Badr Milligan: 0:00

In this episode of the short box. Last year, November 20th, 2025, Heritage sold a CGC 9.0 for 9.12 million.

Brian Wiedman: 0:10

And an item like that, it gets super exciting. Like really exciting. So I remember that. That lasted such a long time that I was out of breath a lot because so much was going on. You know, I mean, you're you're trying to get the going and you're shouting, and I'm talking very loud. I'm projecting my voice. I'm excited. You try to get the bids in, uh, and you don't know they're gonna come from. And there was a lot of time in between bids on that So it was just a matter of please don't let me screw please don't let me screw up.

Intro music: 0:41

Ladies and gentlemen, the Short Box Podcast. Yeah, we can become preamble. It was fantastic. the short box podcast is recorded live from Jacksonville, Florida.

Badr Milligan: 0:58

This one is for the Short Box Nation. Yep, short box nation. Hello again, welcome back, and thanks for pressing play today. If you're brand new, welcome to the show. My name is Badr, and this is the Short Box Podcast, the comic book talk show, where we bridge the gap between the panels of your favorite comics with the people who blood, sweat, and tears into making them. Or in today's case, we're talking of someone that puts blood, sweat, and tears into doing really cool stuff comics and selling comic books. This is episode 518, and joining me today is returning Brian Wiedman. He is a comic book consignment director and auctioneer Heritage Auctions. And what that means is that Brian spends his days comic book history, tracking down rare collections the world, and auctioning off some of the most comics in the world. For example, remember that copy of Superman number one was found in a California attic last year that sold a record setting. You gotta be ready for this. I hope you're sitting down for this. That Superman number one that was found in that attic for a record setting$9.12 million. Brian was the auctioneer on that, all right? That's that's the type of cool stuff that Brian gets do in this role of his at Heritage Auctions. And he's back today to preview Heritage Auctions I think it's actually four-day, uh, comic book signature auction that's taking place November 19th through the We're talking, this auction has major grails, all right? It's got Amazing Fantasy XV, it's got Batman number it's got rare golden age Superman issues you don't see much, it's got Captain America comics from World pre-Marvel, uh, and some incredibly hard to find horror comics. The whole auction feels like a comic book history book to life. So we're gonna talk to Brian about the stories behind rare books, what makes them valuable, and maybe even which one could be the next world record. It seems like uh every auction they do, some new is being broken. So we'll find out if there's any budding record breakers in this auction. But before we get started on that, big shout outs to amazing sponsors and supporters. Starting with our longest running sponsor, Gotham City Comic Shop. It's the best comic shop in Northeast Florida. Visit them on Southside Boulevard here in shop online at Gotham City Limit.com. And I want to give a special heartfelt shout out to all the loyal Patroni homies over on the short box Thank you for your support and for helping me keep the on here at Short Box HQ. If you love the show and you want to help me keep it and growing, join the The Short Box elite at patreon.com slash the The Short Box. Uh you'll get early access to every episode I put out, episodes you don't hear on the main feed, and uh to win some free comics. Once again, join the short box elite for more short box content at patreon.com slash the The Short Box. Now, without further ado, let's bring on our guest of calling in all the way from Texas. It's comic auctioneer Brian Wiedman. Brian, welcome back. Uh it's been a while. Yeah, two uh two very long years, uh almost a hundred plus episodes in between since then. I was excited when uh I told you when you know I reached out at Heritage and they were like, let's get Brian back on the show. And I was like, come on, that's like lightning striking twice in one spot. I I love it. Now, Brian, if I recall when you made your first you know, two years ago, uh, I think at that time, like you were seven years uh into your role working at which means if my math is right, you're coming up on like your 10-year anniversary working.

Brian Wiedman: 4:46

Yeah, I just hit it actually in August.

Badr Milligan: 4:48

Congratulations. Thank you. How has your role changed or the day-to-day job since last spoke? Have you taken on any new uh uh day-to-day stuff? Are you doing anything new?

Brian Wiedman: 4:58

No, I think I'm traveling a little more than I was a years ago. Um you know, 24 was a weird year because the the market was coming down off of the COVID highs. Um, and it's kind of steadily, you know, leveled out then and even bounced back a little bit, especially in the silver edge market. It's bounced back a little bit recently. So it's kind of it's kind of an interesting time period trying to figure out what things are gonna go for, uh, know, what's gonna happen with the market, that sort of thing.

Badr Milligan: 5:27

Yeah, I'm curious. Uh, have you traveled to anywhere particularly any uh in any low new locations or cities or states, it may be?

Brian Wiedman: 5:35

Yeah, I I went to Australia and New Zealand for a um real big collections. Oh wow. Uh so that's the farthest I've been. I I don't recommend the plane ride though. 16 and a half hours from Dallas, non-stop. So it's it it was it was interesting.

Badr Milligan: 5:52

Uh I bet I um I went to Japan this year. Uh me and my wife took a trip to Japan and it was a flight. Um we we had like really good tickets on the way to, it wasn't too bad going to, but on the way back, it a a true test of willpower and uh uh just patience. Yeah, you're right.

Brian Wiedman: 6:14

See, you want that flipped, you wanted the good seats back because you're so tired, you don't want to deal with stuff. So next time flip it.

Badr Milligan: 6:25

Agreed. Yeah, we learned that the hard way. So I'll I'll take that into mind. Now, Brian, uh, in those short two years, you know, a has happened with Heritage Auctions. The the company has been in the news a lot. You know, I I could be here all day kind of reading some of the headlines and different news I found about auctions and you know, auction uh comics being sold. But there's three particular things I want to bring up you. Uh, some of these you're involved in in some way, and some others I just want to get your opinion. So let me read these uh these recent headlines and get thoughts. The first one is uh, you know, I mentioned in the intro, but the $9.12 million Superman discovery on November 20th, maybe for those that are unfamiliar, just need a Last year, November 20th, 2025, Heritage sold a CGC 9.0 Superman number one, which was discovered in a California family's attic for 9.12 million. Now, the last time we spoke, you said that you had never personally brought in a Superman number one. And then lo and behold, in 2025, a year later, you at the auctioneer's podium for like this incredible, you know, world record, you know, uh incredible, you know, sale. Can you take me back to that day? Like what was going through your mind as those bids just kept climbing and climbing and climbing?

Brian Wiedman: 7:38

Well, uh basically when I'm on the auction podium, you kind of into a rhythm. Um, and I and I've been an auctioneer now for nine, of the 10 years I've been here. Basically, for me, it's just kind of it's kind of nature at this point, I guess I should say. I've been doing it for a long time. Uh, but on an item like that, it gets super exciting, really exciting. So I I I remember that that lasted such a long time I that I was out of breath. Oh, wow because so much was going on. You know, I mean, you're you're trying to get the you people going and you're shouting, and I'm talking I project my voice on the podium, even though the room is usually empty. Um, I'm projecting my voice, I'm excited. You try to get the bids in, uh, and you don't know they're gonna come from. And there was a lot of time in between bids on that in uh on that item. So it was just a matter of please don't let me screw please don't let me screw up. That that there's a lot of that too. I love it, yeah.

Badr Milligan: 8:40

I I guess did the story of that book being discovered an attic make it feel different? Like, did you did that play a role into you know the or or how you approached the sale?

