Action Comics # 1 [6.0] Unrestored up up and away!

[G.A.tor]

I think with the current slide in the stock market, some investors may be thinking that the bottom is near and may be refocusing their attention on moving back into stocks, hence no need to spend a bazillion dollars on a funny book with cream pages.

you are so bad

[The Black Hand ®]

I think with the current slide in the stock market, some investors may be thinking that the bottom is near and may be refocusing their attention on moving back into stocks, hence no need to spend a bazillion dollars on a funny book with cream pages.

 

 

Sorry but that made me laugh hard!

 

 

Don't be sorry...a laugh is a laugh, no matter how you get it. (thumbs u

[action1kid]

It may have gone down as much as it could but the point to me is there is nothing to make it go up.I dont have to look at a chart to see whats comming our way.Just drive down Main street USA and see with your eyes[your best barometer] at the economy.We may not go down much more but we will be stiffled here at best for a long time.

[The Black Hand ®]

I understand your point but I think comics are going to stagnate as well and by the time that Action 1 goes up much more in value, those pages are going to be tan and slightly brittle.

[Crowzilla]

Would love to see the Church run of MMC#1-10 slabbed just to see them in all their glory.

 

Don't know why they'd have to be slabbed to be glorious, but you (and Roy) will certainly like this next tidbit:

 

Snyder told me that the Church Marvel #1-10 run was by FAR the nicest run (1-10) of any of the key Timely or DC titles.

 

Being that he pretty much had all the runs at various times, I have no problem believing it. Also since they've pretty much been with one person for 20 years and not moved from collector to collector, it's very easy to think none of them have had any handling damage since then.

 

[nearmint]

The story I heard about the Marvel #1 is that Verzyl had every intention of pointing out every defect that the book had so he could talk down the price, but he couldn't find a single defect to make his argument.

[Timely]

The story I heard about the Marvel #1 is that Verzyl had every intention of pointing out every defect that the book had so he could talk down the price, but he couldn't find a single defect to make his argument.

 

I guess he didn't to think mention it's a reprint.

 

 

West

[Silver Surfer]

The story I heard about the Marvel #1 is that Verzyl had every intention of pointing out every defect that the book had so he could talk down the price, but he couldn't find a single defect to make his argument.

 

I wasn't suggesting they needed to be slabbed to be glorious but looking at them in the Photojournals hardly does them justice. Can you imagine how mind blowing a 9.8 MC#1 would look in a slabb. Heck I just wish Verzyl would post them on these boards every now and then.

[sfcityduck]

Not sure I understand some of the economic thinking as it relates to collectibles. I saw one comment that suggested that investors would flee into comic books because they could "hide their wealth." This makes no sense to me, since I suspect that investors today aren't as concerned about hiding wealth as they are about using losses to offset their taxes.

 

The main economic fear is that we're entering a deflationary period. Home prices have dropped. Retail prices are dropping. The stock market has taken a huge hit already, with some major bank stocks that once traded for more than $50 a share going for less than the charge they impose to use an ATM. So a prudent investor has to ask themselves: What is a good place to put my money in a period of deflation? I'm not sure that a collectible market that is very thin and vulnerable to

relatively small decreases in demand and increases in supply is that spot.

 

Consequently, I don't expect this Action to attract the attention of investors. I also agree that investors would be more likely to be attracted to collectibles like the coin market, which is many times larger and more liquid than the comic book market, than a market where have to worry about your investment aging. Thus, I bet the ComicConnect Action goes to a collector who wants it for non-economic reasons. And I suspect that the eBay Action, which is not investment grade, and would be more likely to be pursued by a passionate collector overextending himself, may find itself suffering from the lack of easy credit.

[delekkerste]

I just made a similar point in one of the other Action #1 threads. It is a complete and utter fallacy that cash "needs" to be invested/parked/hidden at all times, especially in exactly this kind of environment. Cash is a perfectly viable option right now - indeed, it gets more valuable every day and has outperformed just about everything over the past year (including gold and silver).

[The Black Hand ®]

I know I like my cash.

[Theagenes]

Crow, do you think the movie and the Batmania that swept the country briefly contributed to some of the best copies of Tec 27 changing hands so many times in such a short timespan? Surely it wasn't coinicidence. :shrug:

 

Well it certainly was a coincidence that the Allentown collection was discovered at around this time, and when the Tec 27 sold, the rise in the guide started. The interest in Batmania and the movie certainly helped to create a perfect storm, but if it was all due to the movie then why didn't Batman #1 rise to #3 in the guide? - it was the first Joker after all.

 

I still maintain that no one saw the movie and decided to spend 50K or more on a Batman comic then unless they were already pre-disposed to do so (but it sure encouraged a lot of people to spend $20 on a five year old Joker cover, or helped them decide that Batman #44 was worth a lot more than #43 or #45).

