soft prices on Goldin? 2 2

[Dark Knight]

It seems like a lot of people have forgotten about that record price set by Goldin last year for a 3.0 copy! Sold for a whopping $720k!!! That sale will likely not be repeated anytime soon!

So it's not because of the venue/auction house that the 7.0 copy sold at, but it's because of where we are right now with collectibles in general comparing precovid prices to now, postcovid prices in which a lot of the low and high ended collectibles tanked big time!!! The sports cards offered at the Goldin 100 too sold for much less than a year or so ago, practically cut in half. 

To be flipping grails like these and trying to make a profit would be very difficult because for several reasons: the market dynamics, recession, maybe the underbidder who was bidding on that same 7.0 copy at CC won the one in Goldin and therefore he didn't have that competition from a whale to go on a bidding war with him, Supes 1 has been at auction and private sales multiple times in almost all grades the past couple years, so on and so forth....  

I thought the Action 1 sold for where I thought it would be, same with the Pep 22. The AA 16 was definitely a strong sale in my opinion.  So yeah maybe collectors are becoming tired of seeing the same books up for sale, turning them off, and venture off to other books.

[tth2]

On 6/16/2023 at 12:06 PM, Dark Knight said:

So it's not because of the venue/auction house that the 7.0 copy sold at, but it's because of where we are right now with collectibles in general comparing precovid prices to now, postcovid prices in which a lot of the low and high ended collectibles tanked big time!!! The sports cards offered at the Goldin 100 too sold for much less than a year or so ago, practically cut in half. 

This is precisely why selling comics on Goldin is a big mistake.  Their whole selling point was that they could cross-over and tap into the deep pockets of sports card collectors in the way that the traditional comic houses couldn't, but the sports card guys have lost the backwards baseball caps off their heads over the past year, so they're not going to be providing any kind of support for comics coming up on Goldin. 

As for the arguments that comic buyers will show up at Goldin (and anywhere else) for the right books, I know several big players who have never bid on an auction at Goldin and have no interest in doing so.  Why would anyone want to sell a big ticket comic at a venue that might or might not reach all of the big comic players and instead relies primarily on collectors of other types of collectibles (which, by the way, have been plunging in value)?

I certainly know that I wouldn't consign any comic to Goldin, nor would I advise anyone else to do so, unless Goldin were providing massive guarantees that exceeded what I thought I'd be able to get at Heritage, CC or CL.  I simply don't see any potential upside that would be enough to outweigh the potential downside.

Edited June 16, 2023 by tth2

[jimbo_7071]

On 6/15/2023 at 12:50 PM, szav said:

Of course in 2019 someone probably would have been thrilled to know they’d get 1.6 mil for their Sups #1 7.0 in 2023.

Still a strong price and not a death knell for the hobby or the book as much as a reflection of the Covid comic boom insanity.

Yes, it was still a strong price. The $2.6 million price was absurdly high. Did the buyer think that he could pay that high of a price for the book and not take a loss? You don't pay that kind of price for a book unless you plan to keep it forever.

[sfcityduck]

On 6/16/2023 at 2:47 AM, tth2 said:

I know several big players who have never bid on an auction at Goldin and have no interest in doing so. 

 

Why?  Most collectors I know will go anywhere for a book they want or a good deal.  I know folks who are picky about dealers they trust for a raw book, but for a CGC encapsulated book?  No.
 

Again a number of books at Goldin have done very well but if you are right it is a “buyers market” why would any buyer avoid it?  Makes no sense.

[tth2]

On 6/16/2023 at 9:08 PM, sfcityduck said:

On 6/16/2023 at 5:47 PM, tth2 said:

I know several big players who have never bid on an auction at Goldin and have no interest in doing so. 

 

Why?  Most collectors I know will go anywhere for a book they want or a good deal.  I know folks who are picky about dealers they trust for a raw book, but for a CGC encapsulated book?  No.
 

Again a number of books at Goldin have done very well but if you are right it is a “buyers market” why would any buyer avoid it?  Makes no sense.

So you think that all sales channels are created equal?  

[sfcityduck]

On 6/16/2023 at 6:24 AM, tth2 said:

So you think that all sales channels are created equal?  

No. My question assumed there are differences. But I am missing why a buyer might want to avoid Goldin for a cgc book. 

[Robot Man]

On 6/15/2023 at 9:08 AM, PeterPark said:

When I heard Goldin was getting into comics en masse, I thought it was a mistake because I don't know or use them. Anyone can do it, but if you do it to a room that is half full, results will show this. It looks like they are still not big enough to be a major player.

Real hard to compete in the big boy arena of comic book auction houses.

I remember when Morphy’s Auctions in PA smelled the blood in the water a few years ago. They considered entering the market. A buddy of mine who dabbles in comics was their West Coast consultant. We had a few conversations. I think they dabbled in a few auctions that didn’t do nearly as well as expected. They decided to stay with antiques, advertising, toys ect. An arena they are experts in. 

