Heritage Sells Batman #1 9.2 for $850k in private transaction

[lou_fine]

Check my eyeballs here... it looks like it might be the same copy that sold for $315k from Comiclink in 2010 as a 9.0.

 

Note the sliver of white showing at the spine towards the bottom, and some sort of small spot at the top edge directly above the left batwing point. The cut of the book looks the same also.

 

 

 

Are they the same book?

 

According to Greg Holland's data, one of the 9.0's was removed and the 9.2 appeared in August 2011.

 

Yup, it looks like the same book to me (you can see the erased S to the right of Batman's cape on each book, which pretty much seals it).

 

Actually, with that big erased S mark on the right hand side, I am quite surprised that it would still come back as a 9.2 copy.

 

Any idea if that is a pencil mark which they tried to erase or was it one of those black S with a grease pencil which I have seen on quite a few high grade GA books?

[markseifert]

If you'll notice, there was not one word mentioned at all about the grading history of the book. Dealers don't want to talk about this aspect of the book as it brings the entire issue of grading and CGC into question and will more than likely, discourage new people from entering into the market.

 

Yeah, I do hear you. Still, HA (or the seller) couldn't have said something like "this book previously sold for $315k 2 years ago", and not have expected that someone willing to drop 850k on it wasn't going to do a quick google and put it together, yeah? Once you go that far, you might as well have the rest of the conversation.

 

Because that's a completely unique identifier for the book. It just seems unlikely that given that info, the prospective buyer wouldn't at the least have googled "Batman 1 $315,000", taken a look at the result, and then asked the obvious questions (or better yet, for that money, retained the services of a knowledgeable professional if need be).

 

Obviously I'm making an inference here -- and really, not looking to be an apologist for anyone because it's a legit question -- but the fact that HA gave the $315k number to CNN seems to be a reasonable indicator that the buyer knows the history of the book.

 

[tth2]

BTW, shouldn't you be over in the Mitch Appreciation Thread organizing his new fan club?

Thanks for the imput, Steve.

[batman_fan]

Check my eyeballs here... it looks like it might be the same copy that sold for $315k from Comiclink in 2010 as a 9.0.

 

Note the sliver of white showing at the spine towards the bottom, and some sort of small spot at the top edge directly above the left batwing point. The cut of the book looks the same also.

 

 

 

Are they the same book?

 

According to Greg Holland's data, one of the 9.0's was removed and the 9.2 appeared in August 2011.

 

Yup, it looks like the same book to me (you can see the erased S to the right of Batman's cape on each book, which pretty much seals it).

 

Actually, with that big erased S mark on the right hand side, I am quite surprised that it would still come back as a 9.2 copy.

 

Any idea if that is a pencil mark which they tried to erase or was it one of those black S with a grease pencil which I have seen on quite a few high grade GA books?

 

That is just darn ugly Maybe CGC considers it a production defect and doesn't downgrade. I would call it slight restoration, and definitely amateur !

[lou_fine]

If you'll notice, there was not one word mentioned at all about the grading history of the book. Dealers don't want to talk about this aspect of the book as it brings the entire issue of grading and CGC into question and will more than likely, discourage new people from entering into the market.

 

Yeah, I do hear you. Still, HA (or the seller) couldn't have said something like "this book previously sold for $315k 2 years ago", and not have expected that someone willing to drop 850k on it wasn't going to do a quick google and put it together, yeah? Once you go that far, you might as well have the rest of the conversation.

 

Because that's a completely unique identifier for the book. It just seems unlikely that given that info, the prospective buyer wouldn't at the least have googled "Batman 1 $315,000", taken a look at the result, and then asked the obvious questions (or better yet, for that money, retained the services of a knowledgeable professional if need be).

 

Obviously I'm making an inference here -- and really, not looking to be an apologist for anyone because it's a legit question -- but the fact that HA gave the $315k number to CNN seems to be a reasonable indicator that the buyer knows the history of the book.

 

I am starting to get a little confused with your trend of thought here!

 

Your original post started off with Heritage disclosing to CNN and other national mews media that this copy of Bat #1 that sold for $850 was the same one that had sold for only $315K a coiuple of years earlier. You should note that this appears to have been disclosed by Heritage to the media only after the completion of the sale. No doubt to emphasize to the general public that comic books is a good place for people to put there monry into, which is no doubt good for Heritage's future business. You'll note that there was absolutely no mention at all about the grading history of the book.

