What If? Action 1 - 40 000 VF/NM Copies Found in Warehouse

[14 of spades]

what if?

 

40 000 unread copies of Action 1 were suddenly found and freely sold to the public. let's say the distribution was:

 

(copies, grade)

20 000 8.5 or less

10 000 at 9.0

5 000 at 9.2

3 000 at 9.4

1500 at 9.6

475 at 9.8

21 at 9.9

4 at 10.0

 

what would the price of a 9.0 Action 1 become?

 

would such a find INCREASE or DECREASE the values of:

 

Detective 27?

 

Marvel Comics 1?

 

Superman 1???

 

[shiverbones]

$100 for a 9.0

don't think it would affect the others

[awe4one]

I'd say $250 for a 9.0 because practically every collector would want one....

 

And I think the prices for the others would suffer greatly as collectors would be hesitant to spend big money in case another warehouse find was discovered. The "If Action #1 could be found in quantity, why not the others?" mentality would be hard to overcome.

 

Jim

[FFB]

If the person who found them were smart, he'd keep about 20-30 of them in varying high grades in reserve, hidden away, and would burn the rest of them. Then he'd announce that he found a small number of them, have them reviewed and "certified" as genuine by those who know these things, and he'd sell one every couple of years. In the end, he'd get more than he'd get if he announced a huge find and tried to unload all 40,000 of them at once.

[14 of spades]

could one also argue that Supes 1 could conceivably GO UP in value because some collectors would be inclined to try to complete a Supes1/Action1 doublet?

 

as for the $250, would 40 000 copies be "enough" for every collector who wanted one to have one? in which case, maybe they could be bought for much less?

[14 of spades]

i think that's a different question entirely.

 

i.e. what would be the smartest thing to do IF you found 40 000 action 1s.

 

in the situation i proposed, i'm saying they are freely sold.

[awe4one]

could one also argue that Supes 1 could conceivably GO UP in value because some collectors would be inclined to try to complete a Supes1/Action1 doublet?

 

as for the $250, would 40 000 copies be "enough" for every collector who wanted one to have one? in which case, maybe they could be bought for much less?

 

Maybe....but there would be resistance by sellers to go any lower on 9.0s. Maybe after a long extended time they would go down lower but everyone would remember how valuable the issue "was" and buy at higher than demand would indicate prices.

 

Also, I foresee some of them would be bought up by museums for posterity's sake and effectively be out of the collecting pool....

 

Jim

[BassGMan]

If the person who found them were smart, he'd keep about 20-30 of them in varying high grades in reserve, hidden away, and would burn the rest of them. Then he'd announce that he found a small number of them, have them reviewed and "certified" as genuine by those who know these things, and he'd sell one every couple of years. In the end, he'd get more than he'd get if he announced a huge find and tried to unload all 40,000 of them at once.

 

VERY logical idea for the guy trying to profit from these books. I would do exactly this. But maybe not "burn" the rest. Just keep them secretly hidden and still "unfound". Perhaps greedy, but why not? Actually, I may only announce an initial finding of about five. Sell them after being certified, then pull out another one or two a year "that I just found" for the rest of my life. Something like that.

[Thegoldenage]

Sell them all to Geppi so he could bury them in his vaults and still make it appear that they are "rare."

[ghoulaid]

I'll trade you 2 Action #1s for your Major Inapak!

[RushComics]

 

That's not really my "dream find." You'd really have to sell them slowly, one at a time, to not kill the value.

 

Here's my "dream find":

 

A warehouse is discovered and you are able to purchase the entire warehouse very cheaply. The find will later be called "Mile High x100" because the collection has all the books of the Mile High collection and more--but about 100-300 copies of each book.

 

You are surrounded by large stacks of unopened boxes in this cool, dry environment. You open the first box, and you see Batman # 4. You realize there are about 50 copies here (there are more in another box) and the rest of the box is filled with the Marvel Mystery that came out the same month.

 

After all the inventory is done--you have at least 100 copies of everything from 1920-1965. You even have some early Marvel pulps like the KaZar pulp. And all the humor comics that were missing from the Edgar Church collection!

 

Then you discover a box in the back corner. "Intended for giveaway" is stamped on the box. Gasp.. an entire box of Motion Picture Funnies Weekly # 1!

 

(Should we tell Ian about the box of Buzzy #70s?)

 

But it's not over. You bought the land, and there's a small shed nearby.

 

It's full of original Golden Age art (the art to Action#1!!) previously unknown one-of-a-kind peices including boxes and boxes of various Ashcans.

