Detective Comics #27 (DC, 1939) CGC VF 8.0

From the Heritage newsletter:

This exceptional copy of the comic featuring the very first Batman story will be auctioned by Heritage in our February 25-27, 2010 event in Dallas. It's being sold without reserve.

CGC has graded the comic Very Fine 8.0. It's one of two in this grade on CGC's census, with none graded higher.

"This is probably the most desirable comic Heritage has ever auctioned," said Lon Allen, Director of Sales for the Comics division of Heritage. "The eye appeal is absolutely outstanding. Most comics from 1939 are smudged, torn, creased, and so on — this one's got really bright colors and looks fresh. It has no restoration which is a major plus as well. We've never handled a copy that's anywhere near this nice."

This amazing book is part of an excellent collection of highly desirable Golden Age known as the Pinnacle Hill Collection. Look for more on the book and the collection in the weeks to come!

If this book doesn't set the record for a price paid for a comic book it will be a bitterly disappointing result. Personally I'll be disappointed if it doesn't crack $500,000.

Put another way, this book is good enough that it should really give us an idea of what the ceiling is for comic book sales. If this sells for the $500,000 it deserves then all the talk of seven figures for the Allentown Detective 27 and the Church Action #1 become that much more realistic. If it fails to break that level, then maybe we have to set our sights a little lower.

(And Happy Thanksgiving for those of you in the States)

Scoop is reporting that Doug sold a CGC VF/NM Hulk #1 for $100,000. With all of these Marvel keys getting into six figures my head is starting to spin.

Behold, the glory:

$100,000 Club

The new book is the ridiculous Amazing Spider-Man #5 that sold for 97k at ComicLink and there's new data on the following books:

1. Hulk #1 9.2
2. Batman #1 8.0
3. Amazing Fantasy #15 8.5
4. Marvel Comics #1 8.0 Larson

From the "better late than never" department, the latest Heritage auction produced two new official members of the $100,000 club.

The The Incredible Hulk #1 CGC NM- 9.2 sold for  $125,475.00 and the Amazing Fantasy #15 Biljo White Copy (Marvel, 1962) CGC VF+ 8.5 sold for $104,562.50.

Now I just need to update the actual list…

Oh, look, another list. This one is based off of a Google search I saw, so there's at least one person out there wondering what the most valuable slabbed books are. As always, I want to hear feedback on these books. Is there anything I missed? How would you rank them? Please feel free to share in the comments.

(more…)

Mound City:

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As reported previously…

CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS #2 CGC 9.2 NM- Classic Hitler c

Winning bid: US $103,099.00 Seller: filter81 ( 491 )

Description:

Up for bidding is perhaps the single nicest comic book I've ever had the pleasure of being able to offer for sale on eBay!!! For sale in this auction is a Captain America Comics 2 CGC 9.2 NM-!!!!!! Captain America 2 was published in 1941 and features a classic Hitler cover.

This comic was just recently discovered as part of an original owner collection in rural Connecticut. The story behind this book is almost as unlikely as the book itself. It began with a late night phone call with the gracious and friendly seller of a small group of 80 original owner comics in Litchfield County, Connecticut. The young man was selling the books for his uncle, who purchased all of them on the newsstand in the same general area. Sitting untouched, unbagged, and unboarded for almost 70 years this freak of nature somehow managed to survive in Newsstand fresh shape for decades!! As most Timely collectors know, Captain America 2 is easily one of the toughest Timelys to find in high grade, and at 9.2 this comic is the nicest copy that has ever been graded by CGC by a wide margin!!!

Overstreet guide value for this comic in 9.2 is $29,000. However, you can pretty much throw guide value out the window for a book like this! This book is simply going to be worth whatever the highest bidder is willing to pay. In this grade, this book is virtually one-of-a-kind and its very possible that a nicer copy will never be offered for sale!!

With this book being so unique, it is tough to find any sales to compare it to. NO CGC graded issues of Captain America below issue #7 have ever sold publicly in a grade of 9.2 or higher. A Superman 2 CGC 9.2 (a book from the same time period with a similar guide value, but with an inferior cover and more availability in high grade) sold for $54,625 in CGC 9.2 in 2006. (And would likely sell for considerably more than that today!)

