Wolverine #1 (1982) sells for $15,000+

[BlowUpTheMoon]

how can a perfect book have anything less than white pages?

 

 

Agree 100%

[DarkKnightReturns]

how can a perfect book have anything less than white pages?

 

 

Agree 100%

 

They need to adjust that. I didn't think it would be possible to get a 10 without some real nice white pages.

[RockMyAmadeus]

I wish I'd bought that 10 when it sold for around $3800....argh.

 

 

Imagine how upset the guy who sold it for $3800 is.

 

Maybe a collection should be taken up for him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

C

 

Oh, you're naughty.

 

 

At least the guy didn't leave any money on the able by not getting it pressed....

 

 

 

It's only a matter of time....

 

 

 

 

 

ROCK AND ROLL!!!!

 

This post made me laugh out loud...thank you.

[nmtg9]

how can a perfect book have anything less than white pages?

 

 

Agree 100%

 

They need to adjust that. I didn't think it would be possible to get a 10 without some real nice white pages.

 

Completely true. A 10 should be a perfect book in EVERY way. I bet if this was resubbed it wouldn't get a 10 again

[RockMyAmadeus]

Disposable or not, stupid spending will eventually put even the richest person on the road to MC Hammerville

 

Jesus Christ on a pogo stick.

 

This would be a much better discussion if some of you understood the meaning of disposable income.

 

 

They do not.

 

To those who do not, it means "money that one has that is above and beyond what is required for continued existence." That means that, if one ONLY spends disposable income, they will NEVER be on the "road to MC Hammerville."

 

$15,000 is to a billionaire what 5 cents is to me. I could spend 5 cents a day, every day, for the rest of my life and not make a dent on the money I have.

 

 

[LordRahl]

Disposable or not, stupid spending will eventually put even the richest person on the road to MC Hammerville

 

Jesus Christ on a pogo stick.

 

This would be a much better discussion if some of you understood the meaning of disposable income.

 

 

I agree with you Andrew. People on this board look at comics as a type of investment and just can't get away from that thought process. When I go out to a nice dinner and blow $300 on dinner and a couple of bottles of wine, that's disposable income. I get nothing out of that $300 other than a good time for a couple of hours.

 

Now imagine someone to whom $15K is disposable income. I get no investment value from my $300 and they get no investment value out of their $15K. It's all relative to how much money you consider to be disposable. Everyone here that judges this sale as "stupid" is basing that judgement on the presumption that this person views this buy as something other than money he disposed of in return for some sort of enjoyment. That may not be the case. But it seems that most on this board are unable or unwilling to view comics as anything other than an "investment".

[AKA Rick]

When "Perfect 10 Graded Comic Books" of random no-name or insignificant titles or issues sell for dramatic multiples of ungraded mint guide prices, it's insane - - quarter bin junk is junk, now it's just "perfect junk" - - the same thing happened in the sports card industry with people seeking anything that's deemed "perfect" - - not realizing that at the end of the day, nobody really cares or at least not enough people care to pay crazy amounts - - instead of collecting these "rare" finds - - wouldn't it be wiser to invest in Original Art, which are true "one of one" one of a kind items? - - I wonder how much an original page from Frank Miller's Wolverine #1 is worth - - I'd take any page from that issue over a CGC 10 comic book any day...

[gpanalysis]

Just a question (not making any judgement calls here) but how do you guys know that the person who purchased this book is using "disposable income". I don't think that's necessarily a given.

 

[Comicsarefun]

Disposable or not, stupid spending will eventually put even the richest person on the road to MC Hammerville

 

Jesus Christ on a pogo stick.

 

This would be a much better discussion if some of you understood the meaning of disposable income.

 

 

They do not.

 

To those who do not, it means "money that one has that is above and beyond what is required for continued existence." That means that, if one ONLY spends disposable income, they will NEVER be on the "road to MC Hammerville."

 

$15,000 is to a billionaire what 5 cents is to me. I could spend 5 cents a day, every day, for the rest of my life and not make a dent on the money I have.

 

 

1. Your assuming the person who bought it is a billionaire. In America, it is much more likely that they put it on a credit card.

 

2. A billionaire could also burn $1000 bills to light cigars, but that does not mean it is not stupid and callous to do so. You can throw nickels in the pond all day, but the fact is that $15,000 can do a lot in this world, and some find it questionable to use it to buy a blue label...because that is all it is. A CGC 10 modern book gains almost all its supposed value from the label...the comic inside is quite valueless apart from the miracle 10, which of course means nothing more than a nice 9.8 on a lucky day.

 

3. Yes, yes, of course it is their money to do with what they will. I don't mean to judge, I simply think it is good to question it, and have a discussion about it.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Just a question (not making any judgement calls here) but how do you guys know that the person who purchased this book is using "disposable income". I don't think that's necessarily a given.

