Canadian store manager makes a big deal out of offering Spider-Man's debut issue at $30,000

Bay Today spoke with a Canadian specialty store manager who's got a rare copy of Amazing Fantasy #15, the 1962 debut of Spider-Man, and they seem to think it's a big deal it's not quite as costly as some other copies in better condition:

If you’ve driven by Big B Comics on Essa Road in Barrie in the last few weeks and your spidey sense was tingling, it’s no surprise, as there is a quite valuable Spider-Man comic book inside just waiting for a serious buyer.

The book, Amazing Fantasy, number 15, published in August 1962, marked the first-ever appearance of Spider-Man in a comic book.

With a price tag of $30,000, the comic seems like a bargain in reality.

In 2021, the same comic, with a high-grade quality rating of 9.6 out of 10, sold at auction for $3.6 million, which is the third highest of the most expensive comics ever sold, with Action Comics number one, featuring Superman, leading the way with a $6-million sale in 2024, both in U.S. dollars.

The book here in Barrie has a rating of 2.0 out of 10 due to small pieces which are missing from the edges of the cover, with flaking of the edges and general wear-and-tear on the comic.

So that's why it's not priced as high as I'm sure copies in better condition are. But $30,000 is still a pretty penny, and besides, I own much of Spidey's tales from better days in Marvel Epic Collection format, so I don't see why they think I should be excited about something that at this point belongs in a museum. Indeed, the copy in focus here could very well be sold to a museum, if only because it's not in the best condition, so why are they pulling everybody's leg, to think this should be such a hurry to buy for what'll otherwise be an unseen collection nobody reads? All history item keepers should start considering by now.