A true story,
which kinda relates.
A guy in New South Wales (where I live) bought a property in the country, for a
couple of thousand dollars, it was unfarmable, nothing special, he then sold it
to himself in a company name for double, then again to another person, and back
again, etc doubling the $ each time, (it was always him in reality), eventually
he put it on the market, showing how amazing the track history of this
properties worth was, and sold it to a REAL buyer for millions. The buyer was
stuck with a block of dirt and grass, worth a couple of hundred thousand
dollars. The crook, was eventually charged and went to Jail. (I know the story
as he was a client of ours and we found out later).
Prices can certainly be manipulated, and it only takes one fool to fall for it.
Ari
PS thats why I say BUY WHAT YOU LIKE and PAY WHAT YOU CAN AFFORD if you want to
INVEST ... DO YOUR RESEARCH
________________________________
From: Bruce Hershenson <brucehershen...@gmail.com>
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Sent: Tue, 23 February, 2010 11:03:23 AM
Subject: Re: [MOPO] superman action comics #1 sells for one million dollars
P.S. Just like stock market and real estate bubbles, million dollar
collectibles are best explained by the "greater fool theory".
From Wikipedia: "The greater fool theory (sometimes the bigger fool theory,
also called survivor investing) is the belief held by one who makes a
questionable investment, with the assumption that they will be able to sell it
later to "a bigger fool"; in other words, buying something not because you
believe that it is worth the price, but rather because you believe that you
will be able to sell it to someone else for an even better price.[1]
It is similar in concept to the Keynesian beauty contest principle of stock
investing.
Some consider it a valid method of making money in the stock market,
particularly momentum investors; however, fundamental investors believe that
market participants eventually realize that the price level is too outrageous
(too high or too low) and the speculative bubble pops. The greater fool theory
relies on market optimism and market momentum concerning a particular stock, an
industry, or the market as a whole.
The opposite of the greater fool theory is value investing, or contrarian
investing, which tries to discount, or even actively go against, the prevailing
market psychology. Value investors such as Warren Buffett believe that it is
corporate profits which are the normal returns from stock investments and any
higher return is possible only due to the bigger fool theory."
So as long as there is an even GREATER fool to pay this guy TWO million dollars
a few years from now, then he made a "smart investment".
Bruce
On Mon, Feb 22, 2010 at 5:56 PM, Bruce Hershenson <brucehershen...@gmail.com>
wrote:
I was there at the very beginning, In 1968, the agreed on price for an Action
#1 was $100. That was just the top price for any comic. A year or two later
someone paid $200 and "everyone" agreed that was nuts. A few years later Theo
Holstein (or his equally wacko buddy) paid something like $1,800 and it made
national headlines, and "everyone" agreed that was nuts.
>
>The best part of this was that back then, we only used "fair", "good", "very
>good", "fine", "near mint" and "mint", and I think most of the above examples
>were around "very good"!
>
>There is a great trick to slabbing, which is "grade inflation". You buy up
>items that were graded 20 years ago, and then you can break them open and
>re-grade them at least a couple of grading points higher (especially when you
>own a piece of the grading company), and who's to know?
>
>Like Rich says, the whole grading business is a really slimy one. It is not
>the grading per se that ruins the collecting hobby (in stamps, coins, and
>cards, you can still see the entire item) but rather the sludge from the
>bottom of the Black Lagoon that swarms all over the hobby once grading becomes
>the standard. With any luck I won't be selling posters by the time slabbing
>takes over, and if I have passed on, I will surely be turning over in my grave.
>
>Bruce
>
>
>
>On Mon, Feb 22, 2010 at 5:44 PM, Richard Halegua Comic Art
><sa...@comic-art.com> wrote:
>
>Roland.. they don't come that way from the publisher
>>what happens is some comic shops look for the "10.0"s and send those off to
>>get slabbed and sell for $75 and up
>>
>>the hobby has become a joke to me, that's one of the reasons I abandoned it,
>>and I was one of the top echelon dealers. very top
>>
>>to answer Phil:
>>
>>It seems even weirder to me that you would pay that money completely on trust
>>that what it says it is on the outside is what it is on the inside...
>>
>>well that's one o fthe things that CGC guarantees of course. their job is to
>>authenticate & grade as 3rd party entities
>>
>>unfortunately, CGC has stocks owned by the biggest dealers in the business,
>>including Heritage (unless they've sold their stake) and when you look at the
>>grades assigned, at times it looks as if those who we know do or did own
>>stock got preferential grades
>>
>>I hate it.. but I'm out of it for the most part. thankfully
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>At 03:26 PM 2/22/2010, Roland Lataille wrote:
>>
>>Don't they sell new comic books and other items in these protective cases
>>now? You buy it but you can't look at it.
>>>
>>>
>>>From: JOHN REID Vintage Movie Memorabilia <johnr...@moviemem.com>
>>>To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
>>>Sent: Mon, February 22, 2010 6:15:41 PM
>>>Subject: Re: [MOPO] superman action comics #1 sells for one million dollars
>>>
>>>I don't know why anyone would want to touch it anyway.
>>>
>>>Well, that says a lot of things about some collectors. It seems very strange
>>>to me that you pay a million bucks just to take possession of it but you
>>>would never actually look at the contents. I collect some first edition
>>>books and it would be ludicrous (to me) to think of slabbing those. Part of
>>>the enjoyment and appreciation of owning something like that is that you can
>>>actually read the entire book.
>>>
>>>John
>>>
>>>
>>>Website: www.moviemem.com
>>>
>>>JOHN REID VINTAGE MOVIE MEMORABILIA
>>>PO Box 92
>>>Palm Beach
>>>Qld 4221
>>>Australia
>>>
>>>----- Original Message -----
>>>
>>>From: Richard Halegua Comic Art
>>>
>>>To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
>>>
>>>Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 9:35 AM
>>>
>>>Subject: Re: [MOPO] superman action comics #1 sells for one million dollars
>>>
>>>
>>>that is correct John
>>>
>>>
>>>of course, for that price, I don't know why anyone would want to touch it
>>>anyway.
>>>
>>>
>>>ps.. we call them "coffin books"
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>At 01:55 PM 2/22/2010, JOHN REID Vintage Movie Memorabilia wrote:
>>>
>>>One can indeed remove the book from its holder, however it would make the
>>>'grade' null-and-void for re-sell.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>So, you pay 1 million bucks for a comic but you cant even look at the
>>>>inside pages - you only get to look at the front and back covers. That
>>>>really seems quite bizarre.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Website: www.moviemem.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>JOHN REID VINTAGE MOVIE MEMORABILIA
>>>>
>>>>PO Box 92
>>>>
>>>>Palm Beach
>>>>
>>>>Qld 4221
>>>>
>>>>Australia
>>>>----- Original Message -----
>>>>From: kenwick...@aol.com
>>>>To: johnr...@moviemem.com ; MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
>>>>Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 8:28 AM
>>>>Subject: Re: [MOPO] superman action comics #1 sells for one million dollars
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Re: Restored... yes indeed those restored copies are far less valuable!
>>>>Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
>>>>
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