Mask Comics actual pricing 10 10

[lou_fine]

Figured it was time to give this thread a long awaited and timely bump as CC has both Mask 1 and Mask 2 in their Event Auction ending next week:  

Had posted these questions over in the CC thread, but figure the Mask aficionados here would know a lot more:  

 

21 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

Okay, was flipping through their auction catalogue and noticed a couple of high demand and hot to trot GA classic cover books here, as follows: 

https://www.comicconnect.com/item/908049

 

https://www.comicconnect.com/item/908050

Aren't these normally low 5-figures books now in recent auctions in grades even starting from CGC 3.0?  Not sure if I am remembering this correctly or not, but wasn't Mask 1 the first to explode in prices a few years ago, and more recently, Mask 2 has been doing a big time catch up with additional copies coming into the marketplace?   Maybe I'll also post this question over in the Mask thread since the Mask aficionados might know more about these two books here.  

Will be interesting to see where these 2 finish up and see which one grabs the gold medal in terms of higher price point.  If Mask 1 is going to do it, I guess it's going to have a bit of running to do to catch up since it's currently stuck at only $3,850 while Mask 2 has already lapped it sitting at a nice fat $8,150.  And guess what people.............no Buyer's Premium on these 2 books for the mathematically challenged, so you pay what you bid.  

Will definitely be interesting to watch the race between these 2 and see what happens in the end.     

Just checked the previous page on this Mask thread here and it appears I might already have my answer.  

Then again, I might not since although the prices for Mask Comics were plateauing or taking a bit of a dip towards the end of last year, with the way prices have shot up on key book with apparently all of the new deep pocketed monies coming into this marjetplace over the past few months, maybe there'll be some new record prices set here.    

Of course, maybe those newbie crypto investors, sports cards traders, and NFT speculators with their new found monies are much more interested in readily available uber HG books like Transformers 1 , GSXM 1, and the likes, and not so much into HTF GA classic cover books.    

[lou_fine]

Hmmmm............no response at all which makes me wonder if all of the Mask collectors have left and moved onto more trendy things like NFT's?  

Anyways for those who might be interested, looks like we got the answer here with Mask 2 being the clear and decisive winner as the CGC 3.0 graded copy of Mask 1 finished up at only $9,600; while the CGC 4.0 graded copy of Mask 2 finished well ahead at $14,754 as posted below:  

https://www.comicconnect.com/item/908050

[comicjack]

5 hours ago, lou_fine said:

Hmmmm............no response at all which makes me wonder if all of the Mask collectors have left and moved onto more trendy things like NFT's?  

Anyways for those who might be interested, looks like we got the answer here with Mask 2 being the clear and decisive winner as the CGC 3.0 graded copy of Mask 1 finished up at only $9,600; while the CGC 4.0 graded copy of Mask 2 finished well ahead at $14,754 as posted below:  

https://www.comicconnect.com/item/908050

These prices just make more copies come to market 

[drbanner]

1 hour ago, comicjack said:

These prices just make more copies come to market 

Or the same copies being flipped for a loss of over $1,500 (despite CConnect's blinding color saturation):

https://www.comiclink.com/Auctions/item.asp?back=%2FComicTrack%2FAuctions%2Fauctions_first.asp&id=1415033

Edited April 15, 2021 by drbanner

[entalmighty1]

The narrative is always the same with stuff like this.  People confuse scarcity and availability pretty often.  Turns out there's not much that's truly rare AND desirable in the world of comics.  Copies that exist and copies that are for sale are two entirely different things.  I suspect that's kind of what happened with the Mask books, but I could be wrong.  Somebody started piling up copies as they came to market, then tried to release them back into the market a short time later, only to find out the demand wasn't as high as they initially thought.

[lou_fine]

On 4/15/2021 at 4:51 AM, drbanner said:

On 4/15/2021 at 3:32 AM, comicjack said:

These prices just make more copies come to market 

Or the same copies being flipped for a loss of over $1,500 (despite CConnect's blinding color saturation):

https://www.comiclink.com/Auctions/item.asp?back=%2FComicTrack%2FAuctions%2Fauctions_first.asp&id=1415033

Well, that's what tends to happen and is totally not surprising at all when you try to buy on an auction site like CL which is based upon last second blind snipe bidding if you really want to win a book.  If you take a look at the CL auction history, it would appear that the winning bidder at a price point of $16,250 for this book here was actually willing to go even higher.   As clearly evident by the fact they actually went and placed an even higher last second Hail Mary bid which luckily for them, did not get activated.  

Being a buyer of books, I would definitely prefer the 3-minute extended bidding format which CC uses because it actually allows you to take a breath, relax, and then decide if you really want to bid that one incrmental step higher for the book or not.  Believe me, 3 minutes is a long long time if you are waiting and hoping that somebody else doesn't hit that bid button on you before the clock winds down to zero.      

