What it the Edgar Church Mile High collection waited 40 more years to be found? 1 1

[thehumantorch]

7 hours ago, EC ed said:

Exactly. It's tough to consider the counterfactual. My understanding is that the discovery of the collection and subsequent handling by Chuck basically ushered in the idea of pricing "over guide"...well, if the collection hadn't unfolded when it did, all these years later it's possible that "pricing over guide" would still be a foreign concept. So, if the collection was discovered today, I don't think it would be worth what it is "worth" now, because the valuation dynamics we have today would not be in place to the same degree. It's easy to underestimate how much the current state of the hobby - pricing multiples, pedigree valuation, etc. - was fundamentally altered by that discovery 40 years ago.

If the Mile High collection hadn't come to market I'd imagine another pedigree quality collection would have eventually come along and pricing over guide would have occurred but it may have taken a while.  Makes me wonder if there was another collection as nice as the Mile High that was  tossed out before the Mile High was discovered.  If so this discussion could be about that collection.

[Cocomonkey]

I feel like it would be almost impossible to say, given how much the growth of the hobby was shaped/influenced by the find. It's like asking what if Superman was only introduced today? It's impossible to answer it, because what we have today is built largely on that...

[1Cool]

Based on the ask price for the last couple collections of drek I looked at, the lady would have demanded 10 Billion for that collection today.

[Timely]

14 hours ago, James J Johnson said:

What if it was found today, in 2018, in this current market, rather than in the 1977 marketplace?

What would the approx. total value be of the 20,000 or so books from that trove?

Guessing with an average value of $2000 each & with 20,000 of them I'd say $40,000,000.00.    Sure, the Action #1 is worth $8,000,000 by itself, but there are still a LOT of comics that would sell for only $100 or less.

[Ken Aldred]

IIRC, wasn’t there a lot of water damage to other parts of Church’s hoard, including some non- comics material?

40 years is a long time to assume that optimum preservative conditions could be persistently sustained, and it’s perfectly possible that the comics could’ve suffered considerable damage in the interim period, and would no longer be the superb specimens we know them as today.

If Chuck had still been the discoverer then there’d be a silver lining as, even with water staining or mould damage, the books would still grade NM on his website.

Edited July 19, 2018 by Ken Aldred

[Robot Man]

20 hours ago, mosconi said:

Always loved this picture of Chuckie. He looks so glum. He just won the lottery and he's probably thinking. "What am I going to do with all these funny books?", "My wife is going to kick my rear for bringing home all these books" or "How am I going to pay back that $2,000.?"

By, the way, it's great that this photo exists as well as one other one I've seen. The one I wish existed is one of when they opened the "closet" door. All those books in their un-disturbed state placed there by Edgar...

Edited July 19, 2018 by Robot Man

[Shawnismaximus]

Are there any other stories of gigantic finds like this? I loved reading about this. 

 

Also, I feel like if someone found that collection nowadays everyone on the internet would call them a horrible person for 'ripping that person off'. 

If someone is dumb enough to sell something for way less then it's worth that's all on them in my opinion. 

Edited July 19, 2018 by Shawnismaximus

[Robot Man]

43 minutes ago, Shawnismaximus said:

Are there any other stories of gigantic finds like this? I loved reading about this. 

 

Also, I feel like if someone found that collection nowadays everyone on the internet would call them a horrible person for 'ripping that person off'. 

If someone is dumb enough to sell something for way less then it's worth that's all on them in my opinion. 

There are many. Check out this site. Wonderful reading

http://comicpedigrees.com/pedigree-criteria.php

People have said that about Chuck ever since he found the collection. I doubt he cares much as would be the same for most of us. 

By the way, I prefer not to call someone "dumb" who does this. I think "lazy" is a better word. 

[DavidTheDavid]

14 hours ago, thehumantorch said:

If the Mile High collection hadn't come to market I'd imagine another pedigree quality collection would have eventually come along and pricing over guide would have occurred but it may have taken a while.  Makes me wonder if there was another collection as nice as the Mile High that was  tossed out before the Mile High was discovered.  If so this discussion could be about that collection.

What followed Mile High? I've never considered the order of these coming to light. Of course, some came to light in that a dealer acquired them, maybe moved a few, but sat on the bulk of them.

[justafan]

to answer the OP''s original question assuming they were immaculately preserved and the family knows that comics are valuable, I think it would be an all out slugfest between the Heritage, Clink, Metropolis, Pedigree, ebay, and amazon buying agents, other big-Time dealers, and celebs/billionaires. I could see Heritage offering 1% or less seller commissions + 50%off cgc grading fees to net those huge buyer premiums. I could see Metropolis coming in and just trying to buy them outright for a HUGE lump sum. Doug vs Vinnie in a death match for the Action.

and when they did go to auction the Dentist, Nick Cage, and a Saudi Royal Prince would duke it out in a bidding war.

 

I think Mile High would have folded up shop years ago without his this find.

