Feb Heritage Auction

[G.A.tor]

I am 2 for 3, but at least the one I lost, I found out I lost to a worthy individual, so I am not so sad any more

[FlyingDonut]

I am only really going after some of the stuff that is in the ComicConnect auction in March. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself.

[Comics-n-ERB]

Wahoo!!!!!

 

 

[sacentaur]

Wahoo!!!!!

 

 

 

Outstanding copy of a tough book - well done.

[RedFury]

Wahoo!!!!!

 

 

 

Outstanding copy of a tough book - well done.

 

Yeah, that's pretty sweet David. Congrats!

[Moondog]

Ashcans.

 

Stunned.

 

 

 

Not an accurate reflection of true value and especially the rarity. Heritage did a great job with the pr spread but admittedly there is a limited market for the books. Apparently the key people who needed to be bidding weren't this time. Hit or miss, and it missed.

 

I think Moondog is a class act and I really feel for him. He offered me the opportunity to buy a quality example of one of his ashcans about six months ago or so when I expressed interest, but I decided the price point was too high. Not so much because I couldn't afford the one issue he offered me, but because I knew if I started buying ashcans I'd want them all, and when I did the math at the number he quoted, it became readily apparent that the financial commitment was more than I wanted to make for a commodity with little market history that I couldn't rationally view as an investment.

 

When I saw this lot, I thought about bidding. I gave serious consideration to just limiting myself to picking up the ashcans of Boy Commandos and Commandos, along with going for the regular Boy Commandos issues in the auction as I thought that's be neat. But, again, I intentionally stayed away because I knew that I'd end up wanting first all those other ashcans that have Boy Commandos on the cover, and then all the other ashcans, and the math just didn't make sense at the pre-sale estimates (which usually are low) so I decided it was better not to go down that road.

 

But, I'd have easily paid these prices. Boy do I regret my choice. I hope one person got all those ashcans, so that Gary has the leverage to negotiate better deals when that person comes looking for the rest. It's a shame if they just get dispersed, as I think the ashcans are some of the coolest items around.

 

All but two of them went to a very good home.

 

Which didn't you get? I assume Action Funnies and ....?

 

The other reason I was hesitant to buy an ashcan off Moondog through the private sale he offered, was I guessed that you might have an effective right of first refusal becuase of your past dealings. When I saw these at Heritage, I thought he made a great move by putting these up for auction instead of just offering them to you at a set price because he'd get the benefit of competitive bidding, but now I see I overestimated the value of Heritage versus a private sale for items of this type.

 

Ironically, I have a vague memory of Moondog once posting that he'd had bad luck selling through Heritage, but perhaps I misremember.

 

I let the Action Funnies go b/c I already own one, although the one Gary had is in nicer condition (although for ashcans I honestly don't care that much).

 

And I lost out on the Commandos ashcan b/c I screwed up on the online bidding and mistakenly turned off the bidding function and by the time I discovered I did so it was too late. Otherwise I would have won it.

 

Gary and I, of course, discussed all the books in advance but quite frankly it was too many at once and I was hoping he would be able to obtain a TON more money through Heritage than via me. That would have been great for us both. He gets a lot of money and I would hopefully derive the residual value by having strong prices paid for ashcans.

 

I think Heritage did a great job with the marketing of the books. You can't beat the spread that was given. I suppose one could argue one way or the other about whether it was good or bad for the books to come directly after the Wright books. But that would be nothing more than academic because we would never know if the bidders on the Wright books would have pursued the ashcans.

 

At the end of the day, the right people just weren't watching. It happens. Hopefully next time it will be different.

 

When that will be I don't know b/c for the time being these books aren't going anywhere other than in my collection. (thumbs u

 

Of course, Gary always has visiting rights.

 

It's painful to own something for over 25 years only to sell it for a 1/3 of the perceived market value - especially when the PR resulted in such extensive exposure. Heritage, CGC, GPA, CBP.com, Scoop and more all reported on these rarities, yet they didn't generate the interest with collectors one would have assumed they would.

 

Heritage couldn't have been more accommodating. When I suggested the separate section and the lead-in, Ed and Barry enthusiastically agreed. Noah worked with me to craft the release. They went above and beyond, and I truly appreciate the effort they made.

 

As we discussed here last month, I took the "risk" of listing the ashcans with the Billy books because my experience in the past was that many times one can ride the coattails of a great collection (or a big book) and many frustrated underbidders will jump on books - especially those fresh to market - that may not be strong enough to carry an auction themselves. Well, this time it didn't work.

 

No regrets though. I estimated that they would sell for at least $64,000 with BP (but hopefully a lot more!) and they went for $25,692. Fortunately Mark got nearly all of them and I made a profit on each book. If this is the worst thing that ever happens to me as a collector, I'll be fine.

 

And I still have more!

 

 

 

 

[Aman619]

perhaps, as cool as they are, the fact that they haven't been in wide enough circulation in all these years hurts their sell ability in the market. Many times books have to appear and sell not only to establish a price level, but in this case, to just whet the appetite or habit of buying them at all!

