What's In Your Attic?

[Archive]

Posted By: bruce Dorskind

A near-mint copy of Detective Comics No. 27, a pre-World War II comic featuring Batman's debut, was recently found in an attic and sold to a local collector.

The comic is considered to be the second-most valuable available and can fetch up to $500,000. The only comic considered more valuable is Action Comics No. 1, in which Superman makes his first appearance.

Collector Todd McDevitt said the Batman issue he bought is worth about $250,000, but he won't say exactly how much he paid or who sold it to him.

"It was a typical story of someone cleaning up junk in their attic and finding an old comic book and wondering if this was one of those ones that was worth a lot of money," McDevitt told the Beaver County Times.

McDevitt, owner of the Pittsburgh region's five New Dimension Comics stores, said he has been saving money since 1986 so that he could buy a valuable comic when it appeared.

When the seller walked in with the Batman issue, "my eyes almost popped out of my head," McDevitt said.

"I guess I should have been more reserved, but I'm not a very good poker player," he said.

Experts estimate there are between 20 and a few hundred copies of the Batman debut.

McDevitt's comic now sits safely in an airtight bag in a bank vault. On occasion, he takes it out to show friends and customers.

"I've been toying with the idea of reading it, but I haven't yet," he said. "I'm going to savor it."

[Archive]

Posted By: Darren

Found a shoebox packed with 50's and 60's topps in an ex-girlfriend's grand mother's house in the late 80's. Ex to better condition highlighted by 2 1956 topps mantles.

[Archive]

Posted By: Ralph

Tons of goodies including non-sport items such as the Star Trek Commander play set,includes the Transponder that spins & the red buttom makes them disappear while the blue one makes them reappear plus some old cards,Hey I even found a Flower

[Archive]

Posted By: martindl

I'm envious of those of you that live in older towns and cities. I live on the outskirts of Atlanta and everything around me if from the late sixties, so very little in the way of goodies to be found at garage/tag sales, etc.

As far as my attic goes - I can vouch for a bunch of squirrel crap and a host of moth balls used to clear the buggers away.

[Archive]

Posted By: Tom Boblitt

scratchy pink insulation and stale air.........

[Archive]

Posted By: Al C.risafulli

Unfortunately all the stuff that's in my attic is stuff I put there myself.

Oh, well.

-Al

[Archive]

Posted By: Paul S

...my father was a cartoonist, dating back to the Golden Era of animation, so I naturally ended up with a lot of his own work plus the works of others. Some of this work ended up being cartoons that are well known, or the artists themselves went on to have revered names. That market is very similar to baseball cards.

BTW -- the all-too-cutesy picture I use here by my login name is actually cropped from the title card of a Paramount/Famous Studios cartoon my father did the animation design for, titled Abner the Baseball (1960-61). Probably some of you here might have seen it. It used to show up in reruns here and there. Abner is an anthropomorphic baseball character who describes Mantle's supposedly "longest home run." Berra is depicted too. Script was adapted/written from a routine by a long-ago comedian named Eddie Lawrence.

[Archive]

Posted By: judson hamlin

Does a dessicated mouse count?

[Archive]

Posted By: jeffdrum

Toys...........Toys................Toys........... .....

[Archive]

Posted By: Anonymous

but a few weeks ago I picked up roughly a third of someone's LP collection (about 200) left by the curb by someone moving out. Since it was alphabetically arranged, I managed to pick up roughly S-T and J-N. Most are in excellent playing condition and were collected by someone with decidedly southern tastes with a few exceptions (60s and 70s). There are albums by Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter, Hank Williams and Hank Williams, Jr., Steve Goodman, ZZ Top, Mad River, Porter Wagoner, Rossington Collins Band and Lynnrd Skynnrd, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Chad Mitchell Trio, Bill Harrell and the Virginians (bluegrass), Three Dog Night, lots Willie and Waylon, Delbert McClinton, Taj Mahal, Marshall Tucker Band, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Tom Waits, The Persuasions, The Spinners, Martha and the Vandellas, Sex Pistols, Nick Lowe, Tanya Tucker, both James and Livingston Taylor, Toe Fat, Pat Travers, Link Wray, Robert Gordon, Ernest Tubb, Dolly Parton, Ethel Merman, etc.

I've been busy dubbing them onto CD-Rs,and so far I think I've burned my way through over half of them.

[Archive]

Posted By: Jason Silvey

I think I'll hide a couple of boxes of 1990 Donruss in my attic in the hopes that they become the future T206s. Maybe the Juan Gonzalez reverse negative will be the future Magie error. Some collector will rejoice as he/she finds stacks of Delino Deshields and Marquis Grissom rookies. Or not.

[Archive]

Posted By: Ed Ivey

I found some old Archie comic digests and a few 1973 topps.

And a petrified Whopper Jr. with cheese, I think.

edited to add: I don't actually have an attic.

