Heritage's Next Event Auction has started posting books ! 31 31

[whomerjay]

On 4/22/2023 at 1:06 AM, lou_fine said:

Any bets that the consignor of this copy here that sold for $1,440 is not totally jumping for joy even though it is $125 higher than what they had paid for the exact same copy over 5 years ago back in early 2018:    

https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/romance/cindy-comics-37-timely-1949-cgc-fn-60-off-white-pages/a/40221-83006.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

Especially since copies in this grade range were already selling in the $3K to $4K range even during pre-pandemic times, with one CGC 6.0 graded copy (albeit a much nicer presenting copy) topping out at $4,200 in late 2019 and well before anybody was locked down with nothing at all to do.  

Interesting to note that this book here was actually the #3 book in terms of prices realized in the just completed Timeless Good Girl Art Showcase Auction this past Thursday, with only the lead promo book for the auction (i.e. a CGC 7.5 graded copy of Tessie The Typist #1) being able to fetch over $2K as it finished up at $5,520.  With all of these Showcase Auctions in addition to their Signature Auctions and their now expanded 3-day weekly auctions, although I am sure this do wonders for their gross auction sales, I am not so sure it's necessarily producting the best individual results for their consignors.  Especially with some of the seemingly underperforming results we've seen with some of their Showcase Auction books.    

If I participated in HA auctions I would have certainly bid this book up.  

I don't believe these results suggest a downturn in the GGA GA market; a plateau maybe for more common books.  I agree there is too much auction material these days but it's been that way for a while (is there even more now?) and I have gotten back to the point of focusing on certain types of books and resisting bidding on a lot of books I've bid on in the last few years. It also seem like more low and mid grade slabs are being offered, the kind of books I never really considered sending in for grading (look fine in a mylar), but I guess people are calculating that slabbing increases the resale value > the cost of slabbing. 

[whomerjay]

On 4/22/2023 at 5:54 AM, jimbo_7071 said:

I don't think anyone thinks about prices quite as much as you do, Dean. After all, these are comic books, not stock futures.

Treating comics like stock futures is a big reason why I buy so much of the stuff I like.  If the books were cheaper it'd be a different story.

[tth2]

I had not realized that the Church collection ran all the way to 1955.

https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/western/masked-raider-2-mile-high-pedigree-charlton-1955-cgc-nm-96-white-pages/a/122317-17099.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

 

[lou_fine]

On 4/22/2023 at 9:53 AM, tth2 said:

I had not realized that the Church collection ran all the way to 1955.

I am quite sure his collecting got quite sporadic near the end as it looks like he didn't have any of the early SA DC keys even though his collection is listed as running from 1937 through to 1957.  

Even with this Mask Raider here, it looks like Chuck's Mile High Catalog lists the only copies as being issues #2 and #4 of the run with both of them in NM+ condition at $3 each.  

Edited April 22, 2023 by lou_fine

[lou_fine]

On 4/22/2023 at 5:29 AM, whomerjay said:

Treating comics like stock futures is a big reason why I buy so much of the stuff I like.  If the books were cheaper it'd be a different story.

With GA prices where they are today, I am actually much more tempted to sell a few of my books, as opposed to adding to my personal collection. 

Now, if prices were cheaper, then it'd be a completely different story though.  

[adamstrange]

On 4/22/2023 at 12:53 PM, tth2 said:

I had not realized that the Church collection ran all the way to 1955.

https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/western/masked-raider-2-mile-high-pedigree-charlton-1955-cgc-nm-96-white-pages/a/122317-17099.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

 

My old copy -- which I sold on the Boards.

The collection ran into approx. 1960 -- most post '52 comics were Westerns of one sort or another.

 

[lou_fine]

On 4/22/2023 at 1:05 PM, adamstrange said:

The collection ran into approx. 1960 -- most post '52 comics were Westerns of one sort or another.

I guess no real surprise there as I remember watching TV from back then and Westerns were definitely the hot flavor of the day at the time, but clearly not so by the time the 60's came to a end.  

[adamstrange]

On 4/22/2023 at 4:05 PM, adamstrange said:

most post '52 Church comics were Westerns

But not all.

This is pictured in the Gerber Guide but they messed up the color separations so the background is maroon.

[lou_fine]

Don't you just absolutely hate it with all of these auctions taking place, that it's simply impossible to keep track of them all.  

Especially when you end up not only missing out on an auction entirely, but also on what must surely be a treasured grail in every collector's fantasy dream world:    

https://comics.ha.com/itm/magazines/miscellaneous/nintendo-power-1-nintendo-of-america-inc-1988-newsstand-edition-cgc-98-nm-mt-white-pages/a/7307-28080.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

Now, if I had only known about this book before the auction, this single highest graded beauty out of 241 sabbed copies would already be winging its way towards my personal collection by now.  Either that or the lucky winning bidder who must be jumping for joy by now would surely have ended up paying a whole lot more instead of getting this at a steal of a deal for only peanuts at a mere $108,000.     

Edited April 23, 2023 by lou_fine

[tth2]

On 4/23/2023 at 4:51 PM, lou_fine said:

Now, if I had only known about this book before the auction, this single highest graded beauty out of 241 sabbed copies would already be winging its way towards my personal collection by now.  Either that or the lucky winning bidder who must be jumping for joy by now would surely have ended up paying a whole lot more instead of getting this at a steal of a deal for only peanuts at a mere $108,000.     

Who said the days of crazy Pandemic prices are gone?

[Kromak]

On 4/23/2023 at 5:51 AM, lou_fine said:

Don't you just absolutely hate it with all of these auctions taking place, that it's simply impossible to keep track of them all.  

