Batman #1 CGC 9.2 slight(p) on eBay...

[The Less Blob]

I can't complain, in the magical world of fantasmagorical Manhattan real estate the value of my apartment apparently went up about $65K in the last 6 weeks... too bad I actually need a place to live so I probably won't be cashing out any time soon. Based on a square foot analysis, that Batman 1 costs about as much as my wife's walk-in closet, which, if I wasn't married, would have a ton of comics in it!!! ($65K seems like a lot for a comic storage bin, eh?)

[Mephisto]

$65K. [a lot] more than I take home in a year as a public servant. a down payment on a modest condo here in NYC. my mortgage payments for 4 1/2 years..... 1.75 years of college tuition at an ivy

And in 2003 Paul Allen paid $200 million for a yacht. An incomprehensible number to most people, but only 1% of his net worth at the time.

 

People with money spend a lot of it.

 

Is that the guy Jared Leto played in American Psycho?

[tth2]

$65K. [a lot] more than I take home in a year as a public servant. a down payment on a modest condo here in NYC. my mortgage payments for 4 1/2 years..... 1.75 years of college tuition at an ivy

And in 2003 Paul Allen paid $200 million for a yacht. An incomprehensible number to most people, but only 1% of his net worth at the time.

 

People with money spend a lot of it.

 

Is that the guy Jared Leto played in American Psycho?

Possibly, if the co-founder of Microsoft was featured in American Psycho.

[markseifert]

Could be a good week for restored books, with this meeting a solid reserve and Metro's Supes #1 8.0 moderate resto up to $22k in the early going.

[tth2]

Could be a good week for restored books, with this meeting a solid reserve and Metro's Supes #1 8.0 moderate resto up to $22k in the early going.

It's kind of what I've been saying all along. Once all the resto fans stopped whining about the huge price discrepancies between restored books and non-restored books and started putting their money where their mouths are by paying up for restored books, then the market value of restored books was bound to increase and the public perception of restored books might improve.

[esquirecomics]

Anyone know who "vancollector" is?

 

I seriously find it suspicious that all of a sudden someone bids $65,000 on a book yet has an e-bay history of several hundred purchases where the average price is less than $20.

[nearmint]

16 minutes, Mark. Good luck!

[krazykat-migration]

This'll be inter-es-tin' !

[krazykat-migration]

Congrats to the winner at the hammer price of $65,199

[Aman619]

so Mark, did you smell a rat, and choose to sit it out without a snipe??

[nearmint]

I was thinking along the same lines.

[Aman619]

if the winner is somehoe in business with the seller, they only succeeded in in scaring away a solid 65K buyer. Ill bet they think its worth 150K since Comiclink has a 9.0 on their site! silly rabbits.

[esquirecomics]

I spoke with the seller many times, and have been communicating with him during the last few minutes of the auction. Seems like a nice guy.

 

However, my gut gave me a bad feeling, both by the new bidder, and the fact that the seller would not provide me with written assurances that my money would be refunded if I discovered the book had been pressed and the story about his father were not true.

 

He claimed his father was the original owner and that it was the father who performed the restoration. I asked for a statement attesting to that under oath and I was given an excuse that didn't sit well with me. Same with the refund.

 

I'm not spending $70k when I have a bad feeling. Gotta go by your instinct.

 

But here is another example where a seller would have gotten a higher price but did not b/c, in part, due to the potential stigma of pressing.

[esquirecomics]

if the winner is somehoe in business with the seller, they only succeeded in in scaring away a solid 65K buyer. Ill bet they think its worth 150K since Comiclink has a 9.0 on their site! silly rabbits.

 

He continually told me he believed the book was worth $100k - $140k.

[14 of spades]

Anyone know who "vancollector" is?

 

I seriously find it suspicious that all of a sudden someone bids $65,000 on a book yet has an e-bay history of several hundred purchases where the average price is less than $20.

 

were u worried he was a shill?

 

if this was a shill, it would be dangerous for a seller to shill that late in the game, particularly since there was (only) one buyer who had met reserve.

 

the seller could inadvertantly sabotage his "guaranteed" sale.

[14 of spades]

I'm not spending $70k when I have a bad feeling. Gotta go by your instinct.

 

agreed.

[jimm94]

Smart move, Mark, although I'm curious as to why it would matter to you whether or not the book has been pressed or not since it is already designated as a restored copy. Would it have really affected the amount you'd be willing to pay (assuming non-shady circumstances)? Since it already has a spine split sealed and the cover reinforced, I would think that most people wouldn't care if the book were professionally pressed along with those services. I know I wouldn't. I'd actually be kind of surprised if it wasn't pressed when the other work was done.

 

Perhaps your insistence on this was simply part of your pressing disclosure crusade?

 

BTW, congrats on your 1,000+ posts.

[tth2]

Smart move, Mark, although I'm curious as to why it would matter to you whether or not the book has been pressed or not since it is already designated as a restored copy. Would it have really affected the amount you'd be willing to pay (assuming non-shady circumstances)? Since it already has a spine split sealed and the cover reinforced, I would think that most people wouldn't care if the book were professionally pressed along with those services. I know I wouldn't. I'd actually be kind of surprised if it wasn't pressed when the other work was done.

I was actually more curious about Mark's insistence that the book have been bought by the seller's father and had been restored by him. Unless there's something significant about the identity of the seller's father, what difference does this make?

[esquirecomics]

Smart move, Mark, although I'm curious as to why it would matter to you whether or not the book has been pressed or not since it is already designated as a restored copy. Would it have really affected the amount you'd be willing to pay (assuming non-shady circumstances)? Since it already has a spine split sealed and the cover reinforced, I would think that most people wouldn't care if the book were professionally pressed along with those services. I know I wouldn't. I'd actually be kind of surprised if it wasn't pressed when the other work was done.

 

Perhaps your insistence on this was simply part of your pressing disclosure crusade?

 

My concern was actually not that it was pressed, particulary as you note given that the book was already clearly restored, but one of trust. At the end of the day I didn't trust the transaction. The possibility of pressing was just one aspect. I asked specific questions and requested specific assurances. Yet the responses were somewhat equivocal and less than assuring.

 

The seller claimed his father bought the book in 1940 and was the individual responsible for restoring it, as well as that it was not pressed.

 

Yet he hesitated to (a) provide me a letter from himself and his father attesting to the statement that he was the original owner and (b) refund my money if the OO story was not true and I discovered the book was pressed. Given his prior writings and statements to me, I find that very disconcerting.

 

Remember, in my day job I deal with spies on a daily basis. These are people who are trained to lie. As a result I learn to sense certain characteristics and traits that are potentially red flags in deals.

 

If a seller is deceptive on one thing, who is to say they are not deceptive on other more important aspects (and I am not saying this particular seller was deceptive, I am speaking generically). Furthermore, I don't buy the CGC label. I buy the book. Simply b/c the label says or doesn't say something is not enough for me. If it were a $70 book, I could care less. But for $65k, I want to feel comfortable.

 

BTW, congrats on your 1,000+ posts.

 

Thanks!!!!!!

[jimm94]

Hi Tim,

 

I assume that was one way in which Mark was trying to determine if the seller was bogus or not.