Post your Promise Collection wins! 17 17

[Bronty]

On 5/11/2023 at 6:31 PM, sfcityduck said:

How about MM?  Don't know that one.

You don’t know MM!   It’s a classic , try it sometime.    Coming up.

[Bronty]

On 5/11/2023 at 6:31 PM, sfcityduck said:

How about MM?  Don't know that one.

 

[sfcityduck]

On 5/11/2023 at 3:37 PM, Bronty said:

 

Wow.  That is sharp and detailed!  Great art!  You should frame it.

[Professor K]

On 5/11/2023 at 6:37 PM, Bronty said:

 

My goodness. I remember when that one came out but never played it much ( it came out at the end of my arcade years). I just read it's regarded by many to be the best pinball machine of all time. And there you are with the original art. Pure Awesomeness 

Edited May 12, 2023 by Professor K
spelling correction

[Cat-Man_America]

On 5/11/2023 at 1:11 PM, sfcityduck said:

I'm an outlier when it comes to "cover only" books.  For me, a comic can be collectible for a lot of reasons, including a great cover.  But there are so many other factors, including great interior art, historic significance, pop culture significance, a notable story or writer, provenance, completing a run, first appearance of character, etc. etc. etc.  The most valuable comics have multiple factors - sometimes all of them.  I just don't think a "cover only" book ticks enough boxes to warrant some of the prices we saw during the Promise frenzy. 

Part of the reason why I think this way is that there are a lot of competitors for a comic that is viewed as just a nice piece of cover art.  Obvious examples include posters (movie, rock, black light, comic related, etc.), fine art, advertising art, and even objects like pinball machines you can play with:

 

And MANY examples of those alternatives are available for a fraction of the price that issue of Suspense got during the Promise frenzy.  I do think the Promise collection brought attention to some really beautiful examples of covers that may have been overlooked.  And in some cases, the prices paid for the Promise copy appear to have found significant support from transactions in non-Promise copies.  For example, the incredible Mary Marvel 5 cover was unknown to me. Prior to Promise, this 8.5 MM 5 sold in 2018 for $900:

Prior to that, the highest prices paid for 8.5s were below $300 - both for the above copy and this one:

Things changed during the Promise auction which resulted in some incredible prices for MM issues, including for this perfect 9.6 MM 5 for $21,600 - 9.6 for a black book!:

People noticed how cool some of these MM covers were, and after Promise we've seen this non-pedigree 8.5 MM 5 sell for $7,800 - pretty much validating the Promise price:

To me, $20K is pretty reasonable for a "cover only" book, and for some folks a copy of MM is more than just the cover as its not an insignificant run.  But the price for that Suspense? Seems very high.  I like your $35K gut reaction much better than the purchase price of that Suspense. Because if I was going to spend $100K+ on art, instead of comic history, pop culture significance, first appearance of a character, etc., I would be considering whether my money was better spent on buying a bunch of other pieces of art - some of which display a lot better - instead of a comic that doesn't have anything going for it other than its a nice piece of printed art.

Having said that: There's nothing rational about buying art - its only worth what people will irrationally pay for it.

It's awesome that Jack Binder's work is now being recognized as exceptional. He and his brothers Earl Andrew and Otto (Eando Binder) contributed a lot to GA art and literature. 

 

[tth2]

On 5/12/2023 at 12:24 AM, buttock said:

My gut feeling on this book is that if I saw it pop up on a dealer's website it would probably be around $35k.  

If so, it would be mine.  And I'm not even that into LB Cole.

[Bronty]

On 5/12/2023 at 5:51 AM, tth2 said:

If so, it would be mine.  And I'm not even that into LB Cole.

I’d buy it for 35k too.   One of his best covers and 9.8 is a nice combo. 

[tth2]

MasterChief's Promise Re-Sale database is going to increase significantly after the upcoming Heritage Signature auction.  Tons o' Promise books in there.

[batman_fan]

On 5/15/2023 at 8:38 AM, tth2 said:

MasterChief's Promise Re-Sale database is going to increase significantly after the upcoming Heritage Signature auction.  Tons o' Promise books in there.

I sort of hope I can snag one this round but going to come down to what the discount will be.

[Robot Man]

On 5/15/2023 at 3:19 PM, batman_fan said:

I sort of hope I can snag one this round but going to come down to what the discount will be.

I have yet to land one at all. And frankly, I’m kind of over them snd probably never will unless one lands in my lap. 

[batman_fan]

Prices for a batch of Batman's

[tth2]

On 5/16/2023 at 6:19 AM, batman_fan said:

On 5/15/2023 at 10:38 PM, tth2 said:

MasterChief's Promise Re-Sale database is going to increase significantly after the upcoming Heritage Signature auction.  Tons o' Promise books in there.

