Sale 3033: The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION Part II: PRE-HERO :: PBA 3 3

[mwotka]

On 3/30/2024 at 4:10 PM, sfcityduck said:

All your points have some validity except I disagree with the conclusion that the venue hurt things. I don't think Heritage would be nearly as focused on promoting low grade books as PBA has been.  The catalog for these auctions is a true delight, full of great information. The "talk up" occurred in incredible detail before the auction even started. If you aren't buying the catalogs and/or reading the descriptions on Liveauctioneers well before the auction then you are ignoring key information! I check out my target books before the auction so I don't really care about the size of the picture during the auction.  While I do agree I like having the premium amount on screen, I can ballpark it quickly. And while I also agree that the auctioneer had no idea what he was auctioning, he performed his essential function really competently and, I thought, gave more time for later bidders than other live auctioneers I've seen in the comic area. I thought the auction went smoothly, was not too rushed, and did not drag. 

 

Fair points, and I did like the auctioneer's pace, certainly better than the auto-timer on HA that has some items ending in like 3 seconds.  I have requested a catalogue, always curious to see more info on these rare books.  As for pricing, some outliers have certainly been highlighted.  But with the unique opportunity of watching two runs of pre-Batman Detectives sell in consecutive weeks (really, how did that even line up?!?!), it seems to me like the CC run did better overall (although their run missing some big ones like 1 and 18).  And when MFs that I look for come up on HA, it seems like the prices greatly outpace what was achieved on PBA, but again these are so rare and I know a couple buyers can push certain books up quite a bit auction to auction.  

[sfcityduck]

On 3/30/2024 at 4:20 PM, Point Five said:

Great great auction. I was traveling last week; not seeing a lot of mad bargains but still wish I'd had a go at a few of the pre-Batman Tecs. Ah well.

The finished prices as shown on the PBA auction site now *include* the BP, correct?

 

Correct.

[Professor K]

On 3/30/2024 at 1:20 PM, mwotka said:

I think the venue hurt some things, especially the ashcans and some rarities.  Savvy collectors were aware of it but had to be no where near the interest and bidders as an HA auction.  I found the auction experience off-putting, as they didn't allow zoom on the book for sale and didn't have the grade details so I was constantly toggling tabs between the catalogue and auction screen to stay up on what was being offered.  And then they didn't show the premium so was constantly trying to calculate actual sale price with the 25% premium, instead of just showing both totals like on HA.  I thought the auctioneer was kinda blah, he really could've talked up some of those items and the rarity, etc a bit more.  What's the point of a live auctioneer if he isn't going to generate more interest than automated?  And then to have the big ashcans and that Siegel/Schuster sci-fi proto-pulp at the end, those should've near the beginning.  Still, it was an enjoyable experience and fun to watch a once in a lifetime collection sell.  

I had multiple tabs open on books I was considering placing bids to see what the resto was on each because they varied a lot. Some I had memorized. And I agree about not showing price with BP but at 25% they were probably ashamed to show it. Half kidding about that last part.

On 3/30/2024 at 5:10 PM, sfcityduck said:

All your points have some validity except I disagree with the conclusion that the venue hurt things. I don't think Heritage would be nearly as focused on promoting low grade books as PBA has been.  The catalog for these auctions is a true delight, full of great information. The "talk up" occurred in incredible detail before the auction even started. If you aren't buying the catalogs and/or reading the descriptions on Liveauctioneers well before the auction then you are ignoring key information! I check out my target books before the auction so I don't really care about the size of the picture during the auction.  While I do agree I like having the premium amount on screen, I can ballpark it quickly. And while I also agree that the auctioneer had no idea what he was auctioning, he performed his essential function really competently and, I thought, gave more time for later bidders than other live auctioneers I've seen in the comic area. I thought the auction went smoothly, was not too rushed, and did not drag. 

 

I like the auctioneer. He seemed relaxed and it went at a perfect pace I think. An even pace at least. 

On 3/30/2024 at 7:20 PM, Point Five said:

Great great auction. I was traveling last week; not seeing a lot of mad bargains but still wish I'd had a go at a few of the pre-Batman Tecs. Ah well.

The finished prices as shown on the PBA auction site now *include* the BP, correct?

 

Edited March 31 by Professor K

[sfcityduck]

Those PBA prices look even stronger after that Heritage auction.

[Iksar]

Surprised the first published Action 1 ad books sold for the least of the three. MF 31 came first and sold for the least. Although the New Adventure and Detective have better covers. But in this case, the ad is the thing

[Moondog]

On 3/30/2024 at 11:21 AM, sfcityduck said:

The CCC was a risk as it may have been a bootleg. Its value hinged on your view of the credibility of Ian's story.

The Flash (DC) ashcan is supercool, but it is the lowest graded of six copies  - 9.6, 9.6, 9.4, 9.4, 9.2, 9.0 - (which is a huge number of copies for an ashcan of this time period, right?) and recent sales suggested that the $20K starting price might be high, e.g.,: 2022 - 9.6 $45.6K and 2018 - 9.4 $20.3K.

So my analysis was that (1) the Pandemic pandemonium prices are over (2021-2022 prices were aberrations and are not be sustained at the high end for Promise Books as an example); (2) The 2018 book is the closest comparable and that's the second best copy not the sixth best copy; so (3) $20K was too high a starting price.  If it had been $15K I would have bid and maybe the excitement would have taken me to $20K - who knows.

The sale definitely had some bargains and some crazy high record prices. That's a good auction in my book.

