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A Timeline of World record comic book sales.
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Started by action1kid,

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action1kid

action1kid

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Posted (edited)

The Data

 

  • Action Comics #1 by an unknown seller for $250.00 ($2,054.06) sometime in 1965
  • Marvel Comics #1 sold by Howard Rogolfsky for $330.00 ($2,454.24) sometime in 1968
  • Action #1 sold by Gene Henderson for $1,000.00 ($5,829.08) to Bruce Hamilton in April of 1973
  • Action #1 sold by Bruce Hamilton for $1,500.00 ($8,743.61) to Theo Hostein in April of 1973
  • Action #1 sold by Theo Hostein for $1,801.00 ($10,498.17) to Mitch Mehdy in May of 1973
  • Whiz #2 (Reilly Copy) sold by Comics & Comix for $2,000.00 ($10,499.43) to Burl Rowe in January of 1974
  • Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 by an unknown seller for $6,300.00 ($28,655.70) sometime in 1976
  • Marvel Comics #1 sold by Robert Crestohl? for $7,500.00 ($32,031.06) sometime in 1977
  • Marvel Comics #1 by an unknown seller for $13,000.00 ($46,343.57) to John Snyder sometime in 1979
  • Marvel Comics #1 sold by John Snyder for $17,500.00 ($62,385.57) to Steve Geppi in October of 1979
  • Action Comics #1 (Church Copy) sold by John Snyder for $25,000.00 ($62,274.06) to Dave Anderson sometime in 1984
  • Detective Comics #27 (Allentown) sold by Metropolis for $80,000.00 ($158,415.30) to Dave Anderson sometime in 1990
  • Action Comics #1 sold by Sotheby's for $82,500.00 ($152,187.51) to Metropolis (for actor Nic Cage) in September of 1992
  • Detective Comics #27 ('other high grade' copy) by an unknown seller for $101,000.00 ($180,899.04) sometime in 1993
  • Detective Comics #27 (Church) sold by Dave Anderson? for $125,000.00 ($218,295.38) sometime in 1994
  • Action Comics #1 (current CGC 8.5 copy) sold by PCE for $137,500.00 ($233,507.30) to Daniel Kramer sometime in 1995
  • Captain America Comics #1 (Allentown) by an unknown seller for $260,000.00 ($379,959.68) to John Verzyl sometime in 2001
  • Marvel Comics #1 (Pay Copy) sold by Steve Geppi for $350,000.00 ($492,303.53) to JP the Mint in January of 2003
  • Flash Comics #1 (Church copy) by an unknown seller for $350,000.00 ($479,533.35) to JP the Mint sometime in 2004
  • Action Comics #1 (Kansas City) sold by ComicConnect for $1,000,000.00 ($1,186,901.53) in February of 2010
  • Detective Comics #27 sold by Heritage for $1,075,000.00 ($1,275,919.14) in February of 2010
  • Action Comics #1 sold by ComicConnect for $1,500,000.00 ($1,780,352.29) in March of 2010
  • Action Comics #1 (Cage Copy) sold by ComicConnect for $2,161,000.00 ($2,486,409.96) to Ayman Hariri in November of 2011
  • Action Comics #1 sold by Pristine Comics on eBay for $3,207,852.00 ($3,506,975.64) to Metropolis (for Ayman Hariri) in August of 2014
  • Action Comics #1 sold by ComicConnect for $3,250,000.00 ($3,250,000.00) in April of 2021
Edited by action1kid
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sfcityduck

sfcityduck

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Posted

That early info came from research I did and shared on these boards and with Rob's incredibly useful "Its All Just Comics" site.

Missing from it is info that postdates this entry: "Action #1 sold by Theo Hostein for $1,801.00 ($10,498.17) to Mitch Mehdy in May of 1973."

After that occurred, Mitch paid more for another Action 1 and resold the first Action 1 to Theo for more than he paid for the first Action 1 but less than I think he paid for the second. You can contact Mitch by PM to get the amounts, which I'd imagine he'd share if he set the record twice.

Here's the thread on this topic with the info I gathered ten years or so back which includes where that info actually came from:

And here's a more recent discussion on the topic:

 

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sfcityduck

sfcityduck

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Posted (edited)

One other thing, I was either talking to someone recently or reading a post and I recall a reference to buying an Action 1 for $500 in the 1960s.  

