Ask Gator 13 13

[Hamlet]

I think that when people are willing to pay a massive premium for a book, it counts as a key

 

Is CSS 22 a key?

 

That makes sense. I would guess, even allowing for rarity, it's much easier to hunt down books than it was 15 or 20 years ago for a dealer. Information, on all fronts, just travels more broadly and quickly.

 

From my own perspective, I was able to "view" and buy an ultra tough key - Suspense 3 () - within the comfort of my own living room. Just giving you a hard time.

 

Thanks Rick for the always thoughtful response.

 

-Keston

suspense 3 is a key?!

suspense 3 is in no way a key

[G.A.tor]

Cs22 is a high demand book but no key

[frozentundraguy]

Hi Gator,

 

Is there a rule of thumb for determining the sale price percentage above OPG price for pedigreed books? For example if a book is $200 in 8.0, would an extra 30% be about right for the same book with a pedigree? To narrow this down a bit, I'm considering primarily Atomic Age books in 6.0 to 8.5 grade.

 

Thanks

Dale

[G.A.tor]

Some pedigrees warrant a premium. Honestly some do not. There is no rule and honestly overstreet is rarely an accurate value. I generally look at past/actual sales and extrapolate from there

[Dale Roberts]

Some pedigrees warrant a premium. Honestly some do not. There is no rule and honestly overstreet is rarely an accurate value. I generally look at past/actual sales and extrapolate from there

 

extrapolate....good word

 

[RareHighGrade]

Some pedigrees warrant a premium. Honestly some do not. There is no rule and honestly overstreet is rarely an accurate value. I generally look at past/actual sales and extrapolate from there

Church, Riley (SF), Larson and Allentown almost always merit a premium over the assigned grade (I don't mean the Overstreet value), sometimes a hefty premium. Most others don't.

Edited December 28, 2013 by RareHighGrade

[MrBedrock]

Some pedigrees warrant a premium. Honestly some do not. There is no rule and honestly overstreet is rarely an accurate value. I generally look at past/actual sales and extrapolate from there

Honestly?

[Cat-Man_America]

Cs22 is a high demand book but no key

 

True dat, ...now Haunt of Fear #14, that is a key...

 

[G.A.tor]

Some pedigrees warrant a premium. Honestly some do not. There is no rule and honestly overstreet is rarely an accurate value. I generally look at past/actual sales and extrapolate from there

Honestly?

Yeah. Maybe used it once or twice to much

[G.A.tor]

Some pedigrees warrant a premium. Honestly some do not. There is no rule and honestly overstreet is rarely an accurate value. I generally look at past/actual sales and extrapolate from there

 

extrapolate....good word

indubitably

[G.A.tor]

Cs22 is a high demand book but no key

 

True dat, ...now Haunt of Fear #14, that is a key...

 

Um...no....err...maybe ...nah

[Cat-Man_America]

Cs22 is a high demand book but no key

 

True dat, ...now Haunt of Fear #14, that is a key...

 

Um...no....err...maybe ...nah

 

>>>>>

 

 

Some pedigrees warrant a premium. Honestly some do not. There is no rule and honestly overstreet is rarely an accurate value. I generally look at past/actual sales and extrapolate from there

Honestly?

 

My

 

I look at pedigrees as one factor among many in negotiating on any book, but the market is all over the place. In this era of mega buck books, no one is likely to ever put together a run of any pedigree. That ship sailed long ago. The best a dedicated collector can hope for is acquiring a range of nice examples from a variety of the best reputed pedigrees.

 

Specific collections will always be highly prized, that's true enough, but the quality and depth of books from those pedigreed collections are all over the map, making the establishment of hard and fast rules for premium values virtually impossible.

 

For instance, why would a pedigreed book in say, 9.0 be valued that much higher than a non-pedigreed book in the same grade if there are three or four other pedigreed books with nice presentation and PQ graded above it? In that instance, the pedigree loses most of it's relevance and has about as much value as a CVA sticker.

[Sqeggs]

Some pedigrees warrant a premium. Honestly some do not. There is no rule and honestly overstreet is rarely an accurate value. I generally look at past/actual sales and extrapolate from there

Church, Riley (SF), Larson and Allentown almost always merit a premium over the assigned grade (I don't mean the Overstreet value), sometimes a hefty premium. Most others don't.

 

Seems like a short list. How about Okajima (at least pre-1945)? Seems like Ohio gets a premium. Bethlehem? Northford? I guess it depends on how big a premium we are talking about.

