BOCA RATON, Fla. — A South Florida man who managed to get back his prized comic book collection after it was stolen from his storage unit is now selling it off for big bucks.
Comic books have been Randy Lawrence’s passion since he was a boy, and now they have built him a nest egg.
“I’ve been collecting since I was 6 years old,” he said. “My dad started me; I guess that was his way to get me to read.”
Thieves hit his Boca Raton storage unit sometime between December 2018 and January 2019, when he discovered that about 450 of his prized comics — most featuring Batman — were gone.
“I proceeded to open up boxes and found them empty, when they were once filled to the brim,” he said.
Lawrence put out the word in the comic book collecting community, and within weeks, Phillip Weissbauer of Royal Palm Beach was busted when he allegedly tried to sell five of the rarest comics, worth about $100,000, at a shop in Phoenix.
Weisbauer was put on probation after pleading guilty to a reduced charge.
Lawrence found out Weisbauer’s father had a storage unit just feet away from his. He hired an attorney who managed to get the father to return the rest of the books in January of last year.
And now he is auctioning them off online with Dallas-based Heritage Auctions. One comic featuring Batgirl has already sold for $132,000.
“It’s been sitting in a box for so long,” Lawrence said. “Now let the money start working for me. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get a house, stop living in my mom’s house.”
The online auction began Thursday and continues through Sunday, when another 70 rare titles will be added to the 900 items already in the collection. In total, it’s estimated to be worth about $2 million.
For more information about the auction, click here.
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