What decides the value of a comic book at an auction? Of course, the first thing would be its cultural impact; comics that introduced popular characters are more valuable than later issues. The next criteria is its condition. As you would expect, something that’s in great condition will fetch a higher price from prospective bidders. These are just basic auction house rules. Of course, not every item is the same. Once in a while, you’ll come across an item that breaks these norms, and the bids will come flying in.
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Take, for instance, Heritage Auctions’s current lot of comic books, featuring several high-profile first appearances. The lot features the debut of everyone from Superman, Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, and even the X-Men. Among the items is a CGC 6.5 rated Action Comics #1. As you’d expect, it’s currently going for a whopping $170,000. Pretty impressive, right? Now here’s the twist; the lot also includes a lower-rated CGC 4.5 version of the issue, but this one is currently going at an inconceivable $1,075,000.
Why Is A Lower-Grade Action Comics #1 Going For Over $1,075,000?
You may be wondering why the lower-graded comic is going for almost ten times the amount of the 6.5 rated one. It turns out that even grading has its layers. Overall, the 6.5 is in much better condition, with less wear and tear than the 4.5. However the latter has something that’s extremely rare to find in vintage comics books. Taking a closer look at the grading label, right below the grade, will reveal that it has “off-white to white pages” while the other has “cream to off-white pages”.
Pages of vintage comic books tend to go off-white, cream, and eventually, yellow over time. It’s something that can’t really be prevented, unless the comic is stored in a way to avoid oxidation from the start. Of course, most vintage comics weren’t stored in such a way back then, making most of them go yellow over time. So, despite having significant wear and tear, this copy of Action Comics #1 is worth so much primarily thanks to the colour of its pages. The “off-white to white” pages supersede the comic’s overall condition, making it a truly coveted item among collectors.
It’s actually pretty amusing how many signs of wear and tear are noted on the comic’s description. Any other issue would have barely crossed $100, but a combination of being Superman’s first appearance and the colour of the pages have made it worth a fortune.
Have you seen any vintage comics with off-white to white pages? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