Especially when you end up not only missing out on an auction entirely, but also on what must surely be a treasured grail in every collector's fantasy dream world:    

https://comics.ha.com/itm/magazines/miscellaneous/nintendo-power-1-nintendo-of-america-inc-1988-newsstand-edition-cgc-98-nm-mt-white-pages/a/7307-28080.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

Now, if I had only known about this book before the auction, this single highest graded beauty out of 241 sabbed copies would already be winging its way towards my personal collection by now.  Either that or the lucky winning bidder who must be jumping for joy by now would surely have ended up paying a whole lot more instead of getting this at a steal of a deal for only peanuts at a mere $108,000.     

It's still better than a quarter million for a Marvel Spotlight 5 or over $300.000 for that Tec with the first Riddler  IMHO.

They could have used the correct colors for Mario though.

[waaaghboss]

It is pretty iconic to my age group.  I read that first issue to death, and all my friends had a copy.  I think it might have been given out as a promo or something because that first issue was everywhere.  I'd love a clean copy for nostalgia,  just not at 6 figures.

[mjoeyoung]

I've seen a few more articles like this one recently (though this one is a bit old, it is a bit more comprehensive):

Nearly half of young adults in the US are living at home with their parents, and all that saved rent is fueling a luxury boom

Since covid, it seems that about half of people aged 18-29, 26.6 million people, are living with their parents.  That is a level not seen since the Great Depression. Some are seeing it as a long term living situation.

This seems to be a continuation of a longer term trend.  Multi-generational households were once more common in the United States. Census data shows that almost 25 percent of households were multi-generational in 1940 and that the percentage decreased to a low of about 12 percent in 1980.  That number has since increased every census to 20% in 2018, with a big bump during the Great Recession.  It could be that all of these children that moved back home during covid will never move out. 

A survey of these parents stated that THEY, not their kids, are paying for rent, groceries and even vacations for their children.   So what are these children doing with their money?  They aren't saving it. According to Morgan Stanley they are purchasing luxury goods.  Another report said that Gen Y and Z accounted for all the growth of the luxury market in 2022.  Comic books aren't luxury goods, but collecting comics is definitely a discretionary expenditure.

It would be interesting to do a survey to see how many comic buyers are part of this trend, and if they are spending what would have been rent/mortgage/grocery money on comics instead.

I meant to post this in another thread, but since there is already a reply I'll leave it be.

Edited April 23, 2023 by mjoeyoung
Oopsy

[johnenock]

On 4/23/2023 at 1:42 PM, mjoeyoung said:

I've seen a few more articles like this one recently (though this one is a bit old, it is a bit more comprehensive):

Nearly half of young adults in the US are living at home with their parents, and all that saved rent is fueling a luxury boom

Since covid, it seems that about half of people aged 18-29, 26.6 million people, are living with their parents.  That is a level not seen since the Great Depression. Some are seeing it as a long term living situation.

This seems to be a continuation of a longer term trend.  Multi-generational households were once more common in the United States. Census data shows that almost 25 percent of households were multi-generational in 1940 and that the percentage decreased to a low of about 12 percent in 1980.  That number has since increased every census to 20% in 2018, with a big bump during the Great Recession.  It could be that all of these children that moved back home during covid will never move out. 

A survey of these parents stated that THEY, not their kids, are paying for rent, groceries and even vacations for their children.   So what are these children doing with their money?  They aren't saving it. According to Morgan Stanley they are purchasing luxury goods.  Another report said that Gen Y and Z accounted for all the growth of the luxury market in 2022.  Comic books aren't luxury goods, but collecting comics is definitely a discretionary expenditure.

It would be interesting to do a survey to see how many comic buyers are part of this trend, and if they are spending what would have been rent/mortgage/grocery money on comics instead.

2 of my older kids still live at home, however, we make them pay rent, then we put it into a savings account. When they move out, they get their money. Our 25 year old has around 21,000 when and if she decides to fly the coop. They still don't pay for food or anything like that and by the number of Amazon packages that arrive daily, I'd say their discretionary spending is healthy!

If I lived with my folks, I know I'd have every comic I wanted and more...and a bigger truck...and a newer boat...and a (well you get the point).

[mjoeyoung]

On 4/23/2023 at 1:53 PM, johnenock said:

2 of my older kids still live at home, however, we make them pay rent, then we put it into a savings account. When they move out, they get their money. Our 25 year old has around 21,000 when and if she decides to fly the coop. They still don't pay for food or anything like that and by the number of Amazon packages that arrive daily, I'd say their discretionary spending is healthy!

If I lived with my folks, I know I'd have every comic I wanted and more...and a bigger truck...and a newer boat...and a (well you get the point).

I don't know if my post reflects it, but I think it is a good idea, and I've told my daughter that if she needs to live with us after college, she can, and for as long as she wants.

[Courageous Cat]

I can attest to this being true. I have 2 adult children 21, 32 living back at home. I'm 55 and when I turned 16 I couldn't wait to get the %$#$ out from under my parents rule. Left for service at 18 and never looked back. This world has turned nucking futs

[buttock]

One of my colleagues has 4 kids.  One went off to college, the other 3 stayed here.  He helped them all buy houses with down payments.  All 3 still live with him.

[tth2]

Sounds to me like all of those helicopter parents succeeded in making their kids totally dependent on them.

[Professor K]

Yikes. Scarce indeed but wow. I suppose a few people had been waiting for these , and most of them still are. 

[mjoeyoung]

On 4/23/2023 at 6:35 PM, Professor K said:

Yikes. Scarce indeed but wow. I suppose a few people had been waiting for these , and most of them still are. 

I still don't understand this kind of bidding.  This just sold a year ago. On Heritage.

Somebody stop the insanity!