 

Okay, I guess I'm done, though I could go on..

 

Charlie :-)

[goldust40]

You may not be the only person on this Forum to have had such a dream.

[Apotheosis]

That's not really my "dream find." You'd really have to sell them slowly, one at a time, to not kill the value.

 

Here's my "dream find":

 

A warehouse is discovered and you are able to purchase the entire warehouse very cheaply. The find will later be called "Mile High x100" because the collection has all the books of the Mile High collection and more--but about 100-300 copies of each book.

 

You are surrounded by large stacks of unopened boxes in this cool, dry environment. You open the first box, and you see Batman # 4. You realize there are about 50 copies here (there are more in another box) and the rest of the box is filled with the Marvel Mystery that came out the same month.

 

After all the inventory is done--you have at least 100 copies of everything from 1920-1965. You even have some early Marvel pulps like the KaZar pulp. And all the humor comics that were missing from the Edgar Church collection!

 

Then you discover a box in the back corner. "Intended for giveaway" is stamped on the box. Gasp.. an entire box of Motion Picture Funnies Weekly # 1!

 

(Should we tell Ian about the box of Buzzy #70s?)

 

But it's not over. You bought the land, and there's a small shed nearby.

 

It's full of original Golden Age art (the art to Action#1!!) previously unknown one-of-a-kind peices including boxes and boxes of various Ashcans.

 

Okay, I guess I'm done, though I could go on..

 

Charlie :-)

 

... And then, just as you pick up the frame that holds the original cover art to Action #1 you have a heart attack and die.

 

I'm telling you... the excitement from that kind of find would kill any of us.

[kryptonitecomics]

You may not be the only person on this Forum to have had such a dream.

 

 

Actually mine involves a time machine, but the comic is still the same

[RushComics]

You may not be the only person on this Forum to have had such a dream.

 

 

Actually mine involves a time machine, but the comic is still the same

 

If you had the time machine.. would you go through the work of tracking down all those books.. or would you save yourself all the work and just go catch up with Edgar Church's family some time *before* they called Mile High?

 

If you go back all the way though--remember the "Butterfly Effect." Imagine this: You go back to 1938 and buy up Action # 1s.. then come back to the present and comics are worthless and superheros are a forgotten early-40s fad because of all the people that *didn't* buy and read Action #1 and continue to buy afterward based on what they read there..

 

Charlie

[supapimp]

why not just contact DC comics and buy "X" amount of books from them?

[musicmeta]

That's not really my "dream find." You'd really have to sell them slowly, one at a time, to not kill the value.

 

Here's my "dream find":

 

A warehouse is discovered and you are able to purchase the entire warehouse very cheaply. The find will later be called "Mile High x100" because the collection has all the books of the Mile High collection and more--but about 100-300 copies of each book.

 

You are surrounded by large stacks of unopened boxes in this cool, dry environment. You open the first box, and you see Batman # 4. You realize there are about 50 copies here (there are more in another box) and the rest of the box is filled with the Marvel Mystery that came out the same month.

 

After all the inventory is done--you have at least 100 copies of everything from 1920-1965. You even have some early Marvel pulps like the KaZar pulp. And all the humor comics that were missing from the Edgar Church collection!

 

Then you discover a box in the back corner. "Intended for giveaway" is stamped on the box. Gasp.. an entire box of Motion Picture Funnies Weekly # 1!

 

(Should we tell Ian about the box of Buzzy #70s?)

 

But it's not over. You bought the land, and there's a small shed nearby.

 

It's full of original Golden Age art (the art to Action#1!!) previously unknown one-of-a-kind peices including boxes and boxes of various Ashcans.

 

Okay, I guess I'm done, though I could go on..

 

Charlie :-)

 

I have dreams like this all the time.

[shadroch]

Who would care?

Its a DC and its Superman.

Now if it was an important book like Hulk 181,or X-Men 266,I could see strong reverberations thru the market.For a book such as Action 1,the few greybeards who cared would have a small tizzy and then continue to die off.

[Darthdiesel]

[Edian]

If you go back all the way though--remember the "Butterfly Effect." Imagine this: You go back to 1938 and buy up Action # 1s.. then come back to the present and comics are worthless and superheros are a forgotten early-40s fad because of all the people that *didn't* buy and read Action #1 and continue to buy afterward based on what they read there..

And you return to 2004, with a NM copy of Action #1s, like was printed a few days ago...wait.... it was, would anyone believe that comic it's from 1938?