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PBA galleries auctioneers new collection 40000+ Every DC
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Started by Tbone911t,

328 posts in this topic

Mmehdy

Mmehdy

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I did a look thru on the PBA site on the Batman books....I am underwhelmed most of the early books are restored or in very low grade....I could not believe the number of .5 books there. Yes there is the quanity...but man the quality is just not there.....shocking in a way....besides disappointed

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RareHighGrade

RareHighGrade

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IMO, the decision to start off with a very common title with low grade copies was a mistake.  If they had started out with some of the extremely rare books, it would have created a buzz that would have drawn attention to the auction as well as future offerings of other lots.

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sfcityduck

sfcityduck

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On 10/18/2023 at 11:36 AM, RareHighGrade said:

IMO, the decision to start off with a very common title with low grade copies was a mistake.  If they had started out with some of the extremely rare books, it would have created a buzz that would have drawn attention to the auction as well as future offerings of other lots.

Not sure they had a choice. Ian was a low grade collector. But there is a Batman 1 and D27-D38 and the high grade ashcan. None of which should be pooh poohed. Plus some oddities. And little in the DC world is more popular than Batman. 

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RareHighGrade

RareHighGrade

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On 10/18/2023 at 6:25 PM, sfcityduck said:

Not sure they had a choice. Ian was a low grade collector. But there is a Batman 1 and D27-D38 and the high grade ashcan. None of which should be pooh poohed. Plus some oddities. And little in the DC world is more popular than Batman. 

I didn't notice the ashcan.  Yes, that's a nice touch.

Has the auction already started?  If so, it appears that you cannot see the pending bids unless you sign up and log in.

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sfcityduck

sfcityduck

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On 10/19/2023 at 12:17 AM, RareHighGrade said:

I didn't notice the ashcan.  Yes, that's a nice touch.

Has the auction already started?  If so, it appears that you cannot see the pending bids unless you sign up and log in.

Liveauctioneers is used by a lot of auctioneers and the sign up is free and easy.

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Mmehdy

Mmehdy

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On 10/18/2023 at 11:36 AM, RareHighGrade said:

IMO, the decision to start off with a very common title with low grade copies was a mistake.  If they had started out with some of the extremely rare books, it would have created a buzz that would have drawn attention to the auction as well as future offerings of other lots.

these guys are not Ha or CC or CL who have vast experience in putting the good stuff first to draw attention to the collection......

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Dark Knight

Dark Knight

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I'm trying to understand the BP %.  So for items worth $100k or less, there will be a BP of 25%.  For items over $100k, there is an additional 20% in BP so does that mean a total of 45% BP for items over $100k!?

This is what it says:

"5.  The “hammer price” is the price at which a lot is sold or the highest accepted bid at the close of the lot.  The “purchase price” paid by the winning bidder is the aggregate of (a) the hammer price, (b) a buyer’s premium of 25% of the hammer price up to $100,000, plus 20% of the amount above $100,000"

Edited by Dark Knight
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Superman2006

Superman2006

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On 10/19/2023 at 6:19 PM, Dark Knight said:

I'm trying to understand the BP %.  So for items worth $100k or less, there will be a BP of 25%.  For items over $100k, there is an additional 20% in BP so does that mean a total of 45% BP for items over $100k!?

This is what it says:

"5.  The “hammer price” is the price at which a lot is sold or the highest accepted bid at the close of the lot.  The “purchase price” paid by the winning bidder is the aggregate of (a) the hammer price, (b) a buyer’s premium of 25% of the hammer price up to $100,000, plus 20% of the amount above $100,000"

Just reading the part you quoted, I would interpret it as follows, using an example to explain my interpretation:

For an item that hammers at $250K, it sounds like the buyer's premium would be 25% x $100K + 20% x ($250K - $100K) = $55,000, which for a hammer price of $250K essentially works out to an average buyers premium of $55K / $250K = 22%

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Ivan Ivanstein

Ivan Ivanstein

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On 10/19/2023 at 2:32 PM, Mmehdy said:

these guys are not Ha or CC or CL who have vast experience in putting the good stuff first to draw attention to the collection......

Not so. PBA's been around for almost 70 years as a fine and rare books auctioneer, and we're very experienced at selling great collections.