[Archive]

Posted By: Max Weder

Interesting find. I am tempted to ask what the purchase price was. Something a little south of $250,000, I would guess.

As for my attic, it is our master bedroom. I'm still looking for a misplaced Boston Store Heilman card (a 2 year seach), so maybe it has ended up in the attic.

[Archive]

Posted By: Rick McQuillan

A T206 Wagner, PSA 8

[Archive]

Posted By: Marty Ogelvie

My mom and dads current home belonged to my grandmother and her mom and dad before her.  I have seen many pictures of my great-grandfather but never did he have a pipe or cigarette in hand.  : (

I do not know the attic contents but I do know it has not been pilferred. I do know that someday me and my siblings will get this home willed to us. I only want the attic contents they can have the rest.

martyOgelvie
nyyankeecards.com

[Archive]

Posted By: Steve Murray

Don't you visit your parents? Get you *** over there and check it out!!

[Archive]

Posted By: Marty Ogelvie

I do visit my parents often.

They just recently purchased the home from my grandmother.  I just haven't crawled up in the attic yet.. soon enough.

martyOgelvie
nyyankeecards.com

[Archive]

Posted By: Jay

A painting of me that keeps aging

[Archive]

Posted By: davidcycle

I live in a 18 year old condo and don't have an attic, but I can ask if my upstairs neighbor if she has any cards.

[Archive]

Posted By: Bob

When we moved last year all cards were accounted for except a Fatima White Sox which had been slabbed SGC 50 at the National in Chicago. I am going to have to check the attic for it after reading this thread...

[Archive]

Posted By: Jason

from various periods throughout history, asking me to switch my credit card balance over to Capital One.

It's very annoying...they're very loud.


Oh yes, shortly after moving in, I went up to look around and found a stack of old-looking 4-card strips lying next to an industrial paper cutter, a loupe, and a pile of top loaders. It looks as though whoever was working them had left abruptly, as though they were interrupted. The stack contains some T206s, some 1952 Topps, and then some containing a Lajoie card that I don't see too often.

[Archive]

Posted By: Dan Bretta

I only found this painting....

[Archive]

Posted By: Brian Weisner

Hi Dan,
I'll take it.... Even though I find him disgusting, I just can't look away.... Be well Brian



PS I'm paraphrasing, so that Barry can correct me. Smile.....

[Archive]

Posted By: Dan Bretta

GIDDYUP!

[Archive]

Posted By: barrysloate

Brian- I was trying to remember the buyer's exact words but I couldn't. I just recall he had to have it.

Kramer then was invited to their home for dinner, where he regaled them with adventures while displaying rather poor table manners.

[Archive]

Posted By: Tom Boblitt

like he found it 'repulsive' but he couldn't look away......

[Archive]

Posted By: barrysloate

That was one of two episodes where George found himself bamboozled into buying worthless art he didn't want (the other being the painting of triangles he bought in "The Junior Mint" episode).

Mulva...Gipple...Gloriola?

[Archive]

Posted By: Brian Weisner

Deloris......

[Archive]

Posted By: Kyle

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/14312461/detail.html

[Archive]

Posted By: jeremy

i keep my children in the attic

[Archive]

Posted By: leon

Stuff that should be thrown away and rat poop.....We built the house so the only thing in the walls are probably some food wrappers from the workers (I really don't want to know everything) and insulation...

[Archive]

Posted By: peter chao

Kyle,

Thanks for the follow-up article, Mr. Eide who saw the comic book before McDevitt has offered a $1000 for an independent evaluation of the comic. Now Mr. Eide says the comic is too brittle to have such an evaluation done. Do you think that's a valid excuse? If so why, if not why?

Our house is new and we've never even used the attic.

Peter C.

Edited to add: My opinion is it's McDevitt's comic, if it's too much of a hassle to obtain an indpdt. expert's opinion that's his right. The counter-argument is that if the comic is brittle now, it will be even more brittle in the future. If you want to protect a future owner of the comic book, then now is the time to get an expert's opinion.

[Archive]

Posted By: Dan Koteles

bodies

[Archive]

Posted By: Jason L

planning on stashing some of your collection in your attic or walls for future discoveries after you are long gone?

[Archive]

Posted By: peter chao

Since we are discussing attics, here's a tough trivia question. Did attics or basements come first? And here's a follow-up question, what did people originally put in their attic? And what did people originally put in the basement?

Peter C.

[Archive]

Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Dude, are you for real?

[Archive]

Posted By: barrysloate

You know one man's ceiling is another man's floor.

See Peter, now I have no clue what your last post was about. Is it a goof, or a real question?

[Archive]

Posted By: leon

Unfortunately Barry...I think it's a real question.....I don't know what to say....

Peter C- c'mon...ya' know I take up for you a lot but you have to quit with those kinds of questions on the board........It isn't trivia night unless it's about what we are here to discuss..

[Archive]

Posted By: Kevin Saucier

"And what did people originally put in the basement?"


Attorneys who asked strange questions.