Comic Book Resources

I dunno…if I’m gonna buy this on eBay, I’d rather buy it from someone who has, I dunno, 100% feedback. I’d also like it to be someone who is upfront about ALL the details on it from the beginning of the listing – it looks like he had to be ASKED to show interior photos. Take a look at the amount of information in the original listing details, then look at the details he adds later on…some of it is pretty big, and I think would change his “VG” status down a bit.

Also, if his listing details of “2008 Overstreet top guide up $75K to $675K” are any indication, something tells me this guy is looking for at least $400K.

I can’t speak to the condition or what the comic is worth, but good luck finding someone on eBay with 100% feedback and over 4000 transactions. He might be overcharging but I sincerely doubt it’s a scam.

Yeah, 99.8% positive feedback with 4000 transactions is damned near immaculate. People will sometimes leave negative feedback over the most petty things, and even regardless of that, no person can please everyone.

eBay seems like an odd place for it, especially given the buyer requirements. I’d think Heritage Auctions would be a better fit.

Mostly, though, my inner Scrooge is appalled at the idea of spending that much money on a back issue, even if it is THE back issue. I have my collector-twitch OCD moments, but the most I’ve ever spent on a comic book back issue was $18, and it was a gift for my wife (one of the old Dale Hale-ghosted Peanuts comics from Dell.) The most I ever spent on ANY book was $160 for the 1922 original hardcover edition of Kabumpo in Oz, and that was only because it was my birthday and Julie was egging me on to do it and I’d just had a big freelance windfall. And Art the dealer has an almost irresistible sales presence, as documented here.

But even those times I felt stupid and guilty for weeks afterward. The idea of blowing more than I make in five years on a 64-page comic book is something I can’t get my head around. If that much money were to fall into our laps as a lump sum, it would change our lives. Choosing between that and a comic book — even the one that’s “the Holy Grail” — to me that seems crazy.

Sunday at noon (Toronto time), at the price is $93,900. Note “Reserve not met.” I wonder what silver_age_comics has in mind.

This is one of those things about comics fans that I’ve never understood. Who the hell would want this comic that much? Personally I buy comics to read them. If for any reason I wanted to read Action Comics 1 (which I don’t), I would guess there’s no shortage of collections that I could buy. What exactly is the advantage of owning the story in its original format?

I generally agree with those sentiments Cestrian, but I’ll admit there’s something special about owning an original. The historical importance alone is hard to overstate. It’s like having the original of a famous piece of art or historical document rather than a poster or a facsimile.

But, again, I wouldn’t even consider it unless I could swim in my fortune like Scrooge McDuck.

I should add that the comment above only applies to landmark issues rather than ordinary back issues (for me, anyway). I’d trade just about all of those for reprint collections any day.

Cestrian:

I’d say that it’s about owning a piece of history. It’s easy to get a reprint of Action #1, but to have a copy of the comic that has had such an impact on popular culture as this one has is, to many people, irresistible. It’s similar to (though on a much smaller scale) having an original work by Picasso or Van Gogh (yes, I know that there were many copies of Action as opposed to only one canvas of a masterpiece). It gives people some sense of being attached to immortality.

It’s also, unfortunately, a symbol of wealth and status, of the ability to have something most people would be unable to obtain. You or I might not ever be inclined to spend such a ridiculous amount of money on a comic, but if you met someone who had it, you’d probably want to have a look, and that’s where the satisfaction lies for the owner.

And I should point out that, while I was typing at my normal glacial rate, Rich expressed the same idea better and more concisely than I did.

Actually, this seller is known to launder bad comics from another bad seller (who has been kicked off eBay) and also uses shills in his auctions.

If I were the buyer, I’d take the non-paying bidder notification and thank his lucky stars.

I see the “slow down” page is still here. Erf!

Thread drift, re Greg B’s post: I remember back in ’86 or so when I started getting into collecting (not just reading), seeing ads from Mile High and/or other big houses listing VF Hulk 181 for $15 and thinking that was an outrageous price for one comic book. Now…

Greg H., that’s what I feel like spending $3 on most comic books. I’ve bought enough stuff for a quarter to feel like a sucker shelling out 12 times that much for a new comic!

The auction’s over, and the winning bid of $94,000 still didn’t meet the reserve. The seller was looking for six figures, probably mid-six figures.

And the seller is a real store in Queens. It’s not a very good store, to be honest, but there’s no reason to think that he’s trying to defraud anyone. He just had REALLY high hopes for this sale.

Never buy a $200k from a seller that spells “hasn’t” as “hasen’t.”

this is so fake….look at the bid history all the bidders look like the are not real….who offer that type of shipping for a book of such value. Why is it not store better? Many other things can be pointed other!!!!!!!!
Beware

Annoyed Grunt! (The interjection, not the poster by that name). It was Greg H not Greg B. When I got that slow down page I had to recreate my post and didn’t look back up to see which Greg it was. Apologies. Also I agree with Dan Felty.

If the seller would pay to have it graded he could easily make a lot more. Unless the book has problems he’s not showing…