RECORD prices realized for Canadian Whites on CLINK!

[eccomic]

Definately worthy of a thread unto itself.

 

My friend and colleague, Ivan Kocmarek, posted a wonderful article on Comic Book Daily as per below link:

 

http://www.comicbookdaily.com/collecting-community/white-tsunami-weca-splashes/comiclink-whites-auction/#comment-18868

 

I would encourage my fellow board members to feel free to join in on the comments section at the bottom of the blog article, as well as here. (thumbs u

 

Stephen

[rjpb]

Cool stuff. I have no idea what the "norm" is for prices on these books, but most of the commenters seem to feel they went for way higher than expected. Considering the rarity, they didn't seem insanely high when compared to U.S. Golden Age. I'd never seen a canadian White until the early nineties, when Harley Yee had some at a show, and even back then he had them priced along the same lines or a tad higher as say run of the mill MLJ superhero books from the war era - which Archie Peps aside, doesn't seem too far off from where they are now.

 

I imagine Nelvana #1 is the "Superman #1" of Canadian Whites, and that 6.5 is pretty much high grade for such a book, and of course compared to an actual Pep #22, the Super Comics nn, seems like a bargain. The pricey one seems to be the Triumph #17 - cool cover, but $1200 for a 4.0 seems like a lot unless it is crazy rare.

 

[eccomic]

Cool stuff. I have no idea what the "norm" is for prices on these books, but most of the commenters seem to feel they went for way higher than expected. Considering the rarity, they didn't seem insanely high when compared to U.S. Golden Age. I'd never seen a canadian White until the early nineties, when Harley Yee had some at a show, and even back then he had them priced along the same lines or a tad higher as say run of the mill MLJ superhero books from the war era - which Archie Peps aside, doesn't seem too far off from where they are now.

 

I imagine Nelvana #1 is the "Superman #1" of Canadian Whites, and that 6.5 is pretty much high grade for such a book, and of course compared to an actual Pep #22, the Super Comics nn, seems like a bargain. The pricey one seems to be the Triumph #17 - cool cover, but $1200 for a 4.0 seems like a lot unless it is crazy rare.

 

$1200.00 for the Triumph # 17? Try a final hammer price of $1750.00. The key selling feature of that particular book, aside from the iconic Speed Savage cover, is the name on the bottom right hand corner of the cover: NELVANA.

[rjpb]

Cool stuff. I have no idea what the "norm" is for prices on these books, but most of the commenters seem to feel they went for way higher than expected. Considering the rarity, they didn't seem insanely high when compared to U.S. Golden Age. I'd never seen a canadian White until the early nineties, when Harley Yee had some at a show, and even back then he had them priced along the same lines or a tad higher as say run of the mill MLJ superhero books from the war era - which Archie Peps aside, doesn't seem too far off from where they are now.

 

I imagine Nelvana #1 is the "Superman #1" of Canadian Whites, and that 6.5 is pretty much high grade for such a book, and of course compared to an actual Pep #22, the Super Comics nn, seems like a bargain. The pricey one seems to be the Triumph #17 - cool cover, but $1200 for a 4.0 seems like a lot unless it is crazy rare.

 

$1200.00 for the Triumph # 17? Try a final hammer price of $1750.00. The key selling feature of that particular book, aside from the iconic Speed Savage cover, is the name on the bottom right hand corner of the cover: NELVANA.

 

Do all Nelvana appearances go for a premium? What's the rarest?

 

 

[eccomic]

Cool stuff. I have no idea what the "norm" is for prices on these books, but most of the commenters seem to feel they went for way higher than expected. Considering the rarity, they didn't seem insanely high when compared to U.S. Golden Age. I'd never seen a canadian White until the early nineties, when Harley Yee had some at a show, and even back then he had them priced along the same lines or a tad higher as say run of the mill MLJ superhero books from the war era - which Archie Peps aside, doesn't seem too far off from where they are now.

