Pedigree Comics, Inc. has shared major news with Scoop. They have just received a consignment of an incredible group of CGC certified 9.8 and 9.9 late Silver, Bronze, and Copper Age Marvels from the Professor Pecora Collection for their upcoming April Comics and Original Art Auction. The auction is scheduled to begin in just over one week, on the night of Monday, April 3, 2017 and last for ten days until the night of Thursday, April 13 as a separate event on the Pedigree Comics website, www.PedigreeComics.com. The comic book listing of the auction ends on the night of Wednesday, April 12 and the original art listing ends on the night of Thursday, April 13. There is no buyer’s premium on any of the lots in the auction and every comic book listing will have no reserve (some of the original art items will be listed with a reserve). Every book is CGC or CBCS graded and the minimum bid is only $100 for this Grand Auction. You can view over 650 lots of high grade comics and choice art pieces in the Auction Preview right now. Just go to the Pedigree Comics website and click on the Auction banner.
Pedigree Comics is presenting The Professor Pecora Collection, which consists of some of the world’s finest existing copies of key Marvel issues, all CGC certified 9.8 or higher (almost all with perfect white pages), that span from the late Silver Age into the Copper Age of comics. The collection is the highlight of Pedigree’s Upcoming April Grand Auction beginning on April 3.
Born and raised in Rochester, New York, and now residing in Atlanta, Georgia, Thomas “Professor” Pecora began collecting and carefully storing his comic books in protective mylars with backing boards in climate controlled conditions at the age of ten. Although he did not necessarily read all of his comics, as a former graffiti artist, he was primarily obsessed with the beautiful cover art and historical first appearances of his favorite titles such as X-Men and Amazing Spider-Man to name a few.
As he entered adulthood, his interests shifted into other areas and he wouldn’t start collecting comics until 2011. This is when he discovered CGC and how comics were being professionally graded by a third party. Therefore, it was only a matter of time until the Professor would feel the collecting itch and become inspired to start amassing and building up a CGC collection of his own.
Always known to give 100% in all that he sets his mind to, the Professor studied the CGC comic book market like the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wall Street. After buying and selling CGC books on eBay and to his fellow CGC Board Members, in only about 1-1/2 years, the Professor assembled an impressive $50,000 plus collection.
The Professor acquired his collector name due to his unique background of having endured through many challenges growing up in the city of Rochester, NY. He was once a ninth grade drop out, but worked hard to earn his GED while working over 40 hours to survive as a young man. He eventually got accepted into a four-year private college and graduated with honors. He then attended NYU for grad school and eventually earned his Master of Science Degree in Education from Hunter College in New York City. After earning an A+ on his Master Thesis and graduating with a 3.9 cumulative GPA, he was asked by his program director to teach a graduate level education course in mathematics curriculum and instruction. In 2010, this was the first time Pecora was addressed as Professor.
Since X-Men was always one of his favorite titles coupled with his intellectual accomplishments and leadership to his family and community, it only seemed fitting that he be referred to as Professor Pecora. Since joining the CGC community in early 2012, the Professor has been known for his thorough and thought provoking descriptions, write-ups and analysis of many of the key books he has acquired. He has won numerous awards for his CGC sets including the 2012 Best Presented Set Award for his former #5 CGC ranked Wolverine (1988) Set entitled “Against All Odds!” He assembled a complete CGC 9.9 WP Wolverine Limited Series Set entitled “The Inaugural Slashing,” which remained the #1 CGC Ranked Set for two consecutive years. In addition, the Professor assembled the world’s #2 ranked Incredible Hulk #180-182 (Wolverine) set with all issues in CGC 9.8 WP, which included the Mile High II Pedigree copy of Incredible Hulk #181 and the Suscha News Pedigree copy of Incredible Hulk #180.
However, due to personal circumstances, which would eventually lead up to his divorce in 2016, the Professor had to liquidate his entire collection in 2013. After working directly with Doug Schmell, owner and CEO of Pedigree, the first wave of the Professor Pecora Collection was auctioned in the June 2013 Pedigree Comics Grand Auction and the second wave of his collection was auctioned in November 2013. The Professor took a short hiatus from collecting, but would once again come back with a vengeance.
