For those who fear the demise of the collectibles market may be near...

[danc]

Talking to a few comic book people, they believe that this sale is in fact legitimate.

This is the nicest copy of this comic book that has been offered publicly in the last 15 years. I believe (I could be wrong), that there are twenty slabbed copies around (most restored) and there are some wealthy collectors out there (Jerry Seinfeld?) who look at is as an investment.

It's no different than the T206 Wagner as far as it's impact on the hobby.

As far as slabbing goes, it's mixed on whether collectors like it but as noted above, pages are brittle and there are books that issue complete reproductions that are readily available at book stores.

DanC

[Jewish-collector]

I'm sure there are a bunch of wealthy comic book collectors that easily afford it. It would not suprise me if Steve Geppi of Baltimore bought it for his pop culture museum.

http://www.geppismuseum.com/

[barrysloate]

As Seinfeld watchers know Jerry is a huge Superman fan...about half the episodes have a reference to Superman. I also thought of him as the possible buyer.

[rman444]

Originally Posted by danc

Talking to a few comic book people, they believe that this sale is in fact legitimate.

This is the nicest copy of this comic book that has been offered publicly in the last 15 years. I believe (I could be wrong), that there are twenty slabbed copies around (most restored) and there are some wealthy collectors out there (Jerry Seinfeld?) who look at is as an investment.

DanC

The sale is legit.

There are a total of 42 CGC slabbed Action #1's in the pop report. Of the 42, 16 are restored.

There is 1 graded higher than this 8.0, which is an 8.5. This 8.0 has not hit the CGC population reports yet, so there are actually at least 43 copies slabbed.

[JP]

Originally Posted by rman444

The sale is legit.

There are a total of 42 CGC slabbed Action #1's in the pop report. Of the 42, 16 are restored.

There is 1 graded higher than this 8.0, which is an 8.5. This 8.0 has not hit the CGC population reports yet, so there are actually at least 43 copies slabbed.

None of that supports the statement that the sale is legit. I can tell you the Wagner pop report if you'd like, but it doesn't make all Wagner auction sales legit.

[bijoem]

Originally Posted by JP

None of that supports the statement that the sale is legit. I can tell you the Wagner pop report if you'd like, but it doesn't make all Wagner auction sales legit.

personally....
If rman444 believes the sale was legit / enough to post that it was legit.... I believe him.

[JP]

Originally Posted by bijoem

personally....
If rman444 believes the sale was legit / enough to post that it was legit.... I believe him.

Why? Unless he himself is the buyer of the comic, what information does he have beyond all of us? Believing something has nothing whatsoever to do with knowing something.

[slidekellyslide]

I thought I read in my local paper today (yes, the actual paper edition that gets thrown on my porch in the morning ) that the buyer was a high profile collector in New York. That probably fits a few high profile collectors, but it may just be Jerry Seinfeld.

[JP]

Does Seinfeld even have a history of collecting ANYTHING in this hobby? I know that like Leno he is a car collector, but I've never heard of him owning any sort of collectible merchandise. Is this all just speculation because he likes Superman?

[terjung]

Originally Posted by bijoem

personally....
If rman444 believes the sale was legit / enough to post that it was legit.... I believe him.

I'm with you, Joe. I would tend to believe Richard as well when he makes a statement like that. He knows quite a bit more about comics than I do.

Don't get me wrong... I can be a cynic as well. It is just that when I hear someone with credibility come out with a statement like that, it tends to lend legitimacy.

The question that I might ask related to the pop report is how many of those are regrades due to pressing?

[JP]

Richard said "the sale is legit" but didn't provide any evidence or support to back up that statement. He gave no reason for me to believe it, so why should I blindly follow along? Because he knows about comics? The person who knows most about comics in the world may not have any idea whether a particular transaction took place...

[rman444]

JP - you are right. I cannot provide any proof to you that the transaction took place.

Regarding pressing, I believe that this is a phenomenon that has really caught on over the past few years and mostly affects two types of comics:

1) Those that are already high grade and cannot get into a higher numerical holder due to slight waviness/bending of the surface. An example of a comic that would fit this category would be a 9.6 that is pressed to get into a 9.8 holder.

2) Those that are poorly miswrapped or curled under, where the bend of the book is not along the spine and staples. Comics that fit this category are typically golden age or early silver age. There will often be enough faults on these books that pressing to make them lay straight may not even increase their technical grade - they would however present much better.

I cannot even guess how many Action #1 books have been cracked out, pressed, and then resubmitted, but if any have, I would imagine that it would be a very small number.

[Wesley]

Originally Posted by terjung

I'm with you, Joe. I would tend to believe Richard as well when he makes a statement like that. He knows quite a bit more about comics than I do.

Don't get me wrong... I can be a cynic as well. It is just that when I hear someone with credibility come out with a statement like that, it tends to lend legitimacy.

The question that I might ask related to the pop report is how many of those are regrades due to pressing?

Pressing is rampant in comics, but I don't think anyone has the cajones to press a copy of Action 1.

I tend to agree with you guys as well. Richard knows a lot about comics and I will take his word over someone coming out of nowhere to question the legitimacy of the sale. On the other hand, if JP has first hand knowledge or is somehow connected to Metro or Comic Connect, then he should let us know.