Berk Collection Auction Wins 5 5

[lou_fine]

On 6/15/2017 at 8:55 PM, jcb193 said:

Here's my story from tonight:

I've always wanted a Church comic to own, but I didn't want it to be some random comic book that I had never heard of, and the popular ones are obviously well out of the range of us mere mortals.  Star Comics #3 was a book I remember being fascinated about as I read through an old Overstreet book on my grandfather's floor. That was the only Overstreet I had ever seen and I read it from cover to cover every summer I visited.  I'm not sure why this Star Comics stood out to me. Maybe the rarity, maybe the fact that even as a kid I knew what a different time it was in the past and how out of place those characterization felt today, but I always was enchanted by the book.  When I saw the Jon Berk collection come out, I immediately knew I would be targeting this book.  It stayed below $4000 all week long and I thought to myself "well, there's little to no GPA on this book, and the GPA is around $1000.  There's only 7 graded copies, but maybe this one will slip past. It's barely even mentioned anymore, and even on internet searches for "racial covers" or inappropriate covers of the past, it rarely comes up.  Maybe people's memories had moved on from the book and maybe I could sneak a nice sentimental win.  Even if it wasn't worth $4000, I could justify that for a book I could cherish.

Well, I set a limit in my head of $7000 (though assuming it might go to $10,000 since it was a Church with at least some notoriety).  Bidding seemed to slow down around $6000.  I started to get happy. Could I win this?  But every time I put in a winning bid, one of two others would come back and take it over.  I started to notice the patterns of the bidders and I think it was down to four or five of us. I put in a strong bid of $7600 to try and scare some of them away, and a few people tested the limit, but seemed to be reaching their max with bids of $5999 or $6999.  Was I close to winning this?  But it started to climb $1000 at a time.  Soon we were approaching $9000 and I gave myself a new limit of $9100.  Then I gave myself a limit of $10500 (maybe the other people had a cap of $10,000).  But it kept climbing $200-$300 at a time.  We were each trying to just outlast the other.  By this time I guessed it was me and two others and as we hit $11500 I decided to bow out.  I continued to watch (probably a bad idea) and watched as the clock ticked down to 25 seconds.  I thought in my head about what books I could liquidate and if I could do so in six months and decided to jump in with $12,200.  Images of selling off high grade silver age Batman books began to dance through my head as I wondered to myself: is this book really better to hold on to than Batman????  I kept reminding myself of the sentimental value, but let's be honest, nobody wants to buy a book that is overpriced.  I rationalized it by thinking "it's a Church.  It's the highest grade by far on a super rare book.  It has some historical significance," as I keyed in my final, final, final, final price, I was quite sure that it was down to me and one other guy.  I began to remember the old Golden Age adage of bidding against one other person and how you can quickly over-value a book. 

Maybe this guy is prepared to go to $25,000.  Maybe he needs it for a high grade set and will win no matter what.  Maybe he's just like me, trying to outlast the other. But then I thought to myself, only 3 of us thought this book was worth more than $8000.  I just can't afford to take this book any further. In comic collecting, the "value" is never my chief concern, but I also didn't want to bid a book into the stratosphere that only two people thought was worth that level.  My pulse quickened I finally thought to myself, well, I'm already in $12,200.  What's another $1000. I can try to sell off a Showcase 30 or something. Let's get this book.  I keyed in $13,000 and then the longest 3 minutes of my life.  Around 1:45 remaining with me still in the lead I began to worry that I was grossly overpaying, and on top of that, how many books would I have to sell.  Did I need the 6 months interest free program?  Would I still value this book a week from now?  1:01 remaining.  I continued the dreaded self-doubt.  I began to think "please outbid me, please outbid me."  I could afford the book.  I wasn't in dire straights, but a $13,000 comic book purchase isn't a walk in the park for me either.  30 seconds left.  I began to quiver in excitement mixed with fear.  "OMG I'm going to win this.  OMG, is it worth it?  Am I just paying a premium for the Jon Berk auction hype?  Will someone else want this book someday down the road?  Will I get offers two months from now for double because someone HAS TO HAVE IT, and I'll continue to rebuff their offers for eternity.  Will it ever surface again if I don't win.  Where are the other six copies?"  :20 seconds left

......YOU HAVE BEEN OUTBID.

I breathed a sigh of relied, as fate had decided the decision for me, and walked away from the computer.  I walked down to the kitchen and began to wish I had won, but began to accept reality.  Someone else wanted the book more than me. Did they want it $100 more than me, or $5000 more than me?  We'll never know.  Maybe it will turn up again someday, but I doubt it.  I gave it my best effort.  So...anyway....there's a story and picture of a book I didn't win.

