, and another Wagner card has broken the $1 million barrier.

 

In contrast, the highest publicly confirmed price for a comic is still a paltry $300K, correct, and less for American comic OA? The main problem is that the leading books of the hobby, the MH Action 1, AT Detective 27 and MH Marvel Comics 1, have sat out of sight for decades and there are no signs that they will move in the foreseeable future. The AF 15 OA could have generated unbelievable headlines, but it was quietly donated to the Library of Congress with almost no press coverage containing juicy quotes from hobby experts valuing it at $X million.

 

I actually envy stamp and baseball card collectors because they've actually seen what their grail of grails look like.

[tth2]

I can also probably name dozens and dozens of millionaires that collect comics...many right here on this board

Which just goes to show that a million bucks don't mean much anymore.

[delekkerste]

Which just goes to show that a million bucks don't mean much anymore.

 

Very true. A few years ago I heard someone mention that "$10 million is the new $1 million", but the truth is that it's probably more like somewhere in the $25-$50 million range to be able to really live like what we used to think of as a "millionaire lifestyle". And that would only put you at the bottom end of the scale.

 

Anyway, I think there's a number of other flawed assumptions being made on this thread (not directed at anyone in particular):

 

1. Just because a celebrity owns a comic book or three, that doesn't make them a "comic book collector". When was the last time you duked it out with Spielberg, Lucas, Cage or whoever else to win a book on Heritage? While some non-hobby people might be tempted to step up for something like the MH Action #1, they might not be - who knows? And, if they did, there's no guarantee that they would bid crazy money just because they have it. If they were truly passionate/obsessed, they'd be out buying regularly, not just when big items go up for sale (and, I haven't exactly seen them showing up in droves for the big items we see coming up for sale every year so far, anyway).

 

2. Just because an Internet centi-millionaire or billionaire could, theoretically, easily lay out several million or more for the book, would they in real life? In the real world, people have wives, accountants, financial planners, parents, etc. who might not be so thrilled at that prospect. Not to mention many rich people are not all that liquid due to illiquid investments, funds set aside for massive taxes and spending, restricted stock holdings, etc. Most people here are speaking like comic collectors and are forgetting that 99.999% of the rest of the world, especially the rich, doesn't think this way.

 

3. Moreover, anyone who's made it to that kind of income/wealth level through hard work probably hasn't been diddlying around with collecting much of anything besides long hours and ulcers on their way to the top - why would they choose to blow $5 million on a comic book if they haven't been involved in the hobby? Unless you've been indoctrinated into this hobby for many years, most non-collectors would find the very thought obscene.

 

4. Where did I miss the memo that this book has to sell for more than, even double perhaps, "The Card" (the "Gretzky" T-206 Wagner)? There are a lot of rich sports fans and card/memorabilia collectors, which is why there have been some eye-popping sales in those hobbies. Furthermore, I bet potential buyers for the MH Action #1 would use "The Card"'s value as a reference point to its value. There's some severe comic book bias going on here.

 

5. The Eric Roberts factor. Yeah, maybe he would pay $5 million for that book. Working on the Street, I know KKR better than most (I even personally pitched them a deal about 7 years ago), so I know the numbers. What I don't know, though, is judging how high ER can and would go for this book. $5 million is a lot different than $50K or $500K especially if there is a trust executor, spouse, family member or other person in between him and the bulk of his funds. If he has so much cash to burn, why doesn't he own the book already? Has he offered DA $5 million? According to the legends here, that's walking around money for ER, so why not offer $25 million? I think the reality of being a rich person is quite different from what some people might like to believe.

 

As much as I've seen ER splash out on OA, I've also never seen him blow away the competition - he pays more, but I haven't seen him grossly overpay. I'm sure he's even been outbid at times. He seems like a shrewd buyer, so there would most likely have to be an underbidder to drive the price up to these stratospheric levels that people are talking about. And what if he got hit by a car tomorrow? Would that change people's valuation of the MH Action #1? Are people just pricing this book to what ER might pay? Because that's surely what people are doing in OA these days, and it is truly

 

Just some thoughts before work...

[VintageComics]

to TTH2...I have a question that I honestly don't know the answer to...

 

Why do people keep saying that comics are behind cards when speaking of hobby maturity? How do you measure this and when does a Hobby finally come around to full maturity? When it crashes?

 

As far as keeping the MH A #1, well to me it's simple psychology...do not give people what they want...and then they want it more.

 

to Gene (Delekerste)...

 

I only mentioned ER because he is an obvious choice...but not the only one.

 

BTW, if you peruse his site he has a want list on his website and Action #1 is listed there...as is Tec #27, etc etc...even if he already owns one of each...so he is obviously actively looking for more or looking for upgrades.

 

 

R.

 

 

[Schmakt]

Is this book really stored in mylar in a safe under the stack of Action 2-25?

 

I was going to ask if anyone knew how it was currently being stored and someone (a few pages back) said something to the effect of the above.

 

I'd love to know more specifics about people with truly rare and unique things like that go about storing them...

[Jeffro.]

Really, name one billionaire that collects comic books? I won't hold my breath.

 

 

Not a billionaire but Sebastian Bach collects comics. I'm sure he has a pretty good chunk of change. Enough to pay over a mil for this Action 1? Who freakin' knows.

 

The one thing you are failing to consider is the wild card factor of someone outside the hobby coming from nowhere and paying some ungodly sum for this book (were it to actually hit the market that is)

 

Kind of like Todd McFarlane paying several mil for the Mark McGuire baseball.

[Mutant Manatee]

Kirk Hammett of Metallica is also a long-time comic book collector.

 

No lack of funds there!

