.

I begin to wonder what makes a comic collectable and I want to fall back on Western Comics as just an example. By and large when they are available for sale online they don't sell. It seems like I can take all the time in the world waiting to buy a high graded comic with no fear of losing it. Having said that I would note that if you look at a super hot collectable like Amazing Spiderman at least half don't sell when auctioned on Amazon. But why would a golden age comic with some pretty high grade issues have such disinterest? The obvious answer is because it's a western comic and nobody gives a mess about western comics. These comics are filled with obscure characters, there is very little in the way of first appearances or "important issues" and there are no heroes in tights. Are these the reasons for the disinterest? Probably. But there may be more.

I had originally intended to collect All Star Western comics but currently own precisely zero. They are nearly impossible to find and the only ones I did find were middle to low grade and massively overpriced. I didn't collect because I couldn't. Western Comics is more available but at 104 total issues graded the comic can only support a handful of collectors. Completionists would only find this comic frustrating. There is no sense of community among Western Comics collectors because there is nothing to support a community. There is the old supply and demand maxim but I have to wonder if there isn't a certain threshold where supply is SO low that it dries up demand. I would imagine this would be the same even for superhero comics. I think it's entirely possible that Western Comics could actually BENEFIT in value by having more comics available. Will the western genre ever heat up as a collectible? I wouldn't bet money on it but I still take pride in the uniqueness of my collection.

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