The Official September Heritage Auction Thread 2 2

[Garry Ghoul]

THE MOKF by Gene Day at $1920! Movie effect?

Powell's Witches Tales at $1560! Pre code horror page recognition!

[grapeape]

8 hours ago, romitaman said:

This Avengers 52 splash just sold this past week..LOL

Not surprised Mike. It’s a crazy market but super fun. Not for the weak of heart.

 

[grapeape]

Who the hell bought this? Sealed Pokémon Box Set Sells for World-Record $198,000   I mean c'mon man! You could've bought the Elias Chamber of Chills 19 cover and had $24k leftover for a nice frame!!! Good Grief  

 

Comic Art News: Sold-Out Comics & Comic Art Auction Brings $9.5 Million at Heritage Auctions

 

A milestone masterpiece painted by a legend. An early-days version of a familiar video-game title. A boxed collection of gaming cards sold for a world-record amount. Hundreds of comic book covers and interiors and other original pieces penciled by comers and legends alike. And a parade of titles stretching from the comic book’s infancy to its dynamic, evocative modern day.

That and so much more was offered during Heritage Auctions’ four-day Comics & Comic Artevent, which ran Sept. 10-13. And when the auction came to an end, the total prize realized was as awesome as the assortment presented: $9,509,226.
Just as remarkable was the number of bidders who placed bids for this auction via the Dallas-based auction house’s website throughout the event: almost 4,400.
“Of the 1,074 lots offered in the sale, not a single one went unsold,” said James Halperin, Co-Founder of Heritage Auctions. “That means we are bringing the right pieces to market at just the right time.”
 

The auction began with Frank Frazetta's painting The Princess of Mars (1970), one of the most identifiable and influential pieces of the artists' storied career, sold Thursday for $1.2 million. It was a remarkable and thrilling kick-off to Heritage Auctions' four-day Comics & Comic Art event.

 

Frazetta's Princess wasn't alone in smashing pre-auction expectations during the event's first session. Lee Elias' now-iconic artwork adorning the cover of Chamber of Chills No. 19 (Harvey, 1953), published in 1953, sold for $174,000 after a spirited round of bidding. That was almost twice its original estimate, and Page 9 from Journey Into Mystery (Marvel, 1968) No. 112 sold for $120,000 — no surprise, given the artists involved (the legendary Jack Kirby and his longtime inker, Chic Stone) and the characters (Hulk and Thor).

And John Buscema and George Klein's splash page for The Avengers (Marvel, 1968) No. 58 sold for $90,000. This piece came but two years after Black Panther's debut in the Jack Kirby-drawn Fantastic Four (Marvel) No. 52 in 1966, and marked the second solo splash featuring T'Challa. Buscema's pose, that of the Panther stalking his prey, would define the character for decades to come, in the comics and on screen as portrayed by the late Chadwick Boseman, felled Aug. 28 after a 4-year battle with colon cancer.

Buyers also snapped up milestone issues: A CGC VG+ 4.5 copy of Superman No. 1 (DC, 1939), sold for $348,000. The issue of Action Comics No. 7 (DC, 1938) that was central to the federal court case involving the copycat Wonder Man (Fox) sold for $204,000. And a copy of The Incredible Hulk (Marvel, 1974) No. 181 graded CGC NM/MT 9.8 realized $49,200.

Sealed Pokémon Box Set Sells for World-Record $198,000

 

A rare sealed Pokémon booster set broke a world record for the set during the first day of the event when it sold for $198,000. The Pokémon First Edition Base Set Sealed Booster Box (Wizards of the Coast, 1999) soared well past its pre-auction estimate of $80,000+ during the advance bidding before the auction's live bidding even began.

"Sets like this one, especially in such extraordinary condition and sealed in shrinkwrap, have become undeniable rarities,” said Jesus Garcia, Assistant Comics & Comic Art Operations Supervisor at Heritage Auctions. "The previous record, of $78,000, at Heritage Auctions was set in was set in February 2019. To see this result – more than doubling the previous mark – just shows the popularity and demand for these cards show no sign of slowing down.”

The first set ever made, this booster box comes from a very low print and includes 396 cards spread through 36 booster packs, each of which contains 11 cards. Because the set is unopened, it is likely that most or all of the cards are in Gem Mint condition.

Additional highlights include but are not limited to: 

• $120,000: The Q-Collection Comic Book Preservation Project a single lot of 700-plus items, the world’s finest comic book preservation project

• $102,000: Batman #1 (DC, 1940) CGC GD+ 2.5

• $96,000: Alex Raymond Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim Sunday Comic Strips Original Art dated 11-19-39 (King Feature, Nov. 19, 1939)

• $90,000: Captain America Comics #1 (Timely, 1941) CGC GD 2.0 

Heritage Auctions’ next Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction is Nov. 19-21, with consignments accepted through Sept. 29. Bidding will open approximately Oct. 30 on HA.com.

