Marvel Comics #1

[sartre]

Where there any pictures taken of the Church MM 1 or the Action 1?

 

Yes. The Mile High MC 1 has had pictures widely distributed, including in Gerber, because Verzyl doesn't mind sharing; however, the only person to own a picture of the Action 1 other than the current owner (who apparently has no desire to ever let anyone see a picture of the book) is Chuck R. -- and he's never published that picture. I wish he would.

 

We do know from people who have seen the book that the Mile High Action 1 has Church's name written neatly on the top of the cover.

 

What's a grade estimate on the Church MM 1 ? Wasn't there going to be a book published on pedigrees? would be nice if a nice pic of it could be posted here...

[Rip]

According to Verzyl very high, in the 9.8 range.

[Silver Surfer]

According to Verzyl very high, in the 9.8 range.

 

Apparently he said its flawless. Can you even imagine how glorious that book must be if it was sitting in a 9.8 slab. Aside from the fact that I want to own it one day it really should be in a museum.

[Dark Knight]

According to Verzyl very high, in the 9.8 range.

 

Apparently he said its flawless. Can you even imagine how glorious that book must be if it was sitting in a 9.8 slab. Aside from the fact that I want to own it one day it really should be in a museum.

 

Heard NM/M as well Easily a $1+ million book

[Silver Surfer]

According to Verzyl very high, in the 9.8 range.

 

Apparently he said its flawless. Can you even imagine how glorious that book must be if it was sitting in a 9.8 slab. Aside from the fact that I want to own it one day it really should be in a museum.

 

Heard NM/M as well Easily a $1+ million book

 

Waaaay more than that.

[VintageComics]

Fischler has Action #1 as a 9.2 and Borock had it as a 9.4 so it's not to hard to imagine what it looks like based on the other Mile High books.

 

So you could bet CBCS would give it a 9.4 grade. I kind of trust Fischler's opinion slightly more in this case.

 

 

Borock gave that grade 10 years ago when he was working for CGC. I don't think who he works for has any bearing on the grade of the book.

 

 

[sfcityduck]

From Gerber:

 

[comicdonna]

That's a beauty for sure.

[sfcityduck]

Relevant to the discussion up thread about record prices paid for comics, I came across this list I had compiled of the progression of the most valuable comic record up to 2010:

 

1965 - Action Comics 1 for $250 (as reported by AP);

 

1968 - Marvel Comics 1 for $330 (by Howard Rogolfsky as reported by the AP, but not with reference to a record);

 

[Aside: 1969 - Captain Marvel 1 for $150 (reported by AP).]

 

1973 - Action 1 for $1,000 (by Bruce Hamilton per AP, from Gene Henderson per Robert Beerbohm), Action 1 for $1,500 (bought by Theo Hostein from Hamilton as reported by Mitch Mehdy) followed by same book for $1,801.26 (bought by Mehdy from Holstein as widely reported in the media), also Action 1 for $1,800 (claim by Jon Campbell per UPI report - not sure if he was connected to Hamilton or not);

 

1974 - $2,000 for Whiz 2 sold by Comics & Comix to Burl Rowe (per Robert Beerbohm), $2,200 for Detective 27 sold by Comics & Comix to Burl Rowe (per Robert Beerhbohm), also Detective 27 reportedly offered for $2,000 by Jon Campbell (per UPI);

 

1979 - Marvel Comics 1 for $13,000 (bought by Snyder as reported by AP);

 

[Aside: 1980 - Action Comics 1 for $6,000 (bought at Collector's Showcase auction by Grimes)];

 

Early 80s - Marvel Comics 1 for $17,500 (by Snyder to Geppi);

 

1984 - Action 1 for $25,000 (bought by Dave Anderson);

 

*[Aside: mid-80s - Marvel Comics 1 for $82,000? (Bought by Verzyl, but this is a controversial contender, and based on comments on this board about this being part of a 3,000 book purchase, and the lack of any media claim to a record, I think this probably should not be viewed as a record purchase)];

 

1990 - Allentown Detective #27 $82,000 (bought by Dave Anderson);

 

[Aside: 1991 - Detective 27 for $55,000 (sold by Sotheby's to Harold Anderson - denoted in media reports as record for comic sold at auction)];

 

1992 - Action 1 for $82,500 (sold by Sotheby's as reported in media);

 

1994 - Detective #27 $101,000 (seller or buyer? As reported by Rob's site);

 

[Aside: 1994 - Action 1 for $54,625 (sold by Sotheby's and denoted in media reports as highest price for a restored comic)];

 

1995 - Action 1 for $137,500 (sold by PCE to Daniel Kramer);

 

[Aside: 1995 - Whiz 2 for $176,000 (media reports exist of this purchase by Geppi from Dave Anderson, but board members say it was a trade deal);

 

2000 - Allentown Captain America #1 for $265,000 (bought by Verzyl);

 

2001 - Detective 27 for $278,210 (sold by Mastro);

 

2002 - Marvel Comics 1 for $350,000 (sold to Jay Parrino by Steve Geppi);

 

2010 - Action 1 for $1,000,000, few days later D27 for $1.075 million, followed by Action 1 for $1.5 million.

 

 

[Silver Surfer]

I wonder what the pay copy would fetch at auction today and who owns it now?

