Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, heritage auctions, jack kirby, marvel, stan lee, vintage comics, x-men

Highest Graded Copy Of X-Men #1 Goes For Record $492,937.50

Published Thu, 26 Jul 2012 17:18:35 -0500

Last updated Thu, 26 Jul 2012 17:26:54 -0500

With the world's best collection of Silver Age Marvels up for grabs, a great group of Golden Age books from the Empire Comics Collection also available, and Marty Shamus's collection of key 1990s art including the Todd McFarlane cover of Spider-Man #1 on the block, we've been telling you that the current Heritage Signature auction was one to watch. Well, it's been a busy day of selling those Silver Age Marvels, and here's the headline sale from this afternoon's session: The X-Men #1 CGC 9.8 (Pacific Coast Pedigree) has just sold for $492,937.50. There are two copies of the book graded 9.8 on the CGC census, and none graded higher.

This surpasses the $200,000 record price that an X-Men #1 CGC 9.6 changed hands in a private sale for in April 2011, by a wide margin. The 1963 comic by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced concepts which in the coming decades would become one of the most successful comic book franchises in the world. The original issue featured Professor Xavier and a team of Angel, Iceman, Beast, Cyclops, and Marvel Girl taking on Magneto.

Giving the sale some additional perspective, this is now the second highest price ever paid for a Silver Age (the era spanning from approximately 1956 to 1970) comic, behind the $1.1 million paid for an Amazing Fantasy #15 CGC 9.6 (first appearance of Spider-Man) in March 2011, and ahead of the $375,000 paid for Tales of Suspense #39 CGC 9.6 in April 2012. The census-topping Fantastic Four #1 CGC 9.6 changed hands in a cash/trade deal valued at approximately $450,000 in 2008. The highest price ever paid for a comic from any era is the $2.1 million paid for the Nicolas Cage Action Comics #1 CGC 9.0 (first appearance of Superman, and a Golden Age comic — the era which spans approximately from the mid-1930s to the early 1950s).

With some of Doug Schmell's high-grade Silver Age Marvel collection left to go in Saturday's auction session, the set has already topped $3.7 million. Much more news and analysis coming from this auction, so stay tuned.