In Which I Continue to Make Friends and Influence People

?For whatever reason, its what they decided to collect and they don't care what you have to say about it. It's their money and they are going to spend it as they see fit.?

As a supplier it?s certainly in your best interest to see things continue as they are and I don?t begrudge you. CGC has given dealers the alchemists stone to turn lead into gold and who could resist. My journals were in no way intended to tell people how to spend their money. If people want to grab handfuls of cash and toss them out their car window s as they drive down the highway that?s their business. My concern was with the viability of the hobby itself and as a fellow hobbyist I want to impart my own experience on people who might think twice about their decisions if they know the possible outcome. If we have now reached a stage where a new product, mass produced and marketed as collectable can maintain its value over time than surely we have reached a new territory in the history of collectibles. I assume most dealers know this but as you said, ?If you wanted to collect rocks, then I would have a bag full waiting for you? and that?s the beauty of the free market system. As to flooding the market with golden and silver age ?All Star Western? that would be quite a trick. The point is it would literally be impossible and that?s why comics like ASW are far more likely to maintain or increase in value. If I had my choice I?d be collecting All Star Comics and All American Comics but like ASW these are incredibly scarce but unlike ASW prohibitively expensive. I just watched on EBAY a CGC graded 9.0 issue of All Star Comics i#43 sell for $920 with a guide listen price of over $2000. Those numbers are just not in my current budget. Like myself most collectors probably don?t have the cash to start collecting premium golden age sets but that doesn?t mean I?m going to shovel out 20 fold cash for a comic still cooling from the printing press.

My message wasn?t to dealers and you?ll note I never mention or in any way criticized dealers at all in my two journal entries. I come from experience as someone who was burned by an overheated market. I collected sports cards in the 90?s when it was sizzling hot and then the market bottomed out and now I have a ton of worthless cards and small amount of modestly priced cards that I could probably sell at 25% of their listed price. Dealers take advantage of an overheated market and that?s the way the world works until everything crashes in a heap and then they move on. The Beanie Baby sellers of the 90?s just switch to a new product. I just think collectors should be aware that as they gaze upon their high grade copper or modern age collections that they are very likely witnessing the peak of their value and if the intrinsic pleasure of owning these sealed comics is enough to bring happiness and their future value is of no consequence then have at it and godspeed. Rest assured that SOMEONE is making money.