[sfcityduck]

I wonder what the pay copy would fetch at auction today and who owns it now?

 

Here are the last three (post-Perrino) auction results for the Pay Copy:

 

Heritage 2006/01/19 $201,250.00

Heritage 2007/08/03 $204,999.99

Heritage 2010/02/25 $227,050.00

 

Perrino took a bath on that book. And, really, the next two sellers did also.

[N e r V]

Fischler has Action #1 as a 9.2 and Borock had it as a 9.4 so it's not to hard to imagine what it looks like based on the other Mile High books.

 

So you could bet CBCS would give it a 9.4 grade. I kind of trust Fischler's opinion slightly more in this case.

 

 

Borock gave that grade 10 years ago when he was working for CGC. I don't think who he works for has any bearing on the grade of the book.

 

 

 

Didn't say it did. He said it was a 9.4 so unless the book suffered some damage since then or his standards have slipped it should still be a 9.4 at CBCS.

 

How it would grade at CGC might be different.

[Silver Surfer]

I wonder what the pay copy would fetch at auction today and who owns it now?

 

Here are the last three (post-Perrino) auction results for the Pay Copy:

 

Heritage 2006/01/19 $201,250.00

Heritage 2007/08/03 $204,999.99

Heritage 2010/02/25 $227,050.00

 

Perrino took a bath on that book. And, really, the next two sellers did also.

 

Oh I know but if it sold today it would blow away those price tags. The last sale was fresh off the credit crisis when everything was in doldrums. George sold the Denver copy for a healthy price not too long after that and today's market has exploded as far as GA and SA keys go.

[Silver Surfer]

Fischler has Action #1 as a 9.2 and Borock had it as a 9.4 so it's not to hard to imagine what it looks like based on the other Mile High books.

 

So you could bet CBCS would give it a 9.4 grade. I kind of trust Fischler's opinion slightly more in this case.

 

 

Borock gave that grade 10 years ago when he was working for CGC. I don't think who he works for has any bearing on the grade of the book.

 

 

 

Didn't say it did. He said it was a 9.4 so unless the book suffered some damage since then or his standards have slipped it should still be a 9.4 at CBCS.

 

How it would grade at CGC might be different.

 

Borock made that comment back when he was running CGC.

[Black_Adam]

...$2,200 for Detective 27 sold by Comics & Comix to Burl Rowe (per Robert Beerhbohm) ...

 

 

I'm not sure if I even owned a comic in 1974 and, if I did, I was probably busy trying to spell my name on the cover to make sure no one took it.

 

Can anyone who was seriously collecting comics waaaaay back then put into perspective what it meant to spend $2,200 on a single comic? Was that a monthly paycheck? A car? A house?

 

Forty years from now, will someone be looking at today's prices and saying, "you could have had Batman's first appearance for only a million dollars and you didn't buy it?!"

[tth2]

Fischler has Action #1 as a 9.2 and Borock had it as a 9.4 so it's not to hard to imagine what it looks like based on the other Mile High books.

 

So you could bet CBCS would give it a 9.4 grade. I kind of trust Fischler's opinion slightly more in this case.

 

 

Borock gave that grade 10 years ago when he was working for CGC. I don't think who he works for has any bearing on the grade of the book.

 

Wouldn't that mean that he'd probably give it a 9.6 at CBCS?

[tth2]

...$2,200 for Detective 27 sold by Comics & Comix to Burl Rowe (per Robert Beerhbohm) ...

 

 

I'm not sure if I even owned a comic in 1974 and, if I did, I was probably busy trying to spell my name on the cover to make sure no one took it.

 

Can anyone who was seriously collecting comics waaaaay back then put into perspective what it meant to spend $2,200 on a single comic? Was that a monthly paycheck? A car? A house?

It was a month's paycheck for a mid-level US government employee.

 

But it almost doesn't matter what the purchasing power of $2200 was back then, as that's an irrelevant benchmark. This is a mistake a lot of people make when they make the case that comics have become unsustainably expensive, by using examples such as you could buy a Detective 27 for an average month's salary in 1973 but it would now take a year's salary of someone in a high income bracket.

 

The real point is that for the vast amount of people, $2200 was an absolutely incomprehensible amount of money for a comic in 1973, just as several hundred thousand would be for the same comic today. It's the psychological barriers/benchmarks that matter, not the physical ones.

 

In an era when spending more than cover price for a comic was considered to be extremely unusual, spending a month's average salary was beyond any benchmarks. While still unusual, it's a bit more accepted by the general public that a comic could go for 12 or 24 month's salary.

[porcupine48]

...and,the comics age has doubled,nearly...old means value to some.like 'this comic is old,from 197#;must be worth something...

[VintageComics]

Fischler has Action #1 as a 9.2 and Borock had it as a 9.4 so it's not to hard to imagine what it looks like based on the other Mile High books.

 

So you could bet CBCS would give it a 9.4 grade. I kind of trust Fischler's opinion slightly more in this case.

 

 

Borock gave that grade 10 years ago when he was working for CGC. I don't think who he works for has any bearing on the grade of the book.

 

Wouldn't that mean that he'd probably give it a 9.6 at CBCS?

 

There was a time when it may have graded 9.6 at CGC as well. But those days have passed for both.

[Silver Surfer]

How many expensive GA key grade bumps have we seen over the years, a whole lot, probably way too many.