I sort of hope I can snag one this round but going to come down to what the discount will be.

I'm thinking of just putting in bids that are 50-60% below the previous sale price across the board for all 9.4 and better books and seeing if I end up catching anything.

Edited May 16, 2023 by tth2

[adamstrange]

On 5/15/2023 at 11:49 PM, tth2 said:

I'm thinking of just putting in bids that are 50-60% below the previous sale price across the board for all 9.4 and better books and seeing if I end up catching anything.

I'd do that too, if I weren't so afraid of winning.

[batman_fan]

On 5/15/2023 at 9:49 PM, tth2 said:

I'm thinking of just putting in bids that are 50-60% below the previous sale price across the board for all 9.4 and better books and seeing if I end up catching anything.

The thing that shocks me the most is how high the prices were for no-nothing books.  Take Batman 31, sure its a 9.8 but over $50k 

It has to mean two people were chasing it to that level but who will step in to drive it to that level this time?

[tth2]

On 5/16/2023 at 9:02 PM, batman_fan said:

On 5/16/2023 at 11:49 AM, tth2 said:

I'm thinking of just putting in bids that are 50-60% below the previous sale price across the board for all 9.4 and better books and seeing if I end up catching anything.

The thing that shocks me the most is how high the prices were for no-nothing books.  Take Batman 31, sure its a 9.8 but over $50k 

It has to mean two people were chasing it to that level but who will step in to drive it to that level this time?

Based on the previous resales, apparently nobody.

I continue to wonder why the buyers are releasing so many Promise books back into the market so quickly, particularly given the sizeable hair cuts we've been seeing.  Are they over-extended?  Was there a divorce?  Do they need some big tax losses? 

[Bronty]

On 5/16/2023 at 9:08 AM, tth2 said:

Based on the previous resales, apparently nobody.

I continue to wonder why the buyers are releasing so many Promise books back into the market so quickly, particularly given the sizeable hair cuts we've been seeing.  Are they over-extended?  Was there a divorce?  Do they need some big tax losses? 

I would guess that cash is tight all over and that people have reset their expectations somewhat.    I follow 4-5 different hobbies and prices are down everywhere.    What you paid in 2021 might be painful mentally but its also not practically relevant if you need to raise cash.     So, I'll go with overextended for $1000, Alex.   (Although overextended might lead to divorce too!).

Edited May 16, 2023 by Bronty

[Robot Man]

On 5/16/2023 at 6:31 AM, Bronty said:

I would guess that cash is tight all over and that people have reset their expectations somewhat.    I follow 4-5 different hobbies and prices are down everywhere.    What you paid in 2021 might be painful mentally but its also not practically relevant if you need to raise cash.     So, I'll go with overextended for $1000, Alex.   (Although overextended might lead to divorce too!).

You hit the “Daily Double”. Credit card debt is at an all time high right now. Those who paid through the nose on these books are really taking a hit right now. Anybody who has been in this hobby for any decent amount of time knew that at the time.

[buttock]

On 5/16/2023 at 7:31 AM, Bronty said:

I would guess that cash is tight all over and that people have reset their expectations somewhat.    I follow 4-5 different hobbies and prices are down everywhere.    What you paid in 2021 might be painful mentally but its also not practically relevant if you need to raise cash.     So, I'll go with overextended for $1000, Alex.   (Although overextended might lead to divorce too!).

Yeah, if it's expendable income and you'd rather have either something else or the cash, then losing a few (thousand) bucks is acceptable.  I mean it's supposed to be a hobby, not an investment.  

[tth2]

On 5/17/2023 at 1:50 AM, buttock said:

Yeah, if it's expendable income and you'd rather have either something else or the cash, then losing a few (thousand) bucks is acceptable.  I mean it's supposed to be a hobby, not an investment.  

Except we’re not talking about a few thousand.  The losses on some of these books are five figures.  
 

Maybe for big hitters like you that’s change under the couch cushion, but for me that would be a hell of a hit to take for what’s supposed to be a hobby.

[Bronty]

We have to take our personal sense of what a significant loss is out of the picture entirely.    It may or may not be a significant loss for the seller.    However, in either scenario, liquidity is liquidity and if you need it, you need it.

we can say, now that things are normal, that it was crazy to pay pandemic prices, and it was, but up until that point in time the more reckless you were, the more you were rewarded.    Returns far far far outpaced interest and taking out a massive loan and buying virtually anything worked out to the leveraged buyers advantage in spades.    Until it finally didn’t. 

Edited May 17, 2023 by Bronty