ComicLink June 2011 Focused Auction
The ComicLink Focused Featured Auction has just ended. Of the top 50 sales 45 were Marvel while 4 were DC and there was one Warren Magazine Vamperella #1 (a CGC 9.4 that sold for $2,117.00).
Of the top 50 sales 43 were Silver Age comics while the remaining 7 were Bronze Age. The most expensive book was an Avengers #1 CGC 9.0 that finished at $25,750.00.
There were some interesting results, let’s dive in.
Star Wars #1, 35 cent Variant, Marvel Comics, (July/1977) Graded by CGC at 9.6 with White pages sold for $21,805.00 on ComicLink on June 30th. Overstreet price guide value for this comic at 9.2 is $2,500.00.
This ended up being the second biggest sale of the auction. Had the book matched the price the last CGC 9.6 fetched back in 2009 it would have been in 1st spot. There are only 2 CGC 9.6 copies.
This book has become one of those “must have’s” for many serious collectors. Guys, this is a price variant! Star Wars #1 was a mass print movie adaptation that ran a few extra copies at a different sticker price. There are no major 1st appearances; the grade is nothing special for a 1977 comic. Yes, Star Wars has legs and this was a successful adaptation that eventually helped deliver Star Wars material to fans in the years between the trilogies but the 30 cent version served this purpose just fine.
I know I’m off here are the market is speaking (A CGC 9.4 copy recently got $10,000) but I don’t see good long term things for this book. Advantage Seller.
Captain America #118, Marvel Comics (October/1969) Graded by CGC at 9.6 with Off White to White pages sold for $850.00 on ComicLink on June 28th. Overstreet price guide value for this comic at 9.2 is $75.00.
Wow, over 11 times 9.2 Guide value, that’s quite the price! Yet the last tracked sale of this book back in 2009 fetched over $2000!
This book is trading way too high. Cap #118 features the second appearance of the Falcon. I looked at the census and of the 59 Universally graded so far 8 are at 9.6 or better so that’s 13.6%. Compare that to Cap #117 (Falcon’s 1st appearance and a must have) where only 7% of the 228 submissions get a 9.6 or better. So obviously there are just as many Cap #118s as there are #117s (cheaper book so not as many have been sent down, yet) and at 13.6% there would be 31 copies out there at 9.6 or better.
The Captain America movie due this summer has increased interest in Cap and the recent passing away of Cap #118 artist Gene Colan were factors that I feel artificially propped this result up. Advantage Seller.
Not Brand Echh #1, Marvel Comics (August/1967) Graded by CGC at 9.4 with White pages sold on ComicLink for $400.00 on June 27th. Overstreet price guide value for this comic at 9.2 is $105.00.
Am I allowed to say ‘I told you so’, come on, you have to allow me to say ‘I told you so’.
This book has traded frequently which at least a dozen changing hands over the last couple of years with most selling between the $100 to $200 price range. These books of course were trading before I posted my Undervalued Spotlight #85. It’s obvious that at least 2 savvy investors read the post with approval.
My concern here is the drastic spike in price. I would have preferred a more modest increase to the $300 plateau. Advantage Seller.
Fantastic Four #4, Marvel Comics, (May/1962) Graded by CGC at 5.5 with Off White pages sold for $727.00 on ComicLink on June 29th. Overstreet price guide value for this comic at 5.5 is $968.00.
Man am I ever steamed at this auction! I threw my bit in at $777 with 10 seconds left on this auction. Turns out I was not logged on!! Took me 11 seconds to log back on but by the time I got back to the auction it had ended!!
Anyway, I really like FF #4. Avengers #4 is really getting all the glory these days. Yes I know that Captain America is all the rage but not only did Marvel revive Sub-Mariner a full 2 years before they revived Captain America, Timely Comics (the old Marvel) introduced Sub-Mariner almost 2 years before they introduced Cap (Oct/1939 vs Mar/1941). Subby was Marvel’s 1st superhero!
The last CGC 5.5 Avengers #4 sold for just under $700. They’re getting the same price! Consider that there are only 34 CGC 5.5 FF #4s and only 162 better graded copies and then consider that there are 82 CGC 5.5 Avengers #4s and 568 better graded copies.
OK so I know that Cap is a bigger property that Sub-Mariner is, for now at least but I still think the FF #4 revival of Sub-Mariner will rise once again. Advantage Buyer.
That was a great ComicLink auction with some very interesting results.
Oh, by the way, I bid $30 for a CGC 9.8 copy of X-Force #2 (putting my money where my mouth is) but there was a $30 max bid set already and I was outbid. I thought of going to $35 but luckily the auction times out, phewf!