 

We sold a Batman #1 to collector in late 91 for $40K, a huge record at the time, but it was to a collector who still owns the book, not a speculator. Also around that time Metro had their famous "#1" catalog come out (they had pretty much every #1 issue ever) and the Fine unrestored Action #1 they had featured in the catalog was one of the very first books sold.

 

In the first Sotheby's auction, the Detective #27 that sold for $50,000 got a huge amount of press, but also in that same auction a restored copy of Action #1 sold for more than the Larson Marvel #1 (which still had beautiful unfaded colors at that time and was a VF+).

 

My belief is that a lack of high-grade unrestored copies coming to market is the only thing that has ever kept Action #1 out of the top spot.

 

 

Those are all great points. This kind of insight it what makes these boards so great. (thumbs u

[tth2]

Crow I love these old stories from the what appears to be the glory days of buying GA pedigree books in the early 90's. Just look at all the excitement that was generated when the Church AA#16 was graded, can you imagine if more of these gems that have been buried in collections for 20 years started to surface. Would love to see the Church run of MMC#1-10 slabbed just to see them in all their glory.

We will probably see a lot of great stuff start coming out over the next 10 years, if for no other reason than the current owners are getting on in years.

[tth2]

I just made a similar point in one of the other Action #1 threads. It is a complete and utter fallacy that cash "needs" to be invested/parked/hidden at all times, especially in exactly this kind of environment. Cash is a perfectly viable option right now - indeed, it gets more valuable every day and has outperformed just about everything over the past year (including gold and silver).

Why are you talking to yourself?

[VintageComics]

Would love to see the Church run of MMC#1-10 slabbed just to see them in all their glory.

 

Don't know why they'd have to be slabbed to be glorious, but you (and Roy) will certainly like this next tidbit:

 

Snyder told me that the Church Marvel #1-10 run was by FAR the nicest run (1-10) of any of the key Timely or DC titles.

 

Being that he pretty much had all the runs at various times, I have no problem believing it. Also since they've pretty much been with one person for 20 years and not moved from collector to collector, it's very easy to think none of them have had any handling damage since then.

 

John said he thinks it should grade a 9.8

 

[lou_fine]

if someone has the guides from that period it would be interesting to track the values of the Big 3 from the mid 80's through the mid-90's.

 

Okay.....pulled out the guides to see what the Big 4 did over a 15-year period. It's definitely interesting to see how the big boys have shifted postion over the years:

 

Year............Action #1.............'Tec #27.........Marvel #1.............Supes #1

1983..............$14,000...............$7,800...........$17,500................$10,000

1984..............$14,000...............$8,000...........$17,500................$10,500

1985..............$17,000.............$10,000...........$23,000.................$12,500

1986..............$18,500.............$14,000...........$23,000.................$17,500

1987..............$25,000.............$17,500...........$26,000.................$18,000

1988..............$28,650.............$20,000...........$27,000.................$20,800

1989..............$30,000.............$25,000...........$27,000.................$24,000

1990..............$32,500.............$32,500...........$27,500.................$26,000

1991..............$36,000.............$37,000...........$32,000.................$26,000

1992..............$50,000.............$60,000...........$40,000.................$40,000

1993..............$75,000.............$85,000...........$63,000.................$65,000

1994..............$90,000.............$92,000...........$75,000.................$70,000

1995............$125,000...........$115,000...........$85,000.................$80,000

1996............$145,000...........$140,000...........$92,000...............$100,000

1997............$160,000...........$150,000...........$98,000...............$110,000

 

1) Interesting to note how Marvel was at the top of the heap for so long and now it sits only at #4

2) Detective #27 has actually risen from #5 position all the way to a very strong #2 position

3) Yes, it appears that the Batman movie did have an immediate and long-lasting impact on the prices for 'Tec #27

4) Note the 62% price increase for 'Tec #27 in 1992.....definitely not your typical OS price increase

 

Anybody else have any thoughts on the price movements between the Big 4 over the years?

[General Zod]

It looks like Frank Miller's Batman run in/around 1986 really infused the Tec 27 with a lot of popularity and momentum that year.

[Theagenes]

Thank you for putting that together!

 

I didn't realize that Tec 27 stayed on top for so long. Action 1 didn't take over until 1995.

[Theagenes]

This kind of data was just begging for a line graph so I put a quick one together:

 

 

 

 

 

[Theagenes]

A few things jump out to me at least.

 

- DC's resurrection in the mid-80's with Crisis, DKR, Watchmen, etc. pushed Action 1 up big time and Tec 27 to a lesser degree, while Marvel 1 stayed relatively flat. This probably reflects the fact that Marvel 1's position as the top book was due solely to the company's dominance of the market. Once DC caught up, so did Action 1 until it took the top spot in 1988.

 

- Tec 27's rise began around the time of the first movie when it took the number 2 spot, but didn't really take off until a couple of years later in the early 90's. Action 1 took off as well and the top 2 began to distance themselves from the others. This backs up what Crowzilla was saying about the big ticket sales of these two books during this period.

 

- Batman's run at the top spot coincided with the Bruce Timm animated series. Just sayin'. . .