[thunsicker]

Some pedigrees warrant a premium. Honestly some do not. There is no rule and honestly overstreet is rarely an accurate value. I generally look at past/actual sales and extrapolate from there

Church, Riley (SF), Larson and Allentown almost always merit a premium over the assigned grade (I don't mean the Overstreet value), sometimes a hefty premium. Most others don't.

 

Seems like a short list. How about Okajima (at least pre-1945)? Seems like Ohio gets a premium. Bethlehem? Northford? I guess it depends on how big a premium we are talking about.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Okajima is the only pedigree I'd pay a premium for. Of course I'd pay more for some of the qualities that other pedigrees have, but for pedigree itself only Okajima.

[Sqeggs]

Cs22 is a high demand book but no key

 

True dat, ...now Haunt of Fear #14, that is a key...

 

Um...no....err...maybe ...nah

 

>>>>>

 

 

Some pedigrees warrant a premium. Honestly some do not. There is no rule and honestly overstreet is rarely an accurate value. I generally look at past/actual sales and extrapolate from there

Honestly?

 

My

 

I look at pedigrees as one factor among many in negotiating on any book, but the market is all over the place. In this era of mega buck books, no one is likely to ever put together a run of any pedigree. That ship sailed long ago. The best a dedicated collector can hope for is acquiring a range of nice examples from a variety of the best reputed pedigrees.

 

Specific collections will always be highly prized, that's true enough, but the quality and depth of books from those pedigreed collections are all over the map, making the establishment of hard and fast rules for premium values virtually impossible.

 

For instance, why would a pedigreed book in say, 9.0 be valued that much higher than a non-pedigreed book in the same grade if there are three or four other pedigreed books with nice presentation and PQ graded above it? In that instance, the pedigree loses most of it's relevance and has about as much value as a CVA sticker.

 

I guess it depends on how much is much. I could see, for instance, a PCH collector paying more for a Northford 9.0 than a non-pedigree 9.0, even if it wasn't at the top of the census. How much more is the interesting question. You are right, of course, that the size of the premium depends on the usual imponderables -- amount of competition for a particular book in a particular auction, and so on.

[G.A.tor]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

[Sqeggs]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

 

Talking about your entries in the book of the year contest, again?

[Cat-Man_America]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

 

Talking about your entries in the book of the year contest, again?

 

[cheetah]

Some pedigrees warrant a premium. Honestly some do not. There is no rule and honestly overstreet is rarely an accurate value. I generally look at past/actual sales and extrapolate from there

Church, Riley (SF), Larson and Allentown almost always merit a premium over the assigned grade (I don't mean the Overstreet value), sometimes a hefty premium. Most others don't.

 

Seems like a short list. How about Okajima (at least pre-1945)? Seems like Ohio gets a premium. Bethlehem? Northford? I guess it depends on how big a premium we are talking about.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Okajima is the only pedigree I'd pay a premium for. Of course I'd pay more for some of the qualities that other pedigrees have, but for pedigree itself only Okajima.

 

There are plenty of Okajima books that are only mid-grade and with average PQ. Heck, there's no shortage of Church copies that are mid-grade with average page quality. It all depends on how they were treated since Chuck sold them. I'm sure a lot of folks have seen Church copies that have been roughly handled and don't warrant much in the way of premium. Given that the SF/Reilly pedigree looks more and more like a made-up story, you might even think those aren't worth the premium currently applied to them.

[Sqeggs]

Some pedigrees warrant a premium. Honestly some do not. There is no rule and honestly overstreet is rarely an accurate value. I generally look at past/actual sales and extrapolate from there

Church, Riley (SF), Larson and Allentown almost always merit a premium over the assigned grade (I don't mean the Overstreet value), sometimes a hefty premium. Most others don't.

 

Seems like a short list. How about Okajima (at least pre-1945)? Seems like Ohio gets a premium. Bethlehem? Northford? I guess it depends on how big a premium we are talking about.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Okajima is the only pedigree I'd pay a premium for. Of course I'd pay more for some of the qualities that other pedigrees have, but for pedigree itself only Okajima.

 

There are plenty of Okajima books that are only mid-grade and with average PQ. Heck, there's no shortage of Church copies that are mid-grade with average page quality. It all depends on how they were treated since Chuck sold them. I'm sure a lot of folks have seen Church copies that have been roughly handled and don't warrant much in the way of premium. Given that the SF/Reilly pedigree looks more and more like a made-up story, you might even think those aren't worth the premium currently applied to them.

 

The Church St John romance books -- which he apparently bought second hand -- don't seem to command much of a premium. With the Okajima books from the camp period, I think people are buying the story maybe more than the condition of the books.