ComicLink May Auction
The May Featured auction has just ended on ComicLink. Many collectors on the net are alarmed at the dropping prices. Let’s have a look at some results.
Batman #1, DC Comics, (Spring/40)
Graded by CGC at 9.0 with Off White pages sold for $315,000.00 on ComicLink on May 25th. Overstreet price guide value for this comic at 9.0 is $141,000.00. This is a great result. Well over 2 times guide for a 9.0 Golden Age book (that’s not a Detective #27 or an Action #1) is very strong indeed. The result is a bit overshadowed by the million dollar sales realized this year for the Action #1 and Detective #27, and rightfully so. I’ve always liked Batman #1 vs. Superman #1 because Batman #1 gave us the Joker and Catwoman. Highest graded copy. Advantage buyer.
Detective Comics #2, DC Comics (4/37)
Graded by CGC at 9.0 with Off White pages sold for $65,000.00 on ComicLink on May 25th. Overstreet price guide value for this comic at 9.0 would be approx $30,000.00 if you use the splits for issues #4 – 10 as templates. Throw the book out for this one. This is the Mile High copy of Detective Comics #2 folks. Pre-Batman Detectives are a very prestigious collecting focus. This is where the big boys play! The white cover is stunning; this is what you’d imagine Mile High comics would look like. Looking at this I can’t even imagine what was going through Chuck Rozanski’s (found the Mile High Pedigree collection) head when he was looking at boxes and boxes filled with comics like this one, wow. Advantage buyer.
Batman #3, DC Comics (Fall/40)
Graded by CGC at 9.0 with Off White pages sold for $7,489.00 on ComicLink on May 25th. Overstreet price guide value for this comic at 9.0 is $$11,899.00. This result had some collecting forums buzzing. Here you have an early Batman issue that features the first costumed villainess (Catwoman), the first Puppet Master, a classic Golden Age cover and a black cover in high grade. All this in one comic book and it only gets 63% of guide? I would not hit the panic button. An auction is an auction and some results will always seem out of whack whether they be too much or too little. There were a lot of good Golden Age books in this auction and this copy may have been overlooked for some of the better comics available. Advantage buyer.
Incredible Hulk #181, Marvel Comics (11/74)
Graded by CGC at 9.6 with White pages sold on ComicLink for $4,052.00 on May 26th. Overstreet price guide value for this comic at 9.2 is $1,450.00. There are now 140 Universal Label CGC 9.6 copies of the Incredible Hulk #181 on the Census. That’s a lot of copies and the book is traded quite heavily. I think the book has done a great job keeping its value (last year it traded above $5000 but according to the GP Analysis site at least 30 more 9.6 copies have been added to the census). I think the bulk of nice Hulk 181s have been slabbed and barring some warehouse find the book should stabilize close to $4000.00. Advantage buyer.
X-Men #1, Marvel Comics (9/63)
Graded by CGC at 9.4 with Off White pages sold on ComicLink for $105,521.00 on May 27th. Overstreet price guide value for this comic at 9.2 is $22,000.00. Next to the Batman #1 this was the most watched book of the auction. There was speculation that the book would not top $100,000.00 (like the precious 2 sales had done). This was a tough test for the book and it passed with flying colors. There are only 7 CGC 9.4s and only 3 copies exist better than 9.4. I’m still going with the fact that the disconnect between these X-Men and the ones we know today will one day hurt this book. Advantage seller.
Archie Comics #1, MLJ Pub. (Winter/42)
Graded by CGC at 3.0 with Off White pages sold on ComicLink for $9,100.00 on May 25th. Overstreet price guide value for this comic at 3.0 is $3,150.00. OK, this book has 3 pieces of tape on the inside cover and it has 2 extra staples (not from the factory) and it still sells for almost 3 times guide? The fact that it has a blue CGC label is a topic for debate but this sale just shows you how much collecting appeal Archie has. I think a Pep #22 (Archie’s first appearance) would have done even better. Advantage seller.
Amazing Fantasy #15, Marvel Comics (8/62)
Graded by CGC at 6.0 with Cream to Off White pages sold on ComicLink for $13,517.00 on May 25th. Overstreet price guide value for this comic at 6.0 is $7,200.00. Amazing Fantasy #15s peaked in price early last year (a 6.0 fetched over $18k last year). The crazy prices woke people up to the fact that ‘hey, I have a solid copy of AF #15 in the basement, I think I’ll get is graded”. A year’s worth of that has populated the census with a few more solid copies of AF #15 thus forcing the trading price a bit down. Almost double guide for a 6.0 is still an impressive price though. Amazing Fantasy #15 should be in the top 5 of any list of comic books to own for investment so I think the price should stabilize around here. Advantage buyer.
A solid auction with some very good results and some nice bargains to boot.
Walter Durajlija is an Overstreet Price Guide Advisor and Shuster Award winner. He owns Big B Comics in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