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

1 hour ago, lou_fine said:

Believe me, 3 minutes is a long long time if you are waiting and hoping that somebody else doesn't hit that bid button on you before the clock winds down to zero.    

Truer words were never spoken

[lou_fine]

5 hours ago, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

6 hours ago, lou_fine said:

Believe me, 3 minutes is a long long time if you are waiting and hoping that somebody else doesn't hit that bid button on you before the clock winds down to zero.    

Truer words were never spoken

That and also as my better half would say, if you are the consignor, yet never quite long enough if the clock is ticking down to zero and all you want is just that one more hit.    

Edited April 17, 2021 by lou_fine

[Robot Man]

On 4/15/2021 at 5:25 AM, entalmighty1 said:

The narrative is always the same with stuff like this.  People confuse scarcity and availability pretty often.  Turns out there's not much that's truly rare AND desirable in the world of comics.  Copies that exist and copies that are for sale are two entirely different things.  I suspect that's kind of what happened with the Mask books, but I could be wrong.  Somebody started piling up copies as they came to market, then tried to release them back into the market a short time later, only to find out the demand wasn't as high as they initially thought.

I think there a lot of books that are scarce and rarely available. Ace books, Four Favorites, Prize, most MLJ, Speed, better Centaurs come to mind off the top of my head. Impossible and just go crazy on the better ones anytime I see them pop up. Mask seems down right common compared to a lot of these. Ship has pretty much sailed on these for me...

[entalmighty1]

16 hours ago, Robot Man said:

I think there a lot of books that are scarce and rarely available. Ace books, Four Favorites, Prize, most MLJ, Speed, better Centaurs come to mind off the top of my head. Impossible and just go crazy on the better ones anytime I see them pop up. Mask seems down right common compared to a lot of these. Ship has pretty much sailed on these for me...

For sure.  I think part of the problem with some tough GA books is the supply is so low, it keeps demand in check simply because people are unaware they even exist.  That said, even with the brief time period I've really been paying attention to Golden Age books (under 10 years), there's very few books that I would consider super tough to find.  Super tough to own is a different story.

Still waiting on my chance at a Prize 18.  

[entalmighty1]

Also @Robot Man, don't get me wrong.  I absolutely adore both Mask 1 and 2, and have copies of both (restored, thus more affordable).  I'm not trying to downplay the value at all.  Just stating they aren't as rare as the perception was initially.

 

 

[lou_fine]

58 minutes ago, entalmighty1 said:

17 hours ago, Robot Man said:

I think there a lot of books that are scarce and rarely available. Ace books, Four Favorites, Prize, most MLJ, Speed, better Centaurs come to mind off the top of my head. Impossible and just go crazy on the better ones anytime I see them pop up. Mask seems down right common compared to a lot of these. Ship has pretty much sailed on these for me...

For sure.  I think part of the problem with some tough GA books is the supply is so low, it keeps demand in check simply because people are unaware they even exist. 

Yeah, tell me about Ace Comics and especially in terms of Ace Comics 11 with the first comic book appearance of the Phantom and a book that hardly never ever shows up in the marketplace.  

Just as tough at the other end is the last few extremely HTF issues of the Ace run with those rather simple, but beautiful Phantom covers that also simply doesn't seem to show up in the marketplace.  You can definitely throw away the guide when it comes to these later Ace issues with the Phantom covers as I believe they have only shown up once in the marketplace so far with each of them selling for several hundred dollars and then only in mid-grade condition.         

[Robot Man]

6 hours ago, entalmighty1 said:

For sure.  I think part of the problem with some tough GA books is the supply is so low, it keeps demand in check simply because people are unaware they even exist.  That said, even with the brief time period I've really been paying attention to Golden Age books (under 10 years), there's very few books that I would consider super tough to find.  Super tough to own is a different story.

Still waiting on my chance at a Prize 18.  

Me too. I have never seen one or heard of one for sale. I was talking to Terry O'Neal a few weeks back. He is a big Prize collector. He was literally begging me to sell him some of my Prizes. I had to ask him why he thought I would take mere cash for any. If I sold them, I would immediately just want them back anyway...

@sagii What about you Corey? Ever seen one of these?

[Robot Man]

5 hours ago, lou_fine said:

Yeah, tell me about Ace Comics and especially in terms of Ace Comics 11 with the first comic book appearance of the Phantom and a book that hardly never ever shows up in the marketplace.  

Just as tough at the other end is the last few extremely HTF issues of the Ace run with those rather simple, but beautiful Phantom covers that also simply doesn't seem to show up in the marketplace.  You can definitely throw away the guide when it comes to these later Ace issues with the Phantom covers as I believe they have only shown up once in the marketplace so far with each of them selling for several hundred dollars and then only in mid-grade condition.         

