1 00:00:01,131 --> 00:00:03,438 [intriguing music] 2 00:00:11,011 --> 00:00:12,490 [female newscaster] Still ahead on theCBS Weekend News. 3 00:00:12,664 --> 00:00:14,927 [male reporter 1] Over a million items in total. 4 00:00:15,102 --> 00:00:17,234 [male reporter 2] What he thought justified his reason for hoarding. 5 00:00:17,408 --> 00:00:19,149 [male reporter 1] Locked and hidden in rooms for years 6 00:00:19,323 --> 00:00:21,499 -around the family home. -[male reporter 3] The fact that 7 00:00:21,673 --> 00:00:24,285 -they thought it was a problem. -[male reporter 1] His secret obsession? 8 00:00:24,459 --> 00:00:26,939 [male reporter 4] They still don't even know what they have. They're still finding stuff. 9 00:00:27,114 --> 00:00:29,464 [female reporter] It took, you know, until after his death, unfortunately, the father. 10 00:00:29,638 --> 00:00:32,075 But they finally get what it was all about. 11 00:00:34,817 --> 00:00:35,644 [text alert chiming] 12 00:00:40,649 --> 00:00:41,432 [typing] 13 00:00:41,606 --> 00:00:42,607 [text alert chiming] 14 00:00:49,875 --> 00:00:52,530 775. How about $800,000? 15 00:00:52,704 --> 00:00:57,492 I'm at 775,000. I need $800,000. Let's go to 800. 16 00:00:57,666 --> 00:00:59,842 -I'm at 775,000. -[woman] 800. 17 00:01:00,016 --> 00:01:01,278 -[auctioneer] 800,000. -[woman] 825. 18 00:01:01,452 --> 00:01:03,976 [auctioneer] 825. Let's go $850,000. 19 00:01:04,151 --> 00:01:05,587 -[woman] 850. -850. 20 00:01:05,761 --> 00:01:07,067 -[woman] 875. -Now I need 875. I have that. 21 00:01:07,241 --> 00:01:09,547 How about $900,000? 22 00:01:09,721 --> 00:01:11,680 -[text alert chiming] -[auctioneer] I have 875,000. 23 00:01:11,854 --> 00:01:14,987 Do I hear $900,000? Let's go to 900... 24 00:01:18,382 --> 00:01:20,819 [Darren] I, I, I just-- I see myself as, 25 00:01:21,516 --> 00:01:23,605 you know, massively declining through this process 26 00:01:23,779 --> 00:01:28,088 and, uh, um, you know, pretty sickening. 27 00:01:28,262 --> 00:01:30,133 I just, I just, I keep going in this spiral 28 00:01:30,307 --> 00:01:31,917 of, uh, beating myself up about it. 29 00:01:32,092 --> 00:01:34,181 -Just so upset. -[Adam] Yeah. 30 00:01:34,355 --> 00:01:37,314 [Darren] I've had zero ability to process my dad's death, 31 00:01:37,488 --> 00:01:39,403 zero ability to put it behind me. 32 00:01:39,577 --> 00:01:41,492 [breathes deeply] 33 00:01:41,666 --> 00:01:43,407 It just gets so-- It gets, you know, 34 00:01:43,581 --> 00:01:45,627 everything triggers me now, you know, 35 00:01:45,801 --> 00:01:47,411 whether somebody's like, "Oh, wow, your dad did a great thing." 36 00:01:47,585 --> 00:01:50,371 I just want to just explode. 37 00:01:50,545 --> 00:01:52,112 So not the case. 38 00:01:52,590 --> 00:01:55,811 I just-- Why am I showing the world how messed up I am? 39 00:01:55,985 --> 00:01:57,726 I mean, I have a choice to do that. 40 00:01:57,900 --> 00:01:59,945 That's just so stupid. I mean, it, it just-- 41 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:01,904 I cannot say it enough. 42 00:02:02,078 --> 00:02:04,124 [Adam] I do understand what you're talking about. 43 00:02:04,733 --> 00:02:08,128 That all your feeling, on some level, is normal. 44 00:02:11,566 --> 00:02:12,436 [text alert chimes] 45 00:02:27,669 --> 00:02:29,236 [whooshes] 46 00:02:29,410 --> 00:02:31,455 ["The Devil Came Up To Michigan" by K.M.C. Kru] 47 00:02:40,595 --> 00:02:43,946 ♪ The devil came up to Michigan He was looking for a soul to steal ♪ 48 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:47,689 ♪ He had trouble in mind as he drove on the line He was looking to make a deal ♪ 49 00:02:47,863 --> 00:02:51,388 ♪ He had a brand new Nissan truck convertible ♪ with a portable phone ♪ 50 00:02:51,562 --> 00:02:53,477 ♪ He had a Kenwood deck that was bumpin' loud ♪ 51 00:02:53,651 --> 00:02:55,436 ♪ As he stopped in a no-parking zone ♪ 52 00:02:55,914 --> 00:02:57,786 How do you beat Superman II with, uh, I think, 53 00:02:57,960 --> 00:02:59,918 the White House scene with young Luthor? 54 00:03:00,092 --> 00:03:01,529 Lex Luthor. 55 00:03:02,747 --> 00:03:05,228 Possibly you've heard the name. The greatest, uh, criminal mind on Earth. 56 00:03:05,402 --> 00:03:07,274 "Greatest criminal mind of our time." Come on. 57 00:03:07,752 --> 00:03:09,101 ♪ Devil's in the house ♪ 58 00:03:09,276 --> 00:03:11,147 You cannot bargain with what you don't have. 59 00:03:11,321 --> 00:03:14,063 What I am bargaining with is what you do not have. 60 00:03:14,890 --> 00:03:17,762 -The son of Jor-El. -Gene Hackman is just, 61 00:03:17,936 --> 00:03:20,896 I mean, top, top of actors. 62 00:03:21,070 --> 00:03:23,290 And for him to be able to play that role... 63 00:03:23,464 --> 00:03:25,335 -I'm about the best there is. -He's sitting in the White House 64 00:03:25,509 --> 00:03:27,163 telling these guys what's what. 65 00:03:27,729 --> 00:03:29,165 My needs are small. 66 00:03:29,339 --> 00:03:31,820 As it turns out, I have this affinity 67 00:03:31,994 --> 00:03:34,997 for, uh... beachfront property. 68 00:03:35,171 --> 00:03:36,825 All he wants is Australia out of the deal. 69 00:03:36,999 --> 00:03:38,740 [both laughing] 70 00:03:41,569 --> 00:03:42,918 "Fortunately, my needs are small." 71 00:03:43,092 --> 00:03:44,180 Australia. 72 00:03:44,354 --> 00:03:45,399 ♪ Devil's in the house ♪ 73 00:03:45,921 --> 00:03:47,444 [Adam speaking] 74 00:03:49,620 --> 00:03:51,143 Yes. [stutters] 75 00:03:51,318 --> 00:03:52,536 Hey, you know what? 76 00:03:52,710 --> 00:03:54,538 -So, who do you blame? -[Adam] What's-- 77 00:03:54,712 --> 00:03:56,497 [gentle music] 78 00:03:56,671 --> 00:03:57,672 [Adam] Who do you blame? 79 00:03:57,846 --> 00:03:59,195 The father, 80 00:03:59,369 --> 00:04:01,545 or the rippling effects of that father? 81 00:04:02,633 --> 00:04:05,027 This isn't something we were really contemplating 82 00:04:05,201 --> 00:04:07,159 when Darren and I met back in high school. 83 00:04:07,943 --> 00:04:10,772 I was a couple years older, but we played soccer together. 84 00:04:11,381 --> 00:04:13,165 Then, of course, people go off, have lives. 85 00:04:13,340 --> 00:04:15,516 Then 25 years later, 86 00:04:15,690 --> 00:04:17,866 we were in touch about some tech-related business, 87 00:04:18,823 --> 00:04:20,521 and then he drops a bomb on me. 88 00:04:21,043 --> 00:04:25,221 His family had a hidden secret for over 40 years. 89 00:04:25,395 --> 00:04:29,181 His father had obsessively been collecting comic books. 90 00:04:29,965 --> 00:04:33,098 We're talking over 300,000 comics 91 00:04:33,273 --> 00:04:35,536 and his father's prized possession. 92 00:04:35,710 --> 00:04:39,540 [Darren] My father got the first solo issue of Superman from 1939. 93 00:04:39,714 --> 00:04:41,368 It was locked away for decades. 94 00:04:41,542 --> 00:04:43,587 Found out that was the second nicest copy 95 00:04:43,761 --> 00:04:45,197 of that book on the planet. 96 00:04:45,676 --> 00:04:48,853 That book could easily go for three to $4 million. 97 00:04:49,637 --> 00:04:51,595 ♪ Ding, ding, ding, ding ♪ 98 00:04:51,769 --> 00:04:54,555 [Adam] There was only a handful of people that knew about this. 99 00:04:54,729 --> 00:04:57,819 I went over to their house and it was very top secret. 100 00:04:58,602 --> 00:05:00,343 [Adam speaking] 101 00:05:00,517 --> 00:05:02,389 I knew that it wasn't happening in high school 102 00:05:02,563 --> 00:05:04,565 because every time I saw him-- it didn't exist. 103 00:05:04,739 --> 00:05:06,393 I did not see what I saw. 104 00:05:07,176 --> 00:05:09,265 You'd see an upstairs bedroom, and you could peek 105 00:05:09,439 --> 00:05:11,615 and you'd see, like, 30 boxes covered with a sheet. 106 00:05:11,789 --> 00:05:15,227 Like, "What's that?" He's like, "It's nothing." That was it for 40 years. 107 00:05:15,402 --> 00:05:18,840 Pretty soon you look around and there just wasn't any space anywhere. 108 00:05:19,014 --> 00:05:21,016 They just filled up more and more. 109 00:05:21,190 --> 00:05:23,279 [Linda] You know, Dale was getting more and more obsessed. 110 00:05:23,453 --> 00:05:24,846 You know, "I can't leave the house. 111 00:05:25,020 --> 00:05:26,804 We have to have security. Don't tell your friends." 112 00:05:26,978 --> 00:05:28,458 The boys couldn't even go to school and say, 113 00:05:28,632 --> 00:05:30,068 "Oh, I got this comic." 114 00:05:30,242 --> 00:05:32,506 I mean, it was a secret, dead secret. 