Comic Books

Building a Key Comics Collection Just Got Easier (Spider-Man, Batman, Avengers, X-Men, Superman)

Building up a key comic book collection of Golden Age and Silver Age comic books is a very expensive endeavor. Depending on how far you want to go as a “key comic book” and depending on your budget constraints, it could cost millions of dollars and take years to assemble. Hake’s Auctions may have a solution if you are a collector looking to have as many key comics that can be purchased. The auction for November 2-3, 2021 is offering a variation of key comics in multiple grades.

Again, a lot will depend on any one buyer’s budget constraints but this seems pretty clear — building a key comics collection just got easier!

Hake’s Auctions has a massive catalog for the November 2-3 auction. It is 344 pages long and full color. While this focus is on key comic books, they have sports memorabilia, movie items, political, toys, non-sports cards, art and more.

Collectors Dashboard evaluates high-end collectibles as an alternative asset class. The same capital that could have been invested into stocks or bonds is being used to buy high-end collectibles. That would definitely include the key comic books of the Golden Age and Silver Age with prices in the tens of thousands of dollars (or more).

True comic book collectors may want to own one of these key comic books for years. Those who invest in comics are buying assets solely with the ambition of selling the asset in the future for a profit. It is undeniable that collectors are now routinely in a constant battle with investors to see who can win in auctions.

One admission needs to be made here. Any person’s list of “key comics” will vary either because they prefer one universe over others or because they prefer some characters over others. To borrow from a pun – “collectability is in the eye of the beholder!

We have taken 12 key comics that are coming up for auction in the Hake’s Auction. The digital auction catalog is large enough that you could jest that it reads like a dictionary. The reality is that this auction may offer something for almost every collector, and in every price point. Keep in mind that the starting bids are certainly not the expected sales prices. Hake’s also lists an estimated ranges at the bottom of each page by letter, but these are just guides as some auctions sell under a range and some can greatly exceed estimated ranges.

Key Comic Book collection

Here are 12 of the key comic book issues coming up:

Lot #1093 Action Comics #14 July 1939 CGC Qualified 5.0 VG/Fine with a starting bid of $500.00.

Lot #1094 Action Comics #26 July 1940 CGC 0.5 Poor Includes a quarter page ad for Batman #1 with a starting bid of $100.00.

Lot #1095 Action Comics #29 October 1940 CBCS 7.0 Fine/VF Lois Lane Cover. Starting bid of $1,000.00.

Lot #1104 Batman #18 August/September 1943 CGC 6.0 Fine with a starting bid of $1,000.00. Batman comics are of interest with the new movie release.

Lot #1119 House of Secrets #92 June-July 1971 CGC 8.5 VF+ (First appearance of Swamp Thing) with a starting bid of $1,000.00.

Lot #1162 Amazing Fantasy #15 August 1962 CGC 2.0 Good, listed as a Stan Lee Signature Series with a starting bid of $5,000.00. This is a lower grade of the first appearance of Spider-Man, but this is now officially the most expensive comic (character) of all-time.

Lot #1187 Avengers #1 September 1963 CGC 3.5 VG with a starting bid of $1,000.00.

Lot #1189 Avengers #4 March 1964 CGC 8.0 VF with a starting bid of $2,000.00.

Lot #1211 Daredevil #1 April 1964 CGC 7.0 Fine/VF with a starting bid of $5,000.00.

Lot #1218 Fantastic Four #1 November 1961 CGC 6.0 Fine with a starting bid of $10,000.00.

Lot #1219 Fantastic Four #1 November 1961 CGC 5.0 VG/Fine with a starting bid of $5,000.00.

Lot #1238 Incredible Hulk #1 CGC 3.0 Good/VG with a starting bid of $5,000.00. This is a review of the Hulk’s key comic issues.

The reality is that this list of 12 key comic books greatly under-represents what is all available in this upcoming auction. There are comic books for Tomb of Dracula, Star Wars, Iron Man, Thor, Werewolf, Silver Surfer, Ghost Rider, Conan and a whole host of others.

With overwhelming abundance of items coming to auction take notice of these comic book issues. Collectors Dashboard looks forward to reviewing the prices realized.