A newly-discovered cache of Golden Age comics from the Vancouver pedigree collection, famous for its exceptional page quality, will be auctioned by Heritage Auctions at its August 7-9, 2014 Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction in Dallas.
“When I opened up the box and started grading the books, knowing nothing about them, I was shocked by the amazingly white page quality, which immediately reminded me of the Vancouver pedigree collection which is very well-known in the comic book hobby,” said Barry Sandoval, Director of Operations for Comics and Comic Art at Heritage. “Then I noticed that the mix of titles was exactly the same as in the previously known Vancouver books, namely Classic Comics/Classics Illustrated, Magazine Enterprises comics, oddball funny animal books and Westerns, plus Canadian comics and coloring books. Only then did I look up the consignor and see that he was from Vancouver, Canada.”
Sandoval also noticed that the Classic Comics and Classics Illustrated in the collection (#3, 5, 12, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 45, 46, 47, 48, 50, 52) do not duplicate the Vancouver books that were previously offered (#19, 51, 53-55, and others numbered 57 and higher).
“These books are pristine, beautiful and supple,” said Paul Litch, Primary Grader at the certification service CGC. “There is no doubt in our mind that they are Vancouver books: the page quality, the titles, the time period and such vivid inks. We were all blown away when we saw them.”
Among the high-grade discoveries is Large Feature Comic (Series II) #8 Bugs Bunny 9.2 CGC (est. $4,000+); Classic Comics #4 The Last of the Mohicans 9.6 CGC (est. $5,000+); and Classic Comics #5 Moby Dick 9.6 CGC (est. $5,000+).
The comics were purchased at an estate auction by two dealers, Peter Turcotte and Bob Klettke, and consigned to the auction by Mr. Turcotte, who runs Big Pete’s Collectibles in North Vancouver, British Columbia.
Nearly 30 comics with a Vancouver pedigree will be offered in Heritage Auctions’ three-day event, which will also feature additional high-grade comic books and original comic art, including Barry Smith’s original cover art for Conan the Barbarian #9 (est. $70,000+) to the painted cover and original title page art for Carload o’ Comics by Robert Crumb (est. $50,000+).