Brian Wiedman: 8:51

I don't think so. I mean, again, it's kind of normal. The one thing that I would say really played a role into everything as far as story goes was the promise pedigree. The promise pedigree, uh, when that came out during COVID, that was one where the story mattered. How many books were there, how high a grade were they? You know, I think 75% of the promise books wound up being like the tide for the highest graded or the highest I I mean that was an unbelievable that that made the one look like nothing. I thought the Superman one was great and the promise pedigree was was a whole nother level. And so that was one where I think the story helped play into the final, uh, into the final prices, but also was going on during that time, and that also played into the final prices, so that it was just this perfect storm of everything at once perfectly for the promise pedigree. The Superman one, on the other hand, kind of rested on own laurels. It it was just the highest graded, it's so beautiful everybody wanted it because it was the best. Listen, we all get excited when people find, you know, lottery in their attic. Uh, but I don't necessarily think that that was the it went so high. I think the reason it went so high is because of what it was, uh, and it's the highest graded.

Badr Milligan: 10:19

Well said, well said. I love hearing that. Okay, moving on to uh this other headline I want to talk about the $13 million Batman and Superman deal, for those unaware, in February of this year, actually, uh, which I think speaks to just Heritage is always up to something like you guys always just have the hot, the hottest I don't know. But the earlier this year in February, Heritage and Comics facilitated a private sale pairing a CGC 9.4 number one, which on its own sold for 6 million, with a CGC 8.5 Superman number one, which sold for 7 Brian, the last time that you were here, you know, I'm keep saying that. You jokingly called yourself a Batman number one magnet because so many copies kept finding their way to Like you were like, it's it's just another Tuesday, Well, now we're talking about a copy that you helped to heritage, eventually exchanging hands for six dollars.

Brian Wiedman: 11:16

Yeah, yeah. So that was really interesting because the Batman one the one I helped bring in, uh, and then it resold you know, and the in the private sale I had nothing to do with. But the original Batman one in that grade, the is the one I helped originally bring in with Ed Jaster he was still around. Uh, but that originally sold for 2.6 million, I and now it's up to six million. Wow, it's it's a lot of money.

Badr Milligan: 11:44

Well, well, I'm curious, what's the difference auction and a private transaction of of like this Why might someone choose one over the other?

Brian Wiedman: 11:54

Some people avoid auction because of the unknown. That's a very, very difficult question. And I'm not trying to quibble over the answer, it's a question. I would say 95 to 97 percent of our business is auction. That is how we prefer to do it. But let's say someone has an action comics number one in in 8.0 grade and they want $10 million for it. Well, we know it's not at that auction price at this in time, but there might be a buyer willing to pay that private seller's price, uh, where that whereas they be able to get it at auction. And so we try and help facilitate that transaction. Does that make sense? Absolutely. That makes sense. And so my argument is auction is usually always better it's so outrageous for the the seller they want a price that we just know we can't get. We we just know it. There's there's no it the the book isn't there yet, it be there in five, 10 years down the road, but it's not now. And so that's why you might see a private transaction for something like that. Got it, that makes sense. Thank you for that.

Badr Milligan: 13:02

All right, I got one more headline I want to talk about or piece of news here. Uh Iron Man's debut slash page. All right. I was hoping you'd pull that one. Yeah, yeah. Well, you know, last uh last time you were on, we were about another uh piece of art that had set the But uh, for those unaware, but I'm talking about Don original page one artwork from Tales of Suspense 39, which is Iron Man's first appearance, for those in the know, established a new auction record for comic book art. The page sold, check it out, for $3.875 million, Heritage's previous$3.36 million original comic art for Secret Wars number eight. Um, and you know, that Secret Wars number eight was fresh. I think it was it happened that same year when we last Now, you know, I'm seeing like you guys once again your own record with this Don Hag. I guess I'm a little in surprise. I mean, is it surprising that the you know, page Tales of Suspense outsold Secret Wars? You know, I'm thinking like Spider-Man, the I was like, it'll be a long time before that record gets broken. And then here we are, barely two years in.

Brian Wiedman: 14:07

I'd like to say I'm I'm still a little mad about the Wars page because I had COVID and was supposed to be on the podium for it. Uh and and because I had COVID, I obviously I I couldn't um I couldn't call that auction. But no, not only am I not surprised, um, I would have been more surprised had it not broken the record. The simple fact is if it's not the cover, you want the page, right? And that page introduces Iron Man. And that's that's your first image outside of the as to what is going to go on in the book. And so uh you have an order of order of importance, you've got the cover, then you've got the splash page, and then you've got panel pages uh or or title pages. You are kind of in between there, uh, if it's not a page. But um that is so historically important. Uh, I would have been more surprised had it not broken the record. And then that I think I was on the podium for that one I think it was 13 or 14 minutes. Wow. It it took forever because it opened it at like I think, from what I remember. 700,000 or 900,000, right around there. It took a very long time to get to that mark.

Badr Milligan: 15:22

Wait, wait, wait, wait. So you're saying 13 to 14 minutes is considered a long An insanely long time.

Brian Wiedman: 15:29

In the term of dog years, it's like seven years. It's it's insanely long for an for an auction lot. It's it's very, very long.

Badr Milligan: 15:38

What's what's like an what's an average for you?

Brian Wiedman: 15:41

30 seconds to a minute is is normal. I that depends on comics and comic art. Comic art is a lot longer. Um, but um when I I have a countdown clock on my on my on the podium, and so when it hits 20 seconds with no I'm usually wrapping it up. Uh, and if another bid comes in, I kind of give it 20 seconds. So depending on how quickly things happen, you can go from a minute to two minutes normal. Um, but for that, it was it was uh 15 minutes is an long time for a for a uh a piece.

Badr Milligan: 16:16

We're not even 20 minutes into this. I'm already shocked and like amazed. This is why I love having you on Brian. Hell yeah. Um, I you know, I guess after all the records that we've seen, you know, these just this small handful I up. Are are these sales uh are there still sales that shock you? Like, do you think we're approaching a ceiling for what somebody's willing to pay for a comic book or original Or are we just getting started?

Brian Wiedman: 16:40

Um, that's a really good question. I I think that depends on a number of things. It needs to be relevant in today's society. That needs to be number one. We all know the name Superman, we all know the name we all know the name Star Wars, and those things are very important. Now, my kids were shown Indiana Jones, right? But if you ask a 20-year-old today who Indiana Jones they may not know Indiana Jones, but they definitely Star Wars. So, as long as you're relevant over the course of decades, then you kind of bring the people into new So Star Wars came out in 70 in 1977, I was five years old. Uh, they were relevant again in the 90s with the They're relevant again because they're on Disney Plus they make new movies and things like that. And every time they do that, you have a new generation in. And so when those kids grow up, uh 20, 30 years down road, they start collecting what they had when they young. They remain relevant. Spider-Man's very much like that, so so to speak, Not as much Superman. You know, it's more tilted towards Spider-Man uh and So as long as that happens, you're gonna continue to prices go up. If it doesn't happen and it's it it becomes irrelevant, then prices will go down quite a bit.

Badr Milligan: 18:08

You know, I guess speaking about you know, generations and you know, new audiences with comic books selling you know nine million and and original artwork going into the millions. Have you personally noticed the type of people in these auctions changing? Like, are you seeing more traditional collectors, or or you know, people from the outside coming in? There's a lot of people from the outside coming in.

Brian Wiedman: 18:31

Again, that's you know, I don't know if you know about the Pokemon market right now, but that market is I I mean, you could have a whole podcast just based on market right now, constantly every day. It changes so fast. And I call some of those auctions and things that were for eighty thousand dollars six months ago or going for$350,000 today. It's six months ago. The market shouldn't change that much, but it is for and a lot of that has to do with being super relevant now. Uh, and kids are growing up, and and those kids are investing in Pokemon and they're getting their kids into it. Uh, and so you're gonna see another generation. 20 years from now, you're gonna see the same thing with Pokemon. It's going to be very relevant again. It might ebb for five or 10 years, but it will be relevant again 20 years from now, 30 years from now. Comic books are the same way. So as long as the movies are coming out, that gets new into it, and then that keeps it relevant for the next

Badr Milligan: 19:33

Well, I said, Brian, the only thing I know about the market is one, it's crazy. Two, every friend I have that has a kid is into Pokemon. And three, they it's crazy, they can't find these cards in the stores, you know.

