Bruneau celebrates the New Year with the sale of sole proprietorship White Glove comics
A recurring buyer with deep pockets who is a comic book investor as well as a geek paid $ 150,000 for the top selling lot, Marvel Comics Fantastic Four # 1, which Travis Landry owns here. He set a new record for this problem in the CGC 8.0 category ($ 50 / $ 80,000).
Reviewed by Madelia Hickman Ring, Photos courtesy of Bruneau & Co.
CRANSTON, RI – A comic book collector who first became a fan of Travis Landry through the pop culture reviewer’s appearances on Antiques roadshow is even more of a fan now, thanks to Bruneau & Co.’s success with 20 high-end Marvel Comics the company sold in a single owner sale on Jan. 1. All lots sold, earning “white glove” sale status, with a combined total of $ 732,990.
The unidentified Midwestern collector has been selling items through Bruneau & Co. for several months and recently called Landry to tell him it was time for him to sell his prized comic book collection. Landry boarded a plane with a duffel bag and after walking through the client’s mother’s basement, returned the same day with 20 classified and sealed volumes which became the company’s first sale of the new Year. The client’s last 12 comics, all unrated and of lower value, will be sold on February 26.
“It was a great sale,” Landry said when we met him after the sale. “All the buyers were Americans; we all knew them, although it’s fair to say there was international interest. He noted that the sale had attracted around 3,600 registered bidders across all online platforms, about a third of the number registered for the company’s regular comic book sale; only one bidder chose to bid over the phone, but failed to win a single lot.
A private collector in New York City who was bidding on LiveAuctioneers purchased three lots, including the largest flyer in the sale: a CGC 8.0 classified copy of The Fantastic Four # 1. The issue that launched the Marvel Universe as it is known today, and featured the origin and first appearance of not only the Fantastic Four but Moleman as well, hit $ 150,000, three times its low estimate. . According to the comic book census, there are only 20 such copies, with around three dozen issues in better condition.
“This is a new market record for this issue in this condition,” Bruneau said. “The last copy at this level sold in December 2019 for $ 60,000, so we almost tripled the record. But what is really interesting is that last April, a copy rated 8.5 sold for $ 132,000; this even beat that. Most buyers buy to invest. Once a book hits an all-time high, it pulls all subsequent sales up.
“A 5.5 is a very respectable rating and it’s the book everyone wants to have,” Travis Landry said of this issue of Marvel Comics Amazing Fantasy # 15, which opened the sale and made 87,500 $ ($ 50/80,000).
Landry said his father, a retired police chief, will personally deliver the The Fantastic Four comic book, as well as the collector’s other purchases – The Incredible Hulk # 1 in CGC graded condition of 6.5 for $ 68,750, and, for $ 51,250, a 9.2 graded copy of Strange tales # 110.
The first lot of the sale was a grade 5.5 Amazing fantasy # 15 number, which is considered the “number one” book in the Silver Age comics and in which Spiderman made his debut, in 1964. Estimated at $ 50/80,000, it made $ 87,500.
Collectors are eager to collect issues in which the characters make their first appearance and the sale has had several. Iron Man debuted in 1963 in Tales of Suspense # 39; an 8.5-rated CGC copy with a Jack Kirby cover exceeded expectations to fetch $ 84,375 while Tales to amaze # 27, the issue that Ant-Man first appeared in, in an extremely rare 9.0 grade, reached $ 61,200. With a rating of 7.5, $ 52,500 was considered a very high price for The Incredible Spider-Man # 1.
The surprise of the day, according to Landry, was the result obtained for Werewolf by night # 1, which obtained a score of 9.8 and is one of three known examples in existence. The last lot of the sale closed much higher than expected, realizing $ 49,200, more than six times its high estimate.
“The seller is delighted! Said Landry. “He called me just as I stepped off the podium to congratulate me.”
Bruneau & Co., will sell more comics in an online auction only on January 26.
Prices shown include buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house.
For more information, www.bruneauandco.com or 401-533-9980.