I was referring to the Publisher Ace. (Super Mystery, Lightning, Our Flag ect.)

But, yeah, I've seen Ace #11 bring some serious dough. Always surprises me as I kind of assume The Phantom is kind of a dead character outside of those who covet his books.

 

[sagii]

11 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

Me too. I have never seen one or heard of one for sale. I was talking to Terry O'Neal a few weeks back. He is a big Prize collector. He was literally begging me to sell him some of my Prizes. I had to ask him why he thought I would take mere cash for any. If I sold them, I would immediately just want them back anyway...

@sagii What about you Corey? Ever seen one of these?

Got cold feet at throwing in a bomb bid on the last one i recall seeing for sale in a C'Link auction a few years ago. Very nice copy and I had waited years for a copy (any condition) to surface. 

I understood the notion that "You'll regret the ones you let slip by more than the feeling of what you may perceive as overpaying at the time in the long run"

Regret it to this day!

[adamstrange]

8 hours ago, entalmighty1 said:

Just stating they aren't as rare as the perception was initially.

 

This is generally the case with comics without a mainstream superhero and that had a low value in the Guide.

I think it's pretty clear that scarcity is hard to determine until a book has sufficient market demand and price that 1) dealers specifically hunt it and 2) collectors are motivated to sell.

In the case of Mask 1 & 2, those have been in continual high demand for at least the last 3 decades.  Prices weren't nosebleed for them until relatively recently, but was sufficient to bring a number to light.

This situation doesn't, apart from a small number of exceptions, exist for the publishers listed below.

On 4/16/2021 at 8:36 PM, Robot Man said:

I think there a lot of books that are scarce and rarely available. Ace books, Four Favorites, Prize, most MLJ, Speed, better Centaurs come to mind off the top of my head. Impossible and just go crazy on the better ones anytime I see them pop up. Mask seems down right common compared to a lot of these. Ship has pretty much sailed on these for me...

 

[adamstrange]

2 hours ago, Robot Man said:

He is a big Prize collector. He was literally begging me to sell him some of my Prizes. I had to ask him why he thought I would take mere cash for any. If I sold them, I would immediately just want them back anyway...

So true!  Money is a poor substitute for a comic book.

[Robot Man]

On 4/17/2021 at 5:16 PM, sagii said:

Got cold feet at throwing in a bomb bid on the last one i recall seeing for sale in a C'Link auction a few years ago. Very nice copy and I had waited years for a copy (any condition) to surface. 

I understood the notion that "You'll regret the ones you let slip by more than the feeling of what you may perceive as overpaying at the time in the long run"

Regret it to this day!

Oh, I understand that notion well. Took me a long time to figure it out. I understand that regret well. Here is mine, 

I hate the term, but Suspense #3 is my “grail”. About 5 years ago I went to WonderCon. The second dealer I saw had a copy on the wall. I asked to see it. It was pretty low grade. Covers were split snd tattered. Centerfold was missing. Really beat but very presentable. I asked the price. Well wasn’t cheap and I had the money. But it would have wiped out my budget for the 3 day show. So I did a dumb thing. I handed it back and asked him to hold it for 15 minutes while I called my wife. So I stepped aside and made the call. I hadn’t even noticed him, but Ritchie Munchen had been lurking right behind me. He asked to see that “book with the pages missing”. He offered a much lower price and the guy took it! I later saw him tape it up with tape and offer it for sale for triple what he had paid for it. I was crushed. Like being punched in the gut. 

So I moved on and bought a bunch of other stuff. I have no idea what I got but I knew it could have been my “grail”. Probably only chance I will ever have to own one. There are those unicorns you need to pay up for but most you can wait for. 

[october]

3 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

I later saw him tape it up with tape and offer it for sale for triple what he had paid for it.

[sagii]

29 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

Oh, I understand that notion well. Took me a long time to figure it out. I understand that regret well. Here is mine, 

I hate the term, but Suspense #3 is my “grail”. About 5 years ago I went to WonderCon. The second dealer I saw had a copy on the wall. I asked to see it. It was pretty low grade. Covers were split snd tattered. Centerfold was missing. Really beat but very presentable. I asked the price. Well wasn’t cheap and I had the money. But it would have wiped out my budget for the 3 day show. So I did a dumb thing. I handed it back and asked him to hold it for 15 minutes while I called my wife. So I stepped aside and made the call. I hadn’t even noticed him, but Ritchie Munchen had been lurking right behind me. He asked to see that “book with the pages missing”. He offered a much lower price and the guy took it! I later saw him tape it up with tape and offer it for sale for triple what he had paid for it. I was crushed. Like being punched in the gut. 

So I moved on and bought a bunch of other stuff. I have no idea what I got but I knew it could have been my “grail”. Probably only chance I will ever have to own one. There are those unicorns you need to pay up for but most you can wait for. 

Ouch!