Brian Wiedman: 19:44

Like, no, no, it's great, it's beyond crazy. Like I said, it's the it's it's COVID all over again times 10 in the Pokemon market. And I've never, never seen anything like it before. It's it's just it's astronomical.

Badr Milligan: 19:59

Yeah, that's that's one way to describe it. All right. Well, uh, Brian, I want I want to get into the the main event, which is this November uh uh comic art auction taking place November 19th through, I think is it the 21st or 22nd? I noticed throughout that 22nd, thank you.

Brian Wiedman: 20:13

It's usually four days. Two days for comics, two days for art.

Badr Milligan: 20:15

Got it. That okay, that's right. You guys had to stack that way. Well, today we're we're specifically talking about the comic side of the house. And we can have if you got something to say about the side, I would love to hear that. But what makes this particular signature auction special to you? Like, were you personally involved in bringing in these lots? Uh yes, I I was.

Brian Wiedman: 20:33

I actually have a uh bunch. I've got the I brought in the uh Fantastic Four and 9.0, um, which I you know, I I really rushed to get that back from CGC and into the sale before before the because I wanted to hit the high of the movie. There we go. And just so everybody knows on the speculation part, I'm not a speculator. I I try and keep things fresh. You know, if you if you collect, collect because you it, not because you're speculating, right? Um, that is that is my ultimate, ultimate advice to is collect because you love it. And so the FF5 is one of those weird things. Typically, if a book is maxed out in value, it's it's thousands of dollars. Hulk 181 is a great example, Amazing Spider-Man One, Fantasy 15, Fantastic Four number five. These are all major keys that are worth you know and thousands of dollars. They don't typically move much when a movie comes out, for some reason, FF5 has. It has. It it doesn't normally do that, but it has in this So I had to rush that book in uh to make sure it was in before the movie, uh, to maximize as much as I could for the client. And and then I got that book in Raw. Wow. So um I actually went to New Jersey and and got that book in Raw. And it's just it's one of the nicest raw books I've seen.

Badr Milligan: 21:59

Did they just have Your photo up at the CGC office, I imagine, like when they see your name, they're like, right, put him in the VIP line. He's he's a return. No. Are there any, I guess, specific collections with backstories like the ones we've kind of mentioned of like the Superman in the attic or the pedigree collection? Are there any, I guess, interesting stories here or finds or locations?

Brian Wiedman: 22:18

No, not that I've run into um uh lately. But um, you know, I'm one of like 16, 17 people bringing items in. And and the big fallacy is that I get to see That's very far from the truth. I see less than 1% of the auction until it goes live. Um, so we're all bringing things in individually, and uh, you know, when I'm on the podium, I get to see it that sort of thing. Uh, but until then, I I don't know, unless it's a weird thing, you know, like the Superman one, where I do hear the story and I do get to see it, that sort of thing. But there was uh the I think it was the cap one in the sales one, two, three. I would do this uh comic show called the Little Giant show in Concord, New Hampshire, uh every year. I did that for four years, and it was just it was never anything came into that show for heritage, and so I doing it. And then the person who found that collection, uh, one my bosses, he went with me a few years and he said, the funny thing about those books is uh that was 10 from the show and it never walked into the show. So uh, you know, that that kind of burned me too. I was always there and just never got to help bring books when they got away.

Badr Milligan: 23:35

I got well, you know, um I if my math is right, it sounds like you know, you mentioned that you barely, you know, you see 1% of everything that was brought in. I know on the comic side, I think there's like 380 uh, comic books listed for the actual uh lot. I'm not sure what the uh how many the quantity for the art side is, but 380 is that's a lot of I mean, you know, this is like I said in the intro, like some of the books and and such a variety of books too, you know, not just like your amazing Spider-Man ones and and all but a good a good variety of like modern books too. I was surprised by like I think there's like an one on here. There's uh another modern one that I don't want to just yet. But um, yeah, very impressed by the the variety of going on in this one. You you brought up, you know, uh the Fantastic Four I think you said five that you got raw and then it came back very highly graded. I want to talk a little bit about grading because are multiple Amazing Fantasy XV copies here, including a restored 9.0 plus a heavily restored Detective Comics How should collectors weigh restoration against like rarity, and appearance? Like, how much weight should they give like a book that was restored?

Brian Wiedman: 24:48

So that is going to depend on your collecting first of all. Okay, so if you want a really nice looking book and you don't care about restoration, um, by all means, go Just don't overpay for it. Um, and and so our market or our hobby is very, very than let's say movie posters. Okay. Movie posters, restoration is allowed, not many about it. Sure, you'll get a major premium for an unrestored poster, but it's not like our market where people look at that value and just go, nope, it's not for me. Because you can basically always get a non-restored Let's say an Amazing Fantasy XV is a perfect example. I can get an unrestored Amazing Fantasy XV. I could even get an unrestored amazing fantasy 15 and I just have to pay millions of dollars for that. Um, and if I'm willing to do so, I'd rather have copy. That's the problem with the comic market now. 50 to 100 years from now, if comics are still relevant, paper degrades. It just does. And so restoration may be more allowed and more needed. And so it will be better received than it will Back in the 80s and 90s, the average was that it dropped off um 40% of your value. So if you had a million dollars, it was still worth Now, if you have a million-dollar book, it drops off of your value. So, and it also depends on what the restoration is. Um, if it's trimmed, it very much hurts the book, like more so than that. Trimming is the ultimate no-no.

Badr Milligan: 26:31

Yeah. Very uh, I mean, this is, you know, I I I will never be one to say, like, I'm a I'm an expert in this realm. This is why I have folks like you on here. It's always interesting me to hear like the like, you know, I wouldn't have thought about like being a no-no, or you know, I obviously I know I'm dealing with physical, these physical uh uh, you know, pieces of art and then assets in some way. So even to think about like just the natural life of a physical thing, especially you know, being made out of paper and staples and just how it will naturally and how that kind of adds to its rarity or you know, uh helping to drive the sales, like all these different and factors that you gotta weigh in. And you know, getting to hear you kind of like break it down like this, it it really makes even you know, we're talking about figures well outside my ballpark. Mine too, by the way. Mine too. I I let's just let's let's not dandy around here. I can't afford this stuff either. So I I guess it's just it just fascinates me, man. It paints comic books in this really prestigious light now we're dealing with like millions of dollars, and hard to say, like, you know, this is just uh a thing kids anymore. I don't know, it's just very fascinating.

Brian Wiedman: 27:43

I also want to interject that comic art with is definitely not the same as comic books. Comic art is a one of one piece. Oh, yeah. So if you want, if you want to clean it, so to speak, make sure it's not degrading, um, if you want to clean stains off it because um because there's glue all over it based on what the artist did, that is definitely not same as restoring a comic book. You have a one-of-one piece and nobody else ever had that piece again. So restoring that or putting title stats on it or doing something like that is so much different than doing it a comic book. So that there is a big difference between the two

Badr Milligan: 28:24

Yeah, I I feel like I sound like a parrot at this point because earlier this year I had the opportunity to go to um the original art expo in Orlando uh back in March. Um, I don't know if you've ever been. I feel like you would I haven't.

Brian Wiedman: 28:35

I've been dying to go to that, but we do we do go there, but I didn't get to go.

