When a man was called to help out the family to remove some old belongings of his Great Aunt after she passed away, the last thing he expected to find was his Uncle’s comic book collection.
Michael Rorrer’s Uncle, Billy Wright, collected comics in the late 30s and early 40s and his 345 neatly collected and preserved collection passed on to his mother when Billy died in 1994 at the age of 66. The collection sat undisturbed in his mother’s home until she passed away leaving Rorrer to discover this rare find.
Among the collection was 44 of the comics that the esteemed Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide listed as their Top 100 comics of the Golden Age. A few of the most notable issues were Action Comics #1 (first appearance of Superman,) Detective Comics #27 (first appearance of Batman,) and Captain America #2 (Hitler on the cover.)
The pristine condition of the collection had initial value estimates around $2 million. But 227 of the comics were sold this past Wednesday for a total of $3,466,264! Heritage Auctions was handling the sale and will be moving the remaining issues of the collection this weekend, and estimate even the lesser valued comics will likely earn another $100,000!
I wonder if the Aunt left the comics specifically to Rorrer, or if this value will simply be divided among her estate? This would be quite the unexpected gift if she left “those old ratty things in the closet” to her Great Nephew because she recalled he used to like that sort of thing.
I can think of collectables I had when I was a kid that I wished I had tucked away neatly in a closet and forgotten about. But then I wouldn’t have had as much fun with them if I had!