The third Pedigree Comics Grand Auction will start on Thursday night, February 5, 2008 and will last for ten (10) days until Sunday night, February 15th. This auction promises to be our very best one yet and certainly one of the better ones the comic book industry has ever seen. Most of the items in the auction are the highest CGC certified copies to date and there is an incredible selection of many different titles and genres. They have some incredible Silver Age Marvels, including the world's best runs of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos and Captain America, ultra high grade Bronze Age gems, a gorgeous Silver Age Flash group, an amazing 9.2 copy of Amazing Fantasy #15, high grade Golden Age books including DC’s, Timely’s and other publishers, an astonishing highest certified set of Dells and Gold Keys and much, much more.

This Grand Auction features over 350 certified comic books with many highlights. Here are just a few: 

*AMAZING FANTASY #15 CGC CERTIFIED 9.2: Pedigree Comics is very proud to be offering one of the top certified copies of this most important book. It is a gorgeous, perfectly structured 9.2 copy with off-white pages an uncanny cover gloss. This is by far the nicest example of Amazing Fantasy #15 ever offered for sale by Pedigree Comics and the finest copy to enter the market in a few years. It is the third highest CGC certified with only one in 9.6 and 6 in 9.4 graded higher. There is only one other CGC graded 9.2 as well. The copy is characterized by remarkable color strike, razor sharp edges (absolutely no Marvel Chipping), pointed corners and an immaculate spine. There is a date stamp ("5-31") to the right of the top word balloon. Features the origin and introduction of Spider-Man by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko plus a Jack Kirby cover.   

*#1 CGC REGISTRY SET OF SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS: The second major highlight of the auction is the simply incredible Sgt. Fury run and #1 CGC Registry set of noted collector Mark Arrand, the recipient of the Comics Registry's "Achievement in Comics Collecting 2008" award. To accommodate this unbelievable, high grade set (a complete run of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos between #2 and #67), they will be modifying the Grand Auction format and suspending the $1,000 minimum bid requirement on almost every book in the auction. There are 10 9.8s, 38 9.6s, 16 9.4s and 2 9.2s in the run. Nearly every book (save for a couple earlier issues) is being offered without any reserve so this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to pick up issues of the most popular Silver Age war title in grades rarely, if ever, offered for sale. As an added bonus, almost every book (44 or exactly two-thirds) offered in the set comes from one recognized Silver Age pedigree or another, with the majority from the great Massachusetts and Golden State Collections. The pedigree factor translates to superior page quality, as almost every book offered has either white or off-white to white pages. Amazingly, almost every single comic in the 66 issue run is the highest CGC certified one Do not miss this fabulous opportunity to snatch up ultra high grade 1960's Sgt. Fury’s.  

*WORLD'S BEST SILVER & BRONZE AGE CAPTAIN AMERICA RUN: They have received on consignment an early Captain America run and will be listing it in its entirety in the upcoming Grand Auction. This run of over 45 books between issue #100 and #200 is most impressive and constitutes the best late Silver Age and early Bronze Age set of Captain America in the world. Although this collection has not been entered in the CGC Comics Registry, it would rank as the #1 set (Captain America #100-454) even though there are only 40+ issues in the collection. Every comic is either 9.8 or 9.6 with most as the highest certified copy to date. Here are just some of the highlights: Captain America #100 9.8; #101 9.6; #103 9.6; #104 9.8; #105 9.8; #106 9.8; #107 9.8; #108 9.8; #109 9.8; #110 9.8; #111 9.8; #112 9.8; #114 9.8; #116 9.8; #117 9.6; #118 9.6; #126 9.8; #130 9.8 and many more. This amazing Captain America run is full of pedigreed copies from both the Boston and Pacific Coast Collections (plus a couple of others) and most of the issues have superior structure, colors and page quality (every book has at least off-white to white pages with most in white). This is by far the best run of early Captain Americas ever offered for sale and offers a unique opportunity to upgrade on 9.4 and 9.6 issues in your collection.

*HIGH GRADE SILVER AGE FLASH GROUP:  This gorgeous group of high grade Flash comes from the same consignor. There are twelve (12) books in total between issue #132 and #177. There are 2 9.8's, 3 9.6's, 5 9.4's and 2 9.2's to choose from. Highlights include Flash #138 9.6; Flash #151 9.4 (Big Apple copy); #153 9.4; #166 9.8 and #167 9.8.  