Having worked for a decade at one of the world's largest international auction houses, I could tell you a lot about how the big houses strategize! Front-loading the best books in the first sale is a technique that serves the auctioneer moreso than the consignor — especially when the market is a bit soft. By front-loading the best stuff in the first sale, the auctioneer undercuts the consignor's ability to switch venues if the debut sale underperforms... all the good stuff is gone, so the consignor has no leverage to take the remaining property elsewhere.

As PBA's Director of Comics, my foremost responsibility is to my consignor. It's not 2021 anymore, and we're in what's largely perceived as a buyer's market. I'd rather protect my consignor by saving Action 1, Superman 1 and other books for a year, two years, five years, if that's what it takes to get him the strongest results.

Also, putting all the top Golden Age books in the first sale means diminishing results and decreasing interest for each subsequent sale. Instead, we're planning to build excitement and enthusiasm over a period of time.

Meanwhile, we're serving the collector community by contributing to comics scholarship, rather than just staging another auction-house money grab. Our Batman sale print catalogue is over 200 pages, packed with information and esoteric Bat-lore culled from dozens of sources, some of them rather obscure. Even the most seasoned Batman fan who reads the catalogue front to back will learn something new. And our follow-up sale, DETECTIVE COMICS BEFORE BATMAN, will reprint every single page of every Siegel & Shuster "Slam Bradley" story from Tec 1-26. These stories have never been anthologized, so the catalogue will be a real boon to Golden Age fans. Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson, the granddaughter of Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, is contributing an introduction and notes to the catalogue. 

PBA's approach is definitely different from the "other guys"... and that's not a bad thing!

Anyway, here's Ian Levine's intro to the print catalogue for the BATMAN sale. The story behind this collection, and how it came to auction, is rather interesting, and it will unfold piece by piece in subsequent catalogues. By the time the dust settles and the entire DC Universe Collection has been sold, our series of catalogues will comprise a comprehensive history not only of DC, but of one man's collecting mania.

levine1.png

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Edited by Ivan Ivanstein
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plady69

plady69

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On 10/21/2023 at 10:58 AM, Ivan Ivanstein said:

Not so. PBA's been around for almost 70 years as a fine and rare books auctioneer, and we're very experienced at selling great collections.

Having worked for a decade at one of the world's largest international auction houses, I could tell you a lot about how the big houses strategize! Front-loading the best books in the first sale is a technique that serves the auctioneer moreso than the consignor — especially when the market is a bit soft. By front-loading the best stuff in the first sale, the auctioneer undercuts the consignor's ability to switch venues if the debut sale underperforms... all the good stuff is gone, so the consignor has no leverage to take the remaining property elsewhere.

As PBA's Director of Comics, my foremost responsibility is to my consignor. It's not 2021 anymore, and we're in what's largely perceived as a buyer's market. I'd rather protect my consignor by saving Action 1, Superman 1 and other books for a year, two years, five years, if that's what it takes to get him the strongest results.

Also, putting all the top Golden Age books in the first sale means diminishing results and decreasing interest for each subsequent sale. Instead, we're planning to build excitement and enthusiasm over a period of time.

Meanwhile, we're serving the collector community by contributing to comics scholarship, rather than just staging another auction-house money grab. Our Batman sale print catalogue is over 200 pages, packed with information and esoteric Bat-lore culled from dozens of sources, some of them rather obscure. Even the most seasoned Batman fan who reads the catalogue front to back will learn something new. And our follow-up sale, DETECTIVE COMICS BEFORE BATMAN, will reprint every single page of every Siegel & Shuster "Slam Bradley" story from Tec 1-26. These stories have never been anthologized, so the catalogue will be a real boon to Golden Age fans. Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson, the granddaughter of Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, is contributing an introduction and notes to the catalogue. 

PBA's approach is definitely different from the "other guys"... and that's not a bad thing!

Anyway, here's Ian Levine's intro to the print catalogue for the BATMAN sale. The story behind this collection, and how it came to auction, is rather interesting, and it will unfold piece by piece in subsequent catalogues. By the time the dust settles and the entire DC Universe Collection has been sold, our series of catalogues will comprise a comprehensive history not only of DC, but of one man's collecting mania.

levine1.png

levine2.png

levine3.png

levine4.png

Thanks for the response.  I will dive into your post when I get time. 🤓

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