115 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:34,421 [tense tone] 116 00:05:34,595 --> 00:05:36,901 [busy chatter] 117 00:05:37,075 --> 00:05:40,383 [Adam] Now, admittedly, I'm not a huge comic book fan. 118 00:05:42,951 --> 00:05:44,474 But I do really wonder: 119 00:05:44,648 --> 00:05:47,825 why we've come to value superheroes so much? 120 00:05:48,913 --> 00:05:52,090 How could a comic book be worth millions of dollars? 121 00:05:52,264 --> 00:05:54,615 [Stephen] The art is amazing. The stories behind 122 00:05:54,789 --> 00:05:56,747 how the books were made were amazing. 123 00:05:56,921 --> 00:05:58,749 There's so much history in comic books 124 00:05:58,923 --> 00:06:01,926 that just buying the physical copy, 125 00:06:02,100 --> 00:06:04,059 that's just the end of the road. 126 00:06:04,233 --> 00:06:06,148 I do feel a responsibility, 127 00:06:06,627 --> 00:06:09,412 you know, this stuff survived multiple world wars. 128 00:06:09,586 --> 00:06:11,980 This stuff survived, you know, depressions, 129 00:06:12,154 --> 00:06:15,070 this stuff survived racial realizations. 130 00:06:15,244 --> 00:06:17,202 This is a significant piece of history. 131 00:06:18,247 --> 00:06:19,770 [Tony] This is his dad's life work. 132 00:06:19,944 --> 00:06:22,860 Like he literally amassed this collection 133 00:06:23,034 --> 00:06:24,558 over the entirety of his life. 134 00:06:24,732 --> 00:06:26,647 What do you do? Would you sell it? 135 00:06:26,821 --> 00:06:28,692 -I would probably sell it. -You just can't. 136 00:06:28,866 --> 00:06:31,565 [Kelly] You have one of the best Superman comics in the world. 137 00:06:31,739 --> 00:06:35,482 -Shit. What do you do with that? -I'd sit on it until I was old, see how I felt. 138 00:06:36,091 --> 00:06:39,181 If I was to sell it, it'd have to be the right price. 139 00:06:39,355 --> 00:06:42,097 [man] Money doesn't really buy you that much happiness. I think I'd have to keep it. 140 00:06:42,271 --> 00:06:43,881 I have no idea what his intentions were. 141 00:06:44,055 --> 00:06:46,231 Meaning what did he really want this to do? 142 00:06:46,406 --> 00:06:49,060 -What was his legacy? -[Jeremy] If Dale was my father 143 00:06:49,234 --> 00:06:53,630 and Supermanwas the most important piece that he owned, 144 00:06:53,804 --> 00:06:55,327 I would definitely not sell it. 145 00:06:55,502 --> 00:06:57,721 I'd sell it. Like, I'm sorry. 146 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:01,551 "Do you want to give me three-- $3.5 million for that comic? Bye-bye." 147 00:07:01,725 --> 00:07:04,162 -I would not sell it. -100% he'll sell it. 148 00:07:05,468 --> 00:07:06,469 'Cause it's meant to be. 149 00:07:06,643 --> 00:07:09,298 [gentle music] 150 00:07:22,224 --> 00:07:23,225 [soft clanking] 151 00:07:24,226 --> 00:07:25,706 [grunts] Here it is. 152 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:29,187 32420 Ramsey Road in Franklin, Michigan. 153 00:07:29,971 --> 00:07:33,191 We're greeted by a nice little stained glass there my mother made. 154 00:07:33,365 --> 00:07:35,890 -[Adam] All right. -Something she did in her spare time just for fun. 155 00:07:36,064 --> 00:07:39,067 'Cause she's that talented. Who does that? But, uh... 156 00:07:39,633 --> 00:07:41,504 All right, well, let's go see some memories. 157 00:07:41,678 --> 00:07:43,941 [whimsical music] 158 00:07:45,334 --> 00:07:47,118 [Adam] Soon after reconnecting with Darren, 159 00:07:47,292 --> 00:07:49,947 I heard his old childhood home was about to sell, 160 00:07:50,121 --> 00:07:53,037 so I quickly flew out to Michigan, my old hometown, 161 00:07:53,211 --> 00:07:54,909 to see where this collection began 162 00:07:55,083 --> 00:07:58,042 and to unravel this much-deeper family secret. 163 00:07:59,435 --> 00:08:01,132 This is what I really love. 164 00:08:01,306 --> 00:08:03,787 Discovering the meaning we give to life's events. 165 00:08:03,961 --> 00:08:05,310 -[Darren] Hey! -Hello! 166 00:08:09,706 --> 00:08:13,275 [Adam] Including the stories we hold on to from our past. 167 00:08:15,582 --> 00:08:17,845 And specifically the lens with which 168 00:08:18,019 --> 00:08:19,760 we continue to see life through. 169 00:08:22,110 --> 00:08:25,592 You want to see the, uh, the rooms, how they are? Yeah? 170 00:08:25,766 --> 00:08:26,810 [Adam speaking] 171 00:08:29,987 --> 00:08:31,380 So, this whole room 172 00:08:32,076 --> 00:08:34,905 was floor to ceiling with boxes. 173 00:08:35,079 --> 00:08:36,559 -[Celeste] You could see the-- -[Darren] The outline. 174 00:08:36,733 --> 00:08:38,213 I mean, when I say floor to ceiling, 175 00:08:38,387 --> 00:08:40,476 I mean, you know, this high, 176 00:08:41,085 --> 00:08:42,739 -everywhere you see. -[Adam] It wasn't-- 177 00:08:42,913 --> 00:08:44,785 -On the table, under the table. -Yes, it was. 178 00:08:44,959 --> 00:08:48,266 And so close together, you couldn't walk between. 179 00:08:48,789 --> 00:08:50,138 -[Darren] Yeah. You couldn't-- -I mean, you just-- 180 00:08:50,312 --> 00:08:51,705 [Darren] Yeah. You maybe walk like that. 181 00:08:51,879 --> 00:08:54,446 So you can imagine how many boxes that is. 182 00:08:54,621 --> 00:08:57,537 [Celeste] Of course, he had all the windows covered. 183 00:08:57,711 --> 00:08:59,321 He didn't care about anything like that. 184 00:08:59,495 --> 00:09:02,367 -Just-- Everything was... -[Adam] All his stuff. 185 00:09:02,542 --> 00:09:04,674 -You know. -[Darren] He even covered up your nice stained glass 186 00:09:04,848 --> 00:09:07,285 -that you made there, Mom, you know. Could we see it? -Yeah. He did. 187 00:09:08,809 --> 00:09:11,333 He just didn't want anybody seeing in. 188 00:09:11,507 --> 00:09:14,075 Yeah, it was, it was-- it was tarps. 189 00:09:14,249 --> 00:09:16,730 -Plastic-- big plastic tarps. -[Darren] Secret and dark. 190 00:09:16,904 --> 00:09:19,471 Every-- Dark. Everything dark. 191 00:09:19,646 --> 00:09:21,648 He just-- He didn't want any light in. 192 00:09:21,822 --> 00:09:23,214 Light was, light was the villain 193 00:09:23,388 --> 00:09:26,740 because it would damage any of his stuff. 194 00:09:26,914 --> 00:09:28,916 -Yeah. -Okay. So... 195 00:09:29,873 --> 00:09:31,832 Whereas I wanted to be outside, 196 00:09:32,006 --> 00:09:34,182 he wanted to be cloistered inside. 197 00:09:34,356 --> 00:09:36,097 He just liked the darkness. 198 00:09:36,271 --> 00:09:37,533 -[Darren] Yeah. -[Adam speaking] 199 00:09:37,707 --> 00:09:40,797 -Yeah. In contrast, um... -Uh... Right. 200 00:09:40,971 --> 00:09:44,235 The, the irony is, though, or what I should say, the sad truth is 201 00:09:44,409 --> 00:09:46,237 the fact that he did act that way, 202 00:09:46,934 --> 00:09:50,851 it maintained the value, so there was a positive to it. 203 00:09:51,025 --> 00:09:53,505 Uh, if he would have not taken that kind of care, 204 00:09:53,680 --> 00:09:56,465 then the stuff may not have been in the kind of condition it was. 205 00:09:58,293 --> 00:10:01,383 -Was it worth it? -I'd always said, because of all this stuff... 206 00:10:02,819 --> 00:10:05,169 Being a lawyer, he made life livable, 207 00:10:05,692 --> 00:10:08,303 but not worth living around all this stuff. 208 00:10:09,826 --> 00:10:12,655 [Adam speaking] 209 00:10:12,829 --> 00:10:15,615 I lived comfortably, I never had to worry about money. 210 00:10:15,789 --> 00:10:17,442 -We lived in a nice area. -That way, yeah, it's good. 211 00:10:17,617 --> 00:10:19,836 -Yes. I can say-- But... -Right. right. 212 00:10:20,315 --> 00:10:22,622 We lived in a, a wonderful area. 213 00:10:22,796 --> 00:10:24,406 The kids had good schooling. 214 00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:29,454 Um, and I never had to worry for money or anything, but... 215 00:10:30,804 --> 00:10:32,632 Day-to-day life was... 216 00:10:34,546 --> 00:10:35,460 Hmm. 217 00:10:37,854 --> 00:10:39,856 [whimsical music] 218 00:10:42,990 --> 00:10:45,253 [Darren] He kept collecting and needed more space 219 00:10:45,427 --> 00:10:47,472 and more space and more space. 220 00:10:48,778 --> 00:10:52,695 It just kind of oozed. It was very insidious. 221 00:10:54,392 --> 00:10:57,526 I was too busy raising my kids and enjoying my sons 222 00:10:57,700 --> 00:10:59,702 to realize what was happening. 223 00:10:59,876 --> 00:11:01,573 You know, you turn around, and all of a sudden, 224 00:11:01,748 --> 00:11:04,533 a niche would be filled and another niche would be filled. 225 00:11:05,403 --> 00:11:07,188 I divorced and left. 226 00:11:07,362 --> 00:11:08,711 So part of the settlement, 227 00:11:08,885 --> 00:11:10,626 I didn't want anything to do with the comics. 