[vodou]

5 hours ago, grapeape said:

Who the hell bought this? Sealed Pokémon Box Set Sells for World-Record $198,000   I mean c'mon man! You could've bought the Elias Chamber of Chills 19 cover and had $24k leftover for a nice frame!!! Good Grief  

C'mon...man! Break value. That's a zero for the cover unless you pull out the scissors...a la "game used" trading card inserts

[grapeape]

2 hours ago, vodou said:

C'mon...man! Break value. That's a zero for the cover unless you pull out the scissors...a la "game used" trading card inserts

Hope they at least got a Pikachu card. 

[zhamlau]

On 9/15/2020 at 2:54 AM, grapeape said:

Who the hell bought this? Sealed Pokémon Box Set Sells for World-Record $198,000   I mean c'mon man! You could've bought the Elias Chamber of Chills 19 cover and had $24k leftover for a nice frame!!! Good Grief  

 

I figured blowout cards or Dave and Adams. 

[tth2]

On 9/15/2020 at 2:54 PM, grapeape said:

Who the hell bought this? Sealed Pokémon Box Set Sells for World-Record $198,000 

Maybe it was Schrodinger.

[delekkerste]

5 minutes ago, tth2 said:

Maybe it was Schrodinger.

[Bronty]

2 hours ago, tth2 said:

Maybe it was Schrodinger.

It wasn't hard to see this price coming.   there had been increasingly large 'make an offers' up to 150k made through the HA site leading up to the auction.

I'm not into Pokemon cards but anything Pokemon and collectible right now is on fire.     Its 20+ years old now and very very successful so it shouldn't be too much of a shock.      Partly fuelled by MTG card collectors crossing over and seeing it as the next big thing in cards I think.

For all the talk of demographics applied to comics around here, it shouldn't be too hard to apply that to Pokemon..

Edited September 16, 2020 by Bronty

[ESeffinga]

Comics took decades to get to this point tho. Pokémon took what, an afternoon?

 

[Bronty]

11 minutes ago, ESeffinga said:

Comics took decades to get to this point tho. Pokémon took what, an afternoon?

 

There's always been people collecting it, it was just less newsworthy.    A similar box sold for 75k maybe a year and a half ago.

Money can definitely move faster with electronic trading, that's just how it is today.     Its why a pokemon box can triple in a year and why some garbage dollar bin book can be $100 overnight because of some third tier netflix show announcement.     Or why even a major GA key can double or triple in a year on 'news.'    None of that is the way it used to be, but its not 1995 any more.

And, let's be honest, that increased liquidity has led to increased speculation in all hobbies.    Hear about a netflix show announcement?   Buy 47 copies of the first appearance in a week on the internet.    Don't like that killing joke page?   No problem, sell it in an afternoon.     Tired of that pokemon box?    Dump it and buy something else, etc etc etc ad nauseam.    People aren't tied to their purchases for the length of time they used to be.    People also, on the flip side, have access to purchase items they think will take off in quantities not previously readily available.

The natural result of all that is things are cheap and then explode overnight.    There is no 'slow steady growth' model anymore.    

Edited September 16, 2020 by Bronty

[exitmusicblue]

2 hours ago, Bronty said:

It wasn't hard to see this price coming.   there had been increasingly large 'make an offers' up to 150k made through the HA site leading up to the auction.

I'm not into Pokemon cards but anything Pokemon and collectible right now is on fire.     Its 20+ years old now and very very successful so it shouldn't be too much of a shock.      Partly fuelled by MTG card collectors crossing over and seeing it as the next big thing in cards I think.

For all the talk of demographics applied to comics around here, it shouldn't be too hard to apply that to Pokemon..

Just curious, do you know if the MtG player/collector base is going strong, or stagnant, or on the decline?  Still dabble once in a while...

[Bronty]

36 minutes ago, exitmusicblue said:

Just curious, do you know if the MtG player/collector base is going strong, or stagnant, or on the decline?  Still dabble once in a while...

Prices took a dip about a year ago and have come back this year.    I don't follow it closely but I know that much. 

Lots of people still playing.

[zhamlau]

MTG is still very strong. I go into shops and it’s always a major part of their floor sales. I’ve bought and sold it for years. It’s sad but I used to be a player and collector or Decipher games specifically Star Wars. I also did black border Star Trek. I wish I had put that money all into magic.

[vodou]

6 hours ago, Bronty said:

No problem, sell it in an afternoon. 

That's the best part, not having to sell "whatever" for 30% of retail back to a dealer because there's no other consistent and direct collector network to sell into. Hate on eBay all you want (anybody here) but man, if you've got some "stuff" and need some fast cash to get a new radiator for the car...boom...in and out in a week, right? Likewise chat boards, if you're a bit more patient HA and CLink (er...not so much the others :), FB, etc, tons of ways to access liquidity directly and a deep haircut not necessary either. Good stuff!

