Okay, Okay, Certainly ego must have come into play as it’s the only reason I can come up with for someone willing to pay over 16 times “guide” for a mid-grade comic. That CGC graded copy of Journey Into Fear # 15 received a 6.0. Yes, it was used in Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent, but the guide noted and considered it when it came up with a value of $126 for a copy of this issue in “Fine”. SOTI issues do command a premium, but there are many out there. This past week, someone paid $2,075.69 for one. Why? Because it currently occupies the position of being the only copy that CGC has given a grade above 5.5. Granted, it is now the ‘finest known copy’ and that is worth a bump, but there’s plenty of room, grade-wise, for other owners of this comic to decide to submit their copy to CGC and claim that distinction. Had it been a 9.8, that’s another story! The chances of it being dethroned would be quite small – you know, like that copy of the Free Comic Book Day edition of BuzzBoy hanging on the wall by the front door. Yep, it’s one of only two 9.8’s that CGC has ever given out for that comic – none higher! (then again, none lower either, as I was the only person to ever submit them to CGC. Our good buddy, John Gallagher, creator of BuzzBoy, was kind enough include a 5 page arc featuring the first appearance of Captain Blue Hen. Yes, it’s true – check the label!)
Much more understandable is the record busting price recently paid for a copy of Batman #1 – 2.22 Million dollars! Only the 3.2 million dollars paid for a 9.0 graded copy of Action Comics #1 in 2014 beats it for the highest ever paid for a comic book. This copy was an unrestored 9.4 – not likely to be beaten. The CGC census shows about 272 copies of Batman #1 with less than half being unrestored. Of course, it’s possible some of those were cracked open and resubmitted by owners hoping for a better result. Should an unrestored 9.4 copy of Detective 27 show up, I’d expect that figure to be blown out of the water.
Record breaking prices are not just occurring in the comic book corner of the collectibles market. Remember that 2009 Mike Trout card going for over 3 million recently? Yes, 2009, and higher than the holy grail Honus Wagner card! Well, a PSA 9 Micky Mantle rookie card just went for $5.2 million! And, according to the PSA census, there are three 10’s out there that have never been publicly auctioned, with estimates of one bringing anywhere from 10 -20 million if it did!
Still into Pokemon? A test print card brought $360,000
Now this one I can’t put my finger on at all. As mentioned before, I follow the seller ‘blissard’ on eBay (he’s the seller who got the big money for the Journey Into Fear 15 above). Last week, a slabbed first page only from Amazing Spider-Man #1 went for $565 (single pages get a “NG” grade), but astonishingly, a copy Of Star Wars #1 (not the 35 cents version!) raw, with a seller’s opinion of being a VF-, sold for ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS! Huh? What? Why? This makes NO sense!
Gotta go – grandchildren are arriving shortly and my day’s work begins. STAY SAFE and get vaccinated when it’s your turn!
Paul
Create an Account
Sign In
