The King of Collectibles Shares the Secrets to Building the Ultimate Collection
Ken Goldin, the King of Collectibles, shares what he's learned from decades of collecting and auctioning the most valuable comics, trading cards, and more.
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In the world of collecting, the most important thing is to enjoy the items you collect. You might have a small grouping of items that mean the world to you, and that is enough. But, you may also look forward to growing that collection till it is one of the most sought after in all of human history. You have to start somewhere, right? That’s what Ken Goldin did.
Now the owner of probably the most impressive grouping of memorabilia from movies, music, sports, and anything you can imagine, Goldin is the owner and CEO Goldin Auctions. He is also the star of the Netflix series, King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch. The second season of the show recently premiered on the streaming service.
We sat down with Goldin to talk about how he built his business, his personal collection, and he also shared pointers on how anyone can start their own brilliant collection. Head to Netlfix after you read the interview to check out the show if you haven’t already. You can also head to Goldin.com to see what insane items Ken and his team are auctioning off.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Across both seasons there’s obviously a lot of great high quality collectibles that are really rare. What are the specific special ones from this season that not only are really rare, but have a reason to be so significant in the collectors community?
Ken Goldin: To me, this particular season can be the home of the Grail if you’re into comic books. We’ve got Action Comics #1, Detective Comics #27, Amazing Fantasy #15, and we have thousands and thousands and thousands of others. We take this amazing tour all throughout Comic-Con. And if you’re into sports cards, I have not one, but 2 TO6 Honus Wagner, including the famous PSA 8, which is probably 60 million plus and a newly discovered one.
Oh, and yes, we have the rocket firing J-Slot Boba Fett, which is the Holy Grail of all Holy Grails for all Star Wars toys. One of only three in existence, and this is the highest graded. If you have millions to spend, go to Goldin.com and register to bid on these when they come up. But if you don’t, these are things that you just like to gawk at. This is amazing eye candy in the show this season.
What is it about being a collector or being part of that community that is special for you?
The business has really taken off since 2020. A lot of people got into it maybe around 2015, 2016. I try to explain to people that I have never done anything else in my entire life. I’ve always made money off collections. What I’ve always done was I would keep the best of what I wanted, and I would sell off the rest, and would fund my collection and then turn it into a business. That started with cards.
And then when I got to eighth grade, I had a good friend who took me to Fat Jacks in Philadelphia, and I became an X-Men collector as well. To me, collectibles capture a moment in time where you feel like you’re a piece of history. Whether it’s a sporting event and you’ve got the shoes that Michael Jordan wore in a certain game or, in one episode—not to give everything away—we show one of the Batman suits that was actually worn in the movies.
If you want a golden age comic book, if you can afford it, we have the world introduction of Superman. This was the world introduction to all superhero comic books. All these other characters today would not exist, if not for the creation of Superman way back. I love this stuff. I also happen to think it’s artwork.
I think kids who grew up like me, they’re not into traditional art. They’re not into a Van Gogh and Picasso. I get kids of my era who know baseball cards, comic books. Okay, kids, maybe some people maybe 15, 20 years younger than me, they’re into video games. Super Mario Bros. because that’s that’s what they grew up watching. So, it’s just bringing back childhood, bringing your love for what you’re doing and really staying a kid forever.
When you’re curating these ultra rare items, what is it specifically that you’re looking for that helps you decide that it’s right for the Goldin auctions?
It’s a business for me. So for me, if I’m doing business with the company, we’re known for the ultra high end of all collectibles, so I go after the huge whales. If we’re talking comics, I’m the one who’s looking for Superman #1. I’m the one who’s looking for all the early Batman issues. I’m the one who’s looking for Amazing Fantasy #15. You know, Tales of Suspense #39. All the major grails. And I’ve got a staff and they’re going after everything else in between.
God bless my crew. Ryan Krupa came up with a $5 million deal this season. I was like, wow. That blew me away. I try to concentrate, because I’m CEO, I’ve got to run the company too. But what I’m looking for is stuff for the company. I’m trying to look for game changer type of items that people are going to say, “Holy crap, that’s on Goldin.”
Because, it’s always the way I’ve built the auctions around Goldin. I try to take it to an auction and say, “It’s not an auction, it’s an event.” I want to make it a very special event. What is going to get eyeballs to the point where it does three things. One, makes it newsworthy, makes people feel like they’re participating in something special. Two, it gets the ultra high-end spender to take the time to look at my site. And three, it gets everybody else who might not spend $10,000 or $250,000 to look, because they want to look at that individual item and then find something in their price range that they can afford. And that’s how I try to build every auction for your own personal collection.
What is one prized comic or item that’s gotten away from you that you’re still looking to try and get for yourself?
The one that I will eventually own, and I cannot own yet because I actually still need to find one more for a client, is an Action Comics #1. I made a consignment deal, and part of that consignment deal was me having to get this person an Action #1. And then something else happened. So now I still have to get an Action #1.
I am trying to go out and recreate my childhood. So again, I started with X-Men, right? So, I’m trying to get the highest possible grade of one through 100. Then, I want to own what I think is one of the most iconic characters. The iconic issues of the most iconic character. You know, get one of each [and] I want to get as high a grade as possible. I’m one of these types of guys where there’s certain things that I will be a diehard collector for.
Right now, the X-Men #200, that’ll be like a myth. But then, anything that really attracts me is cool. And maybe something I never thought I would buy. And that could be like a George Washington document. My daughter is into Star Wars. So, I started buying all the old action figures. I don’t drive a Ferrari. I don’t, go out and do that stuff. But this stuff is what I spend my money on.
To wrap things up: there are a lot of people out there who would maybe have never started their own collections. They may feel a little trepidation when they start. They think that they’re not doing it right, maybe. I’m wondering whether there are things that people should look out for when they’re starting that won’t discourage them. If they don’t get that high grade they can keep going on and make a collection of their own, no matter what they’re starting with.
Oh, exactly; I know it’s great! CGC has a population report; PSA has a population report. When you look at them and try to buy something and you want to figure it out, the first thing I always tell people is before you spend money, do your research. Go on a reasonable online system and get recent comps before you spend money.
I always tell people one comp does not stand in every market. If you see everything here and something here or something there, there may be an ugly copy of whatever it is. Maybe get a grade, but maybe it is ugly for the grade. Or, it may be exceptional for the grade or maybe it was at an auction and the power shut down. You never know!
So, look at more than one comp, but look at the population as well. I mean, you’re not going to get perfect in every single thing you do. My advice is, whether you’re spending $10,000, $1,000 or $100, buy the best copy of what you can afford. If I had $100, as opposed to buying 10 different $10 items, I would find the item that I like the best, [or] that is popular in the best possible grade, and I would spend the hundred dollars on that as opposed to taking crap.
Everybody in the hobby is part of a community. I could speak a different language than somebody, but if they collect something that I collect, it’s irrelevant. If I collect it and my average price is 10 times their average price, it doesn’t matter because we both have the same appreciation for what we’re doing.
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