[aokartman]

7 hours ago, vodou said:

That's the best part, not having to sell "whatever" for 30% of retail back to a dealer because there's no other consistent and direct collector network to sell into. Hate on eBay all you want (anybody here) but man, if you've got some "stuff" and need some fast cash to get a new radiator for the car...boom...in and out in a week, right? Likewise chat boards, if you're a bit more patient HA and CLink (er...not so much the others :), FB, etc, tons of ways to access liquidity directly and a deep haircut not necessary either. Good stuff!

Yeah, I sold a couple things this week, so I treated myself to the Princess hardcover!  David

 

[BuraddoRun]

On 9/16/2020 at 3:08 PM, zhamlau said:

MTG is still very strong. I go into shops and it’s always a major part of their floor sales. I’ve bought and sold it for years. It’s sad but I used to be a player and collector or Decipher games specifically Star Wars. I also did black border Star Trek. I wish I had put that money all into magic.

Just a fun side note about Magic collectibilty, I recently discovered a thing called artist proofs, which I know exists in other forms, but for Magic, this means a card with a blank back that is given to the artists who do the original art for them. The standard number that is given for each card is usually only 50 copies. In the past, they were meant as sort of giveaways or business cards, but it became a thing where artists would do original sketches or even mini paintings on them and sell (or give) them to fans. Anyhow, I have a small number of these proofs since I've been expanding my original art interests. Here's one I got from Douglas Shuler, one of the artists for the original set, on the back of a Force of Nature.

As for Pokemon, Magic is still the top CCG, but Pokemon is 2nd and still has a strong following worldwide. It may not seem it, but the card game has been out for almost 25 years now, and the franchise longer. I see expensive auctions for cards a lot, so $200K for a sealed box doesn't surprise me. Anything that is popular with a large group of people will have its share of fans willing to drop top $$$ on rare memorabilia.

Edited September 19, 2020 by BuraddoRun

[vodou]

3 hours ago, BuraddoRun said:

Anything that is popular with a large group of people will have its share of fans willing to drop top $$$ on rare memorabilia.

It's so weird, the blind-spot people have on this obvious truism. @Bronty and I tend to fall on one side (your side here @BuraddoRun) but many of the vocal posters here and in other hobbies I've been involved with the last 30 years..."their" hobby makes perfect sense, dropping six figures = duh, of course. But "the other guy's hobby" = completely stupid, any amount of money over pocket change, and when it gets to real money (six figures, for example) I think they can only see "what" could be bought in "their" hobby with the same money (opportunity cost) not the intrinsic "hobby value" to that "other hobby". Human psychology...so fun! (and weird!!) So fun!!!

[ShallowDan]

On 9/19/2020 at 7:05 AM, vodou said:

It's so weird, the blind-spot people have on this obvious truism. @Bronty and I tend to fall on one side (your side here @BuraddoRun) but many of the vocal posters here and in other hobbies I've been involved with the last 30 years..."their" hobby makes perfect sense, dropping six figures = duh, of course. But "the other guy's hobby" = completely stupid, any amount of money over pocket change, and when it gets to real money (six figures, for example) I think they can only see "what" could be bought in "their" hobby with the same money (opportunity cost) not the intrinsic "hobby value" to that "other hobby". Human psychology...so fun! (and weird!!) So fun!!!

So much truth packed into this post.  I saw this play out during July's Heritage auction, when I was drinking with a friend and bidding on one of the Herriman Krazy Kat strips that were up for grabs.  As I was showing him some past auction results to give him an idea of where I thought it would end up, my buddy who is a watch collector, was dumbfounded that anyone would bid that much on what is just a piece of paper with some drawings on it, when you can get xxxx (insert whatever watch he was talking about) for the same amount of money...

 15-20 minutes later, I casually ask him what time is it.  He reaches for his phone to check and I follow up with "why would you spend that much money on a watch you don't even use, when the same amount of money would buy a one-of-kind Herriman original Sunday strip that's almost a hundred years old...". 

[Will_K]

16 minutes ago, ShallowDan said:

He reaches for his phone to check and I follow up with "why would you spend that much money on a watch you don't even use, when the same amount of money would buy a one-of-kind Herriman original Sunday strip that's almost a hundred years old...". 

In the mid 90's I worked with a guy that was a budding audiophile.  He had what I would guess is a good beginner "high-end" set up totaling over $10,000.  Which included pre-owned components.  He had a CD collection that was well into the 1000's.  One time, I drove him to pick up a component.  The sales guy wanted to show us these pricey wooden "shun mook" disks (about a couple inches in diameter) that (while standing on end) would affect the sound of the stereo.  And he was looking to getting to vinyl (the ultimate).  Any way a few years ago, I asked him if he ever plays the stereo system.  No, not really.  But he'll play it for curious guests.  I asked what how he listens to music now.  Well, his phone.  I get that the phone is portable while the stereo isn't but still...