This photo provided by Metropolis Collectibles on Tuesday, April 6, 2021, shows Vincent Zurzolo, co-owner of ComicConnect, holding Action Comics first edition 1938 comic book marking Superman's first appearance, which has sold for an historic, record-breaking $3,250,000.
NEW YORK (AP) — One of the few copies of the comic book that introduced Superman to the world has sold for a super-sized, record-setting price.
The issue of Action Comics #1 went for $3.25 million in a private sale, ComicConnect.com, an online auction and consignment company, announced Tuesday.
It narrowly bested the previous record for the comic, set in the auction of another copy in 2014 for slightly over $3.2 million.
The comic, published in 1938, “really is the beginning of the superhero genre," said ComicConnect.com COO Vincent Zurzolo, who brokered the sale.
It told readers about the origins of Superman, how he came to Earth from another planet and went by Clark Kent.
The seller of this particular issue bought the comic in 2018 for slightly more than $2 million.
Zurzolo said that while there were hundreds of thousands of copies initially published, it's estimated only about 100 exist today, and in varying conditions. He said this copy is among the best-kept ones.
“There’s no comic book that you could value higher in terms of a comic book than Action Comics #1," he said.
Strange celebrity items sold at auction
A lock of David Bowie's hair is the latest weird celebrity item to be available for purchase, but it's definitely not the first -- nor the strangest.
Heritage Auctions is expecting a lock of late rock star David Bowie's hair to fetch more than $4,000 at this Saturday's auction in Beverly Hills, California. The lock comes from a former Madame Tussauds Wax Museum employee who snipped some of Bowie's hair in the 1980s to create a wig for a wax figure of the singer and then kept the lock as a souvenir.
Finding and selling Britney Spears' chewing gum was apparently a popular way to make some cash in the early 2000s. According to CBS News, more than two dozen eBay auctions offering gum chewed by the pop star existed in September 2004. While there was no way to actually prove the gum was authentic, some auctions still pulled in more than $14,000.
Just a year after the surge in gum auctions, a pregnancy test allegedly used by Britney Spears found its way to the online marketplace.
According to CNN, the test was found in a garbage can in a Los Angeles hotel room that Spears had stayed in with then husband Kevin Federline.
The Internet casino, which is known for bizarre celebrity merchandise purchases, bought the pregnancy test for $5,001 from a Canadian radio station, which had previously purchased the item.
In December 2008, Scarlett Johansson blew her nose on stage at "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." She did so after making a joke about how she had caught a cold from Samuel L. Jackson, and therefore her cold was pretty valuable.
She then announced she would put the tissue up for auction, which she did. The item raised $5,300 for the hunger relief charity USA Harvest.
In March 2000, Justin Timberlake had breakfast at a radio station. Afterward, the DJ put Timberlake's unfinished French toast up for sale on eBay. Kathy Summers, a 19-year-old fan from Madison, Wisconsin, purchased the leftovers for $1,025.
What's up with boy band members and toast?
Niall Horan of One Direction was asked to try some Vegemite on toast during a stop in Australia. To say the least, he didn't like it.
Horan spit out the bite of toast in a napkin and didn't finish the rest, which was then sold at auction for almost $100,000. The money was donated to the Australian charity Youngcare.
Sometime between 1964 and 1968, John Lennon gave his tooth to his housekeeper, Dot Jarlett, to throw away. He quickly changed his mind, according to Rolling Stone, and suggested she give it to her daughter, who was a big Beatles fan.
Jarlett put the tooth up for sale in 2011. It sold for $31,200.
After cutting off his famous side-swept hair in 2011, Justin Bieber decided to give a lock of it to Ellen DeGeneres. The talk show host listed the "gift" on eBay, where it sold for $40,668.
The money went to benefit The Gentle Barn Foundation, an animal rescue organization.
Pharrell Williams' over-sized hat went viral after he wore it to the Grammys in 2014. The hat had its own Twitter account and appeared in countless memes.
Recognizing the attention it got, Williams decided to auction the hat off for charity. Fast food chain Arby's was the highest bidder, paying more than $40,000 for the infamous piece.
.@Pharrell You're welcome. We're HAPPY to support a great cause & get our hat back. Good luck at the #Oscars tonight! pic.twitter.com/2oA7qDPX9z
— Arby's (@Arbys) March 3, 2014