Badr Milligan: 28:39

Yeah, you guys were set up all over. I mean, speaking about Pokemon cars, I got a chance there was the original art. You guys had original art, comics. No, I think just original art, but then you guys also a booth in this other area that was all like animation Pokemon art, and that was fascinating. But yeah, I I guess I bring that up to say that I mean held comic art before, but going to that event and some of the, you know, the the upper echelon of of art and some of these like just out of this world pieces up close and personal. I don't know. It it's it's something about original art and you it almost teleports you to this very specific moment in time, you know, with the artists and getting to see like these really fine nuances uh about the art. Like you said, like glue marks, uh markups, you know, eraser, yeah, like all this stuff. I don't know. Um, there's something about that tactile nature to it that I think really just makes you feel differently about art, seeing it in person.

Brian Wiedman: 29:36

I love it. Uh, you know, I never never knew about I grew up in the Midwest and all the art is on the East Coast or on the Coast. It's never in the Midwest. And so, you know, when I came here, it was a whole whole new thing to learn. Uh, and so I I love it. I think it's it's gorgeous.

Badr Milligan: 29:52

You know, on a on a similar uh track, one thing that I getting out of our initial conversation was how uh your reverence and and how much emphasis you put on uh uh like pre-code horror comics? Like I remember them. I remember ending the the the conversation, like, man, never thought about it in that light, or the history and like we're dealing with like really rare books. And I know there's a lot of pre-code horror comics and titles in in the upcoming auction. Is there an underappreciated, maybe it whether this auction or just you know, holistically speaking, is there an underappreciated pre-code horror or that you think deserves the same attention as the you know, Marvel and DC grail that everyone talks about?

Brian Wiedman: 30:39

Well, I I can tell you a book that I brought in into sale is the Terrific Comics number five. Um, that is not technically a pre-code horror book, believe. I cannot remember the year that that was created. Um, but it's the second highest graded. It's an 8.0. I've never seen one that high a grade before. And I think that book is really underappreciated. It's got a Schomburg cover, it's basically a pre-code cover. Uh, and I think that's just a great, great book. Um, but I it was kind of a precursor into pre-code horror. Uh title-wise, um I think uh I think you could always go with your, you know, your chamber of, you know, your uh chamber of chills or things like that. Um but um they're great.

Badr Milligan: 31:36

That's the other thing about uh the auctions is I kind of scrolling through what you guys have. Um you guys have also like really great descriptions about every piece, giving like little history lessons, like uh the pedigree, all of that. Um so for anyone listening, I I will include a link auction and some of the items here. And you can just, I mean, you can spend hours just through and seeing just some incredible artwork. Uh, but yeah, this chamber at chills, which I think a of listeners uh will recognize it as where the Misfits uh uh kind of you know lifted the art for their uh um uh was the name of the song? It says Die Die My Darling. That's right, 1984 is Die Die My Darling by the Misfits. Yeah, this is incredible.

Brian Wiedman: 32:20

Um yeah, you should pull up the the terrific five too, just because it's so I mean it is so there's so much on. Uh Schomberg covers always have something going on, but I love that cover so much.

Badr Milligan: 32:33

Oh wow, yeah, this is great. And I will uh for the audio listeners, I'll include I'll try to include as many links to some of the things uh we're talking about uh in the show notes, but this might be one you want to check out visually. I am pulling up, I am doing a screen share, this go-round. I guess I guess, yeah, uh anything we should know this terrific comics five. So 1944 Continental magazines?

Brian Wiedman: 32:53

It's 44s, yeah. So it's it's before pre-code horror. So they were they were even, you know, Schaumberg was the the limits of of what they could get away with even in 44. But I think in general, uh pre code, like I've said before, I think pre-code horror books are the most the rarest books. You can't really call classify this as pre-code horror, but I think this is a I think if you look at the census, this might be the second highest graded. So holding your breath for the the top grade is just gonna happen, you know. I I think it says one higher graded or maybe two higher.

Badr Milligan: 33:28

What does it say here? It says uh according to Overstreet 2026, a very fine if I bring this right, very fine 8.0 value was 20,400. Yeah, and you can't go by Overstreet on that.

Intro music: 33:39

It's such a rare book.

Badr Milligan: 33:41

I love that. Okay, you're not gonna win it for overstreet value. Yeah, yeah, I gotcha. Okay, okay. Well, you know what? Here's uh something else I wanted to bring up. Something I didn't expect to see in this uh catalog was a CGC 9.9 absolute Batman number one, a comic that only came out like uh two years ago. Uh you know, we're we're talking about an issue with of graded copies, hundreds of variants at this point. Uh I guess is this a different kind of rarity than what we see in in golden age books? I I you know, like I'm I guess I'm just so shocked to such a new comic book in comparison to you know a book 1944. I mean, how does something like that end up in in the Um, I don't know.

Brian Wiedman: 34:26

You know, I I don't know because I you know, nine nines are are pretty important, uh, they're not given out willy-nilly. Um, so in in 10 years of me being here, I've still never gotten a nine nine from CGC on any book I've said to So uh, you know, in general, uh it'll be interesting to see uh what that goes for. You know, I I don't know. Uh there, I mean, we have a Walking Dead uh 199 in this sale. We had one in the last sale, and and I helped bring one in, the second one, I mean the first one. And um, we said uh we told the client it was gonna go for 15 to 17,000, and I think it hammered for like 46,000. So I you don't really know anymore what things are going to do because we get very we get surprised just as much as everybody, you know, auction prices uh like I said on in this, you know, auction is the best way to realize unknown prices for sure. Um, because if two people sink their teeth into it, may not just let go, they they may just may keep bidding.

Badr Milligan: 35:34

All right, Brian, I'm gonna put you on the spot. What are three books in this auction that you think more attention than they're getting? Maybe not necessarily the most expensive ones, just the three that you think have a great story behind them, a personal favorite. What are three that come to mind?

Brian Wiedman: 35:48

Uh, I'm a big fan of the Blue Bolt 115. Um, I I love LB Cole. Love LB Cole. Uh and um, and so I and I like skeleton covers. So this is one of my this is one of my favorites in Yeah, uh, I don't necessarily think that it's it's underperforming. I just I just love the cover. Yeah, as far as the rest, I can't really answer. I I don't really know. Again, I haven't I haven't really gone through the yet because I don't know my lots yet for the auction. You know, I don't know what I'm gonna call, so I don't know. It's it's everything, everybody's going to have a opinion on that. Oh, this should be going higher. Oh, that should be going higher. But it's early on in the auction. And so typically what happens, you get a few bids early on, and then you get two and a half weeks of no bidding, and then the last few days of the auction, it'll start up again. And then when I'm on the podium, it goes up a lot. So uh, in general, I don't really have an answer to that because you know, a lot of it's low because that's the it starts normally.

Badr Milligan: 36:50

Yeah, Brian, I do love how honest you are. Like you said, you're not, you know, I'm not here to or drive anything, I'm just giving you the facts, and I appreciate that. I like your your your outlook on a lot of these things.

Brian Wiedman: 37:01

Well, you have to collect what you love. If you're going into it to flip, this is not the market to flip. COVID was the market to flip. You could do it all day long. You cannot flip in an even, you know, an equal market. Uh, you know, when something's the same this year as it will be in six months, that's you can't flip very

Badr Milligan: 37:20

For someone making their first uh heritage bid, what's biggest mistake you want them to avoid? Um, plan it ahead of time.

Brian Wiedman: 37:28

So uh if you've never bid with heritage, plan how you're gonna pay uh because they charge, you know, we charge extra for a credit card purchase or credit card charge. So when I buy stuff, it's linked to my bank account. Um, so I don't get hit. I don't like extra fees. Same. I I don't I I really dislike them.

Badr Milligan: 37:49

So Brian, you are creating to the most anti-fee guy in world. Yeah.

Intro music: 37:55

I have drives the price.

