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Bodnar’s Auction House Pulls DC Comics Bound Volumes From Sale
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Bodnar’s Auction House Pulls DC Comics Bound Volumes From Sale

Posted on February 6, 2020 | by Rich Johnston 

Yesterday, we reported that Bodnar’s Auction House of New Jersey would be auctioning off a major part of DC Comics history on February 8th.97 catalogue bound colume collections of comics spanning the history of DC Comicd, that was originally part of the National Publications/DC Comics archive. But we also raised concern about their provenance, as there were no records of any of the volumes having been sold – but that some had been stolen over the years. Even so, 97 of the volumes was still a massive hoard. Well, after we ran the article, DC Comics got in touch and now Bodnar’s has pulled the items for sale – though they are still proceeding with the large Massachusetts comics collection sale on Saturday in New Jersey, which was separate to this. The owner told Bleeding Cool

 

The books were found in an attic in Staten Island, NY. The owner passed in 2007 and the 67 year old widow found them this past year cleaning out her late husband’s hoards. It is not clear how he obtain them and would be hesitant to say they were stolen. Once I have more information I would give an interview. The online portion of the sale will be taken down later today.

Our February 8, 2020 auction Catalog portion of the sale is being canceled until further notice. It has been brought to our attention that there could be question to who has proper ownership of the collection of 97 volumes of bounded comics marked Library National Periodical Publications, Inc in the sale. We are working with DC to investigate who has proper ownership and authority to sell this collection. Once we have clarification, we will release our findings. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause to buyers who planned on attending the auction however we take great pride to be a leader in the auction industry and we at Bodnar’s want to do the right thing for all parties involved.

ONLY THE 97 CATALOG LOTS HAVE BEEN CANCELED! The rest of our Comic Book Sale is on as planned. This sale will now begin at 12 noon.

Edited by I am not Glenda
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Strange that the auction house didn’t investigate the provenance before announcing the auction.  DC is clearly still in business.  Did the auction house not wonder how this widow’s dearly departed husband acquired these volumes?

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Funny thing is had one of the members on the board had bought this collection odds are nothing would have come of it and the volumes would have been sold with very little national fanfare ( no harm no foul) It seems like the media attention  tipped off DC and I would think they got there lawyers on it asap.

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12 hours ago, I am not Glenda said:

Bodnar’s Auction House Pulls DC Comics Bound Volumes From Sale

Posted on February 6, 2020 | by Rich Johnston 

Yesterday, we reported that Bodnar’s Auction House of New Jersey would be auctioning off a major part of DC Comics history on February 8th.97 catalogue bound colume collections of comics spanning the history of DC Comicd, that was originally part of the National Publications/DC Comics archive. But we also raised concern about their provenance, as there were no records of any of the volumes having been sold – but that some had been stolen over the years. Even so, 97 of the volumes was still a massive hoard. Well, after we ran the article, DC Comics got in touch and now Bodnar’s has pulled the items for sale – though they are still proceeding with the large Massachusetts comics collection sale on Saturday in New Jersey, which was separate to this. The owner told Bleeding Cool

 

The books were found in an attic in Staten Island, NY. The owner passed in 2007 and the 67 year old widow found them this past year cleaning out her late husband’s hoards. It is not clear how he obtain them and would be hesitant to say they were stolen. Once I have more information I would give an interview. The online portion of the sale will be taken down later today.

Our February 8, 2020 auction Catalog portion of the sale is being canceled until further notice. It has been brought to our attention that there could be question to who has proper ownership of the collection of 97 volumes of bounded comics marked Library National Periodical Publications, Inc in the sale. We are working with DC to investigate who has proper ownership and authority to sell this collection. Once we have clarification, we will release our findings. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause to buyers who planned on attending the auction however we take great pride to be a leader in the auction industry and we at Bodnar’s want to do the right thing for all parties involved.

ONLY THE 97 CATALOG LOTS HAVE BEEN CANCELED! The rest of our Comic Book Sale is on as planned. This sale will now begin at 12 noon.

How much value would a DC Provenance add to this collection. As opposed to it being  bound volume from an OO ?  What are the guesses? 

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IMHO I don't think the DC connection adds more than 10/20% But really I have no idea It could have a HUGE impact depending on the volume and the buyer reason for wanting to own them as they are so rare, historic and unique I am no expert on these ( who is?). I have a funny feeling these are going back to DC unless the old lady can provide some proof they were purchased and not stolen? On a side note over the past decade I have seen Volume primarily that included covers start to get a lot more respect in the hobby as the cost to try and complete runs on early GA have gone ballistic. I am actually surprised the TEC 27 volume is still not sold on Ebay. I passed on similar Tec volume for 10k early 2000s ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Edited by I am not Glenda
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16 minutes ago, I am not Glenda said:

IMHO I don't think the DC connection adds more than 10/20% But really I have no idea It could have a HUGE impact depending on the volume and the buyer reason for wanting to own them as they are so rare, historic and unique I am no expert on these ( who is?). I have a funny feeling these are going back to DC unless the old lady can provide some proof they were purchased and not stolen? On a side note over the past decade I have seen Volume primarily that included covers start to get a lot more respect in the hobby as the cost to try and complete runs on early GA have gone ballistic. I am actually surprised the TEC 27 volume is still not sold on Ebay. I passed on similar Tec volume for 10k early 2000s ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

The Tec 27 volume in the bay is a beautiful thing ......