228 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:12,715 And of course, my, my attorney, 229 00:11:12,889 --> 00:11:14,630 she was kind of livid with me 230 00:11:14,804 --> 00:11:15,979 because she knew the value of them, 231 00:11:16,153 --> 00:11:17,764 but I just-- it just, like-- 232 00:11:17,938 --> 00:11:19,896 that was none-- I didn't want to touch them. 233 00:11:21,898 --> 00:11:23,552 -We started up in his-- -[Adam] Office upstairs, 234 00:11:23,726 --> 00:11:25,815 -in his office. -[Celeste] In his office. 235 00:11:26,555 --> 00:11:30,167 This was the original place where the "off-limits" area was. 236 00:11:30,341 --> 00:11:33,867 And I-- when I was young, I always thought it was, "Oh, it's my dad's office. 237 00:11:34,041 --> 00:11:35,390 He just doesn't want us fooling around." 238 00:11:35,564 --> 00:11:37,305 But then, of course, later realized... 239 00:11:37,479 --> 00:11:40,830 [sighs] that it was, uh, because of the collectibles. 240 00:11:41,004 --> 00:11:44,007 These entire bookshelves were completely loaded. 241 00:11:44,181 --> 00:11:45,966 -Two layers thick. -Two layers thick. 242 00:11:46,140 --> 00:11:48,795 And there was just a desk here, but you couldn't even sit at it. 243 00:11:48,969 --> 00:11:52,712 -You couldn't get to it. -[Darren] This closet was one, actually the best finds, 244 00:11:52,886 --> 00:11:55,932 because this was some of his very early collection. 245 00:11:56,106 --> 00:11:58,456 And this closet was something that, like, no one had ever seen. 246 00:11:58,630 --> 00:11:59,849 And when I finally broke into it, 247 00:12:00,023 --> 00:12:01,633 when we were cleaning things out, 248 00:12:01,808 --> 00:12:04,114 it was, uh, pretty surprising what was in there. 249 00:12:04,724 --> 00:12:07,030 [Brian] It was a closet. It had dust, 250 00:12:07,204 --> 00:12:09,206 and it was literally untouched for 40 years. 251 00:12:09,380 --> 00:12:10,947 And that's where we found, I believe, 252 00:12:11,121 --> 00:12:14,559 the majority of the very-expensive key issues. 253 00:12:14,734 --> 00:12:17,171 Like, he would have $1000-books 254 00:12:17,345 --> 00:12:19,260 just stacked like it was nothing. 255 00:12:19,434 --> 00:12:21,305 [dramatic music] 256 00:12:21,479 --> 00:12:24,482 This closet alone contained a collection 257 00:12:24,656 --> 00:12:26,789 on a worldwide scale just by itself. 258 00:12:26,963 --> 00:12:29,052 [Celeste] And they were put in there before Darren was born, 259 00:12:29,226 --> 00:12:32,752 because I built that when we first moved into the house in '74. 260 00:12:33,491 --> 00:12:35,755 Those were way before Darren was born. 261 00:12:36,756 --> 00:12:38,540 [Ed] You know, and the guys who have the best collections, 262 00:12:38,714 --> 00:12:40,237 that's really the story. 263 00:12:40,411 --> 00:12:43,806 They bought it back in the '70s, the '80s, the '90s, 264 00:12:43,980 --> 00:12:45,808 and they weren't particularly wealthy people. 265 00:12:45,982 --> 00:12:47,679 As a matter of fact, they were very modest. 266 00:12:49,203 --> 00:12:52,162 They put their financial health at complete risk, 267 00:12:52,336 --> 00:12:54,861 and today, their returns 268 00:12:55,035 --> 00:12:57,385 on their investment are incalculable. 269 00:12:57,559 --> 00:13:00,344 I don't know, 15,000%. 270 00:13:00,518 --> 00:13:02,869 It's mind-boggling. It's astounding. 271 00:13:03,043 --> 00:13:04,479 It's kind of like walking on the beach 272 00:13:04,653 --> 00:13:07,003 and finding a gold nugget the size of your fist. 273 00:13:07,177 --> 00:13:08,613 You know, it's just... [sighs] 274 00:13:09,484 --> 00:13:11,225 How lucky can you be? You know. 275 00:13:11,399 --> 00:13:13,314 [gentle piano music] 276 00:13:15,838 --> 00:13:19,146 [Adam] The secret of this collection came with another secret. 277 00:13:20,016 --> 00:13:21,061 A dark side. 278 00:13:21,670 --> 00:13:23,280 That of his father's Asperger's, 279 00:13:23,454 --> 00:13:26,370 going largely undiagnosed throughout life. 280 00:13:26,544 --> 00:13:30,070 Yeah. You have no idea how oppressive he can be. 281 00:13:30,244 --> 00:13:31,723 He was never wrong. 282 00:13:32,202 --> 00:13:33,987 So there was no arguing with him. 283 00:13:34,161 --> 00:13:36,206 Not knowing it caused a lot of friction 284 00:13:36,380 --> 00:13:38,643 because it seemed like a stubbornness. 285 00:13:38,818 --> 00:13:41,385 It seemed like, uh, ultimate fixation and hoarding, 286 00:13:41,559 --> 00:13:44,780 and, and, and, and not fully understanding what the condition was about. 287 00:13:44,954 --> 00:13:48,436 What Asperger's was, was this high-intelligence, 288 00:13:48,610 --> 00:13:52,179 lack of empathy, kind of more analytical type, right? 289 00:13:52,353 --> 00:13:55,660 That's what that diagnosis was, that, that could function and "mask," 290 00:13:55,835 --> 00:13:58,054 as we say, in public, most of the time. 291 00:13:58,533 --> 00:14:01,275 If the parent is unaware that they have Asperger's, 292 00:14:01,449 --> 00:14:03,059 which is now not called that anymore, 293 00:14:03,233 --> 00:14:05,932 but this autism spectrum disorder, 294 00:14:06,106 --> 00:14:08,586 then they may show emotional neglect, 295 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:10,066 not connect with the child. 296 00:14:10,719 --> 00:14:12,764 [Kelly] Nothing Darren did was ever good enough. 297 00:14:12,939 --> 00:14:15,593 I mean, I'm sure his father loved him, but I don't know if Darren... 298 00:14:17,857 --> 00:14:18,945 ...truly felt it. 299 00:14:20,207 --> 00:14:21,773 [Celeste] He stopped taking vacations 300 00:14:21,948 --> 00:14:24,298 'cause he was worried about the comics in the house, 301 00:14:24,472 --> 00:14:25,603 that somebody might come. 302 00:14:26,213 --> 00:14:28,476 [Adam speaking] 303 00:14:28,650 --> 00:14:31,044 No. No. And that was the thing. 304 00:14:31,218 --> 00:14:33,263 -We don't tell anybody. -[Adam] Yeah. 305 00:14:33,437 --> 00:14:35,265 We don't tell anybody about this. 306 00:14:35,439 --> 00:14:37,050 And I remember... [inhales] 307 00:14:37,224 --> 00:14:40,923 ...you know, being very depressed 308 00:14:41,097 --> 00:14:43,056 and seeing a therapist once. 309 00:14:43,230 --> 00:14:46,450 And I remember one time when I finally let it out, 310 00:14:46,624 --> 00:14:48,409 "My husband has comics." 311 00:14:48,583 --> 00:14:50,237 I remember that day. 312 00:14:50,411 --> 00:14:53,457 You know, and it was just kind of the source of-- 313 00:14:54,023 --> 00:14:56,199 It was just all part of the picture, you know? 314 00:14:56,373 --> 00:14:58,506 It was just part of it, so... 315 00:14:59,202 --> 00:15:01,770 [Adam speaking] 316 00:15:01,944 --> 00:15:04,338 I didn't tell him. Are you kidding? 317 00:15:04,512 --> 00:15:07,515 I would've-- I would've never let him know that. 318 00:15:07,689 --> 00:15:08,733 Are you kidding? 319 00:15:09,604 --> 00:15:10,779 Hmm. So... 320 00:15:12,520 --> 00:15:13,260 Anyway. 321 00:15:13,434 --> 00:15:15,175 [dramatic music] 322 00:15:19,831 --> 00:15:22,225 [Dale] I didn't want him to call the police. 323 00:15:22,704 --> 00:15:26,490 I, I wanted him to go through and give those people a chance 324 00:15:26,664 --> 00:15:28,884 to show what they're doing, and so on. 325 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:32,714 [Darren] My father started hallucinating at the end 326 00:15:32,888 --> 00:15:36,413 and, and seeing, um, people and things that weren't here. 327 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:39,982 [Dale] Uh, they, they, they, they, they, no-- They look like people. 328 00:15:40,156 --> 00:15:41,766 -[Darren] They look like people? -[Dale] And then they, 329 00:15:41,941 --> 00:15:43,420 and they disintegrate in front of you. 330 00:15:43,594 --> 00:15:45,683 In other words, for example, uh, the lace, 331 00:15:45,857 --> 00:15:48,382 uh, they'll-- if they're close, all of a sudden, 332 00:15:48,556 --> 00:15:50,993 it's like a, a, a liquid thing 333 00:15:51,167 --> 00:15:52,386 and they just disappear. 334 00:15:54,344 --> 00:15:56,999 [Darren] Yeah, he'd get mad at Adam because he didn't see them. 335 00:15:57,478 --> 00:15:59,349 So therefore, he started telling me 336 00:16:00,089 --> 00:16:01,917 in the most sane way he could, 337 00:16:02,091 --> 00:16:04,093 that Adam was in cahoots with these people. 338 00:16:04,267 --> 00:16:06,791 [Darren] Dad, I thought you told me Adam can't see the people. 339 00:16:06,966 --> 00:16:08,445 That only you can see the people. 