Offered as part of the Comic Book Auctions (16% buyer’s premium) sale that ended on September 9, it sold at £4550 – but a little more had been hoped for, given that the covers were bright and fresh and the pages still creamy, if a little darkened at the edges.
One of the more keenly contested lots was a bound volume of Dandy for that same, coronation year of 1953 – as seen in the issue illustrated above. With the New Year issue of 1954 also bound in, it was estimated at £700-900 but sold instead at £3550.
Auctioneer Malcolm Phillips often has a little anecdote to share with his regular bidders when the price lists are published, and this time he picked up on a recent World Health Organisation statement – one that has classified ‘hoarding’ as a medical disorder.
Key signs, states the WHO, include refusing to discard old newspapers, magazines and similar reading material.
Psychiatrists are quoted as saying that “excessive acquisition is characterised by repetitive urges or behaviours related to amassing or buying such items”.
Phillips is, however, confident that once a UK treatment centre is established, his regular buyers will form an orderly queue.
