Its been discussed a LOT on the Rare King group. I really believed it would go over $30K as I knew a few prepared (with buyers prem) to go to that mark. Insane..... SO glad I have one and for a great price.
Printable View
Great time to be a seller. A little tough on buyers, particularly with the more rare items.
Simply incredible.
Bid increments are regulated when you reach different dollar thresholds. At that point in time, the bid increments were $2K. So you bid, 22, 24, 26, etc. until you reach $50K. Then the bid increments are raised to $5K. Heritage Auctions allow a bidder to make what called a "cut bid." A cut bid is an increment that's half of the normal increment. In this case, the cut bid allowed the bidder to bid $27K instead of the normal $28K. There can be only 1 cut bid per lot. Cut bids are useful when you think the competition is close to his/her maximum. Sometimes the cut bid is matched quickly which usually indicates more firepower and more excitement to come. FYI -- if there was a next bid, it would have been $28K followed by $30K.
Alex Berman (co-founder of Phantasia Press) recently mentioned that, in his recollection, the previous highest price for an asbestos Firestarter was $33K. I have no information to confirm or deny that number nor if the transaction was public or private. Hope this helps.
John
Updated the master list to reflect the $27K sales price for Letter O
I did mention that. The actual price is $33,750, presuming Heritage charge 25% buyers premium.
Master list updated for Letter O, added the 25% BP ($6750) for total $33750. Thanks Alec!
I have seen the Heritage auction sale, and also know of a very recent private sale. Personally, I do not want to pay an auction house an exorbitant fee and would much rather my money go to someone here on this site. As such, I am on the hunt for a copy of this beauty for my own collection and am ready to pay some serious money - $31k+ (make me an offer!!). I was very, very fortunate to obtain a brand new, never opened lettered Misery and matching cube from a great member on this site, and would very much like to have the same amazing experience with another amazing book and seller. If anyone is willing to part with their copy, I am willing to deal. Please feel free to PM me here. Thanks, everyone!
Michael Cross - Letter Y
Congrats
Nice !
I am currently the owner of Letter M, just in case you wanted to update
I'll post again, since the list hasn't been updated. I currently own letter Y. Several other owners can attest to this. It has never been opened more than a few centimeters and is in astounding condition. Purchase price was a record $35k. This book is only going higher.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/062h...HCjDQ4v5tP_mTQhttps://share.icloud.com/photos/0aaB...sa00vdnnQ8uBKw
As I do not have the permission to post attachments, that’s going to be slightly difficult to show pictures.
Perhaps, I can link it to my Facebook cover image…
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...6131139&type=3
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?sto...00086662861626
I can vouch for Michael owing this copy. I've updated the list accordingly.