Auction Highlights #51 – ComicLink February 2011
ComicLink February Featured Auction
I love ComicLink featured auctions, they always have some great books posted for the event and there are always headline earning results to report. Here’s a few highlights from the auction.
Action Comics #1, DC Comics (June/1938) Graded by CGC at 0.5 Restored with Off White pages sold for $43,000.00 on ComicLink on February 22nd. Overstreet price guide value for this comic at 0.5 is $20,000.00 based on a 0.5 being worth a quarter of the listed 2.0 price. Wow! This sale blew me away. Have a look at the CGC grading comments “Restoration includes: color touch, pieces added, seals, cleaned, (7th to 15th wrap married)(centerfold is a color copy). Incomplete/married pages. Piece out 19th-26th page, affects story”. It’s not all there, it’s not all the same book, it’s restored, it’s got photocopied sections, it’s missing pieces that affect the story, it’s, it’s a mess is what it is. Advantage seller.
Avengers #4, Marvel Comics (March/1964) Graded by CGC at 9.6 with Off White pages sold for $91,501.00 on ComicLink on February 22nd. Overstreet price guide value for this comic at 9.2 is $4,200.00. Yeah, I know I said I was blown away by the above sale but this one is mind boggling too. Just to put this into context there was a 9.6 copy with White pages that sold a year ago for $64,000. They say that a few months before a movie is the best time to sell a comic book and it looks like the seller timed this one perfectly. I think 9.0 copies of the original Captain America #1 don’t sell for much more than this. Advantage seller.
Amazing Spider-Man #28, Marvel Comics (Sept/1965) Graded by CGC at 9.4 with White pages sold on ComicLink for $10,255.00 on February 22nd. Overstreet price guide value for this comic at 9.2 is $2,000.00. This was an interesting auction. I’ve been waiting a while for a nice #28 to go to market and I had a hunch it would go high. There are only 11 copies graded at 9.4 and only 4 at 9.6. They’ve also seemed to stop coming in, the CGC census shows only 1 graded this high in the last 2 years (if I read that right). This is such a bragging rights books! Advantage buyer.
Detective Comics #35, DC Comics (Jan/1940) Graded by CGC at 5.0 with Off White pages did not meet reserve on ComicLink, ending without a buyer on February 22nd. Overstreet price guide value for this comic at 5.0 is $5,145.00. The final bit was a mere $17,000.00 and obviously nowhere near enough to pry it from the lucky owner’s hands. It’s interesting that there are only 3 copies graded higher. I’m guessing the seller had a reserve of around $20,000 and considering how crazy the Action Comics auction got I’m sure this book will eventually sell for above $20,000.
This month’s ComicLink Featured auction certainly provided some highlights.
Walter Durajlija is an Overstreet Advisor and Shuster Award winner. He owns Big B Comics in Hamilton Ontario.
Hey Walter, did you notice that the Hulk #181 9.9 also sold.
I have to admit, I didn’t think it would sell as quickly as it did. Personally, I would prefer to put that kind of cash into a silver age classic. I’d take an AF#15 or a decent copy of FF#1 any day. But what do I know? If I was actually good at making investment decisions, I’d be busy buying these books instead of dreaming about them ^_^
Thanks for the info Charlie. I was so focused on the auction I forgot to scan the posts! Can I deputize you to be the roving reporter for Auction Highlights? Wow, $150,000 is a lot of money and I’d be more like you and go for an AF 15 in the highest grade for the money. But the times are a changing, Wolverine has a very long and bright future in pop culture by the looks of it. Certainly brighter than say Fantastic Four. Skip ahead a generation where kids that are now teens are in positions to invest money into comic books. Who will the FF be to them? Grandpa talking about how important the book was may get a yawn at best. Owning the single highest graded copy of the first appearance of Wolverine, now that’s something you could ad at the bottom of your name on every email you send!
You bring up an interesting point… I don’t meet many people my age who are into golden age books and I suspect it may have something to do with the generational shift you mentioned. Who knows, $150k may seem like big bucks now but I may be kicking myself in 20 years for not picking it up myself… assuming I had a choice. From what I understand, Action#1 sold for only $100k when I was in high school… (which might as well have been a million for me). Still, it’s a risky bet… I’d be belly aching that another 9.9 would turn up. I’m happy in my area… I’ve got a 9.2 myself which allows me to sleep better at night.