340 00:16:08,619 --> 00:16:10,360 [Dale] Well, he can see them when they, 341 00:16:10,534 --> 00:16:13,276 they, they, uh, hypnotize him. Then he's on their side 342 00:16:13,450 --> 00:16:15,757 and then, and then, and then, then he works for 'em. 343 00:16:15,931 --> 00:16:17,585 He called me, you know, frantic and said, 344 00:16:17,759 --> 00:16:20,327 "You have to come over here right now." I said, "Why?" 345 00:16:20,501 --> 00:16:22,764 He goes, "Because Adam showed these people where the comics are, 346 00:16:22,938 --> 00:16:25,810 and you have to get these 11 boxes out of here tonight, right now." 347 00:16:25,985 --> 00:16:29,423 [Darren] Well, okay, I'll tell you what. I'm gonna, I'm gonna come over right now. 348 00:16:29,597 --> 00:16:32,904 I'm gonna grab these items 'cause you're right. I mean, who knows? 349 00:16:33,079 --> 00:16:35,211 It's very smart of you to get this stuff out of there. 350 00:16:35,385 --> 00:16:37,257 -[Dale] We got it-- we got to get the tent. -Okay. I'm out. 351 00:16:37,431 --> 00:16:39,172 -I'm on my way right now. -[Dale] Yeah. Good. 352 00:16:41,696 --> 00:16:44,916 You know, he's afraid. He's delusional. 353 00:16:45,091 --> 00:16:48,355 He's seeing things, and he knows he's seeing things. 354 00:16:48,529 --> 00:16:49,791 Yet his... 355 00:16:51,358 --> 00:16:52,272 ...focus... 356 00:16:53,273 --> 00:16:55,536 ...was so high on the comics. 357 00:16:55,710 --> 00:16:57,973 [melancholic music] 358 00:17:01,716 --> 00:17:04,371 [Celeste] You know, the odd thing about him calling Darren 359 00:17:04,545 --> 00:17:05,981 to take the comics is that 360 00:17:06,155 --> 00:17:10,203 until he became hallucinating like this, 361 00:17:10,377 --> 00:17:12,466 he didn't trust Darren at all with the comics. 362 00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:15,643 -He wouldn't listen to Darren about the comics. -[Adam] Yeah. 363 00:17:15,817 --> 00:17:18,733 He would not-- Darren tried to persuade him 364 00:17:18,907 --> 00:17:21,823 to, to put them in safer places 365 00:17:21,997 --> 00:17:25,740 -and to do-- get them graded, things like that. -[Adam] Mm-hmm. 366 00:17:25,914 --> 00:17:27,916 He had no trust for Darren whatsoever, 367 00:17:28,090 --> 00:17:30,658 just disregarded anything Darren had to say 368 00:17:30,832 --> 00:17:32,529 as much as Darren tried to help him. 369 00:17:33,356 --> 00:17:35,532 Bringing him computer and fixing his computers 370 00:17:35,706 --> 00:17:38,318 for his comic "database" that he was doing. 371 00:17:38,927 --> 00:17:41,582 Um, and it took him 372 00:17:41,756 --> 00:17:44,976 to really kind of lose his mind before he trusted his son, 373 00:17:45,151 --> 00:17:48,893 which is kind of the summation of this whole thing. 374 00:17:49,068 --> 00:17:50,069 I mean, it just... 375 00:17:51,374 --> 00:17:52,680 That's what he was. 376 00:17:54,029 --> 00:17:55,465 Maybe if there was a history of reasons 377 00:17:55,639 --> 00:17:57,076 he couldn't trust me, it'd make sense. 378 00:17:57,250 --> 00:17:58,729 But I can't come up with many. 379 00:18:02,820 --> 00:18:05,258 [sighing] So, this is my old bedroom. 380 00:18:05,432 --> 00:18:06,433 [chuckles] 381 00:18:08,870 --> 00:18:09,740 [Darren sniffles] 382 00:18:16,530 --> 00:18:18,923 [Celeste] We're all going to be glad to leave this house. 383 00:18:19,098 --> 00:18:20,229 We're all going to be glad. 384 00:18:20,403 --> 00:18:21,230 [Adam] Hmm. 385 00:18:22,927 --> 00:18:25,104 -[static] -[children laughing] 386 00:18:25,278 --> 00:18:27,541 [announcer] Some educators have found that school kids 387 00:18:27,715 --> 00:18:31,022 show a sudden interest in homework if it's tied up with pleasure. 388 00:18:31,501 --> 00:18:34,374 History especially lends itself to comic strip approach. 389 00:18:34,548 --> 00:18:36,941 [upbeat music] 390 00:18:37,116 --> 00:18:38,508 [rattling] 391 00:18:39,901 --> 00:18:42,164 [Mark] Comic books were bought to read. 392 00:18:42,338 --> 00:18:45,036 They were ten cents from when they were invented, 393 00:18:45,211 --> 00:18:46,777 basically in the early '30s 394 00:18:46,951 --> 00:18:49,519 until the mid-1960s, 395 00:18:49,693 --> 00:18:52,305 when they went up to 12 cents and then 15 cents, 396 00:18:52,479 --> 00:18:54,307 then 20 cents and so on. 397 00:18:55,873 --> 00:18:57,701 [Jeffrey] A lot of people would buy them as kids, 398 00:18:57,875 --> 00:18:59,312 and then they would share them. 399 00:18:59,486 --> 00:19:00,922 So you don't have to buy all of them. 400 00:19:01,096 --> 00:19:03,229 One friend buys some, the other buys others, 401 00:19:03,403 --> 00:19:05,970 gets switched around. Everyone gets to read the stories. 402 00:19:06,145 --> 00:19:09,539 [Mark] They were bought, they were read, they were discarded. 403 00:19:09,713 --> 00:19:13,239 But it really wasn't until the 1960s 404 00:19:13,413 --> 00:19:16,590 where comic book dealers started to come about, 405 00:19:16,764 --> 00:19:20,115 where the notion of there's a value to these books. 406 00:19:20,289 --> 00:19:23,858 And so you really didn't see kids collecting comic books 407 00:19:24,032 --> 00:19:27,253 until the '60s and '70s. 408 00:19:27,427 --> 00:19:29,037 You know, the first comic book 409 00:19:29,211 --> 00:19:31,257 that sold for $1,000, 410 00:19:31,431 --> 00:19:32,606 which was a big deal, 411 00:19:32,780 --> 00:19:34,085 was ActionNo. 1, 412 00:19:34,260 --> 00:19:36,349 like, in the early 1970s. 413 00:19:36,523 --> 00:19:39,917 And so, it's been a slow growth through the '70s and '80s and '90s. 414 00:19:40,091 --> 00:19:43,007 But when the movie started in 2000, it just took off like a rocket. 415 00:19:43,182 --> 00:19:45,880 [dramatic music] 416 00:19:46,054 --> 00:19:48,404 2000 was X-Men. 2002 was Spider-Man. 417 00:19:48,578 --> 00:19:51,581 And then 2008 was when the MCU Universe started with Iron Man. 418 00:19:53,844 --> 00:19:56,064 And so, things were really heating up th-- those first eight years. 419 00:19:56,238 --> 00:19:59,241 But when that started, then you started having like Thor, Ant-Man 420 00:19:59,415 --> 00:20:02,201 and Captain America, and Avengers, and all those started dropping. 421 00:20:02,810 --> 00:20:04,246 That was the, the big tipping point. 422 00:20:04,420 --> 00:20:05,856 I think the first million-dollar book 423 00:20:06,030 --> 00:20:07,380 was during that period of time. 424 00:20:07,554 --> 00:20:08,555 Now we've got multiple books 425 00:20:08,729 --> 00:20:10,034 selling for millions of dollars. 426 00:20:10,209 --> 00:20:11,558 It just coalesced and became 427 00:20:11,732 --> 00:20:13,734 even bigger than what it was. It was huge. 428 00:20:14,300 --> 00:20:16,389 This was not cool when we were growing up, you know. 429 00:20:16,563 --> 00:20:18,217 It's cool now. It's everywhere now. 430 00:20:18,391 --> 00:20:20,480 It's-- the movie business is nothing but superheroes 431 00:20:20,654 --> 00:20:22,221 or Star Warsor whatnot. 432 00:20:22,395 --> 00:20:24,658 But the blueprint has been there for decades 433 00:20:24,832 --> 00:20:27,965 because they're looking at comics that were written decades ago. 434 00:20:28,139 --> 00:20:29,880 And if you're a comic book lover, you're like, 435 00:20:30,054 --> 00:20:31,447 "Oh, my God, they're doing that storyline." 436 00:20:31,621 --> 00:20:33,232 "Oh, yes, you know, X-Men." 437 00:20:33,406 --> 00:20:35,712 "Oh, they're doing this. This is what I really enjoy." 438 00:20:35,886 --> 00:20:38,498 So you're gonna go to it. And yet if you know nothing about comics, 439 00:20:38,672 --> 00:20:41,109 you can still enjoy it because it's being done really well. 440 00:20:42,066 --> 00:20:44,460 [Matthew] I mean, it's always been a pop culture product, 441 00:20:44,634 --> 00:20:47,376 but there's just more people who are aware now of comics, 442 00:20:47,550 --> 00:20:50,161 and when they get more aware, they get more interested. 443 00:20:50,336 --> 00:20:52,381 And then when they find out things are worth things 444 00:20:52,860 --> 00:20:55,297 and have value, they get more interested. 445 00:20:55,471 --> 00:20:58,822 And then the supply of classic comics doesn't really go up. 446 00:20:58,996 --> 00:21:01,912 So now you have more people, higher interest, 447 00:21:02,086 --> 00:21:03,479 more money flowing around 448 00:21:04,045 --> 00:21:05,264 for the same amount of books. 449 00:21:06,003 --> 00:21:08,354 [upbeat music] 450 00:21:08,528 --> 00:21:09,877 [Kevin] I mean, the great thing about Comic Con 451 00:21:10,051 --> 00:21:12,619 when I was growing up was it was a quest. 452 00:21:12,793 --> 00:21:14,708 "I need BatmanNo. 12," 453 00:21:14,882 --> 00:21:17,885 you know, "or 137 to complete my collection." 454 00:21:18,059 --> 00:21:20,888 So you'd go to Comic Cons and comic shops and you'd look through. 