 

on the bright side, you have now begun the process by which the ashcans can develop that market space and sales history. So long as Mark doesn't also bury them in his collection for 20 years !

 

: )

[esquirecomics]

Ashcans.

 

Stunned.

 

 

 

Not an accurate reflection of true value and especially the rarity. Heritage did a great job with the pr spread but admittedly there is a limited market for the books. Apparently the key people who needed to be bidding weren't this time. Hit or miss, and it missed.

 

I think Moondog is a class act and I really feel for him. He offered me the opportunity to buy a quality example of one of his ashcans about six months ago or so when I expressed interest, but I decided the price point was too high. Not so much because I couldn't afford the one issue he offered me, but because I knew if I started buying ashcans I'd want them all, and when I did the math at the number he quoted, it became readily apparent that the financial commitment was more than I wanted to make for a commodity with little market history that I couldn't rationally view as an investment.

 

When I saw this lot, I thought about bidding. I gave serious consideration to just limiting myself to picking up the ashcans of Boy Commandos and Commandos, along with going for the regular Boy Commandos issues in the auction as I thought that's be neat. But, again, I intentionally stayed away because I knew that I'd end up wanting first all those other ashcans that have Boy Commandos on the cover, and then all the other ashcans, and the math just didn't make sense at the pre-sale estimates (which usually are low) so I decided it was better not to go down that road.

 

But, I'd have easily paid these prices. Boy do I regret my choice. I hope one person got all those ashcans, so that Gary has the leverage to negotiate better deals when that person comes looking for the rest. It's a shame if they just get dispersed, as I think the ashcans are some of the coolest items around.

 

All but two of them went to a very good home.

 

Which didn't you get? I assume Action Funnies and ....?

 

The other reason I was hesitant to buy an ashcan off Moondog through the private sale he offered, was I guessed that you might have an effective right of first refusal becuase of your past dealings. When I saw these at Heritage, I thought he made a great move by putting these up for auction instead of just offering them to you at a set price because he'd get the benefit of competitive bidding, but now I see I overestimated the value of Heritage versus a private sale for items of this type.

 

Ironically, I have a vague memory of Moondog once posting that he'd had bad luck selling through Heritage, but perhaps I misremember.

 

I let the Action Funnies go b/c I already own one, although the one Gary had is in nicer condition (although for ashcans I honestly don't care that much).

 

And I lost out on the Commandos ashcan b/c I screwed up on the online bidding and mistakenly turned off the bidding function and by the time I discovered I did so it was too late. Otherwise I would have won it.

 

Gary and I, of course, discussed all the books in advance but quite frankly it was too many at once and I was hoping he would be able to obtain a TON more money through Heritage than via me. That would have been great for us both. He gets a lot of money and I would hopefully derive the residual value by having strong prices paid for ashcans.

 

I think Heritage did a great job with the marketing of the books. You can't beat the spread that was given. I suppose one could argue one way or the other about whether it was good or bad for the books to come directly after the Wright books. But that would be nothing more than academic because we would never know if the bidders on the Wright books would have pursued the ashcans.

 

At the end of the day, the right people just weren't watching. It happens. Hopefully next time it will be different.

 

When that will be I don't know b/c for the time being these books aren't going anywhere other than in my collection. (thumbs u

 

Of course, Gary always has visiting rights.

 

It's painful to own something for over 25 years only to sell it for a 1/3 of the perceived market value - especially when the PR resulted in such extensive exposure. Heritage, CGC, GPA, CBP.com, Scoop and more all reported on these rarities, yet they didn't generate the interest with collectors one would have assumed they would.

 

Heritage couldn't have been more accommodating. When I suggested the separate section and the lead-in, Ed and Barry enthusiastically agreed. Noah worked with me to craft the release. They went above and beyond, and I truly appreciate the effort they made.

 

As we discussed here last month, I took the "risk" of listing the ashcans with the Billy books because my experience in the past was that many times one can ride the coattails of a great collection (or a big book) and many frustrated underbidders will jump on books - especially those fresh to market - that may not be strong enough to carry an auction themselves. Well, this time it didn't work.

 

No regrets though. I estimated that they would sell for at least $64,000 with BP (but hopefully a lot more!) and they went for $25,692. Fortunately Mark got nearly all of them and I made a profit on each book. If this is the worst thing that ever happens to me as a collector, I'll be fine.

 

And I still have more!

 

 

 

 

You're a class act all the way Gary. (thumbs u

[Theagenes]

Wahoo!!!!!

 

 

 

 

Outstanding David! One of the best copies Ive ever seen!

[Yellow Kid]

Great addition, David! Congratulations!

[Comics-n-ERB]

Thanks guys! I'm very excited about it. I feel like I got it at a really good price too.

[Moondog]

perhaps, as cool as they are, the fact that they haven't been in wide enough circulation in all these years hurts their sell ability in the market. Many times books have to appear and sell not only to establish a price level, but in this case, to just whet the appetite or habit of buying them at all!

 

on the bright side, you have now begun the process by which the ashcans can develop that market space and sales history. So long as Mark doesn't also bury them in his collection for 20 years !

