Stupid things a dealer says.

[lighthouse]

I bet I have been asked "So what's the most valuable comic?" at least 2500 times in the last five years. Doesn't matter if I am in the shop, at a show, at the grocery store, at a strip club, at the dentist's office. People find out I might know something about comic books and this question always comes up.

 

The first thousand times I was asked, I tried to actually answer the question. But to do so requires getting into specifics that the questioner really doesn't care about. So long ago I stopped. Now I have a standard spiel that I give.

 

"Action Comics 1, which is the first appearance of Superman and came out back in 1938. It all depends on condition, but a gorgeous copy would be worth about a million bucks. Even one that a dog peed on would still be worth about fifty thousand."

 

I really like that response, because it accurately conveys that the really expensive stuff is in really nice shape, but the right book can be valuable even in terrible shape. So when asked what an Amazing Spider-Man 1 would be worth, I give the same general spiel "a gorgeous copy would be worth a hundred grand, but even one that a dog peed on would be worth a couple hundred"...

 

In response to the original question, this statement, which is often overheard at shows and shops, has to rank among the all-time stupid things dealers say:

 

"I paid more than that for it ten years ago and I am not gonna sell it at a loss."