Chapter 9- I Shall Be Released

I asked Phil, now that he had come become officially a millionaire, how his life will be changed. He insisted that there won't be any major changes besides the fact he won't have to worry about paying rent anymore. He intended to live another 20 years, comfortably and without the need to work and was not going to be extravagant about it. And that turned out to be true. He wasn't as frugal as he was before although there will always be a bit of that in his character and he had updated his wardrobe and some of his electronic equipment. Essentially he remains as he was, still servicing his small group of new comic buyers because he enjoys doing it. And I kept telling him how disenchanted I was becoming with comics in general and my growing desire to sell my collection.

A few months after Phil's transaction he said to me-"Ish (another alias), would you be interested in selling your books to the same guy who bought Action #1?" My ears perked up like a Vulcan's . It would be the best I could hope for. My whole collection, sold all at once, complete to the last pamphlet. I estimated at that point that I had about 65,000 items or so. 150 long boxes, 100 short boxes, 30 or so magazine boxes. I would be saving the $350 a month storage space fee. I would see areas of my apartment I haven't seen in decades. I would be saving money from buying comics just out of habit. So using Phil as a middleman, I sent details of my collection to Mr. Seattle. I had meticulously over the years kept track of my ownership by title and condition via index cards. Old school, I know, but that's how it was when I started and never had the time to transpose all that info into a computer program. Now that Seattle Man knew what I had and each copies' estimated condition we negotiated a price.

It went back and forth for 2-3 weeks. My most valuable book was Amazing Fantasy #15 in F+ condition. I had real nice copies of many key books. Everything from 1976 and up was pretty muck near mint since I was the original owner and either never even read it or only did so once and then filed it. A price was agreed upon, Seattle Man flew back to NYC with his son. Again, Phil was the middle man-I was not going to meet Seattle Man personally to make sure things stay uncomplicated. I gave Phil the key to my storage room and Seattle Man with his son rummaged through it for the next day and a half for conformation of contents and condition. And no, I never availed myself of CGC services

Well that it, my friends. Seattle Man hired some movers and away went my books. Went to the storage place and closed my account. Its been almost 3 years since my sale and I don't regret it. Haven't bought a single comic since. Anytime I have an urge to read a funnybook, I get a collection from the library. And I have caught up via those collected editions many items I should have read years ago like the complete Vertigo run of Sandman, Fables, 100 Bullets and other things

The story would have been over by this point as originally intended. However thanks to some investigative research by our intrepid classi comic collector, UltimateJezebelle, there is a postscript concerning Action Comics #1.

Jez, if you will, I'll let you post and comment on what you brought to my attention. Take it away and thanks to all of you for reading, liking and commenting on this thread

While browsing sites that report on valuable comics, I saw mention of both a 8.0 which sold back in 2011 for $1m+, and a 9.0 which sold recently for $3m+

But are they two separate books? A slabbed book isn't final, it can be opened and submitted for regrading. So I've seen comments that it might be the same book which earned an uptick on a subsequent submission. There are numerous instances of books being submitted for regrading after undergoing professional tweaks such as pressing (which remove small faults) but don't encroach upon 'restoration' and so a subsequent regrading can earn it higher marks.

CGC's sensus lists one unrestored 8.0, one 8.5 and two 9.0s...but it's not clear if those are 4 separate books. Or if that 8.0 copy is still around as an 8.0

It's also claimed that the Edgar Church copy of Action #1 still remains in someone's personal collection, has never been graded, but those who've seen it claim it's the best copy of all.

The Jez will settle for a dog-eared 2.0 copy if she ever gets her mitts on one.

Thanks for the story, Ish.  One question- did your friend ever find out what the neighbor intended to do with the book?

Thats is worse than him selling it.

He has never, to my knowledge, had any further conversations with that guy. I've seen him, he's very old, probably older than Action # 1. Does not see too well and might not have been interested in reading it anyway. Since he had no idea what it represented , he might just have thrown it away in a day or 2 later. Imagine that!!

BTW, candid question as I've never read it : why is Superman so angry at the car in that story?

Ha, OK! I figured so, but why is smashing the car to bits after he emptied it from the goons?