 

Forgot to comment on this wonderful post from last week.

This is by far the absolute best story I have read on the boards here with respect to the Jon Berk auction.  Reading it just felt like a descriptive play by play and made me feel like I was right there sitting with him as he was bidding on the book here. 

It should be pointed out that I also threw in some bids on this book here, but dropped out well before it hit anywhere close to the finish.  To the original poster, as Adam has already pointed out, it's quite possible that this book could come around again, but I somehow highly doubt it. 

Since you seem to like the cover theme and the apparent extreme rarity of this particular book, I guess the other option is to hope that the Church copy of Funny Picture Stories #7 will also come to market in the near future.  After all, the FPS 7 is also a black racial theme cover and similar to the Star 3, has also been identified in the Overstreet guide as being Rare.  Not sure why Overstreet would denote these 2 particular books as being Rare, when it actual fact, a lot of the early Centaurs are deemed to be extremely rare.   

Since the Church copy of Funny Picture Stories #7 was also graded by Chuck as being in NM condition, let's hope it's also a similar killer copy whenever it does comes to market.   

[comicjack]

11 hours ago, iuz22000 said:

I won this restored copy of New York World's Fair 1939.  It's my 2nd copy of the book and fast becoming a favorite of mine.  I bid on quite a few of the early More Funs/New Funs but got beat on every single one!   I am happy I did win this gem. 

Great looking book!

[jcb193]

5 hours ago, lou_fine said:

Forgot to comment on this wonderful post from last week.

This is by far the absolute best story I have read on the boards here with respect to the Jon Berk auction.  Reading it just felt like a descriptive play by play and made me feel like I was right there sitting with him as he was bidding on the book here. 

It should be pointed out that I also threw in some bids on this book here, but dropped out well before it hit anywhere close to the finish.  To the original poster, as Adam has already pointed out, it's quite possible that this book could come around again, but I somehow highly doubt it. 

Since you seem to like the cover theme and the apparent extreme rarity of this particular book, I guess the other option is to hope that the Church copy of Funny Picture Stories #7 will also come to market in the near future.  After all, the FPS 7 is also a black racial theme cover and similar to the Star 3, has also been identified in the Overstreet guide as being Rare.  Not sure why Overstreet would denote these 2 particular books as being Rare, when it actual fact, a lot of the early Centaurs are deemed to be extremely rare.   

Since the Church copy of Funny Picture Stories #7 was also graded by Chuck as being in NM condition, let's hope it's also a similar killer copy whenever it does comes to market.   

Wow, thanks for the kind words @lou_fine !!!  Very complimentary. I was pretty emotionally tapped out of right at the end of that book, so I figured the best was to help my mind process what had just happened in the last 30min was to write about it and assume some other people could relate.  Obviously, looking back, it could use a little more editing, but I left as is.  I've been collecting comics for most of my life, but this auction put a ton of books in the spotlight that I had never ever heard of or seen before.  It was really hard to allocate my resources. We all collect comics at a different level, some in the $.10 bin and some in the $1,000,000 bin.  This book was stretching my limits, and within a really short time period. Even a week later, I'm not totally sure what my max should have been   You have to put a limit somewhere.

But what an awesome ride, and one I'll remember for some time.  You win some, you lose some.  I was bidding against an infinite bidder, so it wasn't meant to be.  Next time I'll just do $100 bumps and try to catch him with too many bidding windows open 

Thank you everyone for the kind words and support.  I'm new here, but have lurked for awhile. AMAZING community you have here.  I'll keep my eyes open for the Funny Picture Stories, but it wasn't so much the theme or racial covers, but the Star Comics #3 was a cover I recognized from Overstreet in my youth and it had enchanted me and stuck with me.  As a kid, I didn't know that comics of that nature, type, or age had even existed outside of Superman, so the art and concepts from a totally different social time stuck with me.

So if anyone happen across another Edgar Church High Grade Star Comics 3, give me a shout 

Edited June 20, 2017 by jcb193

[GermanFan]

This crazy auction prices resemble the dutch tulipmania in the 17th century when people paid a houses price for a tulip. That craze didnt end well for many.

Edited June 20, 2017 by GermanFan

[Johnny545]

 

27 minutes ago, GermanFan said:

This crazy auction prices resemble the dutch tulipmania in the 17th century when people paid a houses price for a tulip. That craze didnt end well for many.