 

I don't think anyone stated it was. The question was "if the person is spending disposable income, what does it matter?"

 

It was in response to the people insisting it was crazy...or even wrong....to spend this amount of money on this book, regardless of who was doing it or why.

 

 

[DrWatson]

Just a question (not making any judgement calls here) but how do you guys know that the person who purchased this book is using "disposable income". I don't think that's necessarily a given.

It's not. They could be hocked up to their eyeballs and borrowing from Peter to pay Paul.

[DarkKnightReturns]

I was looking at the cgc census and there are 2 books at 10.

Does anyone know if the other 10 has white pages?

What do you guys think of a 10 with off white to white pages?

Shouldn't a GEM MINT requirement be white pages?

[eddly]

I'd love to see the buyer's reaction when he/she realizes that it isn't the first appearance of Wolverine. Oops!

[gpanalysis]

Just a question (not making any judgement calls here) but how do you guys know that the person who purchased this book is using "disposable income". I don't think that's necessarily a given.

 

I don't think anyone stated it was. The question was "if the person is spending disposable income, what does it matter?"

 

It was in response to the people insisting it was crazy...or even wrong....to spend this amount of money on this book, regardless of who was doing it or why.

 

 

I see. I don't know about you guys, but when it comes to my disposable income I think long and hard before parting with it. The way I see it, it's only disposable up until I no longer have it, and then I'm cutting into bread and milk money.

 

I've met (and know) people who have enormous disposable incomes and they don't just throw it about because it's "disposable". In fact some of them don't even use the term disposable. That being said, what each of us rationalizes as a "smart" way to spend our money, well, one man's meat is another man's poison as they say. It's all relative and everyone comes from a different viewpoint.

[david20009]

 

I agree with you Andrew. People on this board look at comics as a type of investment and just can't get away from that thought process. When I go out to a nice dinner and blow $300 on dinner and a couple of bottles of wine, that's disposable income. I get nothing out of that $300 other than a good time for a couple of hours.

 

Now imagine someone to whom $15K is disposable income. I get no investment value from my $300 and they get no investment value out of their $15K. It's all relative to how much money you consider to be disposable. Everyone here that judges this sale as "stupid" is basing that judgement on the presumption that this person views this buy as something other than money he disposed of in return for some sort of enjoyment. That may not be the case. But it seems that most on this board are unable or unwilling to view comics as anything other than an "investment".

 

I don't entirely agree with this point. I think it is valid for a person to say that this book is not worth $15,000 regardless of the amount of wealth the purchaser has.

 

To use your restaurant example there are places where the food and drink costs $300 where I do not think the price is justified. There are however restaurants where dinner for two can be well over $500 that I think worth it spending that amount of money. I had dinner on Saturday with the wife and it cost me $700. While she loves the particular restaurant we went to, in my mind everytime we have been the food has been so-so. We go there on occassion because my wife enjoys it and derives value out of the experience. I on the other hand would be much more satisfied having a couple pints of beer and some pizza for $20. It's not invalid for me to say I do not think the restaurant is worth it what it charges and people are stupid to pay their prices. Given that they stay in business there are enough people like my wife who disagree with me that it continues to exist.

 

Unlike the restaurant example where food is not limited our hobby has a number of books that are in limited supply, be it an Action #1 or a Wolverine #1 in CGC10 so a very small number of people can have a large impact on the price a book sells for. Sometimes this results in a selling price far beyond most people's expectations - think the Harbinger 1 CGC 9.8 that sold for over $2,500. Many people thought this price was way too high and now there are a number of Harbinger 1's in 9.8 on the market that you can buy for around $1,000 (still too high in my opinion and I am a huge valiant fan). Whether it makes no difference to the original purchasers wealth whether he or she spends $2,500 or $1,000 on a book people were not wrong in saying that $2,500 for the book was an overpay.

 

I would agree that $15,000 for a Wolverine #1 CGC10 is a massive overpay and I doubt we will see that price on that book anytime again in the near future. Was the purchaser massively wealthy and to him the time cost of trying to find a copy for half that price greater than what he was "saving" by paying $15,000. Potentially. It still doesn't change the fact that many people think that the price paid was too high and the book is unlikely to sell for that again anytime soon.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Disposable or not, stupid spending will eventually put even the richest person on the road to MC Hammerville

 

Jesus Christ on a pogo stick.

 

This would be a much better discussion if some of you understood the meaning of disposable income.

 

 

They do not.

 

To those who do not, it means "money that one has that is above and beyond what is required for continued existence." That means that, if one ONLY spends disposable income, they will NEVER be on the "road to MC Hammerville."

 

$15,000 is to a billionaire what 5 cents is to me. I could spend 5 cents a day, every day, for the rest of my life and not make a dent on the money I have.

