AF 9.6 coming to auction 7 7

[KCOComics]

On 7/21/2021 at 8:33 AM, The lips said:

If ( and it’s a very big if ) this breaks the record, is there an automatic spike in other ASM issues or not ?

We all know ASM is the flagship most collected book so if AF15 becomes the  valuable is there any trickle down from this do we think ? 

I'll say no, only because ASM is already red hot. 

So I think ASM will continue to be hot for awhile regardless of this sale.  All the early keys will keep chugging along. 

 

 

[Bluemedgroup]

On 7/21/2021 at 8:24 AM, KCOComics said:

I'll say no, only because ASM is already red hot. 

So I think ASM will continue to be hot for awhile regardless of this sale.  All the early keys will keep chugging along. 

 

 

ASM silver age key comics are the blue chips of comics.  Super steady, solid perpetual gains, and price never retreats.  

[mcduckz]

On 7/17/2021 at 6:34 PM, MattTheDuck said:

I'm going to hold out for a 9.6 with white pages.

^ this 

[SuperBird]

On 7/18/2021 at 10:20 PM, lou_fine said:

What I don't understand is why in the world would any comic book collector want to get their any of their raw books graded if they are not yet planning on selling them, but only to keep them in their own personal collection for years to come?  

 

I basically only buy and collect slabbed books at this point. I hated worrying about raw copies getting damaged, and also like the certainty of knowing exactly what I own in regards to grade and restoration. 

[Straw-Man]

it would bring outside attention to the spider, and that will almost surely have at least SOME effect on the rest of the run especially the early section.

[HighVoltage]

On 7/21/2021 at 9:23 AM, Straw-Man said:

it would bring outside attention to the spider, and that will almost surely have at least SOME effect on the rest of the run especially the early section.

I think - depending upon how well it does (and it should do very, very well) the AF 15 should be a 'shake-loose' moment that causes some other high grade AF 15s to become available. Maybe not many up in the 8.5 range or higher, but possibly a few that would normally stay locked away. That could cause a little price (up) ripple down through the grades until prices re-adjust & people move on to the next book (like a Hulk 1 or whatever).

At any rate, it will be fascinating to watch. What a collection.

[The lips]

On 7/21/2021 at 4:23 PM, Straw-Man said:

it would bring outside attention to the spider, and that will almost surely have at least SOME effect on the rest of the run especially the early section.

That was my thought also. 
if you’re in the gold medal position it can only be a good thing for other early keys 

of course, not a good thing for me who is half way to completing a run of 1-100

[MGsimba77]

On 7/17/2021 at 2:31 AM, Jaydogrules said:

I think it will go for between 3.5MM and 4MM.

Yes, it will beat the Action 1.

-J.

Seems plausible. The only book AF 9.6 won't beat is Action 9.0

[MGsimba77]

On 7/18/2021 at 8:54 PM, KCOComics said:

Alot of the old school collectors don't put much stock in grading.  If the comics are stored properly and cared for,  and you don't intend to sell,  there really isn't much of a reason to do it. 

 

I wonder how someone would store a raw book of such magnitude? I mean in terms of having it in a typical bag & board or is there a more secure method? I can't imagine having to remove a million dollar book from a bag & board to replace the backing board!

[KCOComics]

On 7/23/2021 at 6:41 PM, MGsimba77 said:

I wonder how someone would store a raw book of such magnitude? I mean in terms of having it in a typical bag & board or is there a more secure method? I can't imagine having to remove a million dollar book from a bag & board to replace the backing board!

It's a good question... 

I've always had this dream of creating a "comic book museum" in my attic, where I could safely and securely display my books. Temperature controlled, no natural lighting, UV protection and LEDs bulbs with dimming.... 

I always run into that darn equation of cost vs necessity and it has never become a reality. But I imagine the "Dentists" of the world have very sophisticated rooms to safely display their comics. And I imagine they have custom built displays with UV protection... 

Of course, they could be in Mylar bags, in a box, in a closet... 

[Chicago Boy]

On 7/23/2021 at 5:41 PM, MGsimba77 said:

I wonder how someone would store a raw book of such magnitude? I mean in terms of having it in a typical bag & board or is there a more secure method? I can't imagine having to remove a million dollar book from a bag & board to replace the backing board!

Maybe they have it in the old fortress type set ups pre CGC

[MGsimba77]

On 7/23/2021 at 7:21 PM, KCOComics said:

It's a good question... 

