I'll take "Pot Luck" for $3259.08, please Alex . . .

[Duffman_Comics]

First up I have no dog in this fight.

 

A mate rang me about 2 minutes before the thing ended and said “take a look at this” – I am pretty sure he didn’t bid either.

 

Here’s the (closed) auction: Linky.

 

As a scam, this ticks all the boxes.

 

Zero feed back seller? Check.

Poor pictures? Check.

No “grade” description? Check

“I know nothing about comics” statement? Check

“Granma/Granpa left in a will” find? Check

No returns policy? Check

 

Yet there is something that rings a little bit true.

 

There is none of the usual atrocious spelling/grammar in the listing.

The naiveté regarding some of the titles makes sense.

The vendor is willing to meet and do a COD thing.

 

I am just not sure that this is a scam.

 

The books that can be seen (JLA 1&2 plus a few others, earlyish UXM, TMNT but no idea of the print etc) make the listing seem “for real” especially since sprinkled among the stuff is an ASM 300, Death of Superman etc.

 

The gem seems to be the Superman 17 in what appears to be in pretty good nick.

 

Why post?

 

Two questions (and none were asked of the vendor):

 

Did any Boardie bid on (or buy) this lot and

 

Was Superman 17 ever reprinted? I've been around the block a few times and cannot recall that it has.

 

As an aside, I can "sort" of believe that someone on this side of the Pacific can be totally ignorant of value of these things, however this was a seven day auction. Surely as the bids rose (most folk in Oz are slow learners when it comes to sniping) why not cancel the auction and seek expert help?

 

I am in somewhat of a quandary.

 

[Flaming_Telepath]

Y'know what? I think it's got a chance of being pukka.

[Duffman_Comics]

 

You are going to have to explain that to the other colonists.

 

That's why I posted. There may be a six home run here.

 

BTW Pakistan just got thrashed (again) in the One Day (Cricket) International in Adelaide.

 

Spelt out for the not-so-gifted.

[KryptoSpidey]

looks like it could be legit...or not.

my question is if there are so many comics,why does the x-men 6 and the jla 1 and others keep getting moved in all the photo's and not show more of whats under the stacks???.. something doesnt seem right...its like those books are purposely being used as bait.

[Flaming_Telepath]

looks like it could be legit...or not.

my question is if there are so many comics,why does the x-men 6 and the jla 1 and others keep getting moved in all the photo's and not show more of whats under the stacks???.. something doesnt seem right...its like those books are purposely being used as bait.

 

Possibly.

 

Or possibly he's identified them as being some of the oldest, and therefore thinks it's the right thing to do to pimp them specifically.

[G.A.tor]

I considered it, but they never answered my questions, so I passed

[asteroid-comix]

 

If it's too good to be true, isn't it generally the case?

 

 

Wonder what's up with the stickers on the Mystery in Space 70 and 84. They look to be price stickers of $420 and $460. $420 would be pretty close to the GPA for ish 70 in 9.0 ($446), but over priced for ish 84 in 9.0 ($200). Can't really grade from the pic's...but if they are price stickers, that would make them pretty recent and the credibility of the sale unlikely.

 

[gaz2810i]

The Moving of books does seem to be a little odd but if it is a scam its a well played one I found it a little odd that there were copies of 80's books, such Turtles and ASM 300, mixed in with much older books seeing as it was his grandfathers collection (something doesn't seem right there).

[Calidream'n]

He "knows nothing about comics", but he knows enough to have the JLA#1, Supes#17, the (possibly) 1st print Turtles 1,2,3, Hulk#102, X-Men#6 and Swamp Thing #1 all very prominently displayed in the pics.

I say scam.

[Sal]

no idea about the auction, but i will say that i'm starting to develop as strong an affinity for Australian slang as i already possess for the British counterpart. and that's fair dinkum

[joe_collector]

Scam, as the obtrusive presence of a ASM 300 set off the warning bells. No way that book belongs in there.

[comicalgems]

You will also note the attempt of covering up the Fantasy Masterpieces 1 to obscure that it's a reprint. I don't know if it's 100% scam, but the seller is certainly full of Quesada in regards to the story accompanying the auction.

 

In other words, I think he has the books but for whatever reason presented them as a collection in order to sell them.

[G.A.tor]

He "knows nothing about comics", but he knows enough to have the JLA#1, Supes#17, the (possibly) 1st print Turtles 1,2,3, Hulk#102, X-Men#6 and Swamp Thing #1 all very prominently displayed in the pics.

I say scam.

that was my gut feeling, but if it is real, a shame

[ashrael]

I could see prominently displaying the GA and SA comics, and maybe ASM 300 if that was the only Spidey, but why the TMNT comics? I wouldn't expect anyone outside of collectors to know those could be valuable.

 

I don't know if it can be considered a "scam" if the comics are real and not reprints (especially Superman #17) so it will be interesting to see how this ends (if we ever find out).

[Stronguy]

Just for the record, that's a 3rd print of TMNT #1. The excess blood on the second "T" is the giveaway.

[That Ron Dude]

Anyone so dumb as to put up an auction like that shouldn't be able to spell either. One way or another, and I can think of lots of ways, it is a scam.

[goldust40]

Just for the record, that's a 3rd print of TMNT #1. The excess blood on the second "T" is the giveaway.

 

So in the end the value of the collection hinges on how nice the Supes 17 is, (it does look pretty decent) as JLA 1s are fairly common in average shape, as are the other "important" books. Wise not to gamble.

[G.A.tor]

the supes 17 looks like a 3-4K copy, that is what I was inquiring about in my ebay emails, but as mentioned, never answered, so I figured it was somehow not legit

[RockMyAmadeus]

Even if this auction was 100% legit, the price soared far, far, far out of the "it's worth taking the risk" category. This auction was bid up by fools eager to part with their money.

 

Even if they piecemealed it out, there are three, possibly four real keys in the lot...JLA #1 (trashed), Supes #17, Turtles #1 (which is no way a first print, but IF it is), and Jumbo Comics (?) It is VERY, VERY unlikely that the buyer will see even 75% of their "investment" returned. It hinges entirely on one single book, which may or may not be complete, or have problems.

 

The rest of these books range from quarter books (Justice League #71!) to maybe $60-$75 for the Spidey #300. Maybe. You've got a bunch of semi-keys (X-Men #6, Superman #199, MIS #87, Hulk #102, Superboy #68 (which is trashed.)

 

The books that are hidden are quite obviously bronze to moderns.

 

This lot SHOULD have sold for about $1,000-$1,500. Tops. Greedy dipwads who bid stuff like this up deserve what they get. They ruin it for people who are willing to take a legitimate risk, because they don't know what the hell they're doing.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Ok, maybe $2K.