Hake’s Auctions announced that comics expert and dealer Tom Gordon will be their Comic Book Consultant, working with Hake’s on landing comic book consignments. He’ll use his vast expertise and contacts to facilitate consignments focused on comics, and even other related memorabilia.
Gordon brings a lifetime of experience to the table as a collector, dealer, writer, and Overstreet Advisor. He is a comic history and collectibles expert with a deep knowledge of comic books, character collectibles, rare toys, and pop culture.
“Hake’s is very excited to add Tom as an official member of the family,” Hake’s President Alex Winter said. “My relationship with Tom goes back decades and has only grown stronger over the years. We have worked together on many occasions, including during his employment with Gemstone Publishing on such projects as The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide and during the formative years of Geppi’s Entertainment Museum.”
A native of Maryland, Gordon started collecting when he was just 4 or 5 years old, gathering comics, coins, and fossils. He was born into a collecting family, with at least five generations of collectors, going back to the 1860s. Their vast interests in collecting autographs, Americana, coins, stamps, antiques, and political items, among other topics, shaped Gordon’s perspective on collecting and dealing.
Gordon is a graduate of Western Maryland college with a Bachelor’s in sociology. He owns Monumental Holdings LLC, a collectibles and antique business that started many years ago under the name Monumental Collectibles. The business name was inspired by Monumental Brewing Company, an old family business that his relatives ran in Baltimore before prohibition.
For five years, Gordon was the Managing Editor at Gemstone Publishing. He worked on Gemstone’s wide array of publications, including The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, Hake’s Price Guide to Character Toys, The Official Price Guide to Disney Toys, and Scoop.
During that period, he was also involved in helping set up Geppi’s Entertainment Museum. Running the gamut of projects, he helped organize and layout displays, assisted in producing the museum’s hardbound book, and assisted in pulling items from Diamond Comic Distributors CEO Steve Geppi’s collection for the museum.
In recent years, he was one of a small group of individuals who witnessed The Walton 1913 Liberty nickel being authenticated the night before it was publicly announced to the world. He acquired 300,000 comic books during a single trip and met many creators including Jerry Robinson, Stan Lee, G.I. Joe creator Don Levine, and others. Another of Gordon’s career highlights was visiting the White House and seeing President Abraham Lincoln’s first appointment book, which was once part of his great-great uncle’s collection.
He has been featured in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, appeared as an industry expert on VOOM HD network’s Treasure Seekers, was spotlighted at Comic-Con International: San Diego, and has been a panelist at many comic conventions. He is a writer-contributor to The Political Bandwagon, and freelance writer with work in publications like Heritage Magazine.
“I’m very happy to be an official part of the Hake’s family,” Gordon said of the appointment. “My personal interactions with some of the Hake’s staff goes back to my childhood. My family for three generations has placed confidence in them and their auctions. I look forward to contributing my knowledge and skills to enhance their already successful business.”
“His generations deep pedigree in all manner of collectibles is second to none, and his knowledge and interest in comic books in particular, is on a level achieved by few,” Winter said. “As Hake’s continues to be a leading auction house in the sale of comic books, Tom’s contribution will only enhance every aspect of what we do. And let’s not overlook his background in political/historical memorabilia, comic art, premiums, and more. Tom is very much like Hake’s in that regard, well versed in countless avenues of collectibles.”