Brian Wiedman: 37:57

Yeah, that's what I want to know. Right. Plan. Uh, we do have a buyer's premium. So make sure you're factoring that into your bids. On artwork, it's not going to factor in, but on comic it might. Um, so if you're planning on going higher, great, no Just understand that there's a buyer's premium. Um, but plan ahead. So make sure that you've set up the account. If you need to talk to client services before you bid, do so. Please do so. So you're not trying to bid at the time of the auction, and it doesn't allow you to do so because they haven't a credit check, or uh, and that won't always be the for everybody, but on high, high books, they may need to run a credit check. Um, so plan all that in advance so you can bid at the time. The last thing you want to do is miss it, yeah, and and then get upset about it.

Badr Milligan: 38:47

Solid advice. Brian, if you don't mind, I I want to share a couple of items that I went ahead and bookmarked just out of Um, and I just want to get your reaction. Uh, you know, we can keep this uh really quick, but just some things that I wanted to share with you, if you mind. Okay, first I'm pulling up Cerebus the Ardvark by Dave Sim, which is I I did not know Cerebus has been around since 1977. I thought this was like, you know, a 90s, 80s darling. But here you guys have the first issue, uh graded 7.5. I'll be honest with you, this might be the first time ever seeing the first issue. I've never maybe seen this cover ever.

Brian Wiedman: 39:22

It is a very tough book to get, and it's a very, very book to get nice because of the black cover.

Badr Milligan: 39:27

And I'm like kind of impressed by like the current bid now is 470, which I feel like is pretty approachable for like this rather rare or hard-to-find comic that you don't see much of it.

Intro music: 39:36

It'll go for thousands, it should go for a few thousand.

Badr Milligan: 39:39

You know what, Brian? I I think this would be maybe a fun game. I want to hear what is just your ballpark estimate that you think some of these things I'm pulling up will for. You know, just fun. It's not you're not being fair because I don't have GPA in front of me. Uh can I pull up GPA? Yeah, yeah, pull it up. Yeah. Okay. I want to set you up for success.

Intro music: 39:58

Yeah.

Badr Milligan: 39:58

All right.

Brian Wiedman: 39:58

If you're good, if I get to cheat, I'm pulling up GPA. For those unaware, what is GPA? If you don't know, uh GPA is um gpanalysis.com is is sort of like Go Collect. It's the website we use to price slapped comic books. Uh, and it keeps track of real-time uh information as what comics sold, if it's a CGC book, uh, what grade it's sold for, and then the price. Uh, and so that's that's how we use it. So I typically tell people that it should go 10% above, 10% below, but should be right around the that the last number, unless the market's doing something wonky. In this case, I don't, I mean, I don't know how long been since I've seen a 7.5.

Badr Milligan: 40:49

So Brian, your brain is like a a like a like a computer database. I love that you can just be like, I haven't seen one of those in a long time. I'm like, I haven't seen one in my lifetime.

Brian Wiedman: 41:01

Well, I mean, you've got to understand that basically I see everything.

Badr Milligan: 41:06

Yeah. Oh, I guess I didn't even mention that this was also uh an autograph copy by Dave Sim.

Brian Wiedman: 41:11

Yeah, the last sale was 2850 in July of 2026. Oh, so a signed copy should maybe 3,500.

Badr Milligan: 41:20

Okay, that's fair. Okay, let me move on. All right, so that was my first pick. Okay, I I think we already talked about absolute Batman number one, but what I'm I'm picking this uh that's not fair. I know nothing about modern books.

Brian Wiedman: 41:30

How am I supposed to? I have no idea. I don't even know what that is.

Badr Milligan: 41:32

Yeah, yeah. Well, I guess I guess what's interesting is that this is a second printing of Absolute Batman number one. It's a Felix comic art edition. You know, it's like it's a second printing and it's a I guess it's just fascinating to me to see uh such a book like this, you know, right next to uh, you know, a book from 1944. I guess it really does speak to just the popularity of through so many generations, you know, even to this

Brian Wiedman: 41:56

I I okay, I'm no, I'm gonna look that one up because I no idea like how it's a learning experience for the both of us. Yeah, when it comes to modern books, I have to look them up or I'm I get left in the dust. Now, if you were gonna ask me about like uh an 667 Del Auto variant, I could have figured that out. But but when it comes to, you know, because that's I've seen in the past a bunch, but when it comes to the newer stuff, I don't know.

Badr Milligan: 42:25

That said, uh another one that I bookmarked was this the Red Nose Reindeer, which is unlike any of the stuff I bookmarked, but I I bookmarked this because this was new to me. I know Rudolph the Reindeer from you know the the cartoon, and little did I know that uh it originated in comic book form, which once again speaks to how comic books is as a medium. You know, so much of I think the it's always surprising to see what started as a comic book. And I've got another example of this, but Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, right now it's uh you guys got a 9.0 CGC graded copy, which I never thought I'd say I'm talking a Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer CDC comic book, bid at 7500. What do you think this is one ends up selling for?

Brian Wiedman: 43:08

Oh, I I mean uh what what does the back cover look like? Is it a is it a promotional book? Yeah, I'm not even sure I've ever seen that. What does that say? Montgomery would be a promotional book. And and so when I say promotional books, so a lot of a lot of times in the 40s, uh the Superman Tim's uh we call Superman Tim's because this this company would give these small little, you know, Superman comics with some puzzles and stuff in them. Uh and those can be, you know, decently valuable, a few hundred dollars each. But you get a lot of uh shoe stores giving away comics things like that. So these promotional items were given away for free, but they didn't, they didn't survive very well. Uh and the fact that this is a 9.0 and it was a item uh makes it pretty rare. What's the um the census on it?

Badr Milligan: 44:00

uh what is the are there any higher cdc uh census uh and 9.0 none higher none higher so it's gonna do somebody's willing to pay because there you know there's only one other copy out there uh and um and you can't any higher so it it might go for well more than that i i couldn't even tell you that that probably doesn't even a um you know a price on gp analysis because it's it sold in so long you never know what you end up will will end up finding and some of the auctions like i said such a wide range of of books and stuff all right what do i got on here saved oh okay batman number 16 published by dz comics 1943 this is cgc uh 6.0 and i pointed this one out i i earmarked this one because this is like an alternate view of the famous Batman number cover right it's almost like here's the other side of right which I think is like a fun little callback homage within itself kind of uh vibe yeah I mean uh Batman's in general in the top 10 are really are really cool ever even the top 2025 um are really neat once you get past what you know 54 it starts becoming a little more common um but it they're they're fun I I think they're a lot This particular issue it says it contains the origin of first appearance of Alfred the Butler uh plus a joker the cover is by Jerry Robinson it was the first to feature a smaller version of the title's logo just small stuff that you know like that the collectors pay attention to that that gets noted on a book like this very cool okay this was one I I definitely wanted to get uh your on but is uh shock suspense stories one through twelve volume a personal copy signed by Al Feldstein uh from uh it says I collects uh 1952 1954 is the the date on here okay do you do you know anything about this well not but I know I know people used to bound uh you know the volumes all the time uh even one of my bosses still does he he takes lower grade comics and and uh and bound uh so he can keep them in his library um but but that was a very common practice in the 40s and the keep your books I mean but for one to be a book from private library of you know Al Feldstein is insane. That makes it really cool. Yeah that'll bring a premium because of that for sure. This is just I mean it it looks like it belongs in a It looks like a book you'd find in a lost library or I mean and it's owned by Al Feldstein. I mean Mad Magazine EC fame come on yeah very cool stuff all right what else do I got okay I got a uh uh copy of you guys have a copy of Team NT number one which I've this you know before but you know none that in this high of a grade 9.6 the original first print uh you know 1984 and I think I earmarked this because Eastman and in the whole TMNT story is such a great story of just the the American dream kind of story. These two guys who love doing comics end up putting out their own comic book by themselves self-published you it it ends up bringing about this black and white comic book craze you know and then becomes a billion franchise you know and it all starts from a comic book I think you know calls back to you know that that uh the red nosed reindeer is just the power of of you know like what becomes this bigger thing with a like a comic book.