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7 minutes ago, Chicago Boy said:

The Tec 27 volume in the bay is a beautiful thing ......

Does the fact all the edges are trimmed affect the pages that much? I guess so since it was listed at $150K best offer, and has now been dropped to $97K best offer, and still no sale.

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Just now, LDarkseid1 said:

Does the fact all the edges are trimmed affect the pages that much? I guess so since it was listed at $150K best offer, and has now been dropped to $97K best offer, and still no sale.

The fact that it’s part of a band volume, the trimming would make sense and I do not consider that restoration. What might be holding it back is that not all the Tec 27 pages are there, but I believe there is a good portion of them. I don’t remember him ever having it listed at 150 —he’s a Boardie —But I did think he had it listed at one time north of 100 K. Personally, I think it’s a fantastic piece to keep as is and certainly worth what he’s askingBut I did think he had it listed at one time north of 100 K. Personally, I think it’s a fantastic piece to keep as is and certainly worth what he’s asking

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23 minutes ago, Chicago Boy said:

The fact that it’s part of a band volume, the trimming would make sense and I do not consider that restoration. What might be holding it back is that not all the Tec 27 pages are there, but I believe there is a good portion of them. I don’t remember him ever having it listed at 150 —he’s a Boardie —But I did think he had it listed at one time north of 100 K. Personally, I think it’s a fantastic piece to keep as is and certainly worth what he’s askingBut I did think he had it listed at one time north of 100 K. Personally, I think it’s a fantastic piece to keep as is and certainly worth what he’s asking

CGC would still consider it restoration though right? And yeah it was listed at around $147K not long ago.

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26 minutes ago, Chicago Boy said:

On a related note, I know of three Tec 27 copies that were owned by DC. One of which I still believe is in their possession. Here’s a picture from People magazine on the 80th anniversary of The Bat 

9714AF13-879C-4196-9971-F8F157D825BF.jpeg

Damn, that's a nice cabinet of books! <3 That coverless Tec 27 looks like the one Danielle sold at auction a year or two ago.

Edited by LDarkseid1
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36 minutes ago, LDarkseid1 said:

CGC would still consider it restoration though right? And yeah it was listed at around $147K not long ago.

Restoration implies addition, repair or removal of foreign contaminants, not subtraction from the actual book itself (my opinion). 

Trimming probably deserves it’s own classification since it involves the eradication of some part of a complete comic.  Nevertheless, trimming as part of the process of binding comics into hardcover volumes perhaps deserves a different designation since it transforms individual comics into chapters of a larger format book.  

Hardcover books can’t be encapsulated much less given a label (unless individual issues are removed, then those comic books would be subject to the same grading criteria as other encapsulated comics).

The missing component in analyzing the stature of bound volumes of comics is intent.  If a publisher has this done as part of a reference library, then each volume should have enhanced value as part of a unique internally published work approved for filing purposes.  

I’m not basing this conclusion on any established third party grading criteria or even how collectors debate the efficacy of bound volumes, but rather my personal views on the subject and the application of common sense.  Others mileage may vary.

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16 minutes ago, Cat-Man_America said:

Restoration implies addition, repair or removal of foreign contaminants, not subtraction from the actual book itself (my opinion). 

Trimming probably deserves it’s own classification since it involves the eradication of some part of a complete comic.  Nevertheless, trimming as part of the process of binding comics into hardcover volumes perhaps deserves a different designation since it transforms individual comics into chapters of a larger format book.  

Hardcover books can’t be encapsulated much less given a label (unless individual issues are removed, then those comic books would be subject to the same grading criteria as other encapsulated comics).

The missing component in analyzing the stature of bound volumes of comics is intent.  If a publisher has this done as part of a reference library, then each volume should have enhanced value as part of a unique internally published work approved for filing purposes.  

I’m not basing this conclusion on any established third party grading criteria or even how collectors debate the efficacy of bound volumes, but rather my personal views on the subject and the application of common sense.  Others mileage may vary.

Definitely interesting perspectives, and yeah, maybe trimming should be it's own thing. As far as the book goes, I guess I just look at it from the notion that if I removed those pages from the book, then at the end of the day they are trimmed/restored pages, nothing more, nothing less. From what I've always seen, trimmed anything turns into a serious devaluation, whether page or full comic. So figuring out what to buy this book for would seem somewhat daunting to me lol.

However, I agree with you and wouldn't deny there's more of a historical element to a bound volume, assuming it's kept together and sold like that. So I definitely can understand the added significance/importance of it and that maybe it should be treated differently as a whole.

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