 

Based upon this disclosure to the media only after the completion of the $850K sale, you seem to then equate this as disclosure to the buyer BEFORE the completion of the sale so that he could make a fully informed purchasing decision. Let me see, you as a VP or Director of Heritage would make your sales pitch to the customer as follows:

 

"What I've got here for sale is a CGC 9.2 highest graded copy of Batman #1 for the bargin basement price of only $850K. You should note that this particular copy apparently was sold by Sothebys' as a VF- copy for only $28K back in the mid-90's. It was apparently then graded by CGC as a 8.5 copy. From then we know for sure that it was upgraded to a 9.0 copy and sold for $315K only 2 years ago. Based upon this trend, just imagine what can happen to this book by 2015 and what you will be able to sell it for."

 

My personal bet is that absolutely nothing at all about the history of the book (either pricing wise and/or most definitely grading wise) was disclosed to the buyer prior to the completion of the sale. Like CGC who's job is to grade only the book in front of them , Heritage's job is to sell only the CGC graded book that is in front of them at the time. Nothing more, nothing less!

[markseifert]

Based upon this disclosure to the media only after the completion of the $850K sale, you seem to then equate this as disclosure to the buyer BEFORE the completion of the sale so that he could make a fully informed purchasing decision.

 

I am saying (almost) exactly that, yes. It is a strong indicator that the buyer was aware of the info. It doesn't mean HA told the buyer, but it almost certainly means the buyer was aware of it (and HA knew that the buyer was aware of it)

 

HA is not going to tell the national media the buyer paid 2.7 times the previous sale price unless the buyer was aware of that.

 

Doesn't make any sense for them to do so otherwise. Because if the buyer was unaware of the history of the book beforehand, and he sees it first on CNN and does some googling, guess who might call CNN next? And what might THAT national headline look like?

 

HA is smarter than that. It is absolutely impossible for me to believe that the buyer was unaware of the history of the book before that number was disseminated to the national media.

 

 

[jkrk]

Based upon this disclosure to the media only after the completion of the $850K sale, you seem to then equate this as disclosure to the buyer BEFORE the completion of the sale so that he could make a fully informed purchasing decision.

 

I am saying (almost) exactly that, yes. It is a strong indicator that the buyer was aware of the info. It doesn't mean HA told the buyer, but it almost certainly means the buyer was aware of it (and HA knew that the buyer was aware of it)

 

HA is not going to tell the national media the buyer paid 2.7 times the previous sale price unless the buyer was aware of that.

 

Doesn't make any sense for them to do so otherwise. Because if the buyer was unaware of the history of the book beforehand, and he sees it first on CNN and does some googling, guess who might call CNN next? And what might THAT national headline look like?

 

HA is smarter than that. It is absolutely impossible for me to believe that the buyer was unaware of the history of the book before that number was disseminated to the national media.

 

 

I agree with your post. (thumbs u

 

Which got me to thinking.... Suppose my net worth as of last week was $1. Then suppose I used it to buy a lottery ticket which netted me 50 million after taxes. I then made the decision to purchase the Bat 1 from HA. I say to myself I couldn't afford the $300 K price tag before but can easily absorb the 1 million dollar hit today. Do I really care about pressing? The grade inflation? Or is my thinking that I own my grail, a Batman 1 in 9.2 ?

[ComicConnoisseur]

I think the white spot makes it clear that it's the same book.

 

Interesting.

 

Try asking the average person if they would expect that a high value comic book would be "certified" and guaranteed at one grade only to show up later with a higher grade.

 

No way does the average civilian think that. Just like there's no way an average civilian would think that a dot of yellow ink in that white spot would mean the book is worth 870 thousand less.

 

The biggest bubble-threat of the hobby is not that prices are getting uber high, but that some aspects of the "insider knowledge" of what makes a comic valuable are built on foundations of counter-intuitive reasoning.

 

+1

 

[EJR]

JKRK I agree with you 100%! I think you would be on top of the world to own your grail and the best copy on the planet, regardless of pressing or if it was previously graded at a lower grade! EJR

[scooter99]

The only thing I'd do differently from JKRK's scenario is wait for the book to hit auction and nab it for less than the private sale price.

[jkrk]

The only thing I'd do differently from JKRK's scenario is wait for the book to hit auction and nab it for less than the private sale price.

 

Yes... but... By then you might be looking at a 9.4 label?

[roulette44]

The only thing I'd do differently from JKRK's scenario is wait for the book to hit auction and nab it for less than the private sale price.