Buyer Beware: Action Comics #1 from 1938

List this one under “Buyer Beware”. There is a very approachable copy of Action Comics #1 1938. It is currently at $1400 and, besides the detached cover, is in very nice shape. The caveat is, it is not what it appears.

With even really poor Action Comics #1’s going for great money, the Action Comics #1 1938 is a steal at $1400, however, if you go through the pictures you will quickly find the back cover has Captain Marvel on it.

Captain Marvel was not created until 1939, the year after Superman premiered. Also, DC did not get the character until much later. This means the book is clearly a reprint. The cover showing Superman holding the car, has green running boards on the car. The original had yellow running boards. There is also a page that shows, in the series of pictures presented, that shows that it is a reprint if you zoom in on it.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Here is the accompanying text that goes along with it:

1938 June 1st issue Action Comics Superman 10 cent comic Front and back cover is completely detached however the inside is still in great condition maybe sleight Benz or creases no major tears or detachments please view all images message for any more pictures or with any questions thank you and happy bidding

41 thoughts on “Buyer Beware: Action Comics #1 from 1938”

  2. You should message him as a perspective buyer and ask them if it’s 1st print.
    Interesting to know if it’s an out and out con or just a mistake.

    1. Or he’s just listing as he sees it. I don’t see him saying it’s a first printing but he just lacks specific details. Honestly he’s doing nothing wrong in the listing. The real problem I see is a bunch of bidders not paying attention to the pictures he’s provided to likely know they’re bidding on a reprint book that is not worth $5 if you ask me.

      1. I blame those buyers, if I’m dropping $1000 or more on something, I’m making damn sure I know what I’m buying. The information is out there and readily available and the listing is vague enough that the seller isn’t really in the wrong.

  3. He also has a Batman 1 for auction that probably needs a closer look. This scumbag is also selling KKK and Hitler memorabilia. Spreading hate and selling misrepresented collectibles…yup this one won’t be on EBay much longer.

    1. I wouldn’t go as far as to say he’s spreading hate by selling the KKK piece he has and the Hitler memorabilia I don’t see as memorabilia, it’s stamps. Not like he’s listing it as Nazi related.
      As I wouldn’t sell anything KKK myself (I’d probably burn it if I somehow obtained it) but I would go as far to saying that the KKK piece should be removed since it does go against their guidelines (since well, the KKK is a freaking hate group). I think the Hitler stamps though are probably borderline. Sure he was part of the Nazi party but the stamps alone are just that, stamps from that era in German history.
      I’m not defending the guy though, I just hate pre-judging without really knowing. I don’t think he’s actually mis-representing the collectibles he does have listed though. He clearly has tons of pics. You can see the “reprint” on the Action Comics in plain site.. if bidders are jumping the gun without really looking, that’s their fault if they overpay for what is clearly not originals that are worth thousands of dollars.

    2. I was curious of what is allowed. Found this in eBay’s guidelines about Nazi related items pages.ebay.com/help/policies/offensive.html:
      Stamps, letters, and envelopes displaying Nazi postmarks (must comply with the currency and stamp policy)
      Currency issued by the Nazi German government, including military scripts
      Historically accurate WWII military model kits that have Nazi symbols
      Historical and religious items that bear a swastika if they are made before 1933 and are not related to Nazism
      So the stamps are not clearly not against eBay banned items. The KKK piece could be viewed more of a historical type of item, not promoting hatred per se.

    3. My thing with ebay banning things whether it’s KKK stuff, Confederate flags, WW2 memorabilia from the losing side or white power music is that it only drives the prices way up, either elsewhere or when a listing slips through ebay’s filter cracks. All they’re doing is making a $20 item “worth” $100

      1. Yeah, I actually agree. Honestly, if someone is selling something as a historical piece and not using the funds to promote or spread hate, etc.. I honestly don’t care and think anyone should be able to sell whatever they want. If ya don’t like it, then don’t buy it. 😉
        As for me, would I personally sell an item that was used for hatred or violence, etc? Nope. If it was truly important item with history or played a significant part of history, I’d give it to a museum. If it was not that important, I’d just opt to discard it.

  4. Those look like Famous First Edition copies, one from Action Comics #1 and the other is the back cover of Whiz Comics #1.

      1. The early FFE releases had an outside cover that was cardboard and featured a smaller shot of the cover. There was another cover inside that was lighter weight paper and featured a full-sized (oversized, actually) version of the cover. The Action Comics #1 cover is the inner cover, while that Capt. Marvel back cover is the outer back cover from the Whiz Comics release.

      2. It doesn’t state what size the comic is. The inside cover of the Famous First Editions is the normal looking cover of Action Comics #1 and that back cover is definitely the back cover of Famous First Editions Whiz Comics #1.

    1. Thats very true as well. Its one thing if your making informal comment on a site… But if its selling something or something for work or school… Better get that spell check out or hire an editor. 😉

  6. I’ve come across a lot of sellers who have no idea what they are selling, and even when you try to be nice in explaining to them that their book isn’t worth the millions they think it is, they take offense to it, assuming You are trying to Con Them into lowering the price. Most recently, I came across a seller with Amazing Adventures#1 from the 70’s, which reprinted X-men#1. They had it listed as X-men#1 from 1963 and specifically stated that it was the first appearance of Cyclops, Iceman, Jean Grey, etc. I can see it being an honest mistake, but if they took the time to run a quick Google Search, they would see that the Cover does not match the Original.

    1. That was my dad… He had so much crap he thought was worth more than it really was. Always seemed as if he valued his crap when it peaked on value, like it cant lose value once it reached it’s highest value. He was a stubborn old man. He swore his coin collection was worth 50k or more… After he died… I valued it for far less. 🙁

    2. I look for cheap Cgc books all the time. I have seen people list the books with Cgc 9.8 as the grade of the book. I contact them and inform them if they are selling Cgc 9.8 books they may be getting a lot of returns when ship out raw non NM books.

      1. We need to find you a new hobby if you got time to be telling eBayers they’re gonna make other eBayers mad.. 😉

    1. Thanks for reaching out to them. The item has been reported by several people to eBay as incorrect but they haven’t taken it down last I checked.

  8. Definetly Famous First Edition copy. The outer card wrap cover has been removed from the Action reprint and the back cover is from the FFE WHIZ #1:
    content://media/external/file/16784

  9. Sorry, ignore that content goop, I wanted to add pics but I can’t seem to do so. Anyway, I double checked the photos against my FFE copies and its a reprint for sure. Sadly, this is nothing new, I’ve heard tales of this happening ever since the FFEs were released. I’ve actually seen it at local auctions a few times offered up by the auctioneer as the real thing ( also happens with various EC reprints too.). If it seems too good to be true…

  11. Anthony – the real question is what else other than Action 1 do you have a saved eBay search for?
    ?

      1. I’m sure the bids are his buddy. This should be an eye opener for other comics becoming “hot” when it’s just fake bids so he can get the other 30 copies the seller has sold.

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