I've always had this dream of creating a "comic book museum" in my attic, where I could safely and securely display my books. Temperature controlled, no natural lighting, UV protection and LEDs bulbs with dimming.... 

I always run into that darn equation of cost vs necessity and it has never become a reality. But I imagine the "Dentists" of the world have very sophisticated rooms to safely display their comics. And I imagine they have custom built displays with UV protection... 

Of course, they could be in Mylar bags, in a box, in a closet... 

 

One way could be in a mylar bag inside a sturdy top loader if you're not into the display thing. Inside a bag because it could move around without it and too dangerous to the bottom corners to slide it in raw. I bring it up because it may be a practical reason for having them graded. 

Btw there's a #63 9.8 White in that same auction I'm really curious to see where that one ends 

Edited July 24, 2021 by MGsimba77

[Aman619]

I can’t believe this thread has died out so soon.  If this were an Action 1 thread, about the highest graded copy coming to auction, it would have 3 times as many posts by now.  Is this an indication that action 1 is still a much cooler book… even though this 9.6 may actually hammer for more than the 9.0 Action 1s?

if it does, and it may, I think it’s not a fait]r comparison because right now we have a lot more BSD bidders than were in the game for the 9.0s… if Harari  were bidding up against these new “crypto” guys, he’d have been pushed much higher.  

[bluechip]

On 7/25/2021 at 7:52 PM, Aman619 said:

I can’t believe this thread has died out so soon.  If this were an Action 1 thread, about the highest graded copy coming to auction, it would have 3 times as many posts by now.  Is this an indication that action 1 is still a much cooler book… even though this 9.6 may actually hammer for more than the 9.0 Action 1s?

if it does, and it may, I think it’s not a fait]r comparison because right now we have a lot more BSD bidders than were in the game for the 9.0s… if Harari  were bidding up against these new “crypto” guys, he’d have been pushed much higher.  

I love the AF15 for many reasons but as far back as I can remember I have seen what appeared to me to be  perfect newsstand copies of AF15.  But I never saw such a thing in Action 1 until I saw the recently sold 9.0 copies (although in fairness I probably could have taken a pilgrimage to look at the Mile High copy).   It seems to me, based on what I know of collecting habits and how many thousands of AF15s are likely out there, that there may well be more copies out there as yet undiscovered which look precisely to me and to virtually everybody else as identical in condition.  But that there may well not be such things out there in re Action 1 (or even one such thing).     I do not mean to attempt to diminish the desirability of a super minty AF 15 but whenever I see proclamations that the latest 9.6 AF15 or similarly graded silver age book should be "worth more" than the top known copies of Action 1, I get the sense that the people doing the excessive comparison are doing so not because the 9.6-9.8ish silver age keys are actually more rare the top graded Action 1s but because they are less so, meaning they feel it is much more likely they may one day be in a position to sell the former, rather than the latter.

    

Edited July 26, 2021 by bluechip

[Aman619]

yes.  however, the question here is not which is a better book, but more whether this 9.6 AF can SELL for more Right Now??  Even if f it does, I don't think that it means AF 15 is WORTH more than a similar HG Action 1, right?  Its timing.  The market has been on fire of late, lots of new collectors buying key books in grades we would have serious reservations about but paying.  This kind of new mindset, the one that says that :I dont know or really care what the traditional prices these comics sold for in the past, all I know is that this is what it costs today to win one or buy one, and I want it!"  I agree with this thinking.  I mean.It's how we all bought our books back then -- for top retail minus some kind of discount so we could sleep that night! Big difference is the huge jump up in prices right now is so sudden that experience tells us its should be a blip and prices will soften at some point. but they dont, or just dont care.

but I buried the lead!  What did you mean make a pilgrimage to see the Mile High copy?  Even if you got down there, could he really have showed it to you?  Or do you mean 20 years ago when you guys might have gotten together and he'd take it our for you? (getting kinda kinky all of a sudden...)

[wiparker824]

On 7/25/2021 at 7:52 PM, Aman619 said:

I can’t believe this thread has died out so soon.  If this were an Action 1 thread, about the highest graded copy coming to auction, it would have 3 times as many posts by now.  Is this an indication that action 1 is still a much cooler book… even though this 9.6 may actually hammer for more than the 9.0 Action 1s?

if it does, and it may, I think it’s not a fait]r comparison because right now we have a lot more BSD bidders than were in the game for the 9.0s… if Harari  were bidding up against these new “crypto” guys, he’d have been pushed much higher.  