Since then, Professor Pecora has amassed an incredible collection of some of the world’s best existing late Silver, Bronze, and Copper Age key copies all in CGC 9.8 or higher. Widely known for being one of the most particular collectors throughout the CGC Registry & Boards, the Professor focuses on aesthetic qualities not normally considered by most graders and fellow collectors. For instance, the Professor looks for books that are perfectly wrapped, cut and centered and almost always goes for pristine copies with perfect white page quality. However, if a particular key book was slightly miswrapped, but the image was completely centered on the front cover, the Professor would make some exceptions and purchase it considering the rarity and demand of that specific issue. He would also sometimes choose an Off-White to White copy if the book had better cover alignment than the available White-Paged copies.
With that said, the Professor has chosen to auction off a large portion of his world class collection in efforts to acquire some of his most cherished books that he previously liquidated. Since the Professor has acquired many of his gems from Pedigree Comics and has worked directly with Schmell in previous auctions throughout the years, coupled with Pedigree’s customer base of Marvel collectors, he thought Pedigree would be the best site to sell his late Silver and Bronze Age collection.
Pedigree is presenting the third wave of the Professor Pecora Collection. Highlights include almost 50 CGC 9.8 and higher issues, such as Amazing Spider-Man #121 9.8 W, #122 9.8 W, #194 9.8 W, #238 9.8 W, #252 9.8 W, #298 9.8 W, #300 9.8 W, and #361 9.8 W, Black Panther #1 9.8 W, Captain America #100 9.8 W, Captain Savage and His Leatherneck Raiders #1 9.8 W, Conan the Barbarian #1 9.8 W, Daredevil #111 9.8 W, #131 9.8 W, #158 9.8 W, #168 9.8 W, and #197 9.8 W, Ghost Rider #1 9.8 W, Giant-Size Super-Heroes #1 9.8 W, Giant-Size X-Men #1 9.8 OW/W, Iron Fist #14 9.8 W, Marvel Team-Up #1 9.8 W, New Mutants #98 9.8 W, Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD #1 9.8 W, Spectacular Spider-Man #1 9.8 W, Tomb of Dracula #10 9.8 OW/W, Uncanny X-Men #221 9.8 W (CGC Signature Series) and #266 9.8 W, Wolverine (1988) #1 9.9 W, #62 9.9 W, and (1988) #67 9.9 W, Wolverine Limited Series #1 9.8 W (CGC Signature Series), X-Men #94 9.8 OW/W, #97 9.8 W, #98 9.8 W, #100 9.8 W, #101 9.8 W, #103 9.8 W, #109 9.8 W, #113 9.8 OW/W, #121 9.8 W (CGC Signature Series), #122 9.8 OW/W, #129 9.8 OW/W, #136 9.8 W, #138 9.8 W, #139 9.8 W, and #141 9.8 W.
Of particular note, is the world’s second finest existing copy of Wolverine #1 in CGC Mint 9.9. One of only thirteen Universal 9.9 graded copies and prior to the Professor’s copy being graded as the 13th copy, there hasn’t been another Universal CGC 9.9 graded in 5 years. It features the first Wolverine as Patch on a classic John Buscema cover with a classic John Byrne back cover pin-up! Out of over 7,200 copies already professionally graded, the rarity factor for this book in CGC 9.9 is 1/10 of 1% of the entire population. In addition, Wolverine #62 and #67 are also rare CGC Mint 9.9 copies.
The Professor also owns some of the world’s best existing copies of the early new X-Men issues such as #94, #97, #98, #100, #101, #103 and #109 - these are the single best existing copies in the world.
Other CGC 9.8 WP copies consist of Amazing Spider-Man #121, #122, #194 (best 9.8 in existence), #238, #252, #298, #300 (Superior 9.8 WP copy) and #361.
Check out the world’s finest copy of Daredevil #111 (first Silver Samurai, only one of ten). You will also find world class examples of Daredevil #131 (origin and first Bullseye), #158 (first Frank Miller Daredevil), and #168 (origin and first Elektra).
Just about every key CGC 9.8 book offered above contains White Page quality and centering! You can’t go wrong with key books like X-Men #94 (New X-Men begin) and #101 (first Phoenix), Giant-Size X-Men #1 (first New X-Men), Iron Fist #14 (first Sabretooth), Conan #1, Black Panther #1, Marvel Team-Up #1, Ghost Rider #1, Spectacular Spider-Man #1, and Tomb of Dracula #10 (first Blade).
This is your opportunity to bid on some of the world’s finest existing CGC key Marvel books to display proudly in your collections. Check the site and the latest news section every day for any new 9.8 or 9.9 bronze age gems from the Professor Pecora Collection.
