Antiques Roadshow guest chuckles at terrible | TV Shows

On Antiques Roadshow, a guest was left chuckling when he found out the staggering value of his Spider-Man comic book.

Expert Travis Landry encountered an elderly man who had in his possession Amazing Fantasy number 15, which marked “the first appearance of Spider-Man in a comic book by Marvel.”

Recalling his childhood on the PBS show, the guest shared: “When I was 12-years-old in 1962, we would go to town to get groceries on a Saturday and stop at a hot dog stand.

“And if I had been behaving myself, I would get a chance to pick out a comic or two. I was into Disney characters and anything that makes you laugh.

“I was not a superhero comic person until Spider-Man came along, and that one I just picked up, and it got into the collection and has been there ever since.”

The expert concluded by emphasizing the comic’s significance, stating “[This comic] ended up being ultimately one of the greatest-selling comics in Marvel history” and pointed out that this issue led to the launch of ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ in March 1963.

The guest revealed his previous appraisal experience, saying, “At a small comic shop, a fellow looked at it and he said ‘If I was to sell it, I wouldn’t take less than $1,000.’ That’s what he told me.”

However, expert Landry had some less encouraging words about the condition of the comic: “Condition-wise, this book is pretty terrible.

“Numerically speaking, it’s what we’d say it’s a 1.8 to a 2.0 on the grade of 10 being the theoretical highest grade you could possibly achieve.”

He pointed out the flaws, “It’s ripped, it’s missing pieces, it has cream-to-off-white pages.”

But he also noted a positive aspect: “But the big factor here, though, that’s good, is the cover. While it is missing a piece out of the upper corner, it is still fully attached at both staples.”

Landry didn’t stop there, adding, “For a Silver Age of comics, Marvel Comics, it does not get better than Amazing Fantasy #15.”

He then discussed the current market: “Today’s market, prices have been a little volatile. We experienced a big boom through the COVID pandemic where prices really went through the roof.”

Despite the downturn, he gave a surprising valuation, “Now, we’ve had some market readjustment but even so, in this condition, conservatively, at auction today, this would be $18,000 to $22,000.”

The pensioner couldn’t hide his astonishment at the valuation, laughing and saying, “Get out! Oh! Do I have a buyer in the house? Thank you so much.”

He ended with a sense of wonder, “What a surprise, what a surprise.”