I’m sure it’ll pick up once actual bidding begins but in any case, as I said several pages ago… Action 1 has 42 blue labels in the census, and AF 15 has over 2k. We see high grade AF 15’s come to market probably once a year on average, maybe not a 9.6 but we do see a 9.0 or better hit the market pretty much every year. Seeing ANY blue label Action 1 is newsworthy just because of how rare they are, yet alone a high grade one. That’s not to say this book won’t go for an astronomical amount, just that it’s less interesting than an Action 1 IMO. 

[bluechip]

On 7/25/2021 at 9:03 PM, Aman619 said:

yes.  however, the question here is not which is a better book, but more whether this 9.6 AF can SELL for more Right Now??  Even if f it does, I don't think that it means AF 15 is WORTH more than a similar HG Action 1, right?  Its timing.  The market has been on fire of late, lots of new collectors buying key books in grades we would have serious reservations about but paying.  This kind of new mindset, the one that says that :I dont know or really care what the traditional prices these comics sold for in the past, all I know is that this is what it costs today to win one or buy one, and I want it!"  I agree with this thinking.  I mean.It's how we all bought our books back then -- for top retail minus some kind of discount so we could sleep that night! Big difference is the huge jump up in prices right now is so sudden that experience tells us its should be a blip and prices will soften at some point. but they dont, or just dont care.

but I buried the lead!  What did you mean make a pilgrimage to see the Mile High copy?  Even if you got down there, could he really have showed it to you?  Or do you mean 20 years ago when you guys might have gotten together and he'd take it our for you? (getting kinda kinky all of a sudden...)

I did business with Dave and way back in the day when he got a big collection which had a lot of things I wanted I thought about flying over to do a deal in person but then got caught up in other things.   Several times I thought about flying to this place or that for big book(s) and looking back wish I had cause it would probably have been fun and there's a few things I probably should've bought that I probably would've had I seen them in the pulp.

[Aman619]

On 7/26/2021 at 1:00 AM, bluechip said:

I did business with Dave and way back in the day when he got a big collection which had a lot of things I wanted I thought about flying over to do a deal in person but then got caught up in other things.   Several times I thought about flying to this place or that for big book(s) and looking back wish I had cause it would probably have been fun and there's a few things I probably should've bought that I probably would've had I seen them in the pulp.

got it.  you prob should have done the deal in person... as you say, you could have weeded out the clunkers if you did.  but I dont think that book was coming out of its cubby even if you did...

[KCOComics]

On 7/26/2021 at 12:03 AM, Aman619 said:

yes.  however, the question here is not which is a better book, but more whether this 9.6 AF can SELL for more Right Now??  Even if f it does, I don't think that it means AF 15 is WORTH more than a similar HG Action 1, right?  Its timing.  The market has been on fire of late, lots of new collectors buying key books in grades we would have serious reservations about but paying.  This kind of new mindset, the one that says that :I dont know or really care what the traditional prices these comics sold for in the past, all I know is that this is what it costs today to win one or buy one, and I want it!"  I agree with this thinking.  I mean.It's how we all bought our books back then -- for top retail minus some kind of discount so we could sleep that night! Big difference is the huge jump up in prices right now is so sudden that experience tells us its should be a blip and prices will soften at some point. but they dont, or just dont care.

but I buried the lead!  What did you mean make a pilgrimage to see the Mile High copy?  Even if you got down there, could he really have showed it to you?  Or do you mean 20 years ago when you guys might have gotten together and he'd take it our for you? (getting kinda kinky all of a sudden...)

I agree, this all about timing. 

If an AC1 9.0 or the Mile High copy hit the market, they would command much higher prices than this book. I'm sure the same is true for the Tec 27 9.2. 

I'm putting AF15 as the third most valuable comic in our hobby behind AC1 and Tec27. Because of timing and the infrequency of those other big books coming to market, this AF15 has an opportunity to take the record.  

[KCOComics]

It's kind of interesting to think about the top individual books in our hobby. Is this copy of AF15 among the top 5 individual books in the hobby?  I imagine it's not, though it stands a chance to set the record. 

There are 3 copies of AC1 I believe would go for much more (the two 9.0s and the Dentist's Mile high). There is the 9.2 Tec 27.  Does Dave have an ungraded NM Tec27? The Mile High?

Are there other individual books that could creep into that top 5 space? Like a NM Detective 1? 

Undiscovered AF15s that may grade at 9.8? Or current 9.6s that could be "upgraded".  

It's kind of interesting to think about the handful of individual books that would distinguish themselves.