455 00:21:21,062 --> 00:21:25,501 Some of the most fun part of this journey and collecting is the hunt, okay? 456 00:21:25,675 --> 00:21:28,199 Because 99 times out of 100, 457 00:21:28,374 --> 00:21:30,593 when you hear about a collection, it's not worth it. 458 00:21:30,767 --> 00:21:32,116 It's garbage. Whatever. 459 00:21:32,291 --> 00:21:34,380 But that one time is what you're hoping for, 460 00:21:34,554 --> 00:21:37,078 and then you go through it and you find gems. 461 00:21:37,252 --> 00:21:42,779 True gems, not just something from the '70s or '60s, 462 00:21:42,953 --> 00:21:45,565 something from that golden age era. 463 00:21:45,739 --> 00:21:47,610 [pleasant music] 464 00:21:51,048 --> 00:21:54,443 [Stephen] The nostalgia breeds the emotional connection. 465 00:21:54,617 --> 00:21:57,272 Comic books have that in spades. 466 00:21:58,273 --> 00:22:00,623 [Matt] I'm experiencing this not just at face value, 467 00:22:00,797 --> 00:22:02,843 but what I'm feeling at the time. 468 00:22:03,409 --> 00:22:07,500 [Stephen] There's something that's amazing about the march of time, 469 00:22:07,674 --> 00:22:09,328 where as time goes on, 470 00:22:09,502 --> 00:22:11,982 it, it worms its way into your brain. 471 00:22:12,156 --> 00:22:14,681 Memories, thoughts, pictures. 472 00:22:15,464 --> 00:22:18,075 [Kevin] When we came of age, you were buying them to read them, 473 00:22:18,249 --> 00:22:19,903 to get out of them the story. 474 00:22:20,077 --> 00:22:22,993 Now I have books that, you know, my wife jokes, 475 00:22:23,167 --> 00:22:24,778 she's like, "Why don't we get rid of those? You read it." 476 00:22:24,952 --> 00:22:27,041 I say, "I know, but even just passing the cover, 477 00:22:27,215 --> 00:22:28,303 it gives me a good feeling." 478 00:22:28,477 --> 00:22:30,044 I, I'm instantly transported 479 00:22:30,218 --> 00:22:32,612 back to the experience I had in reading that book. 480 00:22:33,700 --> 00:22:36,050 [Stephen] There's a reason that people 481 00:22:36,224 --> 00:22:38,226 will want to buy a certain collectible. 482 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:40,924 It is that emotional connection. 483 00:22:41,098 --> 00:22:42,665 But this new generation, 484 00:22:42,839 --> 00:22:44,928 you know, hopefully we do our jobs right 485 00:22:45,102 --> 00:22:47,453 and these characters sustain even longer. 486 00:22:47,627 --> 00:22:51,631 But they might not be. Some of them may not want my Rocky IITopps trading cards. 487 00:22:51,805 --> 00:22:52,893 [laughs] 488 00:23:00,814 --> 00:23:03,382 [Adam] After the visit to his old family home, 489 00:23:03,556 --> 00:23:08,212 Darren's now taking me to the new hidden location for the comics. 490 00:23:08,387 --> 00:23:10,650 I mean, this was really his first big step. 491 00:23:11,390 --> 00:23:13,783 Every superhero needs a lair, 492 00:23:14,349 --> 00:23:15,437 a Batcave, 493 00:23:16,046 --> 00:23:18,048 or maybe more appropriately, 494 00:23:18,222 --> 00:23:20,224 like in the movie Superman number one, 495 00:23:20,921 --> 00:23:22,357 a crystal fortress. 496 00:23:24,011 --> 00:23:26,666 But not everyone would have Darren's mindset 497 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:28,755 for creating that fortress. 498 00:23:30,409 --> 00:23:33,063 [Adam speaking] 499 00:23:33,803 --> 00:23:37,459 Yeah. Yeah. I am, uh, officially a college dropout. 500 00:23:37,633 --> 00:23:41,376 I acquired, uh, seven industry certifications in the IT field, 501 00:23:41,550 --> 00:23:45,598 and at the time, those were only available 502 00:23:45,772 --> 00:23:50,603 outside of the traditional, uh, college curriculum. 503 00:23:50,777 --> 00:23:53,910 So I went out and got a bunch of those, and it proved to be much better 504 00:23:54,084 --> 00:23:56,435 than, uh, the four-year degree for me. 505 00:23:56,609 --> 00:23:59,438 I had my first real job at, uh, 19 506 00:23:59,612 --> 00:24:03,224 for 65 an hour for a, uh, health system, and this was pre-Y2K. 507 00:24:03,398 --> 00:24:06,488 So this is probably 1997. And I never looked back. 508 00:24:06,662 --> 00:24:07,968 I'd show up early, I'd stay late. 509 00:24:08,142 --> 00:24:10,623 I, I was always nervous about my age 510 00:24:10,797 --> 00:24:12,538 and if they were gonna figure me out. 511 00:24:12,712 --> 00:24:15,671 But I performed and I, uh... 512 00:24:16,498 --> 00:24:18,500 Yeah, it was probably the best thing I ever decided to do, 513 00:24:18,674 --> 00:24:21,068 but it was certainly, uh, untraditional. 514 00:24:21,242 --> 00:24:23,244 [Adam speaking] 515 00:24:23,418 --> 00:24:25,464 I don't know the word "empire," but certainly, 516 00:24:25,638 --> 00:24:28,075 uh, you know, um, a very successful company, 517 00:24:28,249 --> 00:24:30,338 and, uh, hired a lot of my friends, 518 00:24:30,512 --> 00:24:33,167 and, uh, you know, we're, we're, we're doing extremely well 519 00:24:33,341 --> 00:24:35,038 and branched off into many other fields from it, 520 00:24:35,212 --> 00:24:37,606 but, uh, yeah, I, I would have to say 521 00:24:37,780 --> 00:24:39,478 that it, um, it was a wild ride, 522 00:24:39,652 --> 00:24:41,436 but I'm very fortunate for the timing of everything 523 00:24:41,610 --> 00:24:42,655 and how it came together. 524 00:24:42,829 --> 00:24:44,439 [Adam] And, and, uh... [continues] 525 00:24:51,925 --> 00:24:54,275 [lighthearted bass music] 526 00:24:54,449 --> 00:24:57,539 -[locks clicking] -[soft whirring] 527 00:24:57,713 --> 00:24:59,976 [Darren] There's multiple layers of security here. 528 00:25:00,150 --> 00:25:01,935 Multiple alarm systems. 529 00:25:02,109 --> 00:25:03,066 [beeps] 530 00:25:03,980 --> 00:25:05,242 At the end of the day, 531 00:25:05,765 --> 00:25:08,071 this is still a collection with a high value. 532 00:25:10,334 --> 00:25:13,555 And there's no need to really advertise yourself to the world. 533 00:25:19,518 --> 00:25:20,910 There was a good amount of prep work 534 00:25:21,084 --> 00:25:23,391 that had to go into just containing these things. 535 00:25:25,132 --> 00:25:27,569 One thing that is nerve-wracking about this, though, 536 00:25:27,743 --> 00:25:30,485 is that the conditions of these collectibles 537 00:25:30,659 --> 00:25:32,705 are so important to their value 538 00:25:32,879 --> 00:25:34,489 that any time you even move them, 539 00:25:34,663 --> 00:25:36,230 anytime you handle them, 540 00:25:36,404 --> 00:25:38,319 you have to just be so conscious 541 00:25:38,493 --> 00:25:41,757 of any kind of additional damage you may be inflicting on them. 542 00:25:42,453 --> 00:25:43,846 [Adam speaking] 543 00:25:45,239 --> 00:25:46,849 [Darren speaking] 544 00:25:48,590 --> 00:25:50,723 [Darren] I have to make sure that the people that are involved 545 00:25:50,897 --> 00:25:53,377 are loyal to the collection, loyal to my dad, loyal to me, 546 00:25:53,552 --> 00:25:56,076 and aren't gonna do any kind of damage 547 00:25:56,250 --> 00:25:58,513 and/or take things that are, are, are not theirs. 548 00:25:58,687 --> 00:26:00,646 But that's when your true friends step up. 549 00:26:00,820 --> 00:26:02,778 Oh, shit. Whoa! 550 00:26:02,952 --> 00:26:04,693 -Look how nice condition. -[Brian] Yeah! 551 00:26:04,867 --> 00:26:06,565 See, and, like-- You gotta understand, 552 00:26:06,739 --> 00:26:08,523 like, books like this don't exist. 553 00:26:08,697 --> 00:26:10,307 Well, the closest one would definitely be Brian. 554 00:26:10,481 --> 00:26:13,572 [thrilling bass music] 555 00:26:13,746 --> 00:26:16,313 My whole experience with this started when he had to move them. 556 00:26:16,487 --> 00:26:18,228 So we load this truck 557 00:26:18,402 --> 00:26:20,535 and I'm literally riding in the back of it 558 00:26:20,709 --> 00:26:24,104 like Scrooge McDuck swimming in, in his money. 559 00:26:24,278 --> 00:26:26,062 I'm swimming in comic books 560 00:26:26,236 --> 00:26:28,848 like, like this, trying to hold everything still 561 00:26:29,022 --> 00:26:29,979 while we're hitting bumps. 562 00:26:30,153 --> 00:26:31,285 [tires screech] 563 00:26:32,112 --> 00:26:33,374 I'm like, "This isn't happening. 564 00:26:33,548 --> 00:26:35,855 I am in back of a huge truck 565 00:26:36,029 --> 00:26:39,032 filled with the sweetest comic book collection I've ever seen." 566 00:26:39,685 --> 00:26:41,774 [Darren] Him and I have been best of friends since first grade. 567 00:26:41,948 --> 00:26:43,514 He was the first employee in my business. 568 00:26:43,689 --> 00:26:45,821 He's been one of the most loyal people in my life to me. 569 00:26:45,995 --> 00:26:49,520 I met Darren in 1984. He's always been my family. 