THOR 134 story - Will it realize less complete on OCAL!

[lb jefferies]

Now at $170K with 2 days left. Seems like it was a better and better idea to keep it together...

[jbud73]

I'm sure the consignor could get more money for the book by breaking it up. That said, considering that the book has 2 good splashes (the inking on the Thor splash bugs me a bit though) and a bunch of mediocre panel pages, it probably makes sense to keep it whole rather than unleash a bunch of ho-hum pages onto the market just to liberate the splashes.

 

In most cases, yes, more money is realized when stories/books get broken up. Mastro put this to the test when they ran concurrent auctions for ASM #31 back in 2006; one auction for the entire book and another with the book broken up. Whichever finished highest is how the book would get sold. Not surprisingly, the sum of the individual pages won.

 

In this case, however, I'm not entirely sure. The lot is already at $135K. Price each page individually...how much do you come up with? $135K seems quite high already.

 

It's likely that those who are invested in Kirby art will spin whatever this goes for as a "discounted" price. Again, I'm not so sure...this looks more like "premium" to me than "discount". But I have no agenda in driving values higher, so take that for what it's worth.

 

 

Have to agree. The price is getting so high it's heading into risky territory for a dealer to purchase in order to break up and sell.

 

 

We can only hope that is the case, shame to see this broken up. Maybe this represents a small example of coming full circle, with a BSD collector understanding how hard it would be to amass the complete story and shelling out the dollars to keep it in one piece. Of course it also might be two dealers bidding against one another.

[drdroom]

I just had an odd thought: I don't really care if this story gets broken up. It's not a classic Thor story to me by any measure, not even a classic among the Colletta Thors. It's just a typically great Kirby comic. I can think of any number of stories I'd like to see preserved complete (unless I could have a page, natch) more than this one.

[ashrael]

I just had an odd thought: I don't really care if this story gets broken up. It's not a classic Thor story to me by any measure, not even a classic among the Colletta Thors. It's just a typically great Kirby comic. I can think of any number of stories I'd like to see preserved complete (unless I could have a page, natch) more than this one.

 

Sure, but how many 1960s Kirby superhero stories are intact at this point? Probably not too many (at least not many that have seen the light of day recently).

[drdroom]

I just had an odd thought: I don't really care if this story gets broken up. It's not a classic Thor story to me by any measure, not even a classic among the Colletta Thors. It's just a typically great Kirby comic. I can think of any number of stories I'd like to see preserved complete (unless I could have a page, natch) more than this one.

 

Sure, but how many 1960s Kirby superhero stories are intact at this point? Probably not too many (at least not many that have seen the light of day recently).

 

Right, but what's the real value of keeping this one intact? I mean, theoretically I'd like to see all stories intact, but that ship sailed away before we even built the port....

[Silver Surfer]

Now at $170K with 2 days left. Seems like it was a better and better idea to keep it together...

 

Do you think it will spike in the final minutes or is it done at $170K? That's a nice buy and hold flip.

[Terry Doyle]

I just had an odd thought: I don't really care if this story gets broken up. It's not a classic Thor story to me by any measure, not even a classic among the Colletta Thors. It's just a typically great Kirby comic. I can think of any number of stories I'd like to see preserved complete (unless I could have a page, natch) more than this one.

 

This, to me, was one of the more memorable Thor stories of the 1960s. Not a huge Thor fan, but always liked this. (thumbs u

[drdroom]

Now at $170K with 2 days left. Seems like it was a better and better idea to keep it together...

 

Do you think it will spike in the final minutes or is it done at $170K? That's a nice buy and hold flip.

 

I can't defend this, but I think it is going higher. 200+, that's my prediction... (having overshot the Watchmen covers by a huge margin...)

[lb jefferies]

It's at $221K

[drdroom]

It's at $221K

[comix4fun]

It's at $221K

 

 

[batman_fan]

I am not positive how good of a buy it is. I break it down this way

 

Splash high side, $30k per and I would call it 3 splashes (I think 30k is real high and one splash is a Thor butt pose 3/4 splash)

 

That leaves 13 pages. On HA, a Kirby/Colletta panel page from issue 137 sold for just under 5k with the juice.

