It is human nature to covet what we cannot have. What comic book collector wouldn’t want the Holy Grail of comics, a near mint copy of Action Comics #1? A near-perfect, 9.0 CGC copy of Action Comics #1 from 1938, featuring the first appearance of Superman, sold for $15 million in January 2026. However, a copy of Action Comics #1 is a prize that even rich collectors struggle to obtain.
In 2013, a Minnesotan house flipper found a copy of Action Comics #1 in the wall of a house he was remodeling. It sold at auction for $175,000. He could have sold it for $250,000; after finding it, a relative grabbed it and tore it, decreasing its market value by $75,000. It’s a great story, but such circumstances will probably never happen for you.
