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Original Superman comic becomes the highest-priced comic book ever sold

bbc.com

81–90 of 216 posts

Re: Original Superman comic becomes the highest-priced comic book ever sold

#81

I remember a painting was discovered, and there was speculation that it was a da Vinci. It was appraised at $30,000. If it could be proven to be a da Vinci, it would be worth a million. For the same item. Crazy.

Do you think a sculpture by a pre-civilization human is worth more than something banged out yesterday?

Heritage has great value. It is one of the few things that cannot be manufactured at will.

Also, since its uniqueness holds its value, its value becomes a "strange attractor". You can put a lot of money into one of these artifacts, fairly sure to get most or more back. Since future buyers will have a similar assurance. So it isn't money thrown away, but money stored in a medium the provides satisfaction and pride.

Not so different from buying real estate in some exclusive area for some crazy price. It really isn't that crazy if you are likely to get your money back later if you want. Likely at a higher amount due to a growing economy pushing prices up.

Crazy would be spending millions on something unique then grinding it up.

Re: Original Superman comic becomes the highest-priced comic book ever sold

#82
post #31

Does anyone know why this particular issue is so valuable? I'm assuming it's some mix of investment, timing, sentimental value, and rarity. But which ones particularly?

the article explicitly states that this original Superman #1 is the highest graded copy of all-time it’s valuable for the same reason the mona lisa is valuable. it’s iconic, it is a singular object, it is one of a kind, it is a stable investment vehicle. they ain’t making more of them.

Stable investment vehicle I am not so sure. I think an index fund or even gold will outperform it over 100 years. Superman comics rely on people giving a shit about superman which will fade over time. Superman isnt a big thing for gen z for example.

Re: Original Superman comic becomes the highest-priced comic book ever sold

#83

I remember a painting was discovered, and there was speculation that it was a da Vinci. It was appraised at $30,000. If it could be proven to be a da Vinci, it would be worth a million. For the same item. Crazy.

Do you think a sculpture by a pre-civilization human is worth more than something banged out yesterday? Heritage has great value. It is one of the few things that cannot be manufactured at will. Also, since its uniqueness holds its value, its value becomes a "strange attractor". You can put a lot of money into one of these artifacts, fairly sure to get most or more back. Since future buyers will have a similar assura…

Art as a tool for storing Mana: https://medium.com/luminasticity/art-as-a-tool-for-storing-m...

Re: Original Superman comic becomes the highest-priced comic book ever sold

#84
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He added: “This isn’t simply a blurb of words and phrases. This is not just a stock statement from an LLM. This is a testament to outsourcing, laziness and the unexpected ways technology finds ways to change every press release.”

All it needed was the emdash

I've been pressing minus twice to type a dash on Mac OS for so long I've forgotten when I started. People are pointing it out to me more and more every day. I think my writing is distinct enough from an LLM for most people, but there's certainly a growing contingent that sees a telltale and assumes everything must be AI generated.

Most (all?) keyboards I've used only have a combined hyphen‐minus key (-) which is distinct from a dash (—) and isn't quite a hyphen (‐), so I get why most people don't care. All font dependent as well to add to the fun, and my examples here render differently in the textbox and the comment!

Re: Original Superman comic becomes the highest-priced comic book ever sold

#86
>> This is a testament to memory, family and the unexpected ways the past finds its way back to us

If that was a true feeling, then they wouldn't sell it away as soon as they find it, as if it is something they must dispose off immediately.

Sales culture is turning all men into drama queens.

Re: Original Superman comic becomes the highest-priced comic book ever sold

#87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry .. I didn’t realize that zipcomic.com was illegal .. I’d assumed the copyright had expired[0], and checking on DC Universe Infinite isn’t possible, since it’s geolocked and I’m not in a country deemed worthy of it. It’s probably available in Libby or Hoopla, legally. [0] It’s still copyrighted, although it seems that will expire in a decade or so, though. I guess I’ll read it then.

This might be genuinely the first time I can remember hearing someone say they don’t want to commit piracy. No offence, but who cares? Especially for something from 1939.

I mean, I care (though not for something whose creators are long since dead and whom you can't support any more). But in general, I certainly try to avoid piracy. I think it's immoral and while I don't think it makes one a bad person (I myself used to pirate a ton of stuff when I had no money to buy it), I do think it's a thing that a good person should strive to avoid.

Re: Original Superman comic becomes the highest-priced comic book ever sold

#88
post #8

"He added: "This isn't simply a story about old paper and ink. This was never just about a collectible. "This is a testament to memory, family and the unexpected ways the past finds its way back to us." """ Men going extreme in sentimental when they just sold a $9M collectible :).

Did Silicon Valley VCs give that comic its valuation?

Re: Original Superman comic becomes the highest-priced comic book ever sold

#89
post #84
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All it needed was the emdash

I've been pressing minus twice to type a dash on Mac OS for so long I've forgotten when I started. People are pointing it out to me more and more every day. I think my writing is distinct enough from an LLM for most people, but there's certainly a growing contingent that sees a telltale and assumes everything must be AI generated. Most (all?) keyboards I've used only have a combined hyphen‐minus key (-) which is dist…

Yeah it actually saddens me a little, if using good and correct typography will be avoided because of LLM.

Re: Original Superman comic becomes the highest-priced comic book ever sold

#90

Found a bit more on the story behind this copy https://www.ha.com/heritage-auctions-press-releases-and-news...

Funny how the time of day affects the visibility of posting on HN https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46002609 :)

Time of day definitely plays a part, but there’s also luck/randomness to it.

Even the same time and same day of the week there will never be exactly the same set of users online, and that’s even more true with regard to the users who are choosing to look at HN’s /newest page. So pure luck can determine whether a bunch of comic book lovers see it soon after submission and give it enough votes to get on HN’s front page, or just a bunch of people who think it’s a boring story worth ignoring.

(Personally I thought it sounded like it might have interesting comments worth reading, hence my being here, but I wouldn’t have found it interesting enough to upvote if I were one of the people who saw it on the new submissions page.)

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