Is there a general rule of thumb when estimating the amount of existing copies?

[Sqeggs]

There are probably a LOT of GA keys still hiding in long-time collectors' holdings, many of which will be surfacing over the next 10 - 15 years as they pass away and the collections are broken up.

 

A friend of mine has a Superman 1 that has been in his possession since 1965, when he bought it at the first Detroit comic book show, when he bought it for the princely sum of three bucks....and got slapped by a couple dealers for "driving up the price of old comics"

 

I'm sure there are dozens, maybe hundreds, of similar stories out there.

 

I remember a couple of years after that a Superman 1 selling for $20, I think it was -- maybe it was a little more. Some people groaned that this was the beginning of the end of the hobby. Who would want to collect books unless they could hope to assemble complete runs? And now the prices of some key books were rising above where the average Joe could afford them.

this post says one thing to me.... sqeggs is

 

I admit I used to be. But I'm getting younger every day!

[Mmehdy]

If I had to guess the real number of Action ones its close to 100 , maybe 110. Superman 1 is another story, we have heard on the boards about a dealer with like 20 copies at a early comic book convention, so it is more likely that somebody could have 3-10 copies of Sup1.

 

I don't think its 250, as time goes on, more copies are gonna come on board.

 

With Action #1 there are a number of owners who are playing "chicken" with the dentist-waiting for that copy to get graded, especially due to page condition with a possible grade bump.

[comicdonna]

I'm guessing at least double that, on the Action #1.,

[Rip]

There may be more Superman 1's but I'm sure there are less Sups 1's in 6.0+ than Action 1.

 

And I'd guess over 200 Action 1's. But not too many more.

[OtherEric]

Here's one: What is the rarest DC #1? I've seen it claimed that Sugar & Spike #1 is, but I was wondering if that was the general consensus, or just a stray comment. From what little I know, I assume the rarest DC Key is All-American 16; but that's not actually a #1...

[Rip]

I would say New Fun 1, New Comics 1 are the rarest.

[OtherEric]

Both of those are definitely good candidates as well; a check of Heritage shows 5 S&S 1 sales, 9 New Comics 1, and 6 New Fun. I did not check for multiple sales of the same issues, though.

[Marvel Zombie]

If I had to guess the real number of Action ones its close to 100 , maybe 110. Superman 1 is another story, we have heard on the boards about a dealer with like 20 copies at a early comic book convention, so it is more likely that somebody could have 3-10 copies of Sup1.

 

I don't think its 250, as time goes on, more copies are gonna come on board.

 

With Action #1 there are a number of owners who are playing "chicken" with the dentist-waiting for that copy to get graded, especially due to page condition with a possible grade bump.

 

I think its safe to assume that at least one out of three (A1 /T27s) now have been entombed. Thus in total we are lookin at 150-180 copies tops for each book. Thats my gut feeling.

[G.A.tor]

If I had to guess the real number of Action ones its close to 100 , maybe 110. Superman 1 is another story, we have heard on the boards about a dealer with like 20 copies at a early comic book convention, so it is more likely that somebody could have 3-10 copies of Sup1.

 

I don't think its 250, as time goes on, more copies are gonna come on board.

 

With Action #1 there are a number of owners who are playing "chicken" with the dentist-waiting for that copy to get graded, especially due to page condition with a possible grade bump.

 

I think its safe to assume that at least one out of three (A1 /T27s) now have been entombed. Thus in total we are lookin at 150-180 copies tops for each book. Thats my gut feeling.

 

Not safe at all imo...For every slabbed copy I've seen I would guess 4-6 are not slabbed based on my experience. 250 is really on the low end IMO.

[jimjum12]

Alot of GA collectors from bygone days are not going to slab until they sell, if then. I certainly wouldn't mail off an Action 1 for slabbing..... nor would I drive cross country to slab if I wasn't selling. CGC is in Sarasota and many of the earliest Comic dealers were out west or in NY....... Many of those copies would have passed through their hands and may still be in those areas..... who knows ? A recent OSPG had the Leonard Brown story where he spoke of having multiple copies on hand of ALL the major keys at his store..... unfortunately, he is no longer with us. Terry Stroud or Beerbohm may be able to shed some light on this also..... old school guys who were dealing way back..... GOD BLESS....

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

[Sqeggs]

Alot of GA collectors from bygone days are not going to slab until they sell, if then. I certainly wouldn't mail off an Action 1 for slabbing..... nor would I drive cross country to slab if I wasn't selling. CGC is in Sarasota and many of the earliest Comic dealers were out west or in NY....... Many of those copies would have passed through their hands and may still be in those areas..... who knows ? A recent OSPG had the Leonard Brown story where he spoke of having multiple copies on hand of ALL the major keys at his store..... unfortunately, he is no longer with us. Terry Stroud or Beerbohm may be able to shed some light on this also..... old school guys who were dealing way back..... GOD BLESS....

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

 

Makes sense, I guess, that a lot of copies of the super megakeys would have disappeared into collections early on and will not have changed hands as often as other books. If I had an Action 1, though, plane fare to Sarasota would be so worth it! I'd actually be interested in knowing what the grade was and whether, by chance, there was any subtle resto.

[jimjum12]

The first Action 1 I ever saw in person was at a convention in '74...... it was maybe a good plus or so and was priced at.... you guessed it..... $ 1800. I was just a long haired teenager in a jeans jacket back then and the guy didn't seem to eager to let me handle it. It was EASILY the most expensive item on the floor...... most everything else was less than $ 100 ...... you could get an X-men 1 for 5 bucks back then. My buddy Tim left the show with a nice VG copy of AF 15 for $ 30..... which was pricey then. GOD BLESS....

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u