First Superman – from Kansas (City) to Metropolis
When a high grade copy of the first appearance of Zatara pops up, it’s big news in the entire comic book world.
Over at the CGC board, a poster let the community know that ComicConnect would be putting up for sale a copy of Action Comics #1. Not only that, it’s graded by CGC, is a Pedigree – The Kansas City copy – and is a damn 8.0 with off-white pages–a stunner. There’s a quality discussion over there about the potential figure we may be looking at. I’m not seeing anybody estimate below a half-million, and most seem to suggest between that and the hobby’s first 7-figure book, though personally I think that high-end may be optimistic. While this is probably the best copy of Action #1 we are going to see hit the market, I’m just not sold that 7-figures is attainable in this hobby from a copy that isn’t the best known in existence (though this is a damn fine subject to test that thought).
It should be noted that ComicConnect is essentially the auction arm of Metropolis, which might make it slightly odd that it wouldn’t just be at Metro, though I understand the value of drawing eyes to a venue when trying to compete for that second (comic) auction house position behind Heritage (I’d say it’s Comiclink at the moment–but that’s just me).
I don’t mind telling you that buying this book is out of my league. Owning and keeping it isn’t (I.E. I would have to sell it to change my lifestyle if I had it), but actually pursuing this book? Never that. If I ever was going to trade a house for a comic, I’d go after a different grail.
Over at ComicBookPedigree.com, you can read about the Kansas City pedigree:
Unknown by many, the Kansas City Collection is the oldest collection considered a pedigree. Purchased by the Thompsons in Kansas City in the late 1960s, this collection predates both the Cosmic Aeroplane and Larson pedigrees by half a decade. Though not classified as a bonifide pedigree by the comic community until nearly twenty years after its debut, the size and content of the Kansas City Collection was never realized until now. It’s one of four pedigrees consisting of #1 issues, although the number of valuable keys within this collection outstrip the other three. Along with the Mile High and Larson, the Kansas City is only other pedigree that is known to contain an Action #1. The rest of the collection has more #1 issues between 1939 and 1943 than the Mile High Collection!
Longtime collectors and dealers have known about the Thompsons and the Kansas City collection for 25 years, as they would bring out only a handful of issues for sale each year. It’s the main reason no one has ever been able to assess the totality of this collection. The original list was obtained for the pedigree book, but unfortunately there are no identifying marks on the Kansas City books. Many have vanished into collections over the years.
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