![]() But the million dollar invoices I’ve seen are mostly names I know are from the US, Canada, UK and places like that. There was this myth of the Japanese businessman interested in investing in comics. LA: Everyone has been talking about that for a long time. RS: No big Chinese money or money from the Middle East moving in then? There’s some interest from places like Qatar, but it’s probably expats. I’ve still found comics and comic art are mostly an English speaking thing. RS: How much interest are you seeing from overseas? Is there a particular global region that’s pushing a lot of money into the market right now? They’re holding on, although they may be doing some profit-taking or selling some books to pay for big items like a new house. I haven’t seen a lot of old school guys getting out. But it may be more of more people coming in than people leaving. RS: Is there a generational shift going on, with first-gen collectors from the 60s and 70s unwinding their holdings and new people moving in? If so, how is that shaping the market? Artwork by Robert Crumb, courtesy Heritage Auctions America" (1975) sold for $312,000 at Heritage Auction held June, 2021. Robert Crumb's original artwork to the 5-page story "Let's Talk Sense About This Here Modern. They’ve been selling for years at $100 at 9.8, then, last year, $300, then $600. ![]() You have comics from the 80s with a high census population. LA: If anything, the lower tiers are doing even better. RS: Is this purely a blue-chip driven market, with the Frazettas and Crumbs and Detective 27s seeing the lion’s share of appreciation, or are we seeing big percentage gains at traditionally lower tiers? If there’s a 9.6 comic at the top of the census, that’s meaningful. They’re used to seeing a lot more cards in prime condition. Comics look cheap to the sports card guys. The sports card market in particular has gone crazy. So new people are coming in, people from the sports market. It’s non-stop, and are such a household name now. Marvel, Disney, TV shows, Star Wars stuff, all that. There’s just a sustained higher level of interest. It’s got to just be a number of factors, a perfect storm of things coming together. People don’t have more money just because they’re sitting at home. But it became obvious it had to be something else. They’re not spending money on gas and things like that. Now why? Well, maybe more people have time to sit around and look at their computer. Our first auction was flat, maybe down a bit. LA: The first few months, everyone was worried. RS: How did the pandemic and the suspension of live events affect the collectibles market? There’s probably not going to be too many more of those that surface. For there to only be four of those in grade 9.8, it really means something. They've been doing the grading for over 20 years. With that one, being a 9.8… there are others, but I think there's only four total. RS: Is it the condition that's driving these, the fact that these are the best known copies of these particular books, or combination of factors? For that to go for a quarter million dollars, that was just hard to believe.ĭetective Comics #140 in 9.6 condition from the Promise Collection sold for $456,000 at a Heritage. The guy who brought that in, when he told me that he thought that was a six figure book, I kind of thought he was crazy. Again we know it's a great book it's been a super-desirable book for 50 years, but for it to go for close to half a million…īut the one that I might be the most surprised by is the first appearance of Ghost Rider, Marvel Spotlight #5, from 1972. Same thing with another one, Phantom Lady #17. Now I thought it was a six figure book the first time I saw it, and I thought it might be $200,000, but for it to go for a number like that was more than a little surprising. One of the top books from that was Detective Comics #140, featuring the first appearance of the Riddler, highest graded known copy, going for $456,000. ![]() ![]() LA: We were expecting the Promise Collection to do very, very well and it did, but even it really outpaced any expectations we had. RS: What do you think were the most notable or unexpected results from the recent auction? It just seems like everything has a huge upward trend. But lately, especially over the last six months, it has just been across the board: modern books, 80s and 90s books, Silver Age (1960s), Golden Age (1930s-50s). For a long time, the big key issues – first appearances, high grade copies, things like that – or pieces of artwork that had something special about them, have been greatly outgaining everything else. Lon Allen, VP, Heritage Auctions: Lately it's really been across the board. Lon Allen, VP, Comics Operations, Heritage Auctiiions Heritage Auctions
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