 

I imagine Nelvana #1 is the "Superman #1" of Canadian Whites, and that 6.5 is pretty much high grade for such a book, and of course compared to an actual Pep #22, the Super Comics nn, seems like a bargain. The pricey one seems to be the Triumph #17 - cool cover, but $1200 for a 4.0 seems like a lot unless it is crazy rare.

 

$1200.00 for the Triumph # 17? Try a final hammer price of $1750.00. The key selling feature of that particular book, aside from the iconic Speed Savage cover, is the name on the bottom right hand corner of the cover: NELVANA.

 

Do all Nelvana appearances go for a premium? What's the rarest?

 

 

Indeed, Nelvana appearances do command a premium. The rarest and most difficult book to obtain is Triumph-Adventure Comics # 1 from August of 1941, which features her origin and first appearance:

 

My copy

 

 

Origin & First Appearance splash page within, beautifully rendered by Adrian Dingle:

 

 

[Point Five]

I know next to nothing about Nelvana, but a google search brought up this Kickstarter project. Looks like a reprint book is in the works. Cool!

 

 

She was first published in December 1941 in Triumph-Adventure Comics, and ran as a feature for 31 issues, even having her own merchandise and graphic novel. She's one of the very first female superheroes ever created, predating Wonder Woman by several months.

 

 

[sfcityduck]

Stephen,

 

I think you only have yourself to blame for the surge in interest. Kudos for contributing your books to the Nelvana collected edition project and for your many very educational threads here.

[eccomic]

Stephen,

 

I think you only have yourself to blame for the surge in interest. Kudos for contributing your books to the Nelvana collected edition project and for your many very educational threads here.

 

[thehumantorch]

Definately worthy of a thread unto itself.

 

My friend and colleague, Ivan Kocmarek, posted a wonderful article on Comic Book Daily as per below link:

 

http://www.comicbookdaily.com/collecting-community/white-tsunami-weca-splashes/comiclink-whites-auction/#comment-18868

 

I would encourage my fellow board members to feel free to join in on the comments section at the bottom of the blog article, as well as here. (thumbs u

 

Stephen

 

Thanks for the link Stephen. Very strong results.

[Bronty]

I have several thoughts swirling on all of this but in the interest of letting you all read something other than disjointed ramblings let me attempt to give it some structure.

 

1) On the Nelvana Price

 

13k is much higher than anyone myself included expected, but let's face it, this is a top copy of one of the very best Cdn whites. The #1 character, classic cover, ONLY all Nelvana book, one of the only single character books, and with an original death dealing double story.

 

Now think about how little 13k gets you in terms of golden or silver age US comics. A mid grade marvel key perhaps. A single nice (but not too nice) timely. Those things are nice, and they are in broad based and desirable categories, but they are ultimately unremarkable. A top Nelvana may appeal to a smaller base, but its one of the very top books for that smaller base.

 

In that light, the only way that the price really seems that outrageous is in comparison to historical sales.... but... what data points? When is the last time there has been a copy available at a major or even minor auction house?

 

I don't mean to sound biased, having just acquired my copy and having paid a record price at the time. But if I didn't think it wasn't a great book, and if I didn't think the price really wasn't that bad for one of the best books, I wouldn't have offered it.

 

2) On the top tier results in the CLINK auction

 

The top four books were:

- the Nelvana o/s

- the Super Comics (archie 1st appearance)

- the Weird Suspenstories (Cdn EC)

- Triumph 17 (Nelvana appearance)

 

What I take out of that is that the books that did best were the ones with the broadest base of appeal. Interest in Nelvana seems to be a little broader now, so two of those books are no surprise.

 

The Super Comics and Weird Suspenstories I'm not personally a big fan of as they are both basically just US books slightly retooled for Canada. To me, if I want those books, I want the real deal (Pep 22, US ECs, etc).

 

I feel like the potential on % growth in value for those books is actually more limited than on the original content Cdn books as for at least some people like myself, they simply appeal for the purpose of being cheap alternatives for the US books. No disrespect to those that enjoy them.