I once owned all the DC Flash ashcans.  My article in CBM 71 states it’s the most common of the DC ashcans. But it’s also one of the most popular - that’s why I assumed it he 9.0 would sell for around $20K.  So there’s no provenance on the CCC?  I assumed that Ian “had a guy” at DC who would help him with items like this.

 

[sfcityduck]

On 4/7/2024 at 11:26 AM, Moondog said:

I once owned all the DC Flash ashcans.  My article in CBM 71 states it’s the most common of the DC ashcans. But it’s also one of the most popular - that’s why I assumed it he 9.0 would sell for around $20K.  So there’s no provenance on the CCC?  I assumed that Ian “had a guy” at DC who would help him with items like this.

 

The provenance was alleged to be that Ian's copy was the original stack of paper from which all others were made. Basically, the story was that the loose stack of papers put in the Xerox machine to be copied was bound with those plastic circular claw bindings with blue covers whereas all the copies that came out of the Xerox were bound with a blue cover but a different, taped, binding. Ian bought the volume off of eBay. Unfortunately, bootlegs are known with a white cover and the same plastic binding. Paul Levitz says the original all were tape bound. So it came down to whether you believed Ian's credibility in assessing the truth of the eBay seller's story or not. Given that he had a lot of reason to want to believe the eBay seller's story, and I don't, I came to a different conclusion than him. So did the auctioneer who said they "strongly suspect" that it was a bootleg.

[mwotka]

So I had ordered a catalogue but they forgot to include it and then sent it out separately and it just arrived this weekend.  It is impressive!  But the coolest thing, and there were several surprises, was the reveal that they had the Detective 1-26 issues professionally photographed through while they were raw, and then they are supposedly working with DC on a 3rd party publisher to put a book together for the run.  And then secondarily, they included the Slam Bradley stories from Detectives 1 and 2 (with DC's permission).  Very cool stuff you never see.  Here's to hoping they get that volume published sometime soon.  Lastly, there was some nice work from Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson, which basically summarized her DC Before Superman book, but was still a great addition to provide history of what was being sold, along with a nice introduction for Slam Bradley.  

[BOOT]

On 3/28/2024 at 8:07 PM, sfcityduck said:

Turns out, Pearl Buck may have plotted the story I just acquired. Jack Schiff ultimately wrote the dialogue, but this article is really interesting on that point:

 

Anyone know any other comic stories written by winners of the Nobel Prize for literature? I don't think Bob Dylan has turned his hand to comics.

More from Pearl Buck:

 

 

 

 

 

[sfcityduck]

On 4/24/2024 at 9:35 PM, BOOT said:

More from Pearl Buck:

 

 

 

 

 

[Thomask.]

Hi everyone

I got (and just received) the Supergear, the Bradman and the 2 Silly Putty Man from this auction, so I'm quite happy. That pretty much concludes my Gold, Silver and Bronze DC Promos with Superhero appearances.

Does anyone of you knowledgable people know why Silly Putty is considered a DC comic? There's absolutely no reference to DC (or National) in the comics themselves.

Cheers, Thomas

[DanCooper]

On 4/30/2024 at 11:04 AM, Thomask. said:

Does anyone of you knowledgable people know why Silly Putty is considered a DC comic? There's absolutely no reference to DC (or National) in the comics themselves.

Here is an ebay completed auction (on Worthpoint) for the original art to the Silly Putty/Space Pirates cover, referencing it is a piece created by DC:

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/dc-comics-silly-putty-man-vs-space-1747545180

[Thomask.]

Ok, thank you very much. That's at least an indication. Copyright inside just says Binney & Smith Inc. , and I was wondering whether this could be a case of somebody early on mistakenly listing it as a DC publication, and every subsequent reference just copying it from there.

[Yorick]

On 4/30/2024 at 8:04 AM, Thomask. said:

Hi everyone

I got (and just received) the Supergear, the Bradman and the 2 Silly Putty Man from this auction, so I'm quite happy. That pretty much concludes my Gold, Silver and Bronze DC Promos with Superhero appearances.

Does anyone of you knowledgable people know why Silly Putty is considered a DC comic? There's absolutely no reference to DC (or National) in the comics themselves.

Cheers, Thomas

DANG.  Nice score and welcome to the Boards.  Everyone here always loves to see pictures... 

[Thomask.]

Sure.

[woowoo]

On 4/30/2024 at 1:15 PM, Thomask. said:

Sure.

I have a picture of the book in Ian's collection he sent me 20 years ago from the UK.

[sfcityduck]

Here's another:

On 4/30/2024 at 8:04 AM, Thomask. said:

Hi everyone

I got (and just received) the Supergear, the Bradman and the 2 Silly Putty Man from this auction, so I'm quite happy. That pretty much concludes my Gold, Silver and Bronze DC Promos with Superhero appearances.

Does anyone of you knowledgable people know why Silly Putty is considered a DC comic? There's absolutely no reference to DC (or National) in the comics themselves.

Cheers, Thomas

I'd love to see a list! Are you doing just comics in the OPG or everything anyone's ever heard of. That's got to be a frustrating quest. It took me a few years to find just the Aquateers Meet the Super Friends.

As for Silly Putty, I would not expect a reference to DC unless it had a DC character or copyright. If DC was just doing work for hire for some company, then they probably didn't own the copyright.

Supergear, as I'm sure you know, was unauthorized. So I guess technically you didn't need it for a DC collection. But a super cool comic to own. I failed to hit the BIN on that one when I saw it pop up eBay long ago. Another Boardie bought it and, I believe, sold it (or his undercopy) to Ian. Congrats!

Here's a pic of Ian and one of your books (upper left).

Edited yesterday at 03:58 AM by sfcityduck