Heritage's Next Event Auction has started posting books ! 31 31

[lou_fine]

On 8/1/2019 at 9:57 AM, Gotham Kid said:

On 8/1/2019 at 9:56 AM, lou_fine said:

TMNT #1 9.8 at $75K

friends don't let friends bid drunk ...

Well, obviously he wasn't as drunk as the other guy who bidded it all the way up to $90K.  

This clearly brings back memories of me talking to the owner of a LCS shop in the suburbs out here.  He asked me if I would be interested in ordering either a copy of the Dark Knight limited signed and number edition for $40 or a copy of this TMNT #1 from the publisher for $300 which he had already just ordered for another one of his customers.  Being your typical know nothing Modern day comic collector at the time, I was all into Miller and agreed to order a copy of the Dark Knight from him.  Especially after taking a peek at the sample artwork for TMNT which he had and thinking to myself, why in the world would I pay $300 for this horrid looking piece of crapola artwork when I probably wouldn't even touch it for $3.00  

Fast forward almost 25 years and it looks like I would be lucky to fetch even $4 for the Miller "not so limited" DK hardcover edition and yet the TMNT is almost fetching 6 figures here.  

[Ricksneatstuff]

1 hour ago, lou_fine said:

Since you seem to be a fine connoisseur in this end of the market and have been for awhile now, are you aware of any potential high grade copies of this book that might grade into the 9's or thereabouts that could blow past these current highest CGC 7.5 graded copies?  

Seems to be quite a few of relatively low grade to mi-grade copies of this book in the census, but still no truly HG copy to this current point in time after virtually 20 long years of slabbing.  I wonder how much longer we will have to wait for a HG copy of this L.B. Cole classic cover book to make its appearance in the marketplace?  

I’ve only heard about one higher raw but I’m sure there are more. If a 9.2 was graded and popped up at auction next month that would be something to watch.  

[lou_fine]

1 minute ago, Ricksneatstuff said:

I’ve only heard about one higher raw but I’m sure there are more. If a 9.2 was graded and popped up at auction next month that would be something to watch.  

Would this be the Church copy by reputation or some other HG non-pedigree copy that is still locked away in a private collection?  

[Crowzilla]

8 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

To me, SS 4 is a far better cover than PL 17... I'm probably in the minority on both counts, though. 

Agreed. The layout and execution on SS4 is better - plus it doesn't make my wife's eyes roll like it does when she looks at my PL17.

I know this book has gone crazy the last few years, but I believe it still has a ways to go.

[Ricksneatstuff]

1 minute ago, lou_fine said:

Would this be the Church copy by reputation or some other HG non-pedigree copy that is still locked away in a private collection?  

Another high grade but still only 8.0-8.5, but I’ve not seen it myself. 

[lou_fine]

51 minutes ago, Crowzilla said:

8 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

To me, SS 4 is a far better cover than PL 17... I'm probably in the minority on both counts, though. 

Agreed. The layout and execution on SS4 is better - plus it doesn't make my wife's eyes roll like it does when she looks at my PL17.

I know this book has gone crazy the last few years, but I believe it still has a ways to go.

God, I really MUST take a much closer look at a copy of this book here, espeically since you've been around for so long ever since the Sleeper days of CBM.  

I clearly have always had the PL 17 cover tattooed into my mind from Overstreet's neverending constant focus on this book, even though I personally prefer the cover image to PL23 myself.  Well okay, probably after doing a cost benefit analysis considering the once much cheaper cost of PL 23 relative to the always uber expensive PL 17.  

Being the contratian that I am, I have always preferred the Seven Seas 6 cover with its nice blend of flowing colors to the Seven Seas 4 myself.  As a result, after acquring uber HG copies of both SS 1 and SS 2, I made a clear decision to look for a nice copy of SS 6 for my personal collection.  After contacting a few dealers, I was relegated to a nice copy of SS 4 which I decided to accept in the interim with the clear intention of acquiring the SS 6 eventually.  Well, 25 years later, I now have a relatively high grade set of all of them, except for the SS 6 which always seem to be past my price point.  

Obvously, the Seven Seas 4 must have been an insignificant book at the time because I don't even remember who I got it from or how much I had paid for it.  For sure it must have been well under $500 or else I would definitely remember paying that kind of money for an almost foregettable book at the time.  I guess sometimes you just get lucky and things happen to swing in your favor.  Go figure that!!!    

Edited August 3, 2019 by lou_fine

[skybolt]

9 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

To me, SS 4 is a far better cover than PL 17. I actually prefer Kamen's cover to PL 23 to PL 17. I'm probably in the minority on both counts, though. 

You really can't go wrong with the top 20 to 25 GGA covers. I can certainly see collectors choosing covers like Brenda Starr #14, Startling #49, Blue Beetle #54, etc. as their favorite.

[skybolt]

9 hours ago, lou_fine said:

I certainly wished this was true, but I highly doubt it since I do happen to have a nice copy of SS 4 in my own personal collection.  

I believe one of the main reasons for the current large disparity in the census count between PL 17 and the seeming scarcity of SS 4 is due to the simple fact that PL 17 has always been a hot classic cover book ever since the 70's.  Definitely not the same situation with the Seven Seas 4 which appears to be one of the new hot fad GGA cover books that has gained popularity recently.  

Maybe Seven Seas 4 will narrow the census gap a bit as time goes on, especially now that collectors are starting to see the value of the book.  

