DALLAS, TX.- Numerous world records among pulp magazines were set in Heritage Auctions' Amazing Pulps and Collectibles Comics Auction Featuring the Joe Rainone Collection, Dec. 2, on
HA.com. This is the second such auction devoted to magazines (pulps and otherwise) held by Heritage in as many years, but this sale stands out for its $427,264 total auction price realized.
"Several records were broken and we saw intense bidder interest across the board," said Rick Akers, Consignment Director and architect of the auction. "The sale total doubled pre-auction estimates and was a rousing success."
Key books set world auction records:
· Collectors sought high-grade copies of Doc Savage and tales of his daring-do. The first three copies of the 1933 pulp title set world auction records as a winning bidder paid a record $22,800 for a March 1933 copy of Doc Savage #1. Copies of the Doc Savage #2, released in April 1933, sold for a record $10,800 and the Doc Savage #3 set a record when it hit $6,900.
· The sale recorded the highest auction price paid for a February 1928 copy of Weird Tales, after it ended at $11,400. What makes this book a key find for collectors is the first publication of H. P. Lovecraft's seminal literary work of weird fiction, "The Call of Cthulhu," as well as Robert E. Howard's memorable "The Dream Snake."
· A November 1934 copy of Spicy Adventure Stories saw 20 bids push the copy to its highest auction price ever at $10,200. The auction price is also the highest price paid for the first or any Spicy pulp.
· A record $3,600 was paid for an April/May 1938 copy of Horror Stories, the highest recorded price of a Horror Stories pulp.
· Bidders set the highest recorded price of the first issue of Amazing Stories, when is sold for $2,880.
The 686-lot auction was packed with rare finds and period gems:
· A bound volume holding the first six issues of The Shadow (Street & Smith, 1931-32), from the Library of Walter Gibson, sold for $31,200.
· A copy of the October 1942 edition of Famous Fantastic Mysteries may be valued at $75 in mint condition, but the original cover art by Virgil Finlay sold for $12,000.
· Even a lot of two radio premiums, a 1941 The Shadow Blue Coal Glow-in-the-Dark Ring and a Doc Savage Brotherhood of Bronze Membership Pin, reached $4,800.