570 00:26:49,695 --> 00:26:51,087 When it's time to get serious, 571 00:26:51,261 --> 00:26:54,917 he's, he's second to none as far as stepping up. 572 00:26:55,091 --> 00:26:56,136 And I couldn't do it without him. 573 00:26:56,310 --> 00:26:57,964 Now, Brian, uh, you know Brian? 574 00:26:58,138 --> 00:27:00,096 Holy shit! 575 00:27:00,270 --> 00:27:01,750 [Tony] You get a lot of that out of him. 576 00:27:01,924 --> 00:27:04,579 Brian's a comic savant. He really is. 577 00:27:04,753 --> 00:27:07,234 Yeah, well, I mean, in that condition, that's amazing. 578 00:27:07,408 --> 00:27:09,628 I mean, like, most of these books, 579 00:27:09,802 --> 00:27:12,108 you're just so used to seeing them beat up on a wall. 580 00:27:12,282 --> 00:27:15,982 Going for $100, $200. Be wasted, you know what I mean? 581 00:27:16,156 --> 00:27:19,594 It's like, like the pedigree of these books really is special. 582 00:27:19,768 --> 00:27:21,988 I love when Brian is here because some of the times 583 00:27:22,162 --> 00:27:24,077 I don't even have to barely open my computer. 584 00:27:24,599 --> 00:27:26,732 "Brian, I just found yada, yada, yada." 585 00:27:26,906 --> 00:27:28,603 [as Brian] "Oh, that's a good one. Throw it aside." 586 00:27:28,777 --> 00:27:31,301 I, I care way more about the books than I do the money. 587 00:27:31,475 --> 00:27:33,564 So Brian thinks about it differently than I do 588 00:27:33,739 --> 00:27:36,437 because I don't collect comics and I never did. 589 00:27:36,611 --> 00:27:38,918 I like certain comics 'cause of the artwork on the front of them 590 00:27:39,092 --> 00:27:42,704 and stuff like that, but I'm more of, "What is this worth? 591 00:27:42,878 --> 00:27:44,750 Let's get this graded and let's go from there." 592 00:27:44,924 --> 00:27:48,014 [thrilling bass music] 593 00:27:48,188 --> 00:27:49,885 [Darren] Tony became involved in this 594 00:27:50,059 --> 00:27:52,148 kind of like right at the time when my father passed. 595 00:27:52,322 --> 00:27:54,629 He was really a great support system for me 596 00:27:54,803 --> 00:27:56,892 and, and instrumental in helping with the logistics 597 00:27:57,066 --> 00:27:58,720 and, like, literally moving things, 598 00:27:58,894 --> 00:28:00,896 getting the rooms ready for where we had to, you know, 599 00:28:01,070 --> 00:28:02,985 put this stuff and making it secure, 600 00:28:03,159 --> 00:28:06,597 wiring things up for the humidity control and the HVAC systems. 601 00:28:06,772 --> 00:28:08,643 I mean, this is a significant effort. 602 00:28:08,817 --> 00:28:10,514 [Tony] It took us a couple of months to come up with a plan 603 00:28:10,689 --> 00:28:13,996 of what we were gonna do to store comics and grade comics. 604 00:28:14,170 --> 00:28:16,303 I can't foresee people having collections like this. 605 00:28:16,477 --> 00:28:19,698 There might be a handful of people in the world, 606 00:28:20,307 --> 00:28:21,525 but this is insane. 607 00:28:21,700 --> 00:28:22,613 Just, just to have the room 608 00:28:22,788 --> 00:28:24,659 to store this collection isn't-- 609 00:28:24,833 --> 00:28:28,054 I mean, there's three eight-by-40-foot shipping containers here, 610 00:28:28,228 --> 00:28:29,620 pretty much filled with comics. 611 00:28:29,795 --> 00:28:31,187 Try to put that in your house somewhere. 612 00:28:31,361 --> 00:28:33,146 Where, where, where are you gonna put it? 613 00:28:33,842 --> 00:28:36,627 [Darren] They're all independently secured with large steel doors, 614 00:28:36,802 --> 00:28:38,760 can be independently locked, and they're also 615 00:28:38,934 --> 00:28:40,544 self-contained within the structure. 616 00:28:40,719 --> 00:28:42,938 So they, they would be protected more so 617 00:28:43,112 --> 00:28:45,245 from fire or things like that. 618 00:28:45,419 --> 00:28:47,464 We have each of them humidity controlled, 619 00:28:47,638 --> 00:28:50,119 uh, climate controlled, and we're able to do that 620 00:28:50,293 --> 00:28:52,121 where they're in a little more of a sealed environment. 621 00:28:52,295 --> 00:28:54,297 So, yeah, the logistics of this process 622 00:28:54,471 --> 00:28:56,343 were pretty well thought out in how to, A, 623 00:28:56,517 --> 00:28:58,171 contain them, keep them safe, 624 00:28:58,345 --> 00:29:00,216 and then also give us an ability to sort 625 00:29:00,390 --> 00:29:01,565 and go through them comfortably. 626 00:29:01,740 --> 00:29:03,742 Oh, wow! I need that. 627 00:29:03,916 --> 00:29:05,221 -Yeah. That's sweet. -[laughs] 628 00:29:05,395 --> 00:29:06,875 Yeah. That's how I usually go. 629 00:29:07,049 --> 00:29:08,268 [gasps] Yeah! 630 00:29:08,442 --> 00:29:10,531 -Ah, okay. -Yeah, I need that too. 631 00:29:10,705 --> 00:29:13,186 -This is, this is... massive-- -Well, how did I pull this garbage? 632 00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:15,188 -These are nice. -[Darren] These are... [sighs] 633 00:29:15,362 --> 00:29:18,104 Just a massively iconic cover. And then this one, Brian? 634 00:29:18,278 --> 00:29:21,629 -That is the first Mephisto. -Mephisto. 635 00:29:21,803 --> 00:29:24,240 -But again-- -[Brian] That's like the devil of the Marvel Universe. 636 00:29:24,414 --> 00:29:26,634 [Darren] Multiple f-- have been found, but just-- 637 00:29:26,808 --> 00:29:28,592 -and there's an example of just going through a box. -Like, 638 00:29:28,767 --> 00:29:32,205 this is why I collect comics, because you can't predict it. 639 00:29:32,379 --> 00:29:34,598 This is only expensive because it's a sweet cover. 640 00:29:34,773 --> 00:29:36,122 No-- Nothing even happens in it. 641 00:29:36,296 --> 00:29:38,254 It's just like it's sweet and people love it. 642 00:29:38,428 --> 00:29:40,735 And it's thousands of dollars. That's why I love comics. 643 00:29:40,909 --> 00:29:44,957 And we didn't know we had this until you just witnessed it. 644 00:29:45,131 --> 00:29:46,959 [Tony] It's a, it's a weird thing to be involved with. 645 00:29:47,133 --> 00:29:49,135 I never thought in my life I'd be sitting here 646 00:29:49,309 --> 00:29:51,180 looking at comics and just, "Wow, 647 00:29:51,354 --> 00:29:53,792 this is worth $5,000. This is worth this. It's worth that." 648 00:29:53,966 --> 00:29:56,795 [Darren] You know, the unique part about this collection is that, 649 00:29:56,969 --> 00:30:00,886 uh, our two top books, which are the Batman8.0 650 00:30:01,060 --> 00:30:02,844 and the Superman7.0, 651 00:30:03,018 --> 00:30:05,194 are not the bulk of the value of this collection. 652 00:30:05,368 --> 00:30:07,631 What makes up the bulk of the value in this collection 653 00:30:07,806 --> 00:30:12,245 is numbers and quantity and repetition 654 00:30:12,419 --> 00:30:15,335 of very, very, very valuable books. 655 00:30:15,509 --> 00:30:18,381 The Superman1 and the Batman1, those are sweet. 656 00:30:18,555 --> 00:30:20,601 But there's like four people that can afford-- 657 00:30:20,775 --> 00:30:23,386 Honestly, there's probably four guys that can afford that, you know. 658 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:25,780 Where it's like there's a thousand people that would-- 659 00:30:25,954 --> 00:30:28,348 that'll bid this stuff up pretty high. 660 00:30:28,522 --> 00:30:30,916 I don't know if your camera will pick it up, 661 00:30:31,090 --> 00:30:33,483 but this book is gonna go for so much more than that book. 662 00:30:33,657 --> 00:30:36,573 Look at the red. See how this is red? And that's orange. 663 00:30:36,747 --> 00:30:38,184 -[Adam] Yeah. -[Brian] More desirable. 664 00:30:38,358 --> 00:30:39,707 Yeah. And it's like if somebody 665 00:30:39,881 --> 00:30:42,405 has been looking for a red one for years, 666 00:30:42,579 --> 00:30:44,320 and all they can find is an orange one, 667 00:30:44,494 --> 00:30:46,583 and they find that, they're gonna pay for it. 668 00:30:46,757 --> 00:30:49,717 Like, comic book people are nuts. 669 00:30:49,891 --> 00:30:51,632 They're absolute-- And I am one of them. 670 00:30:51,806 --> 00:30:54,243 I would pay the extra hundreds of dollars for it. 671 00:30:54,417 --> 00:30:58,030 And the whole thing is it doesn't always even, like, make sense. 672 00:30:58,204 --> 00:30:59,814 But it's like one of those things 673 00:30:59,988 --> 00:31:01,598 if you need to have it, buy it. 674 00:31:03,078 --> 00:31:06,038 He's sitting on so many issues like that. 675 00:31:07,387 --> 00:31:09,780 It's fun because we're gonna put 676 00:31:09,955 --> 00:31:11,826 so many of these books in the right hands 677 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:13,828 that people are gonna lose their shit. 678 00:31:15,438 --> 00:31:18,137 [soft music] 679 00:31:18,311 --> 00:31:19,703 [Darren] So there's all those little moments. 