New bidders set additional record prices for rare magazines

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DALLAS, Texas (May 21, 2021) – A rarity first edition of The shadow, published in April 1931, sold for $ 156,000 on Thursday May 20 at Heritage Auctions, setting a world record as the most expensive pulp magazine ever sold. The rare book, classified in the “ Fine-minus ” condition, took top honors in a Special sale 586 lots rare paste magazines and related collectibles.

” The realized price for The shadow The # 1 is the highest recorded for any paste of any kind, ”said Rick Akers, director of comic book consignments at Heritage Auctions. “ I expected it to go over $ 50,000, but things got pretty exciting when it got over $ 100,000, with heated live auctions. ”

“The shipper contacted me after the auction and said he was thrilled with everything from start to finish with Heritage Auctions and the results,” Akers said.

The online auction had a 100% sell rate and made $ 636,648, nearly three times expectations.

Akers said the sale saw a large number of unique bidders, meaning new people are entering the dough collection.

‘Heritage donated a copy of Strange tales No.1 at auction a few years ago, and it sold for under $ 10,000, ”Akers said. “ On Thursday it sold for $ 36,000 which shows how much the category has grown. ”

This first issue of The shadow was an instant hit (the series ran for 325 issues in 18 years) and is widely regarded as one of the most influential magazines ever published. This is the very first “ hero pulp ” and is believed to have influenced the development of superhero comics, which introduced characters such as Batman and Superman who appeared several years later.

Collecting pulp magazines has been an established hobby for over a century. Publications made their way in the 1920s and 1930s. The nickname “pulp magazine” is derived from the cheap paper made from wood pulp, on which cheap fiction magazines were printed.

The sale set several auction records for pulp magazine titles.

A 1923 first edition, second copy of Strange tales sold for a record amount of $ 36,000. The rare second state copy variant, in attractive very good condition, is one of the oldest and considered among the most influential pulp horror titles ever to be released.

A 1933 first edition of Doc savage, offered in very good / good condition, sold for $ 33,600, breaking the previous paid auction record for the magazine. This specimen is the finest of the five heritage experts we have seen to date, only three of which have not been restored. The previous auction record for a first edition of the title was set by Heritage in December 2020 when a copy sold for $ 22,800.

Heritage Auctions is the largest art and collectibles auction house founded in the United States, and the largest collectors’ auctioneer in the world. Heritage has offices in New York, Dallas, Beverly Hills, San Francisco, Chicago, Palm Beach, London, Paris, Geneva, Amsterdam and Hong Kong.

Heritage also enjoys the highest online traffic and dollar volume of any auction house in the world (source: SimilarWeb and Hiscox Report). HA.com, the most popular auction house website, has over 1,400,000 registered bidder members and a free searchable archive of five million past auction records with realized prices, descriptions and photos enlarged. Reproduction rights regularly granted to the media for photo credit.

Eric Bradley, Director, Public Relations
214-409-1871; [email protected]