Those with a long enough memory will remember that we've been here before, when scarce Baker romance issues first hit ebay, and a hard core bid up low grade copies to astronomical values. Then things gradually tapered off. CGC/high end copies have brought that intensity back. And as you say, it quickly fizles out when a small but significant number of copies of any given issue are acquired by a tiny romance community of sissy boys.
Very good point. Baker prices seemed to hit a peak in 2002 and then a real lowpoint in the 2006-2007 period. And then since 2012, it seems like a new high is achieved almost on a weekly basis.
I actually believe that there are much more Baker collectors than are active on this thread. And as we all know, when prices go up, many more collectors/investors are drawn to the excitement. So prices in my opinion can go in almost any direction. As we know, it only takes two to set a new record high. And I suspect there are at least three going after most of the high grade Baker books.
I'd say, 2003 was really where this trend towards fantastic prices began. An amazing OO GA collection was discovered by Neat Stuff Collectibles, and auctioned on eBay. There were Bakers that many of us were seeing for the very first time. Many of the late period issues of Cinderella Love, Diary Secrets, Going Steady, and Teen-Age Romances were there, and in solid grades. Fierce competition over those books resulted in then-unimaginable prices.
After that, the occasional Bakers continued to trickle in, but prices remained just as strong for the quality items, because the same three or four determined collectors were still competing. (I don't mind owning up to being one of those collectors. Would anybody else care to stand up and identify themselves, Rick Starr and Flex Mentallo?)
Yes, all this is partly our fault.
I'm sure you guys remember 2005 and 2006... there was no particular shortage of new-to-market Bakers... but they were largely monopolized by a character named Joe Serpico... (at least, that was one of the very similar names he used. We suspected it was probably two or more brothers, working in unison.) I, for one, had a terrible time landing anything, during that period. Joe seemed to want every single Baker that came around, and appeared to have unlimited disposable income to put towards them. All we could do was watch and wait for him to cross off his entire want list.
There was actually another fairly large collection of Bakers that was sold on eBay during '05 and '06... but the identity of the seller eludes me at the moment. (Michael, do you remember who that was?) Prices continued to be strong, though.
2006 and 2007, the Crippen Bakers were auctioned through Heritage, and those sold consistently well, but for some reason didn't set any records. In 2009 and 2010, another large batch of graded books sold through Comicconnect, over approximately three different auctions, and many of those set new record prices.
I'm really just reminiscing, here, but the overview of past events might be interesting to newer collectors.
Quite a history lesson and memory! I think the Ebay auction in 05 and 06 of a mass of Baker books was an Ebay seller Adamstrangearcheologist (spelling?).
He sold off an incredible collection.
There was a lot of intensity and frustrations with acquiring Bakers back then.
Many covers I had never seen before and I have been going to major conventions since the late 1970's. I had forgotten about ole' Joe S.
I know Shaun Clancy must have an incredible Baker collection most likely with multiple copies of issues.