This comic is without a doubt one of the best investments available in the comic book industry. This book is Impossible to find in grade, and is a highly desirable Timely with a classic cover. High grade Timelys such as this one consistantly increase in the guide at a rate of 10%-15% per year. And with an Avengers movie and a Captain America movie (taking place in the Golden age – WW II era) due out over the next several years, this already in demand book is going to get even hotter in the coming months. If I had purchased this collection by myself and this book was 100% mine to do what I wanted with, there is absolutely no chance I'd even think of putting it up for sale!!

With that said, this book is being listed at a starting bid of 99 cents with NO RESERVE! So someone will be winning this book! Here is a once-in-a-life time opportunity for the average collector to have a chance at a book that would typically never make it to the open market! Time payments are available for this book IF the winning bidder contacts me to set something up PRIOR to the auction ending.

Good luck and have fun bidding.

And the GORGEOUS book

Seriously, where do we go from there? What on earth can eBay do to follow that up?

Go Filter81!

CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS #2 CGC 9.2 NM- Classic Hitler c

That's the second highest price paid for a comic on eBay, ever.

One of the interesting things about running a site is seeing the searches that people enter into Google in order to arrive at my door. Sometimes they're interesting. Other times they're goofy. Looking over the list this week, I thought it might be interesting to share some of those questions and actually answer them directly.

This ought to be fun.

What is the most valuable comic book?

This is an easy one, but it's also a very common query, so I figure I ought to give it an official answer.

In general terms , it's Action Comics #1, the first appearance of Superman. The Mile High/Edgar Church copy is the finest copy in existence and is the most valuable comic book in the world.

How do you know if a comic book is valuable?

Have you seen this man outside your house with a bag of money?

How about this man?

Yes? Then your book is worth big bucks

Failing that, most comics are actually worthless.

There are exceptions. If your comic book is from the 30s, 40s, 50s or 60s it's got a much better chance of being valuable- but even then you might be sitting on a worthless piece of crap.

If it's from one of those decades and features a character you've seen in a movie, you might be onto something. From there it's all about condition, the specific issue and overall demand for that character/title.

Are modern comic books good investments?

Compared to what? Bear Stearns?

Okay, okay… There are certainly some books that have increased in value rapidly over the past few years, but most comics are worth less than cover price. Will that change over the years? It's possible. Bulls say: The print runs now are smaller than they've been in a long time, so any key comics released now will be that much harder to find in 20 years. Bears say: Those lower print runs might just be the death knell of the monthly pamphlet. What would that do to the value of new comics over the next 10-15 years?

Best Amazing Fantasy 15 in existence?

The best we know of is the CGC 9.6 copy. I personally wouldn't be surprised if there's an even nicer copy than that out there somewhere.

Maybe I'll be the guy to uncover it.

I can dream can't I?

I know, it'll be one of these guys.

How much is an Alf comic book worth?

Nothing? Probably. Still, a CGC 9.8 copy did manage to sell for $29, so there's some hope.

How to sell high grade comics

Check with Bob first?

Seriously? If you've got a really nice collection you might want to contact one of the usual suspects, to ask about consignment opportunities:

• Heritage
• Comic Connect
• ComicLink

If you'd like to meet someone local to get a better sense of what you've got, you can actually send me an email and I'll see if I know someone local to you who knows what's what.

Most valuable non-superhero comics?

Tough question…

According to the Overstreet Guide the top book is Detective #1 with a VF value of $70,000. From what I can tell the Denver copy is the best, having sold for $90,000 a few years ago, so that might be the most valuable single issue.

The CGC 9.4 Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #1 sold for $116,512.50 at Heritage, so that's another option. As of right now it's the record holder for a non-hero book.

To my mind, another option is the Mile High/Edgar Church Pep 22. Although… is that a superhero book? I guess it is, technically, even though no one is buying it for The Shield (t's the first appearance of Archie Andrews, for those of you unfamiliar with the book)

The Mile High Archie #1, then? Maybe.

I told you this was a tough question.