[VintageComics]

Kind of like Todd McFarlane paying several mil for the Mark McGuire baseball.

 

...or TM making more money off of Action figures than comics...who saw that coming.

 

Fact is (and we've seen this more often than not) that you can not predict anything with certainty. Almost every time a big book comes up for sale it exceeds everyone's expectations. There are too many variables to nail down a true formula.

 

The fact remains that the Action #1 MH is the biggest fish in the comic book world. How can that not draw record numbers and people outside the hobby?

 

R.

 

 

[G.A.tor]

 Originally Posted By: Detective27Kid

I can also probably name dozens and dozens of millionaires that collect comics...many right here on this board

Which just goes to show that a million bucks don't mean much anymore.

actually, that is my point (thumbs u

[VintageComics]

Kirk Hammett of Metallica is also a long-time comic book collector.

 

No lack of funds there!

Kirk just p'd off a lot of tree huggers in Cali for fencing off his property...apparantely a big nature trail goes right through his yard and he's ticked that people are always wandering onto his property.R.

[G.A.tor]

to TTH2...I have a question that I honestly don't know the answer to...

 

Why do people keep saying that comics are behind cards when speaking of hobby maturity? How do you measure this and when does a Hobby finally come around to full maturity? When it crashes?

 

As far as keeping the MH A #1, well to me it's simple psychology...do not give people what they want...and then they want it more.

 

to Gene (Delekerste)...

 

I only mentioned ER because he is an obvious choice...but not the only one.

 

BTW, if you peruse his site he has a want list on his website and Action #1 is listed there...as is Tec #27, etc etc...even if he already owns one of each...so he is obviously actively looking for more or looking for upgrades.

 

 

R.

more than one of each

[dekeuk]

Kirk Hammett of Metallica is also a long-time comic book collector.

 

No lack of funds there!

Enter Sandman......

[Mutant Manatee]

Kirk just p'd off a lot of tree huggers in Cali for fencing off his property...apparantely a big nature trail goes right through his yard and he's ticked that people are always wandering onto his property. R.

 

I saw that story on the internet. I think it was James Hetfield, not Kirk Hammett who had built the fence in question.

 

Somewhere in one of the 10,000 boxes in my basement I have a guitar magazine from the early 1990's that contains a photo of Kirk Hammett with his comic book collection. If memory serves, it consisted mostly of high grade pre-code horror at that point. Maybe he wouldn't even be interested in a silly super-hero comic, who knows.

[VintageComics]

I saw that story on the internet. I think it was James Hetfield, not Kirk Hammett who had built the fence in question.

 

OOPS. You're right...it was James. Brain fart.

 

R.

 

 

[VintageComics]

Gator, he owns more than one copy?

[delekkerste]

If memory serves, it consisted mostly of high grade pre-code horror at that point. Maybe he wouldn't even be interested in a silly super-hero comic, who knows.

 

Definitely more of a horror guy from what I've heard from people who have been over to his house. He sold the X-Men #1 complete OA (heard from many sources so I assume that knowledge is in the public domain by now) to the guy who's been auctioning off pages on eBay. One of my friends was negotiating with Kirk to buy that art and, from all that I've heard, while he may have tons of money, he's pretty down to earth (think by all accounts the X-Men art went pretty cheap). Probably not the guy to shell out $5 million for the MH Action #1.

 

Whoever brought up the Sebastian Bach note - yeah, I saw that episode of MTV Cribs too like 10 years ago with Bach and his low/mid-grade AF #15. When was the last time anyone here competed with Sebastian Bach for any comic book? Like I said, just because a celebrity has a few comic books, usually purchased long ago, does not make them an active collector or a serious potential buyer.

 

I seriously think you guys are overestimating the appeal that any comic book, even the pinnacle of the collecting hobby, is going to have to non-collectors. Clearly many peoples' lives here revolve around the hobby, but that is simply not the case outside of a very small group of people. There are limitless objects of value out there that they might otherwise be interested in, they may be focused on their businesses, they may have reached an age where they are thinking more about succession and charitable contributions than adding new baubles to their collection, etc.

 

It takes a very specific type of person to both want and be able to spend several MILLION or more dollars on a comic book. The timing has to be spot on as well. Now, true, all it takes are a couple of people, but, if it ever came down to it, I suspect finding those two people might be a little more difficult than you think. It's *not* just a case of someone having the money and having at least a passing interest in comic books. :doh:

 

Addendum: I do believe that a lot of the comic book BSDs enjoy their status as big fishes in what is a pretty small pond in the scheme of things. If you're a billionaire, chances are, you're a big fish already - what's even the MH Action #1 going to do for you? I think some of you guys might be at just how the crossover appeal actually would turn out to be.

[swapto]

 Originally Posted By: Detective27Kid

 Originally Posted By: homerwannabee

Really, name one billionaire that collects comic books? I won't hold my breath.

Eric Roberts (son of billionaire George Roberts of KKR, which by family makes him a "billionaire")

I can also probably name dozens and dozens of millionaires that collect comics...many right here on this board

 

this book would easily fetch $5million + IMO...

For the record Eric Roberts owns the lone AF #15 CGC 9.6, a Detective #29 CGC 9.6, Batman #1 CGC 8.5, Action #1 CGC 6.5, Tales of Suspense #39 CGC 9.4, Detective #27 CGC 6.5 (iirc) and a few other gems.

 

He's also a forum member here.

 

Check out his gallery. It's nuts.

and the MH Detective #2 :cloud9: :cloud9: :cloud9: :cloud9: :cloud9:

[swapto]

I'd love to know more specifics about people with truly rare and unique things like that go about storing them...

 

me too...