Pedigree Comics, Inc. Sells Avengers #1 in 9.4 For Record Price of $185,000

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According to Doug Schmell, President and CEO of Pedigree Comics, Inc., his company just brokered the sale of a CGC certified 9.4 copy of Avengers #1 for a record price of $185,000. Featuring the origin and first appearance of the Avengers, Avengers #1 is one of the most popular and valuable early Silver Age keys, ranked as #9 in the most recent Overstreet Price Guide (42nd Edition). As far as recent CGC graded sales, Avengers #1 is in the top five most valuable comic books from the Silver Age, along with Amazing Fantasy #15; Fantastic Four #1; Incredible Hulk #1 and Journey Into Mystery #83. It is also one of the most difficult Silver Age Marvel keys to find in ultra high grade, due to the bright red and green cover borders.

Cover dated September, 1963 (same month as the debut of the X-Men in X-Men #1), Avengers #1 is easily one of the hottest books on the market right now, with record sales being recorded over the past couple of years. The Pacific Coast 9.6 copy (from Mr. Schmell’s personal collection) sold at auction in July, 2012 for $274,850, which beat the only other sale of a 9.6 copy ($250,000 in October, 2011). The previous high sale of a 9.4 copy was in a private transaction (in February, 2011) for $100,000 and the high public sale of a 9.4 was for $65,100 at auction in November, 2009 (Mound City copy). And, just recently, Pedigree Comics sold a 9.2 example for a record price of $60,000, matching the standard set of a sale from August, 2011. With the record-breaking success of the Avengers motion picture and the growing anticipation for the sequel, Avengers #1 should continue to rise in value and be a safe investment item.

The subject 9.4 comes from the pedigreed Northland Collection and is one of only eight (8) copies to grade in 9.4 with only 3 higher (all in 9.6). Only seven (7) copies exist in 9.2. The book is characterized by remarkable newsstand freshness and cover gloss, tight staples, sharp edges and corners and white pages. It stands as the 4th finest known copy and one of the only high grade ones to have white page quality (none of the 9.6 copies do and none of the other 9.4 copies do either!).

The buyer, a Silver Age Marvel collector who focuses on keys and first appearance issues, originally saw the Avengers #1 in Pedigree’s March, 2012 Grand Auction. He was the highest bidder (at $137,500) but the book did not meet its reserve. He bided his time and then made a major push for the book after seeing the Pacific Coast 9.6 copy sell in late July. He called Mr. Schmell to see if the book was still available and Mr. Schmell contacted the consignor, who still had it. After numerous negotiations Mr. Schmell had with the buyer and seller over the past two and a half months, the price of $185,000 was finally agreed upon.

If you have any comic books to sell or consign, do yourself a favor and contact Pedigree Comics or check out their website at www.pedigreecomics.com. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, concerns, etc. about how to get the most amount of $$ for your treasured books, either by sale or consignment, please contact Mr. Schmell at (561) 422-1120 or (561) 596-9111 or by email at DougSchmell@pedigreecomics.com. Pedigree Comics has been involved in the sales of more high grade CGC graded, investment quality Silver Age Marvel keys, either by purchase, brokerage or consignment, than any other dealer in the world and they keep all calls and information confidential for your protection.

This is a guest article. The thoughts and opinions in this piece are those of their author and are not necessarily the thoughts of the Certified Collectibles Group.