Edited to add that:

it was this comment by Bud Plant: "Now, about Barry Bauman, since he came up…Michelle Nolan drove us teen-agers (John Barrett, Jim Buser, maybe MR. Swan) up to see Barry for the first time in early 1966, from San Jose to Oakland. Barry had all his comics in an attic at his folks house. He had a table with the best of the best laid out face up; the one and only book I remember was Action #1, which he wanted $400 for. Of course, as you guys noted, $400 to a kid (I was 14 in ‘66) was a fortune." Did it sell for $400?  Don't know. Ask Bud.

Also, Mitch's comment about the history of his record Action 1 purchase is as follows:   "Let me give you thumb nails summary-Theo bought it from Bruce for $1500 and got cold feet and sold it to me for $1800 and when I bought a much higher grade copy I sold it back to bruce for $2500." Again, you will need to contact him to get dates and amounts.

Finally, Bob Beerbohm has said that a month after the Whiz 2 was sold by Comics & Comix to Burl Rowe (presumably February 1972) C&C then sold Rowe the SF/Reilly D27 for $2,200. So that also needs to be added to the chart.  

Any information you add to that chart you ought to share with Rob React for his It's All Just Comics site.

Edited by sfcityduck
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Crowzilla

Crowzilla

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Posted (edited)
On 8/15/2023 at 4:22 PM, action1kid said:

I think Dave got the MH Action 1 to 10 for 25k. 
correct me if I’m wrong.

You are wrong, it was just the 1 for $25K, then the 2-10 for a similar price. Snyder bought the run from Rozanski for $50K total (for Anderson) back when Chuck was limiting sales to that amount to anyone (he would go down a list and call saying would you like to buy $50K of Mile Highs this year). Snyder was high on the list as a previous buyer and Anderson talked him into going after the Actions for him which he then sold/traded to Anderson for a small profit.

Edited by Crowzilla
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Robot Man

Robot Man

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Posted

I was shown probably a vg Action #1 by Bert Blum at Cherokee Books around 2966 for $300. Might as well been a million at the time. It sold soon after to a very deep pocketed local guy who was buying up all the big books in the LA area. After he died, his widow sold his entire collection to Ernie Gerber under supposedly nafarias circumstances. He had several copies. 

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sfcityduck

sfcityduck

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Posted (edited)
On 8/15/2023 at 2:50 PM, Robot Man said:

I was shown probably a vg Action #1 by Bert Blum at Cherokee Books around 2966 for $300. Might as well been a million at the time. It sold soon after to a very deep pocketed local guy who was buying up all the big books in the LA area. After he died, his widow sold his entire collection to Ernie Gerber under supposedly nafarias circumstances. He had several copies. 

For a guy who I've always seen described as a "owner of a gas station", Rick Durell does seem to have had deep pockets.  Did he own more than one gas station? He sure dressed much sharper than the gas station owners I knew growing up based on that famous picture of him at Cherokee Books in June 1965.

Edited by sfcityduck
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Robot Man

Robot Man

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On 8/15/2023 at 3:47 PM, sfcityduck said:

For a guy who I've always seen described as a "owner of a gas station", Rick Durell does seem to have had deep pockets.  Did he own more than one gas station? He sure dressed much sharper than the gas station owners I knew growing up based on that famous picture of him at Cherokee Books in June 1965.

Yes, he owned several I believe. He was obsecessed with his collection. He had multiples of all the big keys. 

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Cat-Man_America

Cat-Man_America

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On 8/15/2023 at 4:50 PM, Robot Man said:

I was shown probably a vg Action #1 by Bert Blum at Cherokee Books around 2966 for $300. Might as well been a million at the time. It sold soon after to a very deep pocketed local guy who was buying up all the big books in the LA area. After he died, his widow sold his entire collection to Ernie Gerber under supposedly nafarias circumstances. He had several copies. 

I wanna borrow your time travel machine!

