My First Comic book Auction. 1991 2 2

[batman_fan]

On 7/11/2023 at 5:00 AM, jimbo_7071 said:

I'm pretty sure board member @Cat-Man_America has the Church Tec 18.

I believe I may have seen him post that book a time or two.

[jimbo_7071]

On 7/11/2023 at 8:54 AM, batman_fan said:

I believe I may have seen him post that book a time or two.

 . . . or three or four. But can you blame him?

[Crowzilla]

On 7/10/2023 at 10:58 PM, mwotka said:

  Any idea where the Marvel Comics #2 Subby cover is?  That thing is incredible. 

It was purchased by Marvel.

[Cat-Man_America]

On 7/11/2023 at 6:00 AM, jimbo_7071 said:

I'm pretty sure board member @Cat-Man_America has the Church Tec 18.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

>>>>>>>>>>You rang?

On 7/11/2023 at 7:54 AM, batman_fan said:

I believe I may have seen him post that book a time or two.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Fuoooooy!  Okay, here's another peek, but in an uncharacteristic moment of modesty, I'll just post this diabolical beauty as a spoiler...  

 

Spoiler

[batman_fan]

On 7/11/2023 at 8:57 PM, Cat-Man_America said:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

>>>>>>>>>>You rang?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Fuoooooy!  Okay, here's another peek, but in an uncharacteristic moment of modesty, I'll just post this diabolical beauty as a spoiler...  

 

  Hide contents

 

[tth2]

On 7/12/2023 at 12:08 AM, Crowzilla said:

On 7/11/2023 at 10:58 AM, mwotka said:

  Any idea where the Marvel Comics #2 Subby cover is?  That thing is incredible. 

It was purchased by Marvel.

And then immediately signed by Stan Lee!

 

j/k 

[Aman619]

That was one amazing day! Historic!  Comic books at Sothebys!  Top o the world, ma!

anyone else recall “coo coo” spoken out loud after a particularly high crazy purchase price?

I picked up a couple books… wish I’d bought a lot more. There was a run of Actions, 101-200. Anyone know how nice they really were grade wise?  Or are they still raw?  Sold for 10K.  But maybe it was two lots at 10K each…

[Yorick]

Amazing that the Action 1 went for so little compared to the Tec 27 (or some other lots)....

[Yorick]

What was lot #308?!!!

[DanCooper]

On 7/16/2023 at 4:09 PM, Yorick said:

What was lot #308?!!!

 

[pemart1966]

On 7/12/2023 at 4:43 AM, tth2 said:

And then immediately signed by Stan Lee!

 

j/k 

...right over Sub-Mariner's face...

[pemart1966]

On 7/13/2023 at 9:49 PM, Aman619 said:

That was one amazing day! Historic!  Comic books at Sothebys!  Top o the world, ma!

anyone else recall “coo coo” spoken out loud after a particularly high crazy purchase price?

I picked up a couple books… wish I’d bought a lot more. There was a run of Actions, 101-200. Anyone know how nice they really were grade wise?  Or are they still raw?  Sold for 10K.  But maybe it was two lots at 10K each…

Those auctions were indeed historic, novel and a harbinger of the selling landscape.

I'm still not too sure why both houses stopped running them.

At one of these early auctions, I remember seeing a young lady walking out with a Peanuts daily featuring Snoopy for which she paid the princely sum of $900 and me saying to myself "WOW did she ever overpay."

Well, history has proven me once again to be...   

That being said, prices were quite high for the times.  There weren't too many bargains to be had.

As a PS I also remember, before the auction, a beautiful copy of Lois Lane #1 being clumsily handled, sliding out of its mylar holder and falling to the floor right at the point of its bottom spine.  There was a noticeable dent in the spine afterwards.   

Edited July 23, 2023 by pemart1966

[lou_fine]

On 7/23/2023 at 5:19 AM, pemart1966 said:

Those auctions were indeed historic, novel and a harbinger of the selling landscape.

Was this the auction where several of the key books were brought up by this guy who then proceeded to put them on display as part of his travelling rioad show where they all ended up quite faded after awhile?     

[DanCooper]

On 7/23/2023 at 6:07 PM, lou_fine said:

Was this the auction where several of the key books were brought up by this guy who then proceeded to put them on display as part of his travelling rioad show where they all ended up quite faded after awhile?

From a December 19th, 1991 NY Times article:

"The superhero at Sotheby's first auction of comic books yesterday was Harold M. Anderson, the owner of a traveling museum of baseball memorabilia based in Florence, Ala. Mr. Anderson bought many of the most important properties and paid a record price at auction for a comic book with his $55,000 purchase of a copy of Detective 27, the 1939 issue in which Batman appeared for the first time.

The price Mr. Anderson paid for Detective 27 far exceeded Sotheby's top estimate of $28,000. It was the exception at this sale, in which many works went unsold and many others brought prices below Sotheby's expectations. In an auction of 362 items, 265 were sold for a total of $1.2 million, below the house estimate of $1.4 million to $2 million.

"I think comic books are on the ground floor of an explosive market," Mr. Anderson said minutes after he acquired the rarity, 1 of about 100 copies of this issue known to survive. "We have a baseball traveling museum and compared to baseball memorabilia, comic books are somewhat underpriced right now." On Display: Bam! Pow! Zap!

Mr. Anderson is the president and owner of the Treat Company in Florence, operator of the baseball museum, which shows its exhibits in Wal-Mart stores. He said he intended to expand the museum's displays to include comic books.