I didn't see any surprising prices - prices seemed consistent with pricing trends going back many years.

Frankly, some books should have gone for more IMHO and I do think there was some petering out at the end (Weird 1 and Wonder Comics 2 are two examples).

What sale or sales are you pointing to that you believe are indicative of mania?

[GermanFan]

Star comics 3. 

[buttock]

17 minutes ago, GermanFan said:

Star comics 3. 

That was a crazy price, but there's only one Church copy of that book.  If you want the best at auction, you will have to pay for it.  I suspect the winning bidder isn't substituting that book for a mortgage payment.  

[G.A.tor]

18 minutes ago, GermanFan said:

Star comics 3. 

There were multiple folks willing to pay 12-15k. Went right where it should have imo

[Johnny545]

I think it's tough to point to any particular Church sale as indicative of a recent mania in the market, those books have been selling for multiples of any typical market price for 40 years - since they came to market.  

Now that cgc has confirmed (from years of grading) there is usually nothing better, people pay more for the certainty that it is in many instances 1 of 1.

Edited June 20, 2017 by Johnny545

[Flex Mentallo]

1 hour ago, G.A.tor said:

There were multiple folks willing to pay 12-15k. Went right where it should have imo

Steep learning curve for some of us on those 'esoteric' -ie stupefyingly rare  -  books, myself included! I wish I'd tracked more of them now.

Edited June 20, 2017 by Flex Mentallo

[october]

4 hours ago, Johnny545 said:

 

I didn't see any surprising prices - prices seemed consistent with pricing trends going back many years.

Frankly, some books should have gone for more IMHO and I do think there was some petering out at the end (Weird 1 and Wonder Comics 2 are two examples).

What sale or sales are you pointing to that you believe are indicative of mania?

I agree. Some of the Wonderworlds (5, 9, 14, 15) also went for relatively decent prices. 

I keep comparing these sales to the Pep and Hit runs on Heritage, and some crazy results aside (mostly on lower grade books) a lot of the prime material actually seems about right in retrospect. 

[Straw-Man]

3 hours ago, Johnny545 said:

I think it's tough to point to any particular Church sale as indicative of a recent mania in the market, those books have been selling for multiples of any typical market price for 40 years - since they came to market.  

Now that cgc has confirmed (from years of grading) there is usually nothing better, people pay more for the certainty that it is in many instances 1 of 1.

i am the proud owner of 3 allentown early foxes, and am very proud to say that each stayed above the church counterpart on census.  that doesn't suck.

[Johnny545]

6 minutes ago, Straw-Man said:

i am the proud owner of 3 allentown early foxes, and am very proud to say that each stayed above the church counterpart on census.  that doesn't suck.

I was actually thinking about some Allentowns when I added my lawyerly qualification "usually."  

Well done on those Foxes.

[Flex Mentallo]

52 minutes ago, Straw-Man said:

i am the proud owner of 3 allentown early foxes, and am very proud to say that each stayed above the church counterpart on census.  that doesn't suck.

Allentowns suck less than almost any other pedigree. Third best overall, maybe? (I've never owned a San Francisco) Certainly up there with the very best and least suckable.

[Straw-Man]

very low sucking quotient, to be sure.  still rather amazed that his allentown wonder 2, one of my fave books in the auction, didn't go higher.

the tall geek told me once that the only reason texas doesn't fall off into the gulf is that oklahoma sucks so much.

[twmjr1]

My "One that got away":  That original Fantom of the Fair etching. Probably ain't gonna see that again.

[Flex Mentallo]

25 minutes ago, Straw-Man said:

the tall geek told me once that the only reason texas doesn't fall off into the gulf is that oklahoma sucks so much.

The gulf of Oklahoma

[G.A.tor]

1 hour ago, twmjr1 said:

My "One that got away":  That original Fantom of the Fair etching. Probably ain't gonna see that again.

I should have gone after it more too...but stuck to my budget. Cest la vie

[Sqeggs]

On 6/17/2017 at 10:47 PM, tth2 said:

Happy Father's Day... to me!

 

If only my kids were as a good as those books! 

[Sqeggs]

On 6/18/2017 at 11:42 AM, Electron said:

So much fun to see the wins from this incredible auction. Thanks to all who have shared! I've never done so much losing in an auction in my life... I had many "must wins" as gator would say,but got relentlessly pounded into the dust with the madness of the three minute window. Since when do mid grade Larsons go for 9X guide... Anyway, I did manage a few scraps with this one being my favorite.

 

 

Tremendous pickup.