Nic Cage Collection

[action1kid]

No, He just owned this 1 copy of Action 1...It is the CGC RESTORED 6.5 copy on the census. They did call it the Sheen copy however to squeeze a little more juice out of it. It didnt work however and sold in the low 40s.

[action1kid]

Charlie Sheens Action # 1...

http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/scoop_article.asp?ai=5880&si=121

[jkrk]

 

This "fresh" book was sold to actor Charlie Sheen by respected comic book dealer Robert Rogovin of Four Color Comics back in the mid-1980s and has not seen the light of day since. Obtained directly by Lelands.com from Charlie Sheen less than one month ago, the piece will come with a letter of authenticity from Mr. Sheen himself identifying it as the one and only "Sheen Copy." That makes this one of the most special Action #1's and one of the most desired comic books extant.

 

Did Sheen know the book was restored when he bought it?

[action1kid]

Im guessing here but I think he probably did only because there is so much of it[slight my butt]...also when he bought it way back restoration was looked at in a much more favorable light.

Notice how much the cleaning faded the colors on this particular book.

[batman_fan]

I would have no problem with CGC giving "collection" designations to any other major celebrities' collections in the future, if it would bring in the same amount of publicity and help expand the gene pool a bit.

 

I agree...the problem is, other than the Cage collection, none of these other "collections" have any meaning to anyone other than the regular comics collecting crowd...

 

Jim

 

For some of us in the comic collecting crowd, it doesn't even matter. I could care less about who acquired the books second hand. The Overstreet copies got a lot of pump to them as well. I was offered several at 2x guide because he owned them but for me, I don't care. Same for the Cage books, just don't care so no premium from me. Other people may feel differently and that is fine by me, different strokes for different folks.

[tth2]

I simply said I would not buy a Cage book for a premium. How did this turn into Tunnel vision ?

I wasn't saying anyone should pay a premium for a Cage book. I was just disagreeing with Black Hand's characterizing the Cage collection designation as cheezy or motivated by greed. Maybe it was all those things, but I think the benefits that playing up the Cage angle brought to our hobby significantly outweighed the negative aspects.

[tth2]

I would have no problem with CGC giving "collection" designations to any other major celebrities' collections in the future, if it would bring in the same amount of publicity and help expand the gene pool a bit.

 

I agree...the problem is, other than the Cage collection, none of these other "collections" have any meaning to anyone other than the regular comics collecting crowd...

 

Jim

Well, I think there are 2 reasons for a "collection" designation. One is a designation related to a mainstream celebrity such as Cage that would help expand the hobby by catching the attention of non-comic collectors. The second is a designation that is of interest to comic collectors because the books came from a noteworthy collector's collection. Not that I think anyone should pay a premium for them because of the ownership connection, but I think there might be some historical interest in books that came from the collection of a Bob Overstreet, Gary Carter, Dave Anderson, Steve Geppi, Stan Lee, Don Rosa, etc. For the record, I don't think Dallas Stephens was of that level of significance.

[action1kid]

I simply said I would not buy a Cage book for a premium. How did this turn into Tunnel vision ?

I wasn't saying anyone should pay a premium for a Cage book. I was just disagreeing with Black Hand's characterizing the Cage collection designation as cheezy or motivated by greed. Maybe it was all those things, but I think the benefits that playing up the Cage angle brought to our hobby significantly outweighed the negative aspects.

 

I understand. Something to think about.

[Aman619]

can anyone list ANY of these supposed benefits the Cage promootion aded to our little hobby? Point to ONE extra sale by ANYone intrigued by the fact that Nic Cage owned it? Nic who?

[nik]

Although I am not intrigued, I think its a pretty cool that I have a copy from his collection

[jkrk]

I was intrigued by Cage's ownership when I purchased a copy of one of his books.

 

It was a Planet Comics. I normally don't buy this title but Cage's name was on the label.

 

It was a River City pedigree. I normally don't buy River city but cage's name was on the label.

 

It was tied for the higest graded copy. I normally don't buy the highest graded copy but Cage's name was on the label.

 

Oh yea, I also had a $25 discount coupon from Paypal so I paid $350 less than the last time it was auctioned on Heritage.

 

And Nick Cage's name was still on the label.

[Sid]

If it all came down to it, I'd pay a slight premium for one of his books if needed. I don't care what any of you say, it might not make it anything close to something of a pedigree status, but it does make it somewhat more intriguing in my book. I have a lot of respect for the guy's acting ability and you can call me a fanboy but that was my point to begin with.

 

I won't comment on if it's driven by greed or whatever but that doesn't matter to me. I'm not as knowledgable on this as all of you, but I know what would get my attention. Driven by greed or not, everything is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. 195k for the Action comics was a hot topic I read through and it's something of that sort. They're not lieing when they say this was part of Nic Cage's collection, if this means someone will pay 10% more, what's the harm?

 

Either way, this has the possibility to get people to look at the hobby that wouldn't consider it, or it might get more closet comic collecting celebrities out. I'd be intrested in seeing what some of these names collect. My nickle in the pot.

[action1kid]

I respect your opinion.

[tth2]

can anyone list ANY of these supposed benefits the Cage promootion aded to our little hobby? Point to ONE extra sale by ANYone intrigued by the fact that Nic Cage owned it? Nic who?

Not of any of Cage's books per se, but the publicity his auction generated opened the eyes of a lot of regular people to our little hobby. My own sister and brother, who obviously knew comics were worth something through me, still were amazed by the kinds of prices generated by his books and felt compelled to call me about it. I'm sure as a result of the publicity a few regular people may have checked out Heritage or eBay, and maybe a former collector or two had their collecting interest revived. At the worst, it caused a people who knew they had some of dad's or granddad's old comics in the basement to realize the books might be worth something and think about selling them.