Brian Wiedman: 47:33

Not only that but they are both incredibly nice. That's right the nicest people they are absolutely to be around. Oh wow Brian have you had a chance to meet like a lot of uh uh comic creators not a crazy amount so a couple of ago I had to do uh New York Comic Con and one of my stories is that uh Kevin Eastman punked me so I I have talking to him uh via email um and very very small by uh but I'd never met him in person uh and uh you know I I had seen pictures of him when he was young but I'd seen a picture of him you know basically my age and uh so I was at New York Comic Con and we take value to New so we take comic books to to preview for our our auction and things like that. And if you knew how many people in New York asked me can I buy that book? Can I buy that book?

Badr Milligan: 48:31

No it's a new auction it's gonna be a new auction in blah blah blah blah blah and so this person walks up to me and goes can I buy the whole case and I sound like no it can't he goes I know Brian I'm Kevin Eastman I'm oh my god that's so embarrassing it's so embarrassing hey Kevin nice to meet you I have a pen do you want to this stuff for me yeah that'd be great so I got a with him which is great but yeah it was it was he punked me so okay I guess is it common for uh a a book like this uh in this a grade to demand 25 000 just for current bid do you think that's gonna go much for much or is that around average that one is about average it's gotten up there quite a bit i i've got you know as a as a side note i actually have one in the mail right coming to me that it's it's a nine six signed and by kevin wow so the turtle the turtles are along the the right edge um you know faces are right along that edge so that'll be that'll be in an upcoming sale all i i know signatures can play a factor in yeah you know a book's uh bid and and price but what about remarks you know you you're talking about alterations to comic and restoration does does remarks uh i guess do anything to the price too well usually they add a little bit of to it um you know depending on what it is you know McFarlane uh if he draws Spider-Man on the on the cover of your book might might add you know some money to it same with you know the turtles that sort of thing got got it okay all right uh Brian I got one more to showcase we already talked about the Walking Dead number one so won't spend time on that other than to say this 9.9 copy you guys have up for a bid is damn near perfect it's a book and brings me back to some early years of comics so I guess it's just interesting to see a book The Walking Dead number one on here. Invincible you know like these these comics that when first came out weren't these massively popular It wasn't until you know like much later like the show boosted the popularity of the Walking Dead the Invincible show the video games you know I guess it's interesting to see some of these creator-owned comics had humble origins are now you know these sought-after

Brian Wiedman: 50:46

Yeah you you also have to realize that you're describing exactly why they're important because all of those that you mentioned have a rarity aspect to You know they didn't have a 4000 print run. You know TMNT number one had a 3000 print run. I think Cerebus number one had either a two or three print run. Walking dead number one is the same way. I think it's got a 4000 print run not 4000 4000 and so you see a 99 uh and the same would go for uh you know go for an invincible one the exact same thing has a very low print run and so they kind of have their own rarity going for it um I've always been a big fan of Valiant you know from the 90s because you know I was I was collecting I in college um and and they had very low print runs to Marvel you know Marvel was printing like 400 000 you know issues of amazing spider-man at that time and was printing something like 40 000 and think now you had Walking Dead printing 4,000 one tenth of the Valiant universe and so they're very rare compared to the mainstream Marvel stuff or even DC well said well said last thing I'm gonna show and I've I pulled this one the the the cover is so amazing and I have a feeling you might be a fan as well but uh Captain America Comics 74 from Timely which I love seeing like some of the books you guys have for sale like I think there's even a couple of like Atlas um uh uh branded comics which is always fun to see like pre-mar-I mean hell even the on this one uh it's like a leaf or something like that I haven't seen I'm assuming it's it's the timely logo man talk about a just striking cover and this is an of one where I you know read the description I'm like I didn't even that's the news to me you know like so War II uh you know uh comic books are having to pivot from being you know a war comics and you know have to having to find a new uh avenue especially for a character uh you know Captain America who is you know patriotic and you know this is being an example of having to take a pivot into more horror um I think is just striking with the red uh I guess the storyline uh the story is Captain America is fighting red skull in I mean all of it is just like wow comics were pretty back then yeah and um you know the the other problem was is that people were getting away from the superhero uh and you know superheroes were were ebbing at that they weren't popular anymore uh and so they had to figure out how to make the superheroes popular and so they were trying to go into into weird tales you know or or do some horror sort of thing um but also you you have to have to know that you know cowboys and indians were a big deal in the 50s and and so you saw this rise of of uh because of the wild west lore and things like that so uh plus TV I mean you had Lone Ranger Cisco Kid you John Wayne in the in TV you had um you know um uh Wyatt Earp and all these these western you know figures that a big deal and so that was taking away from uh so that that really had a lot to do with with you the the ebb of of superheroes during that time and and then of course you had the the you know seduction the innocent and Wortham you know cracking down on in general um so that also really hurt it uh in until you got into you know basically until you got to Fantastic number one in 1961.

Badr Milligan: 54:46

Brian you know speak here in uh I'll all this uh talk comic history have y'all ever have you ever seen a copy of like Seduction of the innocent in person?

Brian Wiedman: 54:54

Oh yeah yeah I wish I owned one I've I've always wanted to I've always wanted to own one.

Badr Milligan: 54:58

Yeah yeah if if you had a chance to visit one moment in comic book hit street and witness it firsthand when and where are you going?

Brian Wiedman: 55:06

If I had to had to had to pick one I would go back to action one I would um I ran in I and I can't remember his name it drives me crazy but uh back when I was in my I went to Panama City uh Florida for a uh spring break and I was into comics back then you know I I had still collecting at the time and I walked into this slash I don't know retail shop and this guy had a rack of comics and I was kind of looking at him because I was interested at the time and um this old guy was was and when I mean old guy I mean he was old he was in his 80s for sure he was he was carving driftwood and um that was that was what he did to sustain money. And so we got to talk and he asked if I like comics and I explained yeah I I this is you know what I like this is what I do. He goes well have you heard of Green Giant number one and if you look at our last sale we had one of the highest we had ever had it was a 6.0 there's only like 10 or 12 copies in existence it's really weird. It's a very low number um and this was a title that um this guy created and again I can't his name I have to pull him up it's driving me crazy.

Badr Milligan: 56:31

Here I I I gotta pull it up right here for you. Uh it says created by George Capitan and Harry Sahel.

Brian Wiedman: 56:39

Yeah so I have a small index card that he drew for me the creator of Green Giant won. So that's that's who it was it was George Capitan. So he goes he goes well do you want to see one and I yes that would be cool he goes out to the trunk of his and brings it in he had a copy and he said he was at DC when action comics came out and the desk he went next had a stack like of 50 copies of action comics number sitting on a desk. Wow and I just it blew my you know like back when I in 20s I had never seen one yet in my life and it just could not fathom that many copies existed you know uh in one place at one time even though I knew that obviously had to publish them and make them and you know uh but I just I would have loved to have seen that that would been unbelievably fun. And George was the greatest guy. I mean he was so nice.

Badr Milligan: 57:42

Yeah fellow Florida man it sounds like all right Brian I want to move into uh uh one of the last segments of the show but a very fun segment and I think you'll you'll a great time this is the friends and family segment of podcast it's where I take a break from asking the for a minute and let someone else ask the questions. And in today's case I have two voicemails for you that I want to play. And I think you'll enjoy these. The first one and I'm gonna keep these as a surprise they normally say their names on these but I think really appreciate the first voicemail I got let me cue

Barry Sandoval: 58:16

hello this is Barry Sandoval and my question for Brian Wiedman is if he could own any animation cell what it be?