*TOP CGC CERTIFIED GROUP OF DELLS & GOLD KEYS: This is a brand new consignment of mostly all highest certified copies of Silver Age Dells and Gold Keys from the late 1950's to the late 1960's. You just do not see these issues for sale in such high grade. Every issue (over 20) is either a 9.8, 9.6 or 9.4 with most in 9.6. Highlights include Bugs Bunny 88 9.6; Hanna-Barbera Super TV Heroes 1 9.6 (Boston); Four Color 992 9.6 (File Copy); Four Color 1170 9.8 (File Copy); Dr. Kildare 9 9.8 (File Copy); Snagglepuss 1 9.6 (File Copy); Hector Heathcote 1 9.4; Bewitched 1 9.6; I Love Lucy Comics 22 9.4; 77 Sunset Strip 2 9.4 (File copy); Rocky and his Fiendish Friends 3 9.6; Bonanza 8 9.6; The Owl 1 9.6 (Pacific Coast); Green Hornet 1 9.4 and more. 

*HIGH GRADE PRE-HERO MARVELS: This group consists of 11 pre-hero Marvels all grade an unbelievable 8.5 and higher! Titles include Journey Into Mystery; Marvel Tales; Strange Tales; Tales of Suspense and Tales to Astonish. Seven of the books are the highest CGC certified with two of them from the incredible White Mountain Collection. You will be hard pressed to find better copies than these. Five of the books are in 9.0 or higher with the remaining 6 all in 8.5. 

*9.8 AND 9.6 LATE SILVER/ EARLY BRONZE AGE MARVEL KEYS: Pedigree has got a slew of super high grade late 1960's and early 1970's Marvel keys and #1 issues in 9.8 and 9.6 to choose from. Highlights include Giant-Size X-Men 1 9.8; Giant-Size X-Men 1 9.6; Incredible Hulk 141 9.6; Incredible Hulk 180 9.6; Incredible Hulk 181 9.6; X-Men 94 9.6; X-Men 121 9.8; Hero For Hire 1 9.6; Amazing Spider-Man 122 9.6; Amazing Spider-Man 129 9.6; Tomb of Dracula 10 9.6; Tomb of Dracula 13 9.8; Frankenstein 1 9.6; Marvel Spotlight 5 9.6; Silver Surfer 1 9.6; Silver Surfer 4 9.6; Not Brand Echh 1 9.8; Fantasy Masterpieces 1 9.8; Sub-Mariner 1 9.6; Captain Savage and His Leatherneck Raiders 1 9.8 and Wolverine Limited Series 1 9.8. 

*NEAR-MINT PLUS SILVER AGE X-MEN RUN: This is a killer run of 11 Silver Age X-Men issues between #16 and #55 in 9.6 CGC graded condition. There are a couple of nice 9.4 issues available as well (#2 and #29). The 9.6 issues include #16, #20, #24, #34, #35, #37, #39, #40, #44, #45 (9.8) and #55. Seven out of the 11 books have snow white pages with three constituting the highest certified copies to date.

The Grand Auction goes live this week on Thursday, February 5th at 8:00 p.m. EST and ends on the night of Sunday, February 15th. Make sure you check out the Auction Preview going on live right now. Over 300 books are currently scanned and uploaded. Just go to the Pedigree Comics web site (www.PedigreeComics.com), click on the Grand Auctions banner at the top of the home page, and then click the "Auction Listings" menu at the top. 

They will still be accepting consignments even after the auction commencement into early next week. You can consign a new book up until Tuesday night, February 10th, at midnight. If you would like to consign (or sell) any books to be included in the Grand Auction, please contact Doug Schmell at (561) 422-1120 or (561) 596-9111 or email him at DougSchmell@pedigreecomics.com.

Remember, the higher the value of the book, the higher your sellers' commission under the Climbing Scale. And since there is no Buyers' Premium, consignors will really maximize their profits in the Grand Auction. Prospective consignors can also upload their own scans, item information, descriptions and reserve amounts for the Grand Auctions by utilizing the Automated Consignment System. It is actually very easy and fun to do. Just register onto the site, click "Customer Page" under "Your Account" and then click "Consignments" (under "Auctions"). You will then be able to enter the Pedigree Comics Consignment Management System and upload your own CGC certified books and magazines. Pedigree Comics will receive an email automatically once you have uploaded the information and they will then review the information imparted for accuracy. The item(s) will then be added to the February 2009 Grand Auction to be bid on.