A copy of Action Comics #1, the first appearance of Superman which revolutionized the industry, in almost perfect condition has sold on eBay for for $3,207,852, shattering the previous record price of $2.16 million set in 2011 by Nicholas Cage’s famously purloined copy.
It is the first comic to pass the three million dollar mark. The buyers are Metropolis/ComicConnect, renown vintage comic dealers who in fact sold the Cage copy. It is not known if they were acquiring it for a private collector or for themselves., shattering the previous record price of $2.16 million set in 2011 by Nicholas Cage’s famously purloined copy. It is the first comic to pass the three million dollar mark. The buyers are Metropolis/ComicConnect, renown vintage comic dealers who in fact sold the Cage copy. It is not known if they were acquiring it for a private collector or for themselves. Its condition is so astonishing that the first dealer who got his hands on it thought it might be a later reissue he didn’t know about. He had never seen a copy that was so flat with such white pages. The reason it was in such impeccable condition was that the while the first owner bought it for 10 cents from the newsstand in 1938 like 200,000 other people did, unlike most everyone else he lived at fairly high altitude in the Blue Ridge Mountains of West Virginia and when he finished reading it, he put the comic in a cedar chest where it remained virtually untouched for four decades. The cool, dark, dry environment of the cedar chest froze time for this comic. - - The History BlogPosted by gerardvanderleun at August 24, 2014 10:06 PM
I like the guy that "fights to the finish" 'cause he eats his spinach better than some alien. Oh well, each his own I reckon.
Hmm, three mil, uh? wouldn't want, line the chicken coop with one of them.
Posted by: chasmatic at August 25, 2014 5:59 AM"....the first dealer who got his hands on it...."
More than likely no one has put a greasy hand on it for quite some time. Nothing but white gloves from here on out.
Posted by: ghostsniper at August 25, 2014 6:48 AM"A fool and his money..."
Where's the line? At what point does this become ludicrous, stupid, anti-social (how many starving fill-in-the-blank will this..), etc, etc, etc? The price of a good meal, a nice coat, a dining room set, a decent car, a once-in-a-lifetime vacation, a small house, a large house, a mansion...?
Like Justice Potter Stuart, I know it when I see it, and THIS qualifies.
Posted by: bud at August 25, 2014 1:21 PMSpeaking as someone who carefully placed copies of a number of famous issue number ones into mylar bags; Spider-man, Fantastic Four, Thunder Agents...etc. All during my youth and at or close to cover price. Only to have most lost to a thieving friend or in the house fire. I read them, and i enjoyed them. It was fun.
Now, explain the salaries of Sports Stars and Hip-Hop artists?
Posted by: John the River at August 25, 2014 2:09 PMNicholas Cage?
Posted by: Rob De Witt at August 25, 2014 7:39 PMThey weren't in mylar bags (hell, there was no such thing then), but my comic book collection had Issues 1-8 of Captain Marvel. My mother, as punishment for missing the honor roll, threw them in the garbage in 1965.
Ebay arose before her passing, and my revenge was to show her comic book pricing for those issues (in the hundreds then) in their used Grade 2 condition.
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