More Ultra High Grade Marvels From Panhandle Collection in Pedigree Comics' Late May Grand Auction!

In June, 2021, Pedigree Comics' CEO and President, Doug Schmell, purchased a fabulous collection (called the Panhandle Collection) of almost 2,000 ultra high grade CGC certified Bronze Age Marvels and the fifth part of the collection (approximately 300 books) will be featured in his company's upcoming Late May Grand Auction. The auction is scheduled to begin in just over one (1) week, on the night of Monday, May 16th and last for nine (9) days until the night of Wednesday, May 25th as a separate event on the Pedigree Comics website (www.PedigreeComics.com). There is no Buyers Premium on any of the lots in the auction and EVERY book will be listed with no reserve. Every book is CGC graded and the minimum bid is only $20 for this auction. You can view the high grade comics in the Auction Preview right now (over 250 lots). Just go to the Pedigree Comics website and click on the Auction banner.

The Panhandle Collection is an ultra high grade (almost all 9.4 and higher) CGC graded collection of mostly Bronze Age Marvels out of Fort Walton Beach, Florida (in the area known as the Florida Panhandle). The Collection is just unbelievable and features approximately 2,000 certified Bronze Age Marvels with some late Silver Age books included. The collection spans the years 1968 through the early 1980's and features almost every Marvel title imaginable. Almost every book is a CGC graded 9.4 or 9.6 with only a few in 9.2 and there are many 9.8's as well. There are a bunch of titles with nice runs (too many to mention here) and this fifth part of the collection features Star Wars, Strange Tales, Sub-Mariner, Tarzan (complete run plus Annuals), Ultimate Spider-Man, Warlock, What If? Wolverine Limited Series and X-Men (best and deepest run of the auction).

The collector started buying comic books in 1968 at age 7, purchasing a bundle of books that were tied together with string (10 used books at a time for 25 cents) and this started his love for the Marvel Universe. When his father, who was in the Armed Forces, was ordered back to the United States in 1972, they both started weekly pilgrimages (every Saturday) to a local book store called Book Harbor, where the collector would pick up every Marvel title he could get his hands on, carefully reading every book. He would then preserve each one in a polypropylene bag and backing board, standing vertically on the shelves of the many different bookcases in his house.

He continued buying Marvels while in college from 1980 through 1984 but his collection really took off in 1985 after getting his degree in education and a steady paycheck as he was now able to afford all the back issues of titles he had always dreamed of getting. When CGC started operations in 2000, he began sending all his books in for certification. Almost every book came back a Near-Mint (9.4) or higher, with off-white to white page quality, a testament to the method in which he stored his prized comic books. He also started buying books from local dealers, mostly from Pedigree Comics, and he and Mr. Schmell became friends.

He decided to sell the collection in June of 2021 and contacted Mr. Schmell. After some back and forth negotiations, a purchase price of $200,000 was agreed upon. The entire collection has sold in separate Grand Auctions since January, 2022, each showcasing around 300 to 400 books. The collection has been listed alphabetically, with the superhero titles first, and will end with the Western and monster/horror/fantasy titles (the best and highest graded parts of the collection) which he loved so much, in June.


If you have any questions or comments about the consignment process, any of the auction lots or about the May Grand Auction in general, please contact Mr. Schmell at (561) 422-1120 (office) or (561) 596-9111 (cell) or at DougSchmell@pedigreecomics.com. For any financial related and consignment payment questions, please contact our CFO, Lisa Shapiro, at LisaJoy@pedigreecomics.com and for any technical related questions or concerns, please contact our Web Master at WebDesigner@pedigreecomics.com.