680 00:31:19,878 --> 00:31:21,836 I mean, I go up with my friends 681 00:31:22,010 --> 00:31:24,056 and we sort through these things at night, 682 00:31:24,230 --> 00:31:25,361 and we have a blast. 683 00:31:25,535 --> 00:31:28,147 As 45-year-old guys, 684 00:31:28,321 --> 00:31:29,800 where it's hard to make friends, 685 00:31:30,279 --> 00:31:32,238 and hard to have those connections. 686 00:31:32,412 --> 00:31:36,590 I think that having that excuse to get together 687 00:31:36,764 --> 00:31:38,766 and go on a treasure hunt 688 00:31:38,940 --> 00:31:41,856 and have this super fun adventure, 689 00:31:42,422 --> 00:31:44,293 what an amazing gift that is, 690 00:31:44,467 --> 00:31:46,295 whether or not Dale intended it to be that. 691 00:31:49,124 --> 00:31:50,473 [Darren] My dad was a kooky, funny guy, 692 00:31:50,647 --> 00:31:52,432 and, and when he was in the mood to let go, 693 00:31:52,606 --> 00:31:54,521 he would have been a really, really good time 694 00:31:54,695 --> 00:31:55,826 to be involved in this. 695 00:31:56,566 --> 00:31:58,177 [Tony] That's one thing that 696 00:31:58,742 --> 00:32:01,571 Darren missed about his dad in the comics 697 00:32:01,745 --> 00:32:03,530 is that it was never a family affair. 698 00:32:03,704 --> 00:32:05,706 It kind of drove a wedge between him and the family, 699 00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:08,796 where Darren always wished that he could do this with his dad, 700 00:32:08,970 --> 00:32:11,538 that he-- they would have sat down and they would have went through the books. 701 00:32:11,712 --> 00:32:14,149 I would have preferred to really enjoy this with my father 702 00:32:14,323 --> 00:32:16,064 and, and to really go through the process. 703 00:32:16,238 --> 00:32:19,459 I didn't have a lot of connection with my father 704 00:32:19,633 --> 00:32:22,462 in the sense of experiences that we had together. 705 00:32:22,941 --> 00:32:24,116 Certainly had a lot of conversations, 706 00:32:24,290 --> 00:32:25,813 Certainly had a lot of arguments. 707 00:32:26,379 --> 00:32:28,163 [Tony] I think that's hard for him sometimes. I really do. 708 00:32:28,337 --> 00:32:30,339 I think he thinks about that a lot. Like, 709 00:32:30,513 --> 00:32:32,515 "Would my dad want me to sell this? Would he not want me to sell it? 710 00:32:32,689 --> 00:32:34,169 What would he want me to do with it?" 711 00:32:34,343 --> 00:32:35,866 You know. And like you said, I mean... 712 00:32:36,955 --> 00:32:38,739 ...not his dad's anymore, it's Darren's. 713 00:32:38,913 --> 00:32:40,306 So it's up to Darren to decide 714 00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:42,047 what he wants to do with everything. 715 00:32:43,178 --> 00:32:46,225 [Darren] There's a tremendous amount of power to this collection, 716 00:32:46,399 --> 00:32:49,315 and I'm just trying to make sure it's respected and involves friends 717 00:32:49,489 --> 00:32:51,534 and, you know, help people out that want certain things. 718 00:32:51,708 --> 00:32:53,972 And, and, you know, take my time and go slow 719 00:32:54,146 --> 00:32:55,886 and respect it and make sure 720 00:32:56,061 --> 00:32:58,106 that these things end up with people that, you know, 721 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:01,631 maybe just aren't doing it for the pure money sense of it, 722 00:33:01,805 --> 00:33:05,635 but for, for the, for the, you know, emotional value. 723 00:33:05,809 --> 00:33:09,117 You know, I mean, it would be amazing to have some of these key books 724 00:33:09,291 --> 00:33:11,337 end up with, like, the biggest fan of Superman 725 00:33:11,511 --> 00:33:13,382 or the biggest fan of s-- Batman. 726 00:33:13,556 --> 00:33:14,862 And, you know, be something that, like, 727 00:33:15,036 --> 00:33:16,646 "I've waited all my life for, you know, 728 00:33:16,820 --> 00:33:18,039 for something like this to surface," 729 00:33:18,213 --> 00:33:20,085 because these things don't surface. 730 00:33:20,259 --> 00:33:23,262 And, um, that, that, that would be incredible to me. 731 00:33:23,436 --> 00:33:25,786 [lighthearted bass music] 732 00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:27,701 [Adam] So what Darren wants to do with these books 733 00:33:27,875 --> 00:33:29,790 is very different than anything 734 00:33:29,964 --> 00:33:32,140 his father would have ever been into. 735 00:33:32,706 --> 00:33:34,795 To share them with his friends 736 00:33:35,361 --> 00:33:37,928 and get these books into the hands of people 737 00:33:38,103 --> 00:33:39,843 that can love and appreciate them. 738 00:33:41,410 --> 00:33:43,064 But similar to his dad, 739 00:33:43,238 --> 00:33:45,501 at this moment, it's still a secret. 740 00:33:45,675 --> 00:33:47,547 Only the close circle of friends, 741 00:33:47,721 --> 00:33:50,028 which now includes myself, 742 00:33:50,202 --> 00:33:52,900 know about this fortress of solitude, 743 00:33:53,074 --> 00:33:55,685 this thousands of comic books 744 00:33:56,164 --> 00:33:58,558 and the belovedSuperman No. 1. 745 00:33:59,515 --> 00:34:01,865 [Adam speaking] 746 00:34:03,432 --> 00:34:04,912 Not the real one. 747 00:34:05,086 --> 00:34:08,742 Um, no, I, I, I, I didn't have the guts to do that. 748 00:34:10,178 --> 00:34:12,137 It's a sh-- a little bit of a shame that, you know, 749 00:34:12,311 --> 00:34:14,400 these things have to be treated so delicately, 750 00:34:14,574 --> 00:34:17,185 because even the slightest knick, the slightest corner bump, 751 00:34:17,359 --> 00:34:19,013 can mean a difference in grade, 752 00:34:19,187 --> 00:34:20,797 which can mean the difference 753 00:34:20,971 --> 00:34:23,191 in an incredible amount of value. 754 00:34:23,365 --> 00:34:26,194 [auctioneer] I have 17,000. Do I hear 18? Jumping at 18,000? 755 00:34:27,413 --> 00:34:28,936 So I wrote a book called 756 00:34:29,110 --> 00:34:31,199 The Official CGC Guide to Grading Comics. 757 00:34:31,373 --> 00:34:33,114 CGC is a certification company, 758 00:34:33,288 --> 00:34:35,638 and they basically certify collectibles, 759 00:34:35,812 --> 00:34:37,379 comic books obviously, but also coins, 760 00:34:37,553 --> 00:34:39,686 stamps, paper money, sports cards, 761 00:34:39,860 --> 00:34:41,775 other kind of collectible cards. 762 00:34:41,949 --> 00:34:44,299 The point of it is that people send their collectibles to us, 763 00:34:44,473 --> 00:34:47,128 and we grade them and authenticate them, 764 00:34:47,302 --> 00:34:48,521 and then encase them 765 00:34:48,695 --> 00:34:51,001 in a plastic, tamper-proof holder 766 00:34:51,176 --> 00:34:52,873 with a label that has all the information on it. 767 00:34:53,047 --> 00:34:55,354 And that obviously adds a lot of value to the collectible. 768 00:34:55,528 --> 00:34:58,008 [Stephen] In the early days, it was a lot of letter grades. 769 00:34:58,183 --> 00:35:00,924 Very Good, Fine, VF, and Near-Mint. 770 00:35:01,099 --> 00:35:03,884 And I realized that it, it devolved 771 00:35:04,058 --> 00:35:06,626 into dueling adjectives 772 00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:09,455 where somebody would go, "Oh, my copy is cherry." 773 00:35:09,629 --> 00:35:12,240 The other person would go, "My copy is smoking." 774 00:35:12,414 --> 00:35:14,938 And I said, "There really needs to b-- kind of be a structure here." 775 00:35:15,113 --> 00:35:18,725 So what I did is I created a grading scale, 776 00:35:18,899 --> 00:35:21,467 very simple, with different points in between, 777 00:35:21,641 --> 00:35:22,990 one through ten, 778 00:35:23,164 --> 00:35:25,601 so that people now can have conversations 779 00:35:25,775 --> 00:35:28,126 about, "Is it a 7? 7.5? 780 00:35:28,300 --> 00:35:30,302 Maybe it's an 8." And people talk like that. 781 00:35:30,476 --> 00:35:33,261 [Matt] And so the grade of a comic book is what drives its value. 782 00:35:33,435 --> 00:35:34,871 -130. -[auctioneer] 130. Yes. 783 00:35:35,045 --> 00:35:36,438 -Now I need 140. -140. 784 00:35:36,612 --> 00:35:38,136 [auctioneer] 140 right away. How about 150? 785 00:35:38,310 --> 00:35:40,138 [Matt] Within, I, I think, a year or two 786 00:35:40,312 --> 00:35:42,879 auctions and sales online started occurring 787 00:35:43,053 --> 00:35:45,491 where people were paying double guide or triple guide 788 00:35:45,665 --> 00:35:47,754 for a book because it was a high grade. 