• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Estate Sale Find One Owner Collection Batman #1

Started by VAZ,

33 posts in this topic

VAZ

VAZ

Posted
Posted

I saw an ad for an Estate Sale here locally and they had a picture of a stack of Golden Age comics but you could only see one old Detective. I decided there might be something good in there so I drove across town at 5am to make sure I was the first one at the sale. I was and I got the comics when the sale started. I didn't look at any of the comics when I was there but noticed that the homes contents were being auctioned off for a widow and that these comics were her husbands who had died in his 80's. I saw the mans life as I went through this box and I realized that he was collecting #1's from 1939-1944 but that as a kid he removed the covers and some splash pages. Probably hung them on his wall which at some point were thrown out but the comics remained in a drawer somewhere until 70 years later.

 

The box contained a Batman #1, Wonder Woman #1, Captain Marvel Adventures #1, World's Finest #2(which is #1 for that title), Adventure Comics #50, Action #45, Detective #61, Detective #62, Zip Comics #26 complete, Sparky Watts #2 complete, Mutt and Jeff #10 complete, Star Spangled Comics #6 top 1/3 cover missing, Mystery Men comics #20 coverless, Captain Marvel Adventures #65 complete .

 

Batman #1 is coverless and missing 6 pages which include the first 2 splash pages. Wonder Woman #1 is coverless and missing 2 pages. Captain Marvel Adventures #1 is coverless but complete otherwise. World's Finest #2 is coverless but complete. Action #45 is complete but missing 1/3rd top cover. Adventure #50 is complete but missing back cover, I already consigned someone on Ebay to repro all the missing covers and missing pages so everything will be complete this week with the repro stuff added. I'm debating how to sell these and what anyone thinks the total value would be. If just a page of Batman #1 can go for $200+ and I have 52 pages. I figure that's 26 actual pages back and front going for over $5000 total but I don't want to tear the comic apart. What would you do with these? How much are they worth and any buyers out there? Thanks, Vic

DSC00379.jpgDSC00384.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Red84

Red84

Posted
Posted
Thank you. The repro covers and pages are already on the way. I thought if I get them graded I could do it with the repro covers.

DSC00384.jpg

 

Since you're doing this for resale I think it's a big mistake. Firstly, the repro pieces have to be attached to be graded. That means removing the staples and risking a purple label. I don't see repro pieces adding value and I'm guessing the person who wants to buy your WW1 and Batman 1 would be buying it for parts; in which case they have zero use for a repro cover.

My 2 cents

Link to comment
Share on other sites
yecul

yecul

Posted
Posted

Glad you got them and not some collector so they can come to market. I'd disassemble them and sell the pages individually. Be sure to preserve the staples so you can sell them as a lot. Welcome to the boards.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
lou_fine

lou_fine

Posted
Posted

Since you're doing this for resale I think it's a big mistake. Firstly, the repro pieces have to be attached to be graded. That means removing the staples and risking a purple label.

 

As Steve Borock once stated years ago, "disassembly and reassembly of a comic book in and of itself does not necessarily constitute restoration" or something along this line. :gossip:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Dr Carl

Dr Carl

Posted
Posted

Really wonderful find. I do think you'd be best off selling these as is and earning a strong return on your investment (I don't know what you paid at the Estate sale, but my guess is it's less than us board members would be willing to pay for these books).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
VAZ

VAZ

Posted
  • Author
Posted

That's actually the Batman #1. This comic was folded over so the last story written in this comic (Jokers Return) is actually the first story that shows here. Even though Detective #40 shows that picture (of Robin hanging on a flagpole) on the cover, that story was used here in Batman #1 instead because the writers changed their mind at the last minute and didn't want to kill the Joker off so they changed the ending of the first story in Batman #1 to him surviving the knife wound and they added this story too. Joker actually never appears in Detective #40 as that story was transplanted here and the Tec #40 cover was just never changed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
VAZ

VAZ

Posted
  • Author
Posted

That's funny you're right. I am getting a ton of emails. A lot of people want individual pages. I don't know if I should slab these, sell them all at once, sell them individually or sell them by the page and yeah that's usually the case with the Mutt and Jeffs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Go to topic listing