[JollyComics]

25 minutes ago, justafan said:

to answer the OP''s original question assuming they were immaculately preserved and the family knows that comics are valuable, I think it would be an all out slugfest between the Heritage, Clink, Metropolis, Pedigree, ebay, and amazon buying agents, other big-Time dealers, and celebs/billionaires. I could see Heritage offering 1% or less seller commissions + 50%off cgc grading fees to net those huge buyer premiums. I could see Metropolis coming in and just trying to buy them outright for a HUGE lump sum. Doug vs Vinnie in a death match for the Action.

and when they did go to auction the Dentist, Nick Cage, and a Saudi Royal Prince would duke it out in a bidding war.

 

I think Mile High would have folded up shop years ago without his this find.

Or NEVER!

[01TheDude]

OK-- let's say you have a time machine. Just for this example, let's say you don't start by going back and killing Hitler (classic time machine "to do" list item).  Not that you don't kill Hitler to avoid ruining those great 1940's covers because then the Caps comics get made. Anyway-- I digress-- you have a time machine. You travel back to about 3 years before they sell the house, bring along your copy of the 2000 sports almanac, and win a series of bets to turn your money into something of a small fortune. You bank most of this in several savings accounts but have the rest available to deal with the relatives of Edgar Church. When they have to deal with cleaning out the house to sell it-- you offer to buy the whole place as is-- lock stock and barrel for whatever they were thinking of for a price with it cleaned up. Seeing that they are getting their price without any effort-- you now own that house and the contents -- and only you know what you really have at this point.

What do you do next? Personally-- I would start by photographing the exact state of the interior-- all the walls, piles of books, the infamous cabinet-- treat it sort of like an archeological find. I would then carefully assemble the collection and put it in some form of protective devices (bags or whatever it takes.

Bear in mind-- there are so many other useful things you could do if there was a time machine involved but let's just focus on this collection and how best to exploit/conserve it.

As a final slap in the face-- I might offer that Red Raven book to Chuck, at a price $1 above guide.

[justafan]

8 hours ago, 01TheDude said:

OK-- let's say you have a time machine. Just for this example, let's say you don't start by going back and killing Hitler (classic time machine "to do" list item).  Not that you don't kill Hitler to avoid ruining those great 1940's covers because then the Caps comics get made. Anyway-- I digress-- you have a time machine. You travel back to about 3 years before they sell the house, bring along your copy of the 2000 sports almanac, and win a series of bets to turn your money into something of a small fortune. You bank most of this in several savings accounts but have the rest available to deal with the relatives of Edgar Church. When they have to deal with cleaning out the house to sell it-- you offer to buy the whole place as is-- lock stock and barrel for whatever they were thinking of for a price with it cleaned up. Seeing that they are getting their price without any effort-- you now own that house and the contents -- and only you know what you really have at this point.

What do you do next? Personally-- I would start by photographing the exact state of the interior-- all the walls, piles of books, the infamous cabinet-- treat it sort of like an archeological find. I would then carefully assemble the collection and put it in some form of protective devices (bags or whatever it takes.

Bear in mind-- there are so many other useful things you could do if there was a time machine involved but let's just focus on this collection and how best to exploit/conserve it.

As a final slap in the face-- I might offer that Red Raven book to Chuck, at a price $1 above guide.

no need to stress the details of what else you should do with a time machine because you can always go back and do those things anyway.

since you're 50 years away from the inception of cgc you'd probably want to return to the present with those comics to have graded. if that's not an option you would need to carefully store those comics then travel fwd in time to retrieve them, get them graded, then sell.

though over the years you would need to sell the ones that peak based on demand and popularity.

of course you'd never be safe from someone else predating you with another time machine possibly erasing you from existence.

 

[mosconi]

On ‎7‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 12:19 PM, Robot Man said:

Always loved this picture of Chuckie. He looks so glum. He just won the lottery and he's probably thinking. "What am I going to do with all these funny books?", "My wife is going to kick my rear for bringing home all these books" or "How am I going to pay back that $2,000.?"

By, the way, it's great that this photo exists as well as one other one I've seen. The one I wish existed is one of when they opened the "closet" door. All those books in their un-disturbed state placed there by Edgar...

Here's another photo I found.  Appears to have been taken at the same time:

[ygogolak]

On 7/19/2018 at 8:51 AM, 1Cool said:

Based on the ask price for the last couple collections of drek I looked at, the lady would have demanded 10 Billion for that collection today.

Well, did you buy them?

[EastEnd1]

Interesting that the collection was found roughly 30--35 years after publication... just like finding a hoard of pristine comics from 1983!!

[ADAMANTIUM]

2 hours ago, EastEnd1 said:

Interesting that the collection was found roughly 30--35 years after publication... just like finding a hoard of pristine comics from 1983!!

I agree that would be 

Oh and Welcome to the Boards! 

[porcupine48]

2 minutes ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

I agree that would be 

Oh and Welcome to the Boards! 

You're supposed to be a jerk after you win the forumite trophy Adamant.Ask oakman  

[ADAMANTIUM]

3 minutes ago, porcupine48 said:

7 minutes ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

I agree that would be 

Oh and Welcome to the Boards! 

You're supposed to be a jerk after you win the forumite trophy Adamant.Ask oakman  

 If I can find my name in the phone book, I'll be happy  

[Ken Aldred]

2 hours ago, EastEnd1 said:

Interesting that the collection was found roughly 30--35 years after publication... just like finding a hoard of pristine comics from 1983!!

Problem is, there are far too many hoards of pristine comics from 1983. 

WTTB !