[Robot Man]

On 6/15/2023 at 8:55 PM, Dark Knight said:

You mean this book? Now an 8.5..

 

I am one lucky guy. I got to hold that book raw and thumb through it (yes, very carefully). Redbeard had just just bought it from Chuck. I was at his place just after he got it and he asked me if I wanted to look at it. I remember him cutting down the condition. He was a very picky grader even back then. He owned more Church books than anyone I’d known at the time. Maybe I was dazzled but it sure looked NM to me…

[Dark Knight]

That's awesome Robotman!  Thanks for sharing your story with the legendary Mile High Supes #1! I'd be ecstatic even if i just saw it in person.  But flipping through a book like that.. just surreal! 

[Mr bla bla]

On 6/15/2023 at 4:17 AM, Dark Knight said:

Action #1 CGC 3.0 sold for $1.5 mil

Pep Comics #22 CGC 6.5 sold for $180k

Superman #1 CGC 7.0 (previously sold for $2.6 mil @ CC) sold for $1.6 mil.  Yikes, quite the haircut 

Yup. A pretty severe haircut, -potentially of sucidal proportions. 
 

[aardvark88]

On 6/16/2023 at 8:35 AM, Mr bla bla said:

A pretty severe haircut, -potentially of suicidal proportions. 
 

Potentially of divorce proportions, sadly.

[Robot Man]

On 6/16/2023 at 8:18 AM, Dark Knight said:

That's awesome Robotman!  Thanks for sharing your story with the legendary Mile High Supes #1! I'd be ecstatic even if i just saw it in person.  But flipping through a book like that.. just surreal! 

Yeah, Ron was (and still is) a great guy. We became good friends. I photographed a lot of his stuff for him and had access to some amazing things.  He knew I knew how to handle books so he had no problem with it. I remember going through many boxes of Church and SF books he had purchased. Good times! 

[MAR1979]

PSA's parent firm owns Goldin Auctions so very suprising CGC on their home page in effect is providing free advertusing for them!

Yet in these forums displaying a cbcs slab is decried forbidden. Highly incongruent...

[LDarkseid1]

On 6/16/2023 at 7:56 AM, Robot Man said:

I am one lucky guy. I got to hold that book raw and thumb through it (yes, very carefully). Redbeard had just just bought it from Chuck. I was at his place just after he got it and he asked me if I wanted to look at it. I remember him cutting down the condition. He was a very picky grader even back then. He owned more Church books than anyone I’d known at the time. Maybe I was dazzled but it sure looked NM to me…

I was thinking the same thing. Holy hell that looks gorgeous, beyond the grade! Bright yellows 😍

[Robot Man]

On 6/16/2023 at 9:59 AM, LDarkseid1 said:

I was thinking the same thing. Holy hell that looks gorgeous, beyond the grade! Bright yellows 😍

Back in those days an 8.0 especially with rare GA books was considered NM to most collectors. Then the Church books appeared and dramatically raised the bar. A simply jaw dropping copy even in today’s grading standards. 

[Mr bla bla]

On 6/16/2023 at 5:37 PM, aardvark88 said:

Potentially of divorce proportions, sadly.

Yup.

I hope the consignor pulls through. I only wish him / her the best.

[jimbo_7071]

On 6/16/2023 at 2:26 PM, Mr bla bla said:

Yup.

I hope the consignor pulls through. I only wish him / her the best.

Well, you're talking about someone who could afford to drop 2.6 million on a book in the first place and who walked away from this one sale with far more than what I have in total assets, so I'm not going to shed any tears for the guy.

[Mmehdy]

On 6/16/2023 at 11:43 AM, jimbo_7071 said:

Well, you're talking about someone who could afford to drop 2.6 million on a book in the first place and who walked away from this one sale with far more than what I have in total assets, so I'm not going to shed any tears for the guy.

If the book had been on Ha or CC...just a guess how much more would it have gotten.....would it have cracked 2 M....thoughts?

Edited June 16, 2023 by Mmehdy

[Mr bla bla]

On 6/16/2023 at 5:37 PM, aardvark88 said:

Potentially of divorce proportions, sadly.

Especially if he was swingin it on partially borrowed money…

[jimbo_7071]

On 6/16/2023 at 2:51 PM, Mmehdy said:

If the book had been on Ha or CC...just a guess how much more would it have gotten.....would it have cracked 2 M....thoughts?

On a different day with different bidders it might have netted a little more or a little less on any venue, but I don't think it would have cracked $2 million anywhere. I wonder where the third highest bidder was in the auction where it hit $2.6 million. My guess is, way below $2 million. A bidding war between two guys with big egos is the only explanation for the $2.6 million sale.

(In my opinion, only the original edition with the "On Sale June 2" house ad should be a million dollar book in any grade, and it's impossible to know whether this one is that original edition or a reprint.)