 

So lets call the range $90k + 13 x $5k = $155k to $90k + 13 x $10k = $220k (I think this is way too high and the $155k is closer to right)

[comix4fun]

I am not positive how good of a buy it is. I break it down this way

 

Splash high side, $30k per and I would call it 3 splashes (I think 30k is real high and one splash is a Thor butt pose 3/4 splash)

 

That leaves 13 pages. On HA, a Kirby/Colletta panel page from issue 137 sold for just under 5k with the juice.

 

So lets call the range $90k + 13 x $5k = $155k to $90k + 13 x $10k = $220k (I think this is way too high and the $155k is closer to right)

 

 

Lots of "No Thor" pages mixed in there that won't even approach the same ballpark as $5k each.

[delekkerste]

I'd value the 2 splashes combined at around $100K total. Whether you want to call it $60K/$40K, $65K/$35K or $70K/$30K is up to others to decide. I do think that is a very full valuation, even in this market.

 

So, for the remaining 14 pages...what should be the average price per page? Personally, I think these are 14 of the most mediocre Kirby Thor pages I've ever seen (a thought that has been echoed by at least a dozen longtime collectors I've spoken with) and I would put the average price per page in the $5-6K range, tops, if I'm giving every benefit of the doubt to the buyer. One enterprising collector I know compared all the pages against recent auction comps and thought $5-6K was way overvaluing what these pages are. But, in any case, even at $6K per and $100K for the two splashes, that's $184K and you're really assuming the best about what you're buying; if you're trying to split up the book and turn a profit, you have very little margin for error at that price. I'd peg the value closer to the $140-$160K range.

 

At $221K, assuming $100K for the 2 splashes, that leaves the rest of the pages at an average price of $8,643 each. I don't think there's anyone who can reasonably expect to make a profit on splitting up the book at that level, so I can only assume that someone either wants the whole book for themselves or else they really want one or both of the splashes and are willing to sell off the mediocre panel pages at an implicit loss to defray the cost. Actually, it's not just "someone", it's at least two people who have totally lost their marbles over this one and bid against each other up to the current price.

[batman_fan]

I am not positive how good of a buy it is. I break it down this way

 

Splash high side, $30k per and I would call it 3 splashes (I think 30k is real high and one splash is a Thor butt pose 3/4 splash)

 

That leaves 13 pages. On HA, a Kirby/Colletta panel page from issue 137 sold for just under 5k with the juice.

 

So lets call the range $90k + 13 x $5k = $155k to $90k + 13 x $10k = $220k (I think this is way too high and the $155k is closer to right)

 

 

Lots of "No Thor" pages mixed in there that won't even approach the same ballpark as $5k each.

 

I agree. There are a few pages they will go above $5k but not many. My conclusion, this is not being bought for resale and will end in a collectors hands and the book will be staying together.

[glenbru]

I have to admit, I'm very surprised at the current level of bidding. I did not expect this book to go this high--nice as it is.

[lb jefferies]

So there we have it. The greater value to at least two bidders is to potentially keep it together. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, etc.

[comix4fun]

And while this madness swirls around the 134 story, there's a gorgeous page from JIM 109 sitting at less than $5000 right now...with Magneto in it and Thor flying.

 

Strange hobby sometimes when Kirby/Colletta is out averaging Kirby/Stone Thor.

 

 

[VintageComics]

And while this madness swirls around the 134 story, there's a gorgeous page from JIM 109 sitting at less than $5000 right now...with Magneto in it and Thor flying.

 

Strange hobby sometimes when Kirby/Colletta is out averaging Kirby/Stone Thor.

 

 

I have little doubt the #109 page will go for more than the 134 average page price.

 

When I bought that #109 page last year, I immediately had dealers offer me more than that for it last year.

 

 

[mtlevy]

Thor 134 went high, JIM 109 went low...it's the original art lottery at work!