 

: )

 

You're correct in this assessment, Aman. Collectors and investors want to see a price history that gives them confidence that their purchase makes sense within the market. With items like ashcans it seems like you start over every sale.

 

Since 9 of the books Mark bought are unique, I can't imagine anyone will be seeing them anytime soon!

[Blind Owl]

At least it was Mark who picked up these copies (It's great to sort of keep it in the family).

[TheWatcher]

At least it was Mark who picked up these copies (It's great to sort of keep it in the family).

 

+1 There isn't a collector that will appreciate their historical importance more than Mark

[october]

 

It's painful to own something for over 25 years only to sell it for a 1/3 of the perceived market value - especially when the PR resulted in such extensive exposure. Heritage, CGC, GPA, CBP.com, Scoop and more all reported on these rarities, yet they didn't generate the interest with collectors one would have assumed they would.

 

Heritage couldn't have been more accommodating. When I suggested the separate section and the lead-in, Ed and Barry enthusiastically agreed. Noah worked with me to craft the release. They went above and beyond, and I truly appreciate the effort they made.

 

As we discussed here last month, I took the "risk" of listing the ashcans with the Billy books because my experience in the past was that many times one can ride the coattails of a great collection (or a big book) and many frustrated underbidders will jump on books - especially those fresh to market - that may not be strong enough to carry an auction themselves. Well, this time it didn't work.

 

No regrets though. I estimated that they would sell for at least $64,000 with BP (but hopefully a lot more!) and they went for $25,692. Fortunately Mark got nearly all of them and I made a profit on each book. If this is the worst thing that ever happens to me as a collector, I'll be fine.

 

And I still have more!

 

 

Sorry to hear that Gary, but at least they mostly went to someone who obviously loves them. Ashcans always seemed like kind of a tough sell to me. I think a lot of collectors don't really understand what they are, or appreciate them and their significance to the hobby. It also doesn't help that they are so infrequently traded. Sometimes a robust market with definite price points can be reassuring, even though those very price points imply decreased scarcity.

[Straw-Man]

Wahoo!!!!!

 

 

 

if you don't like that, you're in the wrong hobby.

[Moondog]

 

It's painful to own something for over 25 years only to sell it for a 1/3 of the perceived market value - especially when the PR resulted in such extensive exposure. Heritage, CGC, GPA, CPG.com, Scoop and more all reported on these rarities, yet they didn't generate the interest with collectors one would have assumed they would.

 

Heritage couldn't have been more accommodating. When I suggested the separate section and the lead-in, Ed and Barry enthusiastically agreed. Noah worked with me to craft the release. They went above and beyond, and I truly appreciate the effort they made.

 

As we discussed here last month, I took the "risk" of listing the ashcans with the Billy books because my experience in the past was that many times one can ride the coattails of a great collection (or a big book) and many frustrated underbidders will jump on books - especially those fresh to market - that may not be strong enough to carry an auction themselves. Well, this time it didn't work.

 

No regrets though. I estimated that they would sell for at least $64,000 with BP (but hopefully a lot more!) and they went for $25,692. Fortunately Mark got nearly all of them and I made a profit on each book. If this is the worst thing that ever happens to me as a collector, I'll be fine.

 

And I still have more!

 

 

Sorry to hear that Gary, but at least they mostly went to someone who obviously loves them. Ashcans always seemed like kind of a tough sell to me. I think a lot of collectors don't really understand what they are, or appreciate them and their significance to the hobby. It also doesn't help that they are so infrequently traded. Sometimes a robust market with definite price points can be reassuring, even though those very price points imply decreased scarcity.

 

I agree, Andy. I've worked hard over the years to educate the community, and fellow collectors like Mark and Tom Gordon (who was instrumental in getting all the ashcans, and not just the Fawcetts, listed in the Guide) helped in this effort too. I thought it was the right time to bring some to market.

 

And there was a method to the madness in that I listed books from different genres (war, romance, teen humor, humor, super-hero) hoping to attract collectors with different tastes who would have loved to own a museum piece.

 

It didn't work out this time, but that doesn't mean no one cares. Last summer, when I displayed the Superman, Superwoman, Superboy and Supergirl along with the Action Comics ashcans at the Chicago Con - it was page 3 news in the Chicago Tribune.

 

Seeing these books all together - to actually hold these first editions - knowing the historical importance and the timing of the creation of each of them is one of the coolest experiences a collector could have.

 

 

 

[clarkkentdds]

I thought prices were actually pretty soft for mainstream HG GA DC. I like this trend.

 

For the true collector (uninterested in a profit/ flipping/ pressing or resale) this bodes well during collection construction.

 

I noticed some of the books with a history of having been pressed and resubed (easy to discover via CGCdata.com) got softer prices. Perhaps the seasoned veteran has begun to utilize this resource to seek out the rehashed books. I know I adjust my bids accordingly when I notice a rehash.

[nearmint]

I thought the board marketplace would be lively today with people trying to raise funds to pay their Heritage invoices, but it's pretty quiet over there.

[adamstrange]

I thought the board marketplace would be lively today with people trying to raise funds to pay their Heritage invoices, but it's pretty quiet over there.

I just scheduled the operation to remove my kidney for resale. (thumbs u