- Hey, how are you?
I'm pretty good. What do you have here?
I brought you "Moby Dick."
"Moby Dick" in the form of a comic book.
Absolutely.
It's an original from 1942.
Aw, that's pretty cool.
The story about Free Willy.
[laughing]
Well, you can call me Ishmael, if you'd like.
[laughing]
XAN: I bought the comic in order to give it
to my father, who collects books on whales
and whaling and "Moby Dick."
And once I presented it to him, he said, "It's a comic."
So now it's for sale.
I'm hoping to get $600 for the comic.
If I'm able to make a deal, then I'll
go back and figure out what whaling book my dad would like.
It's pretty cool.
What do you know about it?
Well, the classic comic folks decided that there would
be a strong market for the classic books
to be turned into the comic books
to try to get the kids to perhaps want
to read the actual book itself.
CHUMLEE: Yeah, that's pretty much what this here was about.
Have you ever read the comic?
XAN: I have read the book.
I know that the whale wins in the end, still.
Yeah, it's a story about a captain who just had
an obsession with this whale.
And he was going to catch this whale
or he was going to die trying.
And I think pretty much everyone knows
what happened in "Moby Dick."
He died trying.
XAN: Yes, he did.
CHUMLEE: I don't know if it's a sad story or a happy story.
But the whale was happy.
CHUMLEE: When Classic Comics came around in the '40s,
comic books were still a pretty new art form.
But they were pretty popular, and Classic Comics,
later known as Comics Illustrated,
actually ran for almost four decades.
I just wish I knew about it when I was back in school.
So what did you want to do with it?
XAN: I'm trying to sell it. CHUMLEE: All right.
And what are you looking to get for it?
About $600.
I got a few questions before I fork out that kind of money.
But if you have a little bit of time to hang out,
I can call a buddy down and he can evaluate the comic for us.
That'd be great.
CHUMLEE: All right.
Give me just a minute.
I'll go make a phone call.
OK.
XAN: I'm a little bit nervous about what the expert might
say, because it does appear to me that this comic has
been well read.
It's pretty cool, but I have no idea what it's worth,
so I called Paul in to help me out.
He brought this "Moby Dick" comic in,
and I figured you're the guy who could tell me about it.
PAUL: Really cool, man.
You can tell it's a first original edition, which is
pretty rare, just by the $0.10.
Because if you have a $0.15 or blank,
it's most likely a reprint.
So how collectible is this in the comic book world?
Well, this book actually has a pretty rare variant.
On the regular edition, on the inside front cover,
there is a letter from the editor.
The other one is an interior cover that's
a free promo kind of thing.
That's very rare, and I've seen like two.
Well, I didn't look at the first page, so--
let's find out.
So let's what it says, all right.
[suspenseful music playing]
All right, this is the letter to the editor.
So this is the regular one.
What kind of value would you put on it?
Overall, I mean, the colors are great.
You do have some damage along the edge, the stain here.
But it's a really nice book, really nice copy.
Is it $600 nice?
I think it's closer to 550 nice.
CHUMLEE: OK, well, that's not too far off.
Thanks, man.
You got it, Chumlee.
PAUL: Having an original edition complete
is really something that people look out for.
I think it will be a good buy for the shop,
and might take a little time for that right person to walk in,
but I think it'll sell.
All right, well, after hearing everything
you had to say, How much are you willing to let it go for?
I know you're going to need a little bit of room, so 500.
[exhale]
I've got to take all the risk of someone
handling it and selling it, and 100
different people looking at it.
Would you go 350 on it?
I'd be much happier at 450.
I could do 375, but I think that's my limit on it.
Well, all right.
375.
All right, we've got a deal.
Just meet me right up here at the counter.
OK.
I'm selling on $375 because that does allow
me to get my original purchase price back,
and to find a nice whaling book that my dad will enjoy.