美国国家公共电台 NPR--Comic books and collectibles have doubled in price since the pandemic

Comic books and collectibles have doubled in price since the pandemic

Transcript¹

High prices in one market is driving demand in others. (This story originally aired on All Things Considered on July 29, 2021.

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Check Those Boxes In Your Attic²: Comic Books And Collectibles Have Doubled In PriceJuly 28, 2021

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We've reported a lot on the COVID-related supply glitches³ that have driven up the cost of things like cars, gas and building materials. Another product has also seen prices more than double in the last year - comic books. Abe Aboraya of member station WMFE has this encore report.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

ABE ABORAYA: It's the battle of the century - Batman versus⁴ Superman.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE")

TROY BAKER⁵: (As Batman) 'Sup, Supes?

TRAVIS WILLINGHAM: (As Superman) Wow. It's Batman. What are you doing here?

ABORAYA: But this time, the Dark Knight⁶ versus the Man of Steel doesn't happen on the big screen; it happens on an auction⁷ block in Dallas, Texas.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: The greatest comic in the hobby - Action Comics No. 1.

ABORAYA: At Heritage Auctions⁸, bidding for the first appearance of Superman starts at $400,000.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: The biggie of biggies as far as this session is concerned - the first appearance of Batman - Detective Comics 27.

ABORAYA: Here is where Batman beats Superman. Batman's first comic book appearance sold for $1.1 million, more than twice as much as Superman's first appearance. During three days at auction, a record $22.5 million was spent on rare comic books, shattering the previous record that was set in April. The pandemic that put millions of Americans out of work hasn't caused them to have to liquidate⁹ their comic book collections and drive prices down, says Douglas Gillock with online auction site ComicLink.

DOUGLAS GILLOCK: In hobbies, we talk about, you know, death, divorce and debt as the three D's of why people sell.

ABORAYA: That's still true, but the average price of a comic book sold in April more than doubled from a year ago. The younger generation is now collecting comic books fueled by the success of the Marvel¹⁰ Cinematic Universe. But also, more people are seeing comics as a financial asset with a pretty good return on investment.

GILLOCK: And in some cases, extreme, extreme returns. But they're also fun to own. There's pride of ownership.

ABORAYA: If you're proud of your comic investment, you'll probably send it to Certified¹¹ Collectibles Group in sunny Sarasota, Fla., for authentication¹².

Comics.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Comics? Let's take a look, then.

ABORAYA: High fences, security guards, video cameras everywhere - CCG is the Fort Knox of comics, complete with an actual vault¹³ overflowing¹⁴ with pallets of comic books. Here, comics and collectibles are authenticated¹⁵ and given a grade by specialists like Vince Oliva.

VINCE OLIVA: This is a Fantastic Four No. 1.

ABORAYA: It looks pristine¹⁶, but Oliva's super senses can tell that missing pieces of the cover have been repaired, the spine¹⁷ reinforced and the cover soaked and cleaned. It has been professionally restored.

OLIVA: And it's still a very valuable book, but instead of a half a million, now this might be - oh, gosh - probably something more in the $10-, $15,000 range.

ABORAYA: Once he's done, comic books are then slabbed in carbonite - kind of.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLASTIC CLATTERING¹⁸, HIGH-PITCHED RINGING)

ABORAYA: It's a hard plastic clamshell to prevent comics from being altered in ways that could affect their value. This whole operation - grading, authenticating¹⁹, slabbing - takes hundreds of people. CCG President Max Spiegel says his company can't hire fast enough and is offering $2,500 hiring bonuses.

MAX SPIEGEL: At the start of the pandemic, we had 300 employees around the world. We just passed 500 employees. And I think by the end of the year, we could have 600 or 700 employees.

ABORAYA: So now, what before the pandemic was a two-month turnaround for comic books, is more than five months. A Pokemon card takes a year to get graded.

For NPR News, I'm Abe Aboraya in Sarasota, Fla.

(SOUNDBITE OF DATAROCK SONG, "FA-FA-FA")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 attic   

n.顶楼，屋顶室

参考例句：

• Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
• What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理？

3 glitches   

n.小过失，差错( glitch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Manufacturing glitches have limited the factory's output. 生产中的故障影响了该厂的产量。 来自辞典例句
• Another kind of period variation,\"Glitches,\" are seen in several pulsars. 在几个脉冲星中还看到了周期的另一种变化，即“自转突快”现象。 来自辞典例句

4 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

5 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

6 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

7 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

8 auctions   

n.拍卖，拍卖方式( auction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They picked up most of the furniture at auctions in country towns. 他们大部分的家具都是在乡村镇上的拍卖处买的。 来自辞典例句
• Our dealers didn't want these cars, so we had to dump them at auctions. 我们的承销商都不要这些车子，因此我们只好贱价拍卖。 来自辞典例句

9 liquidate   

v.偿付，清算，扫除；整理，破产

参考例句：

• A unanimous vote was taken to liquidate the company.全体投票一致通过停业清理公司。
• They have not hesitated in the past to liquidate their rivals.过去他们曾毫不犹豫地铲除对手。

10 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

11 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

12 authentication   

鉴定，认证

参考例句：

• Computer security technology includes mainly:Authentication,Encryption,Access Control,Auditing and so on.计算机网络安全技术主要有: 认证授权、数据加密、访问控制、安全审计等。

13 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

14 overflowing   

n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The stands were overflowing with farm and sideline products. 集市上农副产品非常丰富。
• The milk is overflowing. 牛奶溢出来了。

15 authenticated   

v.证明是真实的、可靠的或有效的( authenticate的过去式和过去分词 )；鉴定，使生效

参考例句：

• The letter has been authenticated by handwriting experts. 这封信已由笔迹专家证明是真的。
• The date of manufacture of the jewellery has not been authenticated. 这些珠宝的制造日期尚未经证实。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 pristine   

adj.原来的，古时的，原始的，纯净的，无垢的

参考例句：

• He wiped his fingers on his pristine handkerchief.他用他那块洁净的手帕擦手指。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。

17 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。

18 clattering   

发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Typewriters keep clattering away. 打字机在不停地嗒嗒作响。
• The typewriter was clattering away. 打字机啪嗒啪嗒地响着。

19 authenticating   

v.证明是真实的、可靠的或有效的( authenticate的现在分词 )；鉴定，使生效

参考例句：

• Specifies the password used for authenticating to a remote server. 指定用于对远程服务器身份验证的密码。 来自互联网
• Property indicating which hash algorithm to use when authenticating the message. 表示验证消息时要使用的散列算法的属性。 来自互联网