 

3) On the CLINK results generally

 

Seems like a good amount of money was thrown around at everything. I think that just goes to show the power of listing a large batch in one place, at one time. The poster on CBD that said this was the first big batch in nearly 10 years is right on point IMO. They were all graded, all up for a fair fight, all at one place, at one time, and that's what helped the results be strong. I've seen it over and over again with other scarce material that a big set of auctions will do better than the same items in isolated sales. There is definitely some synergy there.

 

I think it also speaks to a) there being some new blood (I guess myself included) and b) that new blood trying to wrap its head what's desirable. (Stephen saved me from a costly mistake actually!).

 

IMO, these results will be a mixed bag. In a year or five some of these results will look cheap, and some will look expensive, as the new blood figures out what it wants to pursue aggressively vs what it has already pursued too agressively. There's also the possibility that some may withdraw if there are no more publicly available batches (beyond the next clink offering I guess). Searching for these on ebay and other avenues can take time that many can't spare when you're dealing with needles in haystacks.

 

4) On Triumph Adventure 1

 

The first Nelvana story looks to be glorious and many thanks to Stephen for selling me his coverless copy, I can't wait to pick it up from the post office and read it. I guess I got lucky with the timing on that one buying it before this sale.

 

Stephen - I don't think I've ever asked you how many copies exist outside of institutions but I think I read on one of Walter's posts on CBD that yours was the only complete copy? Is that right? Are there other incomplete copies besides my own?

 

 

 

 

[Bronty]

Since Stephen was so stingy with the Triumph Adventure pics let me add a few he was kind enough to give me earlier:

 

 

[Bronty]

Stephen,

 

I think you only have yourself to blame for the surge in interest. Kudos for contributing your books to the Nelvana collected edition project and for your many very educational threads here.

 

Agreed, there's no doubt his beating the drum and educating for the past 10 years helped the strong results. Kudos.

[Bronty]

hopefully my wall of text didn't scare everyone off

[eccomic]

Fascinating insight Dan and thank you! (thumbs u

 

To answer your earlier question about how may copies of Triumph-Adventure Comics # 1 are intact, I belive there are seven (7),

[Bronty]

Fascinating insight Dan and thank you! (thumbs u

 

To answer your earlier question about how may copies of Triumph-Adventure Comics # 1 are intact, I belive there are seven (7),

 

Thx!!

 

How many of those 7 in institutions if I may ask?

 

How many complete vs incomplete?

[eccomic]

1 complete copy in LAC (Library and Archives Canada)

1 complete copy in the collection of Stephen Lipson

1 complete copy in the collection of Robert MacMillian

1 complete copy n the collection of a person wishing to retain anonymity, but confirmed by myself

1 complete copy in the Vancouver Archives in British Columbia

1 incomplete copy on the collection of Dan Maresca

1 incomplete copy in the collection of Stanford Brown

 

5 complete and two incomplete copies, of which two complete copies are housed in various archives.

 

I hope this helps!

 

Stephen Lipson

[Bronty]

Outstanding. Thank you sir that's incredible detail (thumbs u

[mrmyst]

1 complete copy in LAC (Library and Archives Canada)

1 complete copy in the collection of Stephen Lipson

1 complete copy in the collection of Robert MacMillian

1 complete copy n the collection of a person wishing to retain anonymity, but confirmed by myself

1 complete copy in the Vancouver Archives in British Columbia

1 incomplete copy on the collection of Dan Maresca

1 incomplete copy in the collection of Stanford Brown

 

5 complete and two incomplete copies, of which two complete copies are housed in various archives.

 

I hope this helps!

 

Stephen Lipson

 

You forgot my five.

[Bronty]

 

(thumbs u

[TheEyeSees]

Since Stephen was so stingy with the Triumph Adventure pics let me add a few he was kind enough to give me earlier:

 

 

I saved all those interior shots Stephen so generously posted… Dingle was really a fine draftsman. I look forward to the reprinted edition.

 

Thanks for this thread Stephen. It was wild to see so many whites offered in one auction. There were so many I would have loved to go for, but timing was off for me. At least I have a nice cover archive now!

 

As a Canadian, I hope one day soon to put a DIME COMICS or a TRIUMPH in my collection. Undercopies anyone???