 

 

1. Your assuming the person who bought it is a billionaire. In America, it is much more likely that they put it on a credit card.

 

I didn't assume that at all, because I wasn't talking about this specific purchase (though I can see where you thought I might be.) It was an illustration about "disposable income", and, as all such illustrations are, it was generic. I could have said $15,000, or $25,000, or $100,000 and the point would have remained the same...just so we're clear on that.

 

2. A billionaire could also burn $1000 bills to light cigars, but that does not mean it is not stupid and callous to do so.

 

That is entirely your opinion. The fact is, a person may do with their property whatever they wish, including burning it. After all, it belongs to them.

 

I also don't really understand how someone disposing of their own property is "callous."

 

You can throw nickels in the pond all day, but the fact is that $15,000 can do a lot in this world, and some find it questionable to use it to buy a blue label...because that is all it is.

 

Those who find it "questionable" would do well to learn to mind their own business. Telling people how to spend their own money is called what again?

 

"Communism."

 

It is not anyone's place to judge what someone does with their own money, for all sorts of reasons.

 

A CGC 10 modern book gains almost all its supposed value from the label...the comic inside is quite valueless apart from the miracle 10, which of course means nothing more than a nice 9.8 on a lucky day.

 

I can point out the difference between a 9.8 and a 10...and so can many people on this board....all day long. There IS a difference. If people believe that CGC just magically hands out 9.9s and 10s based on NOTHING but random chance and whim, they need to look at a couple hundred more such slabs and compare them with 9.8s.

 

3. Yes, yes, of course it is their money to do with what they will. I don't mean to judge, I simply think it is good to question it, and have a discussion about it.

 

But you did anyways...

[COI]

Just a question (not making any judgement calls here) but how do you guys know that the person who purchased this book is using "disposable income". I don't think that's necessarily a given.

 

It isn't. My point from the very beginning was that we don't know the circumstances behind this purchase, so it's silly to just write it off as stupid or "retarded" without any qualifiers.

 

I also think it's quite telling that so many people can't seem to grasp that conspicuous consumption is a part of this hobby. As Chris mentioned, it's almost as if most of the people here are so hard wired to look at comics as investments, that they can't possibly conceive that someone may be buying something with no thought to resale or profit.

 

 

[COI]

but the fact is that $15,000 can do a lot in this world, and some find it questionable to use it to buy a blue label..

 

If you think spending 15K on a GA books is perfectly acceptable, but spending 15K on thos book is somehow wrong or immoral because the money could be put to "better use", that's quite hypocritical.

 

Here's a post I made a couple of years ago when that FF #55 in 9.9 sold:

 

Supposedly, Victoria Beckham spends about $40,000 a year on handbags. I heard another report that she spent $500,000 designing a closet to house and inventory her immense wardrobe.

 

“It supposedly features a leather floor, Baccarat crystal chandelier, $80,000 Andy Warhol shoe print, a computer that tracks when she wears items of clothing and a camera to give her a 360-degree “cat scan” of her outfit before she steps out.”

 

I don't know what the average value of the collections on this board is, but let's say it's 20K. Sounds reasonable enough. I'd wager that more half the world's population wouldn't see the difference between Victoria's closet, and your collections. Sure, they'll understand the numeric difference, but in terms of utility and consumption, I'd guess that the comic collection wouldn't make any more sense to them than the closet does. And when I say half the world's population, I'm being ultra conservative, considering that more than 3 billion people worldwide live on less than $2 a day. That means that their entire earnings for the year would barely cover an FF #55 in 9.2, and that's for the lucky ones who actually reach that $2 mark. Those same people would have to work 10,000 days to come up with my assumed average collection value, which works out to a little over 27 years. And all those figures are for 365 days a year. No weekends for over 3 billion people, I guess.

 

Collecting material goods of any kind is avarice. Look at funny books in the context set above, which really is the "big picture", and not just your myopic views within the hobby, and it's all the same.

 

Forgetting about the global perspective for a moment, wealth(which everyone here has to a degree) is relative, and so is what would be considered conspicuous consumption. And considering that we don't know how much the buyer of the FF #55 is worth, we really don't know how "stupid" that purchase is. It wouldn't surprise me if what this individual spends on his collection, proportional to his net worth, is a lot more reasonable than what many of you spend on your collections, proportional to what you're worth. In that respect, how can any of you really determine how "stupid" a purchase really is?

 

So, whether you spend 16K on an FF #55 or a FF #1, it's really just 2 sides of the same coin. And to AT LEAST 4 billion people on this planet, both purchases would be considered beyond obscene.

 

 

[Chespirito]

COI, dude that's deep, you really thought this through and I think it makes a lot of sense.

[COI]

COI, dude that's deep, you really thought this through and I think it makes a lot of sense.

 

Thanks for reading it.