I disagree to a certain extent. Ever since I started collecting GGA books back in 2003, Sevens Seas #4 has consistently been one of the top 5 most saught after GGA covers. I literaly spent 5 years searching for a copy, while willing to pay 2 to 3 times FMV but the book hardly ever showed up for sale.

Edited August 3, 2019 by skybolt

[lou_fine]

29 minutes ago, skybolt said:

9 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

To me, SS 4 is a far better cover than PL 17. I actually prefer Kamen's cover to PL 23 to PL 17. I'm probably in the minority on both counts, though. 

You really can't go wrong with the top 20 to 25 GGA covers. I can certainly see collectors choosing covers like Brenda Starr #14, Startling #49, Blue Beetle #54, etc. as their favorite.

Well, again being the contrarian that I am, I've always much preferred the Blue Beetle 52 over the much more highly acknowledged classic BB 54 cover myself. 

I've always loved the bright blue, green, and red color combinations on Blue Beetle 52.  

[tth2]

3 hours ago, lou_fine said:

I guess it sort of depends on which books you are talking about.

Based upon the initial low bidding that was taking place on these 2 not so in favor type of books, I was expecting the final results to also be on the low side:

 

Yet, both of these rather nice looking and superb HG copies were still able to fetch multiples to top of guide.  

But the Terry and the Pirates sold at a lower price than it did last time on Heritage.

[Crowzilla]

11 hours ago, lou_fine said:

Well, again being the contrarian that I am, I've always much preferred the Blue Beetle 52 over the much more highly acknowledged classic BB 54 cover myself. 

I've always loved the bright blue, green, and red color combinations on Blue Beetle 52.  

Me too.

Not only do I like that 52 actually shows the title character, but the 54 cover always bothered me in its execution, the reflection doesn't match the image in front of the mirror at all. It's really pretty pedestrian compared to many Fox/Fiction House books of the time. Never understood why it guides for multiples of the 52.

[lou_fine]

4 hours ago, skybolt said:

I disagree to a certain extent. Ever since I started collecting GGA books back in 2003, Sevens Seas #4 has consistently been one of the top 5 most saught after GGA covers. I literaly spent 5 years searching for a copy, while willing to pay 2 to 3 times FMV but the book hardly ever showed up for sale.

Well, it looks like PL 17 has SS 4 beat by about 25 years then since I remember PL 17 already being flagged and singled out in the Overstreet guide as far back as the mid to late 70's.

I guess I was lucky in being able to stumble my way onto my copy of Seven Seas 4 back in the mid 90's when it was still below everybody's radar.  

[lou_fine]

23 hours ago, tth2 said:

On 8/2/2019 at 5:42 PM, lou_fine said:

Yet, both of these rather nice looking and superb HG copies were still able to fetch multiples to top of guide.  

But the Terry and the Pirates sold at a lower price than it did last time on Heritage.

Haven't you learned that the past is the past and there's no time like the present?  

Actually, it looks like you are right on here since the book sold for $6,572.50 on HA back in November of 2017 and then resold again for $6,600 a full year later in November of 2018.  

Looks like the consignor must have lost some serious coin on this book here from a percentage point of view as it managed to fetch only $5,160 in this most recent go-round.  

Edited August 4, 2019 by lou_fine

[Mr. Lady Luck]

Any fellow boardies here win the Church copies of Tessie #1 or Tessie #8? If so, mega-congratulations!

[Bronty]

4 hours ago, Crowzilla said:

Me too.

Not only do I like that 52 actually shows the title character, but the 54 cover always bothered me in its execution, the reflection doesn't match the image in front of the mirror at all. It's really pretty pedestrian compared to many Fox/Fiction House books of the time. Never understood why it guides for multiples of the 52.

but - but - but ... she's practically nekkid!! 

Just boils down to the amount of skin on the cover.

I never thought much of 54 either.

[skybolt]

5 hours ago, lou_fine said:

Well, it looks like PL 17 has SS 4 beat by about 25 years then since I remember PL 17 already being flagged and singled out in the Overstreet guide as far back as the mid to late 70's.

I guess I was lucky in being able to stumble my way onto my copy of Seven Seas 4 back in the mid 90's when it was still below everybody's radar.  

It's awesome that you've kept the book all these years. 

[telerites]

2 hours ago, skybolt said:

It's awesome that you've kept the book all these years. 

You have been scarce here.  Glad to see your post and hope you'll be back more 

[adamstrange]

12 hours ago, Crowzilla said:

Me too.

Not only do I like that 52 actually shows the title character, but the 54 cover always bothered me in its execution, the reflection doesn't match the image in front of the mirror at all. It's really pretty pedestrian compared to many Fox/Fiction House books of the time. Never understood why it guides for multiples of the 52.

The 54 cover is based on a clever concept with the idea that the artist was trying to put something past the censors to provide a little fan service.  It also has a better color design than 52. 

The best artistry doesn't always result in the greatest popularity.

Edited August 3, 2019 by adamstrange

[Mmehdy]

strong auction over 9 million in sales. The secret is out on cap one...anything over 750K, I think I predicted like 777K or something like that breaks the 3/4 of a million barrier and 915K is outstanding considering the whole world knows that the late JV has a 9.8 copy which I think based on this sale would crack 1.5 million.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

32 minutes ago, Mmehdy said:

strong auction over 9 million in sales. The secret is out on cap one...anything over 750K, I think I predicted like 777K or something like that breaks the 3/4 of a million barrier and 915K is outstanding considering the whole world knows that the late JV has a 9.8 copy which I think based on this sale would crack 1.5 million.

I sat next to his kids at the live auction, and they applauded, as did we all, when the hammer came down