Most of the other major comic-book properties in the sale were also acquired by Mr. Anderson. He bought many of the first issues of comic books, paying $29,700 for a copy of Action No. 1 from 1938, a 10-cent comic book in which Superman made his debut. And he spent $28,600 for a first-issue copy of Marvel Comics from 1939, showing Human Torch on the cover. Sotheby's had estimated it would sell for $40,000 to $80,000.

Toward the end of the sale, at which he spent $229,845 for 21 items, Mr. Anderson said that not all of his money went for superheroes. He spent $4,675 for a copy of "Funnies on Parade," a 1933 compendium of newspaper comic strips featuring characters like Popeye and Mutt and Jeff. "It was one of the neatest things I bought," he said."

[action1kid]

On 7/23/2023 at 6:19 PM, DanCooper said:

From a December 19th, 1991 NY Times article:

"The superhero at Sotheby's first auction of comic books yesterday was Harold M. Anderson, the owner of a traveling museum of baseball memorabilia based in Florence, Ala. Mr. Anderson bought many of the most important properties and paid a record price at auction for a comic book with his $55,000 purchase of a copy of Detective 27, the 1939 issue in which Batman appeared for the first time.

The price Mr. Anderson paid for Detective 27 far exceeded Sotheby's top estimate of $28,000. It was the exception at this sale, in which many works went unsold and many others brought prices below Sotheby's expectations. In an auction of 362 items, 265 were sold for a total of $1.2 million, below the house estimate of $1.4 million to $2 million.

"I think comic books are on the ground floor of an explosive market," Mr. Anderson said minutes after he acquired the rarity, 1 of about 100 copies of this issue known to survive. "We have a baseball traveling museum and compared to baseball memorabilia, comic books are somewhat underpriced right now." On Display: Bam! Pow! Zap!

Mr. Anderson is the president and owner of the Treat Company in Florence, operator of the baseball museum, which shows its exhibits in Wal-Mart stores. He said he intended to expand the museum's displays to include comic books.

Most of the other major comic-book properties in the sale were also acquired by Mr. Anderson. He bought many of the first issues of comic books, paying $29,700 for a copy of Action No. 1 from 1938, a 10-cent comic book in which Superman made his debut. And he spent $28,600 for a first-issue copy of Marvel Comics from 1939, showing Human Torch on the cover. Sotheby's had estimated it would sell for $40,000 to $80,000.

Toward the end of the sale, at which he spent $229,845 for 21 items, Mr. Anderson said that not all of his money went for superheroes. He spent $4,675 for a copy of "Funnies on Parade," a 1933 compendium of newspaper comic strips featuring characters like Popeye and Mutt and Jeff. "It was one of the neatest things I bought," he said."

At that time Funnies on parade was considered the first comic book which I’m sure he knew.

[tth2]

On 7/24/2023 at 6:19 AM, DanCooper said:

"I think comic books are on the ground floor of an explosive market," Mr. Anderson said

I remember all the long-time dealers/collectors who said at the time that he had overpaid and would never get his money back, particularly for the WM AF 15 which Anderson paid $40k for.

It's interesting that Anderson turned out to be absolutely correct, more correct than many insiders, and yet didn't reap the benefits of being correct at all.  

[DanCooper]

On 7/23/2023 at 10:44 PM, tth2 said:

particularly for the WM AF 15 which Anderson paid $40k for.

Hi Tim, the White Mountain Amazing Fantasy 15 was in the third Sotheby's auction (June 1993). There was a non-pedigree AF15 in this first Sotheby's auction, that graded out to a Fine + though.

I don't think H. Anderson was around the comics scene after that inaugural Sotheby's auction in 1991. Whether it was the fading debacles that Lou Fine alluded to or the constant barrage of the sharks circling, who knows? (I don't think I ever seen so many business cards given out to one individual after Anderson won all those lots at Sotheby's!)

[pemart1966]

On 7/23/2023 at 10:44 PM, tth2 said:

I remember all the long-time dealers/collectors who said at the time that he had overpaid and would never get his money back, particularly for the WM AF 15 which Anderson paid $40k for.

It's interesting that Anderson turned out to be absolutely correct, more correct than many insiders, and yet didn't reap the benefits of being correct at all.  

Prices paid were high but Sotheby's estimates were also high in some cases.

[lou_fine]

On 7/24/2023 at 4:15 AM, DanCooper said:

Hi Tim, the White Mountain Amazing Fantasy 15 was in the third Sotheby's auction (June 1993).

And you would be exactly correct according to this article that was written up about Sotheby's and their connection to the White Mountain Collection and the origin of the pedigree and the late Jerry Weist's key influence in making this happen:  

https://www.tricottetcollection.com/WhiteMountain_comicbooks.html

[tth2]

On 7/24/2023 at 7:15 PM, DanCooper said:

Hi Tim, the White Mountain Amazing Fantasy 15 was in the third Sotheby's auction (June 1993). There was a non-pedigree AF15 in this first Sotheby's auction, that graded out to a Fine + though.

I don't think H. Anderson was around the comics scene after that inaugural Sotheby's auction in 1991. Whether it was the fading debacles that Lou Fine alluded to or the constant barrage of the sharks circling, who knows? (I don't think I ever seen so many business cards given out to one individual after Anderson won all those lots at Sotheby's!)

I distinctly remember a picture of the winner with the book in some Overstreet publication at the time, I want to say it was "Fan".  I thought for sure it was Anderson.