CGC Celebrates Massive Comic Book Collection with Special SRP Apex Collection Label

For generations, the Prosje family in Ontario, Canada, has passed down their love of collecting, eventually amassing one of the largest and most impressive comic book collections ever found, with nearly 850,000 comics. Certified Guaranty Company® (CGC®) has recognized their achievement with a new label celebrating the SRP Apex Collection.

The collection began many years ago with Russ Prosje and Carol Anne Prosje, who shared their passion with their two children, Sean and Jennifer, building entire runs of Fantastic Four and The Amazing Spider-Man to give to their children someday. With two generations of comics filling their 30,000 square foot RV dealership shop, Sean and his wife, Tamarah Prosje, began selling them, and that led to a family business that now includes Sean’s own children, Alyssa and Xander.

“Comic books were things my father started being conversant with from a young age,” said Alyssa. “A man of refined taste and a knack for all things high-quality, my great-grandfather had amassed a treasure trove of Golden Age and Silver Age comic books. These comics, most in near-mint condition, were more than just printed stories; they were relics that belonged to early times. Also passionate about this medium, my dad’s father showed him how awesome superheroes could be and made him fall in love with the characters and the narratives around them. This mutual adoration for comics cemented their bond, and soon he was completely enthralled by the idea of collecting these rare volumes.”

Click images to enlarge.

After the passing of Sean’s grandfather, Sean was left with an inheritance unlike any other: vintage comic books, many in mint condition and still unopened, from the 1930s to the early 2000s. Many of the books are in excellent condition, and from just one submission of 100 books, CGC certified 86 of them with a 9.8 grade.

Sean said he has been offered $7 million for the entire collection, but he said it’s worth much more than that.

“I didn’t know these books could be worth so much,” Sean said. “We needed to come up with $50,000 to pay for an environmental dig on a new property we bought, and all I did was sell one of my Avengers books, and there were nine copies of Avengers #1 in there. I guess my dad (Russ Prosje) had bought these things when they came out and put them all away.”

Recognizing the importance and provenance of his comics, CGC offered to create a special provenance label that would forever mark the books as part of a historic and highly respected collection. The label, called The SRP Apex Collection (named for Sean Russell Prosje) is a testament to the years of dedication, passion and meticulous care that went into building this collection and features the family with historic references to the collection and its history. Only books authenticated as belonging to this important collection can receive the SRP Apex Collection label from CGC Comics.

Sean and Tamarah's private showroom in their home. Click image to enlarge.

Some of the vintage comics in the SRP Apex Collection include:

• Action Comics #25
• Batman #36
• Daredevil #1
• Fantastic Four #1
• Fantastic Four #5
• Hop Along Cassidy #1
• Silver Surfer #1
• Sub-Mariner Timely Comics #4
• Superman #6
• Superman #9
• Wonder Woman #5
• X-Men #1

“The SRP Apex Collection is more than just a collection of books; it is a legacy that will be passed down to future generations, ensuring that the stories and characters that have captivated so many will continue to inspire and motivate,” Alyssa said. “With CGC certifying and encapsulating much of this legacy collection, the history will be forever properly preserved long after we are gone. CGC was the only choice for my father; the world’s leading grading company with the largest high-quality collection in the world only made sense.”

Click images to enlarge.

Sean and Tamarah started selling some of them on Whatnot.com under the profile “Comiccavecanada” and quickly became a well-known figure in the comic book collecting community, selling 50,000 raw books on Whatnot in only a year and a half. He became so popular that he was asked to join Gemstone Publishing as an Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide Advisor. He is now an authorized CGC Dealer and he has documented his family’s collectibles journey on his YouTube channel, Caveman Collectibles.

Sean will be selling comics from The SRP Apex Collection, featuring the CGC provenance label, through an exclusive agreement with Goldin Auctions, in a sale that is expected to be the largest collection of CGC 9.8 comics to date. The raw books are also still available on Whatnot.

About CGC

Since revolutionizing comic book grading in 2000, CGC has grown to include certification services for a vast variety of pop culture collectibles. These divisions include CGC Cards, CGC Video Games and CGC Home Video. CGC Cards provides expert card grading for TCGs, sports cards and non-sports cards. CGC Video Games is dedicated to video game grading for the most popular consoles, including Nintendo, Sega, Atari, PlayStation and more. The newest division of CGC, CGC Home Video, provides expert VHS grading in addition to other types of home media, including Betamax tapes, DVDs and Blu-ray discs.

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