Brian Wiedman: 58:24

Oh wow yeah that before you answer that uh uh for unaware who is Barry Sandoval to you uh he's one of my he's my direct boss so uh he uh he oversees basically I do day to day cool uh I have five I have five bosses if that it's it gets a little difficult to keep everybody but Barry's my main boss there we go uh great guy shout out to Barry uh what what would I own if I had I I don't know I've been buying a lot um oh I know what it would be they make this as a limited edition print and I don't the print I want the original I would like the animation cell from Batman yeah uh Batman the animated series uh the episode almost got him and it has all the villains a poker table playing poker oh my god I just uh that would be that would be the one I would want this is more than any film in the world.

Badr Milligan: 59:24

Yeah I just uh if you just google BTS animation cell got him it's oh my god this episode is a great one too it's the one where they it's it's it's one of the best because he's killer crap you haven't seen it you know he Batman is killer craft and he's like I I almost got or I punched him or I almost ate him or you know and all that stuff.

Brian Wiedman: 59:42

Yeah they're all telling stories of how they almost Batman but I used to be a professional poker dealer. Most people don't know that about me I used to deal professionally. So when I see comics that have poker cards on them or cells especially from there I really like them because I used to deal poker professionally. I still play quite a bit.

Badr Milligan: 1:00:00

Brian is there anything from your past poker life skill wise or things you've learned from you know doing poker that you brought into the comic book world you out as an auctioneer?

Brian Wiedman: 1:00:13

Well I um poker taught me a lot of life lessons uh I to be very averse to risk um and one of the things that poker taught me was you need to take risks there that can't play poker without taking it's you cannot play without taking risks but you can mitigate those risks if you're smart enough right um it was a big big risk for to move from Chicago to to Dallas you know for this job you know that I didn't even know I had yeah I wasn't had always had a standing job offer here but uh I you I always had a friend say hey if you move to Dallas I can get you the job with heritage uh and and so it was a big risk for me to do that but it was it was planned uh so that that helps me and so I plan uh you know if I go out on a consignment trip uh I plan what am I going to do how what happens if it goes wrong how do I react if it wrong what do I do to the client how is he going to react there there's multi multi layers of planning in case goes wrong and if it doesn't go wrong great you know um what do I do what do I do on the podium if something what happens if it doesn't get any bids how do I react a lot of life lessons that I've learned from poker and and how to how to present myself how to be more outgoing I had to be outgoing on the poker table but I also had to follow the rules so I had to make rule decisions uh when I was a boss and you know a floor manager in poker so was a lot of things I had to do that translates into my life directly.

Badr Milligan: 1:01:52

That's well said I it makes me think of that saying luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity and it sounds like you're prepared. Okay uh I want to uh once again big shout outs to Barry for sending in that voicemail that was a welcome just for me as well uh so big shout outs to Barry and for helping me coordinate that um uh Brian I got voicemail to play for you.

Eli Schwab: 1:02:11

Hey this is Eli Schwab independent publisher at Cosmic Lion Productions what I bothered love what you do my friend I'm always interested to talk about heritage auctions and the amazing stuff that goes on there. So this this auction looks like it's mostly slab books in golden age of comics. Sometimes people in the independent comic space look down a slab book as it's a plastic case of emotion. But in this case it's more like you're preserving a comic all time and preserving it in its uh beautiful quality to So I would I was wondering if you could talk to the in a collector's mind that you think to reading a comic to preserving a comic to uh having it on the shelves for all as a piece of a collection versus having it in your open as something that you can read. Now I know a lot of these are old comics you can read online but what's the difference of in feel in a having something in a slab versus it being an open comic your lap that you can read and experience? It's it's a big question and I wonder if you could speak to it in your perspective.

Badr Milligan: 1:03:28

Big shout outs to Eli Schwab uh who I'm gonna credit I'm always gonna credit him as the person that put me on to Heritage auctions and I'll never forget the phone call years ago when he was like dude are you watching this live auction right now it's crazy. So big shout outs to Eli.

Brian Wiedman: 1:03:43

Uh Eli I think I thanks for the question because I do the should I slab it should I not slab it that this is to be a very long answer and I apologize for all that. I hate it but it it is definitely not a short answer. Uh number one is what would you prefer? Would you prefer to collect a cover uh with it just slabbed because basically that's all you're doing is and looking at a cover. You're not reading the book. Yeah he's um number two is what gives you the most do you do you like the feel of the book like you I I attest that there is a smell associated with that that brings back memories. And so I personally like having books in my hand. I just got into reading you know I'm on a tablet or like that uh electronic versions of books. I don't like that as much because I can't smell and feel the book uh but I have to do it because I can't see crap anymore. So it's it's gotten to the point where electronic, you a Kindle or something like that is much easier for me uh to read on uh so I do it that way. But I really miss reading a book. So on the flip side of this comes how do you want to your books when it's time to sell? Okay. And the answer to that is some of your books will need be slabbed. Not all of them, mind you, but definitely ones of higher value because the people buying them in an auction they need to know it's not restored. They need to know it's not trend they need to know it's complete they need to know all these things. And when CGC assigns that number while a lot of people disagree on that number the community as a whole the community as a whole tend to agree with that number in cases 90% of the cases they will agree with that And so that sets then the value. If you don't slab a$10,000 book because the person uh very risk oriented, they're not sure if it's complete not sure if it's if it's color touched or it's trimmed things like that. They're not willing to spend $10,000 on that book to take a chance on. So they're gonna Spend less money. Slabbing the book ensures that you get the most out of money when you go to sell. My other argument is do not slab your books until you're ready to sell. Okay. So if you've got 500 books that need to be slabbed, don't do it. Don't because if you spend all that money slabbing your 500 books, how much does that cost you? You could have sunk that into another great book as to slabbing your books. Wait until you go to sell them because really you should be keeping them in a in a box. They should be kept in a closet. They should not be on a wall under any kind of light they will fade. They will fade. Do not I don't care if you've got UV protection. I don't care. It will fade over the course of time. So do not keep your books in on the wall in light. Um, so don't don't slab your books until you're ready sell. And then you let somebody like me figure out what to be slab and what doesn't need to be, because I also what needs to be pressed and doesn't need to be, that of thing.

Badr Milligan: 1:07:04

Words to live by. I appreciate the thoughtful answer, Brian. It made me think of a of a follow-up in the same vein. You mentioned that a lot of your work involves helping who have like inherited these like massive comic They don't really know what to do. What would you say is the first thing someone should do if they unexpectedly inherit like a valuable comic

Brian Wiedman: 1:07:25

Make a list, uh title a number, and then contact us. And and now you may not sell through us. That's fine. I'm okay with that. I I prefer to get the items, and I prefer, I mean, my job is to help you get the most money for your items to with. But make a list because until I know what I'm I can't even tell you what a value is. I can't even guess. If you have something valuable, the next thing I'm gonna do is ask for a picture of those items. Don't take a picture of everything, it's just it's just gonna be, you know, not everything is valuable. So you're gonna spend a lot of time taking pictures that I don't need pictures of. Um, and then contact me with that list. And I will tell you if you have something valuable. There's no reason for somebody like me to hide that. If you go into a comic shop, somebody's gonna hide if valuable. They're gonna try and get your $10,000 item for a thousand dollars because they need to make money. Whereas in the auction business, my job is to get most money because the more money you make, the more we make. We we take a percentage off of the final price. That is how we make money. So I it it does me no good to lie to you if you have a $10 million book. That doesn't do me any good. I want you to have a$10 million book. Um, and I've had people say, No, you're just trying me off. No, no, no, I'm not. I'm just trying to help. You know, this is my job, is to help you. Uh, so I'm just trying to do the best I can.

