At An Auction, Again, And…
In my never ending quest to get you to open your wallets…eh, no, wait, let me start that over…
In my never ending quest to bring you the best posssible selection of gold and silver age comics, I attended another auction with said items in it on Wednesday. My hopes were to score a decent copy of either Superman 11 or 13, or both. No luck, but I did bring home a nice copy of Shield Wizard #5 from 1942, featuring the beginning of Rusty, The Boy Detective with a great WWII cover showing us Yanks whomping some Nazis. Check it out at the shop!
I really liked the way this auctioneer ran through the lots – fast and furious. If you are the kind who likes to sneak in at the last second (like “snipers” on eBay), you lost. He seemed to appreciate those who raised their hand/card quickly and might have brought down the hammer quickly for them at times.
After 20 or so lots of toys, statues, and games, there were 165 lots of comics. Everything was over in under 2 hours! And, everything sold! If a particular lot wasn’t bringing any attention (he went as low as $5), the auctionerr threw in the next lot with it. There were a few times where three lots were offered as a group before they sold. Most of the “lots” consisted of about 5 – 20 related comics, with a significant number being groups of Amazing Spider-Man and Avengers from an almost complete collection. For example, one lot might consist of ASM 40-49 with the next lot being ASM 50-59, the next 60-69, and so on. There were some missing issues and some pulled out to be sold separately at the end. There were lots of Tarzan, WDC&S, westerns (these were going for more than I was getting on eBay!), Movie & TV related, early silver age DC’s and Marvels, and some bigger lots (up to 150 comics). Some of the larger lots appeared to be excess dealer lots with multiple copies. Really, something for everybody.
Like the previous week’s auction, I had a budget in mind about what I wanted to spend. Trouble is, the “big boys” were going to be last, but at least I knew that up front since all lots were numbered and they followed that order. So, with that knowledge, I decided that I was not going to home empty-handed and bid on, and scored, some earlier lots with a few goodies! For example: There are now affordable copies of Ironman 1 through 8 in the shop! Unfortunately, the # 1 is a beat, coverless copy. Look in the bins directly across from the check-out counter. I picked up one lot that contained Amazing Spider-Man annuals 10 – 27 complete, plus Giant Size ASM’s 1-6 complete, with a few dups, and the #4 (3rd ever Punisher!) is real nice! Another buy had NM copies of Sandman 1 – 3! Besides these, I grabbed a few lots that had some nice runs in them. Check the bins over near the new issues for runs of Ironman, Detective, and more at ridiculously low prices. I passed the savings on to you! Naturally, these sets and runs are already severly reduced and no further discounts may be applied.
When they got toward the end, I did bid on most, but had to give up. There was another Ironman #1 there but it had coupons cut out of two interior pages and was probably a “VG”. I was thinking,” Hmmm, I could buy this and piece together a solid copy with my coverless one, and still have a two fairly complete copies.” It went for more than guide. ASM 100, 101, 122, and 129 went for more than I could afford to pay. Remember, when buying out of state, add roughly 20% to your bid to cover the “buyer’s fee” and taxes. Then if I sold it in the shop to one of our members, I would lose that discount, and then Joe gets a cut, also. These would be negative sales! I went as high as $350 on the two Superman comics, but a phone bidder took both #13 at $500 (plus an additional 20%) and #11, which I thought was not only a more classic cover (breaking the chains) and in better shape, which went for $450. As a result, I didn’t spend anywhere near as much as I was prepared to, but I got some good deals and you will, too!
I didn’t buy any of the toys, but I did bring in some older, used, loose action figures that the kids said that the wife and I no longer needed to save for them. Plus, if there are any G.I. Joe fans out there, I just listed over 350 of those little 3 3/4″ figures, mostly “played with” (oh, the humanity!) plus weapons, and body parts on eBay. If interested, find “cbhcomics” as a seller. Listings end next Thursday and get your bids in early – don’t be one of those snipers! In addition, there are some of the 12″ figures, a lot each of Toxic Avengers, Dick Tracy, and Masters of the Universe.
Bats over Supes?! Say it ain’t so!
You might have seen the coverage of a copy of ACTION COMICS #1 graded 8.0 sold at auction for a record ONE MILLION BUCKS! Overstreet lists (guesses) that an 8.0 is worth $300,000. Well, a couple of Bat-freaks, rich Bat-freaks, decided that they would make sure that the Dark Knight would beat that figure. Last night, in a Heritage auction, an 8.0 copy of DETECTIVE # 27 went for $1,075,000 to set a new record. What could explain this travesity? Again, timing is critical. People with that kind of money like to have the best this and that. As the news media properly described it, Action #1, IS the “holy grail” of the comic world, but these two or more Caped Crusaders nuts just had to bump off that number, didn’t they? I am sure that had these two books been offered with the Bats going first, we would have different results. Secondly, both were 8.0′s. If any of you have ever compared two similarly graded comics side by side, you know what a difference there can be. Quite possibly, the Batman 8.0 was better than that of the Man of Steel’s. I’m so upset by this that I’m tempted to put my 9.2 up for sale and rectify this situation!
And, finally, word has it that CUBANE is scheduled to go on after an opening band this Saturday at the EAST END CAFE!. If you didn’t read an earlier blog, this is the next to last chance to catch them live before they take a break and head backing into the recording studio. The next and last gig, will be a full night at J.B. McGinnes on Basin Road in March. Check their website www.cubaneband.com for more info and to hear some of their songs.
I love reading these auction posts.
Wait, you have a 9.0 Detective #27? Please tell me that’s a joke.
Eric, my good friend, to set the world right again, it would have to be ACTION Comics back on top! And I believe I mentioned a 9.2!