If you have high grade CGC or CBCS certified comic books to sell or consign contact Pedigree Comics. Go to the site and read the following for all consignment information or contact them directly at (561) 422-1120 or (561) 596-9111 or by email at DougSchmell@pedigreecomics.com.
If you have original comic art to sell or consign, contact Pedigree Comics’ Comic Art Consignment Director Randy Lawrence. Go to the site and read the following for all consignment information or contact him directly at (561) 451-9800 or (561) 886-8777 or by email at RandyLawrence@pedigreecomics.com.
Pedigree is now accepting consignments for the April Grand Auction and will continue to do so until the night of Wednesday, April 5. The sooner you consign your books and original artwork the more exposure they will receive. Pedigree promotes and advertises each auction and sends periodic newsletters to all of their over 22,500 customers announcing the auction items. Pedigree also offers cash advances for quality consignments so check the site for consignment instructions and get your books in now.
The higher the value of the comics sold in a Grand Auction, the more money the consignor takes home under Pedigree Comics’ Climbing Scale as follows:
10% Commission
for any consigned item that sells up to $10,000 (Consignor's Proceeds = 90% of the final bid price);
9% Commission
for any consigned item that sells over $10,000 and up to $25,000 (Consignor's Proceeds = 91% of the final bid price);
8% Commission
for any consigned item that sells over $25,000 and up to $50,000 (Consignor's Proceeds = 92% of the final bid price);
6% Commission
for any consigned item that sells over $50,000 and up to $100,000 (Consignor's Proceeds = 94% of the final bid price);
5% Commission
for any consigned item that sells over $100,000 (Consignor's Proceeds = 95% of the final bid)
A Climbing Scale is in effect for consigned art pieces with a winning bid as follows:
10% Commission
for any consigned item that sells from $100 to $3,000 (Consignor’s Proceeds = $90% of the final bid price);
8% Commission
for any consigned item that sells over $3,000 and up to $80,000 (Consignor’s Proceeds = $92% of the final bid price);
7% Commission
for any consigned item that sells over $80,000 (Consignor’s Proceeds = $93% of the final bid price).
There are three easy ways to consign your books and original art to Pedigree’s upcoming April Grand Auctions. The only criteria is that the books must be CGC or CBCS graded and worth no less than $100. If you have high grade raw books that you want to have certified and sold in the April Grand Auction, you can utilize Pedigree’s Raw To Riches Consignment Service, in which they will have your books certified under their account and will lay out all the CGC or CBCS grading fees in advance for you (refer to the website and their Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide advertisement for all the details of the Raw to Riches Consignment Service).
To consign you can ship your books directly to their offices in Wellington, Florida. They will inventory, scan, and upload each book into the Grand Auction listing. The books will be listed under your personal account and you will receive email notification at the conclusion of the auction with a list of every consigned book that sold along with the winning bid made.
Email the scans of the books you wish to consign directly to them at DougSchmell@pedigreecomics.com (comics) or RandyLawrence@pedigreecomics.com (art). They will format and upload each scan onto their server and then put each book into the Grand Auction listing. Use a .jpeg format with the resolution set at 72 and the pixel width at no more than 1200 for optimum clarity. If you do not have a scanner you can use a digital camera.
You can upload your own scans, item information, book or art descriptions and reserve amounts, if any, by utilizing their Automated Consignment System. Just register onto the site and login, click the “Customer Page” tab under “Your Account” and then click “Consignments” (under the “Auctions” heading). You will then be able to enter the Pedigree Comics Consignment Management System and list your own CGC or CBCS certified books and original comic art. Pedigree will receive an email once you have uploaded the scan and book or art information for each individual item into the system and they will then review the information imparted for accuracy. The items will then be added to the Grand Auction listing to be bid on. You will be amazed how simple it is to use the Automated Consignment System.
If you have any questions or comments about the consignment process, any of the auction lots in the upcoming October auction or about the Grand Auctions in general, contact Mr. Schmell at (561) 422-1120 (office) or (561) 596-9111 (cell) or at DougSchmell@pedigreecomics.com. For any consignment questions or comments regarding original comic art, contact Pedigree’s Comic Art Consignment Director Randy Lawrence at (561) 451-9800 (office) or (561) 886-8777 (cell) or at RandyLawrence@pedigreecomics.com. For any financial related and consignment payment questions, contact Pedigree's CFO, Lisa Shapiro, at LisaJoy@pedigreecomics.com and for any technical related questions or concerns, contact their Web Master at WebDesigner@pedigreecomics.com.