 

Why do you seem so intent on maintaining an insular, in-bred community? You can't deny that the auction generated a lot of publicity. What did it cost you, or the comic collecting community? Nothing, except the "huge" inconvenience of being forced to avert your eyes from a few words on some CGC labels lest you go blind.

[Aman619]

I dont recall much publicity going on outside of the usual SCOOP notices. But Ive already read two posts stating their personal reasons for buying a book based in part on Cage's label note. so.. what do I know?

[tth2]

I dont recall much publicity going on outside of the usual SCOOP notices.

There was a LOT of mainstream press coverage leading up to the auction and then afterwards reporting how much money Nic got for all his comics. Because it was Nic Cage, a Hollywood celebrity. Do a google search and you can see the number of newspaper articles. As I mentioned, my brother and sister both heard about the auction through mainstream newspapers and asked me about it, and I can assure you they are not SCOOP readers.

[Leescomics]

 

Thanks for the background information on those collections you found Lee. I bought some of the Yakima pulps and they are truly amazing.

 

I visited your store on the way back from Wonder Con ten years or so ago. Great store! I don't remember what I bought, but it was golden age.

 

Buying those Pulps was a wise decision. They are now, in many cases, going for 10 times or more what I was charging for them. People are realizing how rare it is to see pulps of this quality. Back when I was selling these, I actually got some friction from "expert" pulp collectors who told me that I was charging way too much, and I would never sell any at those outrageous prices. Needles to say, I sold all of them in fairly short order. I wish I had held on to a few, because I get calls now and then from collectors begging for them.

 

Many of my dealer friends salt away a few good books from each collection they buy and bring them out years later, when the time is right. I never developed that habit, preferring to buy and then to sell everything right away.

 

This year, I'll have to resolve to get more into Golden Age comics. I have a few on my ebay store, but I am going to try to obtain more. My favorite stuff to buy is original owner collections. Everything the person bought off the stands back in the day, with nothing taken out by dealers.

 

Original owner collections are not usually high grade of course, and they don't often include a huge number of comics or any key issues, (or are seldom owned by anyone famous for that matter) so they don't get an official CGC pedigree. I requested a pedigree twice from CGC, and was granted one, for the Palo Alto Collection. The other collection that I suggested for a pedigree would have been called the Napa Collection. It was a high grade late 1940s to early 1950s original owner collection purchased in Napa California. There were around 500 comics in all. I initially sent in 99 of the books for certification, and as I recall, 33 of them came back as the highest grade, or tied for that category. (Some of them came in 2nd, bested only by the Palo Alto books.)

 

Sometimes I take the liberty of creating my own pedigree when I get a great original owner Golden Age collection. I bought a treasure chest full of Golden Age comics a couple of years ago, and dubbed it the Collector's Dream. It was really nice stuff. As I recall there were over 1,000 books all pre-1950s. They had white paper, glossy covers, and bright, vivid colors. They had been stashed away in a Victorian Home in San Francisco. The owners of the house died, and their children had the house cleaned up. This box of high-grade golden age comics was to be hauled off as garbage. The box, containing books that had been in wonderful condition for over 50 years was left out in the rain! Some of the books had heavy water damage and were ruined. Other books, particularly those that the bottom of the chest escaped with only a tiny rust dot on the staple, or no damage at all. One of the guys that worked for the hauling company, apparently realizing that there might be some value to these, brought them to me instead. I purchased them all that day. It sure is fun looking through a huge chest full of golden age comics! It took me two days just to look at each book.

 

Like I said, I'll have to try to get some more stuff like that. Reading about all the pedigrees on these boards is certainly firing up my interest. I'll post a note up on these boards if I succeed. Here's hoping.

 

- Lee

[sterlingcomics]

I dont recall much publicity going on outside of the usual SCOOP notices. But Ive already read two posts stating their personal reasons for buying a book based in part on Cage's label note. so.. what do I know?

 

I remember some coverage on CNN...

[whomerjay]

aman-

 

I stated before I've bought several Cage Planets. I prefer having vs not having the book a Cage book, but I personally ascribe only a small premium (<5%) to them. I'll always choose the superior book when buying but if everything is equal, why not the Cage book. I wonder what motivated him to buy that particular issue, and what Metro was thinking when trying to assemble the Planet run for him. Overall the grades are high, but not the highest, and the QP tends to be better than average, but nothing extra special.

 

I like Cage as an actor and person, but am not enamored by anyone's celebrity. And I hate manufactured collectibles. I would argue that the Dallas Stevens designation smacks of manufacturing, but with the Cage books, there's some legitimacy there.

[metropoliscomics]

aman-

 

I stated before I've bought several Cage Planets. I prefer having vs not having the book a Cage book, but I personally ascribe only a small premium (<5%) to them. I'll always choose the superior book when buying but if everything is equal, why not the Cage book. I wonder what motivated him to buy that particular issue, and what Metro was thinking when trying to assemble the Planet run for him. Overall the grades are high, but not the highest, and the QP tends to be better than average, but nothing extra special.

 

I like Cage as an actor and person, but am not enamored by anyone's celebrity. And I hate manufactured collectibles. I would argue that the Dallas Stevens designation smacks of manufacturing, but with the Cage books, there's some legitimacy there.

 

I showed Nic Cage the Mile High Planet run which I had just acquired for my own collection. He wanted to purchase the Planets run but I had no interest in selling it. I proposed the next best thing - putting together a high grade unrestored run for him. It took me about 30 days to assemble and the rest is history.

 

Stephen