Badr Milligan: 1:08:45

Yeah. Uh I'll I'll summarize that for you. Let Brian help you get $10 million, damn it.

Brian Wiedman: 1:08:50

I wish.

Badr Milligan: 1:08:51

I wish. I wish. I wish. All right. Brian, the uh I want to close out here by talking about once again the signature auction taking place through the 22nd. Let's say I'm a comic collector with 500 bucks or a dollars to spend, and I'm completely overwhelmed looking through the auction and it's full of six-figure books. Where would you point me to first?

Brian Wiedman: 1:09:14

Well, I uh where would I point you to first? I I I would I would circle or put on your put on your I would I would track what you want the most. Um, and then start looking up what the books cost, you what they will go for in those grades. Um, and if you can't afford that, that's okay. I I used to get really upset. The first few months I worked here and I didn't win the auctions that I wanted, I used to get very upset. Realize there's something next week that you will that you will want. We get so much that it will come around again. Now, some of it might not be for years, but a lot of it comes around. Amazing fantasy 15 will be here next week, and the week after that, and the week after that, it just will. There's a lot of them. Uh, and in action comics, one won't be. Uh, but you know, you're not spending a thousand on an action one. So uh that's you just realize it will be here next week or the week after. Just be patient, it will be around. Um, and that's that's basically you know, my my best. And we have 52 weekly auctions a year, also it might be in the weekly auction instead, or it might be in the art weekly auction, or it might be in one of the many we have. We have so many auctions now compared to even two ago. We we have so many auctions now.

Badr Milligan: 1:10:42

Wow, great advice. All right. Last question for you, Brian. I want to look at uh to the future of this one. What's something about the comic collecting market you believe people will look back on in 10 years and surprising? Do you see any foresee any trend in in the comic market that 10 years from now will be something that like, what?

Brian Wiedman: 1:11:03

Sure. This goes back to when I was a kid. So when I was a kid collecting at age 14, I had a friend who had an overstreet price guide. Okay. And we would then yearly from 14, 15, and 16, uh, we yearly track the values of our comics. And then we would also look at Detective 27 and Action and see how much they went up. And on average, they went up about 10% a year in Price Guide. Now they've gone up a lot more than that in reality since then. But what I think you will be surprised is that Superman number one will not be a $9 million book in 10 to 20 It will be a $30 million book or a $50 million book, it will be a number you can't wrap your head around we haven't hit that yet. You know, we hadn't hit the $1 million back in the day. We hadn't hit the $1 million mark for any comic book And then we hit that. Now we hit the $5 million. Now we almost hit the$10 million mark. And so what's next? Will those continue to go up? As long as comics are relevant, as long as superheroes are relevant. Yes, they absolutely will. And I and now the Superman movie came out that always the clock 20 years because the kids who saw Superman want to collect Superman when they're older, maybe Um, and so now you have 30 years from now you see generation coming into collecting what they were when were kids. And so, yes, they're going to be relevant for another 30 years, same with Spider-Man, same with Star Wars. So 30 years from now, will there be a movie? And did they teach their kids that? I don't know the answer to that, but that that's how that as generational.

Badr Milligan: 1:12:44

Yeah, which is kind of a beautiful thing when you put it like that. And uh, I can't wait to text you in 10 years and say, you were right. This Superman number one is 30 million dollars. You guys broke another record.

Brian Wiedman: 1:12:54

It would be astounding if it wasn't, because something, maybe something went horribly wrong. You know what I mean? But as long as the status quo, you know, people buying selling, and you know, the market's been, yeah, the been up and down. It's been up and down since 19, you know, 1930, 1940. It it'll constantly go ebb and flow, uh, as long as it relevant in in our pop culture, I think you're going to see prices continue to naturally escalate. It's just a matter of how much, you know, how much money, how much inflation, that sort of thing plays into it.

Badr Milligan: 1:13:31

I I totally agree. And uh I completely disregard anyone that says comics is dying, especially when I have conversations like this. They are they are here to stay. And I think with that being said, Brian, this has been a fantastic conversation. Thank you so much. Always a pleasure having you on the show.

Brian Wiedman: 1:13:46

Thank you so much for having me. It's been great.

Badr Milligan: 1:13:48

Yeah. Ladies and gents, this is the Short Box Podcast, and just finished talking to Brian Wiedman about the upcoming Heritage Auction, comic book signature auction, taking once again in person and online, starting November 19th through the 22nd. That includes both the comic book portion of the as well as the comic art auction, which we could be here for another uh two hours talking about just the comic Some great pieces up there, but I highly recommend you it out. Even if you just do some window shopping, like I said in the intro, this is like looking at a time capsule of book history. I'll have a link to the auction page. Uh, you can check out some of the images, some of the that we talked about, maybe even uh start bidding. Uh I I I wish you all luck. If you are taking part in the auction or doing any let me know. I want to see what you win. Let me live vicariously through you, okay? Me too. You know, and speaking about links and uh living I'm also going to include a link to uh Brian's page, which is fantastic. Brian, I you have one of my favorite pages to follow you post some of the like some of you know the comics you you find uh during your travels, the books that in, and you always like provide some background. So I'll include links to uh your Instagram as well. Highly recommend uh everyone give you a follow. Um and yeah, once again, check out the show notes, where it's at. Thanks for listening to the Short Box Podcast. My name is Botter. My job here is done. Big shout outs to the Patronis and everyone at home. Stay tuned for the outro. Here's some more messages, and I'll catch you next All right, peace. And there you have it. That's our show this week. Thank you so much for listening. If you're feeling good about this episode, if you it, hey, do me a favor, leave a five-star rating and on your favorite podcast app of choice. It is a small thing for you, but would mean the world to me, all right. You can find the short box podcast on all podcast YouTube, where you can watch the unedited video of these episodes and interviews. And I guess I should remind everyone that the short box podcast is part of the short box entertainment company. The podcast is hosted, produced, and edited by Now, if one episode a month is not enough for you and you want more short box content, if you want bonus episodes, maybe you want to check out the spinoff podcast that I with Drew every single month. It's called Safer Podcast, or consider becoming a box patroni, aka a member of the short box Patreon For as little as five bucks a month, and I've got cheaper tiers than that, but for five bucks a month, you get some really awesome perks and rewards. You get early access to everything I record, you get free episodes, you get bonus episodes that don't make to the main feed. You get to take part in the monthly comic book giveaway contest I've been doing where every month I post and away some really awesome comics from my personal If that sounds like something you would like, go to slash the short box, check out the tiers, check out the rewards, and I hope to count you among the short box among the short box patroni family. Speaking of which, big shout out to all the existing box patronies, including Adam Citanny, Amanda Gammett, Ben O'Grady, BJ Kicks, Blake Simone, Life Bo Evers, Brandon Holder, Brandon Paul, Brian Chris Hacker, Dave Wilson, David Morales, Generation Greg Lichtide, Henry Hernandez, Herschel, Jay Sinner, Frebbitt, Jerome Cabanatan, JJ Mack, John Lukes, Jose Corey Jorgeson, Kyle Conway, Kyle Willis, Mac Jacobson, Marissa Burton, Nick Wagner, Nick Underwood, Ryan Sherman Lester, Stephen Gammett, T Mix, The Wait For Podcast, Tony A. Uppy, Walter Gantt, and last but not least, Warren Hey, much love to all of the Patronis. Thank you so much. Your support means the world to me. I'm serious about that. If you're still listening, big shoutouts to you for it to the very, very, very end of the show. I appreciate it. I'll catch you next week. Got a brand new episode in the works. In the meantime, take care of yourself and continue to mine and yours short box. Peace.