789 00:35:47,928 --> 00:35:50,757 [Stephen] So it becomes more of a commodity to be bought and sold. 790 00:35:50,931 --> 00:35:55,283 Uh, that has brought in a lot of new collectors, 791 00:35:55,457 --> 00:35:57,894 investors, speculators, 792 00:35:58,068 --> 00:36:01,420 people who are looking for alternative assets 793 00:36:01,594 --> 00:36:04,292 where they go, "You know what, I want to put some of my money 794 00:36:04,466 --> 00:36:07,121 into a collectible, which is something I can keep in a safe, 795 00:36:07,295 --> 00:36:08,905 something I can hold in my hand." 796 00:36:09,079 --> 00:36:10,472 [Darren] The Superman1, 797 00:36:10,646 --> 00:36:12,082 that was my father's-- his Holy Grail book. 798 00:36:12,257 --> 00:36:15,390 This is the first solo issue of Superman. 799 00:36:15,564 --> 00:36:17,305 It's a book from 1939. 800 00:36:17,479 --> 00:36:19,351 My father was extremely proud of this book, 801 00:36:19,525 --> 00:36:20,743 but he never had it graded. 802 00:36:20,917 --> 00:36:22,876 -[melancholic music] -I took that book 803 00:36:23,050 --> 00:36:24,747 as well as Batman1, 804 00:36:24,921 --> 00:36:26,575 down to the grading company, 805 00:36:26,749 --> 00:36:28,534 and I was met in the lobby 806 00:36:29,143 --> 00:36:31,189 by the head grader, uh, at the time 807 00:36:31,363 --> 00:36:33,278 and now president of the company, Matt. 808 00:36:33,756 --> 00:36:36,498 The soft-spoken, nicest guy ever, you know, takes this book out 809 00:36:36,672 --> 00:36:39,022 and, you know, he does this every day. I mean, he's, he's the man. 810 00:36:39,197 --> 00:36:41,764 And he flips through this thing with me just sitting there white because, you know-- 811 00:36:41,938 --> 00:36:44,854 -[Adam speaking] -Uh, no, he was doing it with his bare fingers. 812 00:36:45,028 --> 00:36:46,378 I mean, that's apparently how he-- 813 00:36:46,552 --> 00:36:48,380 how, how he does it at that level. 814 00:36:48,554 --> 00:36:50,817 And he went through, flipped through every page, 815 00:36:50,991 --> 00:36:53,646 made sure every page was intact because you don't know. 816 00:36:53,820 --> 00:36:56,083 Is the book complete? Is it missing a page? 817 00:36:56,257 --> 00:36:58,564 Is it missing a coupon? These things all matter. 818 00:36:58,738 --> 00:37:00,348 And, and they, they, they can take it 819 00:37:00,522 --> 00:37:02,742 from being one of the most valuable 820 00:37:02,916 --> 00:37:05,875 pieces of pop culture history there is 821 00:37:06,049 --> 00:37:08,878 to just something that's kind of neat. 822 00:37:09,401 --> 00:37:10,967 And I told Matt this, I said, "You know, 823 00:37:11,141 --> 00:37:13,100 I, I really looked at this, Matt. It's really nice. 824 00:37:13,274 --> 00:37:15,581 And I-- I'm really hoping it's better than a 6.5." 825 00:37:16,146 --> 00:37:17,496 So we were standing there in that lobby 826 00:37:17,670 --> 00:37:18,975 and he was going through those-- that book. 827 00:37:19,149 --> 00:37:21,326 And I said, "Uh, it's pretty nice, isn't it?" 828 00:37:22,370 --> 00:37:24,416 And he looked over at me after he, you know, he was done 829 00:37:24,590 --> 00:37:26,331 with his measurements and his flipping through, 830 00:37:26,505 --> 00:37:28,246 and he got a real warm smile on his face, 831 00:37:28,420 --> 00:37:30,987 and he said, "Congratulations." 832 00:37:31,161 --> 00:37:33,903 He didn't tell me the grade. You know, because, you know, 833 00:37:34,077 --> 00:37:36,166 he had to do some other things to it and so on. 834 00:37:36,341 --> 00:37:38,473 But it was kind of like a nod, 835 00:37:38,647 --> 00:37:41,737 like, "Yeah, I think it's gonna get that grade." 836 00:37:41,911 --> 00:37:43,261 And he put my hand on his shoulder 837 00:37:43,435 --> 00:37:45,393 and he just said, "Congratulations." And... 838 00:37:47,003 --> 00:37:48,091 Yeah, I, uh... 839 00:37:48,962 --> 00:37:50,920 I just didn't know what to say other than, 840 00:37:51,747 --> 00:37:53,532 "I wish my dad was here to see that." 841 00:37:54,794 --> 00:37:56,883 So, that was a big moment. 842 00:38:05,457 --> 00:38:08,111 [upbeat music] 843 00:38:08,286 --> 00:38:09,896 [Adam] Soon after I left Michigan, 844 00:38:10,070 --> 00:38:11,767 things in the comic book world, 845 00:38:11,941 --> 00:38:14,204 specifically withSuperman No. 1 846 00:38:14,379 --> 00:38:16,250 really started to heat up. 847 00:38:16,424 --> 00:38:18,426 First, anotherSuperman 1, 848 00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:20,646 7.0surfaced 849 00:38:20,820 --> 00:38:21,995 and went to auction. 850 00:38:22,735 --> 00:38:23,910 Now, just to clarify, 851 00:38:24,084 --> 00:38:25,955 the four bestSuperman No. 1s 852 00:38:26,129 --> 00:38:28,306 include two graded at 8.0, 853 00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:30,351 and two graded at 7.0. 854 00:38:30,525 --> 00:38:32,397 One of those being Darren's. 855 00:38:32,919 --> 00:38:35,835 So here, a month after we started filming, 856 00:38:36,357 --> 00:38:39,665 the other 7.0 goes to auction 857 00:38:40,796 --> 00:38:44,278 and sells for $2.6 million. 858 00:38:44,452 --> 00:38:46,672 No way! Oh, no. 859 00:38:46,846 --> 00:38:48,761 Oh! Can't believe it. 860 00:38:48,935 --> 00:38:51,111 I think that's a, that's a shit ton of money, but-- 861 00:38:51,285 --> 00:38:53,679 Is that way under what you think it should go for? 862 00:38:53,853 --> 00:38:55,376 Obviously I can't be let down by that at all. 863 00:38:55,550 --> 00:38:56,812 Just, just a little bit surprising. 864 00:38:56,986 --> 00:38:58,945 I do think that the publicity matters. 865 00:38:59,119 --> 00:39:00,512 I mean, both you guys, Tony and Brian, 866 00:39:00,686 --> 00:39:03,123 you guys watch a lot of content now on comics. 867 00:39:03,297 --> 00:39:05,734 Um, did you see any build-up for this at all? 868 00:39:05,908 --> 00:39:08,476 -On any-- -No. Nothing. There is nothing on YouTube. 869 00:39:08,650 --> 00:39:10,478 Nobody said a Superman1 is about to-- 870 00:39:10,652 --> 00:39:13,046 -No-- Nothing. -Not one person. 871 00:39:13,220 --> 00:39:14,613 Right. I find that really strange. 872 00:39:14,787 --> 00:39:16,310 [whimsical music] 873 00:39:16,484 --> 00:39:18,530 [Adam] So that was December of '21. 874 00:39:19,269 --> 00:39:23,056 Then things got crazier in January of '22. 875 00:39:24,057 --> 00:39:25,928 AnotherSuperman No. 1 876 00:39:26,102 --> 00:39:28,235 this time sold privately, 877 00:39:28,409 --> 00:39:30,716 and it was one of the 8.0s. 878 00:39:31,586 --> 00:39:35,024 It sold for $5.3 million 879 00:39:35,198 --> 00:39:38,463 and was the highest comic book sale of all time. 880 00:39:39,855 --> 00:39:42,205 Now that specificSuperman 8.0, 881 00:39:42,684 --> 00:39:46,558 it hadn't changed hands in almost 30 years. 882 00:39:47,036 --> 00:39:50,257 With Superman1, you know, when you're only dealing with two or three or four copies 883 00:39:50,431 --> 00:39:52,433 that are considered high grade, 884 00:39:52,607 --> 00:39:55,784 it may be years and years and years before you see one for sale. 885 00:39:55,958 --> 00:39:59,135 And so that alone could drive the price. It could double the price. 886 00:39:59,309 --> 00:40:02,400 So that Mile High copy could sell for, you know, $10 million, 887 00:40:02,574 --> 00:40:03,923 uh, the next time it comes up for sale, 888 00:40:04,097 --> 00:40:05,359 because no one knows when they're gonna get 889 00:40:05,533 --> 00:40:07,492 another shot at a copy like that. 890 00:40:08,406 --> 00:40:10,495 [Adam] But do we know who owned it for 30 years, 891 00:40:10,669 --> 00:40:12,453 and do we know who bought it? 892 00:40:12,627 --> 00:40:15,587 No. These people stay incredibly private. 893 00:40:16,718 --> 00:40:19,112 So we do know at this moment in time, 894 00:40:19,286 --> 00:40:21,157 there are two 8.0s, 895 00:40:21,331 --> 00:40:23,072 and there are two 7.0s. 896 00:40:23,246 --> 00:40:25,945 But who owns them is totally unknown, 897 00:40:26,119 --> 00:40:27,512 including Darren's. 898 00:40:28,382 --> 00:40:30,253 -But all that... -[soft whooshing] 899 00:40:30,428 --> 00:40:31,429 ...is about to change. 900 00:40:31,603 --> 00:40:33,561 [soft suspenseful music] 901 00:40:35,911 --> 00:40:37,173 [clicking] 902 00:40:37,826 --> 00:40:39,959 [upbeat music] 903 00:40:43,266 --> 00:40:45,007 [laughter] 904 00:40:45,181 --> 00:40:46,356 ♪ Yeah ♪ 905 00:40:49,838 --> 00:40:51,013 Woo-hoo! 906 00:40:54,495 --> 00:40:56,628 [Darren] I have to tell you, man, going to the Con 907 00:40:56,802 --> 00:40:58,717 with our specific intention 908 00:40:59,805 --> 00:41:02,634 would have to constitute the most opposite thing 909 00:41:02,808 --> 00:41:04,766 that my father would have ever done. 910 00:41:04,940 --> 00:41:07,116 Oh, he would be rolling over in his grave. 911 00:41:13,645 --> 00:41:15,473 [music fades away]