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KCOComics

KCOComics

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On 8/14/2023 at 9:17 PM, action1kid said:

The Data

 

  • Action Comics #1 by an unknown seller for $250.00 ($2,054.06) sometime in 1965
  • Marvel Comics #1 sold by Howard Rogolfsky for $330.00 ($2,454.24) sometime in 1968
  • Action #1 sold by Gene Henderson for $1,000.00 ($5,829.08) to Bruce Hamilton in April of 1973
  • Action #1 sold by Bruce Hamilton for $1,500.00 ($8,743.61) to Theo Hostein in April of 1973
  • Action #1 sold by Theo Hostein for $1,801.00 ($10,498.17) to Mitch Mehdy in May of 1973
  • Whiz #2 (Reilly Copy) sold by Comics & Comix for $2,000.00 ($10,499.43) to Burl Rowe in January of 1974
  • Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 by an unknown seller for $6,300.00 ($28,655.70) sometime in 1976
  • Marvel Comics #1 sold by Robert Crestohl? for $7,500.00 ($32,031.06) sometime in 1977
  • Marvel Comics #1 by an unknown seller for $13,000.00 ($46,343.57) to John Snyder sometime in 1979
  • Marvel Comics #1 sold by John Snyder for $17,500.00 ($62,385.57) to Steve Geppi in October of 1979
  • Action Comics #1 (Church Copy) sold by John Snyder for $25,000.00 ($62,274.06) to Dave Anderson sometime in 1984
  • Detective Comics #27 (Allentown) sold by Metropolis for $80,000.00 ($158,415.30) to Dave Anderson sometime in 1990
  • Action Comics #1 sold by Sotheby's for $82,500.00 ($152,187.51) to Metropolis (for actor Nic Cage) in September of 1992
  • Detective Comics #27 ('other high grade' copy) by an unknown seller for $101,000.00 ($180,899.04) sometime in 1993
  • Detective Comics #27 (Church) sold by Dave Anderson? for $125,000.00 ($218,295.38) sometime in 1994
  • Action Comics #1 (current CGC 8.5 copy) sold by PCE for $137,500.00 ($233,507.30) to Daniel Kramer sometime in 1995
  • Captain America Comics #1 (Allentown) by an unknown seller for $260,000.00 ($379,959.68) to John Verzyl sometime in 2001
  • Marvel Comics #1 (Pay Copy) sold by Steve Geppi for $350,000.00 ($492,303.53) to JP the Mint in January of 2003
  • Flash Comics #1 (Church copy) by an unknown seller for $350,000.00 ($479,533.35) to JP the Mint sometime in 2004
  • Action Comics #1 (Kansas City) sold by ComicConnect for $1,000,000.00 ($1,186,901.53) in February of 2010
  • Detective Comics #27 sold by Heritage for $1,075,000.00 ($1,275,919.14) in February of 2010
  • Action Comics #1 sold by ComicConnect for $1,500,000.00 ($1,780,352.29) in March of 2010
  • Action Comics #1 (Cage Copy) sold by ComicConnect for $2,161,000.00 ($2,486,409.96) to Ayman Hariri in November of 2011
  • Action Comics #1 sold by Pristine Comics on eBay for $3,207,852.00 ($3,506,975.64) to Metropolis (for Ayman Hariri) in August of 2014
  • Action Comics #1 sold by ComicConnect for $3,250,000.00 ($3,250,000.00) in April of 2021

Thank you for pulling this together. 

It's incredible that the history can be tracked with this detail. 

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tth2

tth2

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On 8/16/2023 at 5:41 AM, Robot Man said:
On 8/16/2023 at 4:22 AM, action1kid said:

I think Dave got the MH Action 1 to 10 for 25k. 
correct me if I’m wrong.

Now, THAT was an INCREDIBLE deal and puts a whole different slant on the purchase. 

Yes, except that it's apparently wrong.  More like 1-10 for $50k.

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lou_fine

lou_fine

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On 8/16/2023 at 11:16 AM, Superman2006 said:
On 8/15/2023 at 8:36 PM, tth2 said:

Didn't Anderson also get 11-20?

Possibly 11-23 based on info in this old thread. 

In talking with Dave back in the day, it indeed was Action 1 - 23 by the time it was all said and done, but apparently not all at the same time.  (thumbsu

I remember he did saying that it was $25K for just the Action 1 which he considered to be "up there" at the time because it was at a healthy premium to top of guide.  :takeit:  :bigsmile:

Compared to today's marketplace though where so many books tend sell for multiples to condition guide, not really so expensive at all.  :applause:

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