For those of us that have been buying since in inception of the Bronze Age ... here's what I've seen happen over the past 30+ years to some of my favorite characters.
Wolverine .... Always had some cache, relatively cheap, then a continued climb and hot. Always able to find a copy in any grade I wanted.
Punisher 1st appearance easy to find. Relatively cheap, hot, then uuber hot then cold and now hot again. Pretty easy to come by.
Deathlock...loved him as a kid, Thought way cool....not as common as Asm 129 and had a hot period....still a ton of future room and undervalued.
Killraven ... Could be a very cool movie. Still undervalued and available. Easy to come by now with eBay and still cheap.
Black panther in jungle action, many killer issues but still cheap. Just now getting a bit of attention.
Others BA that were cool as a kid include ghost rider and he's had his day. Maybe a comeback could spike him again.
Shang shi was cool but martial arts have passed us by, iron fist has lots of potential but readily available, lone Kamandi's need a movie...., Luke cage boring with little exception, man thing was fun but just another swamp creature, HTD who doesn't love him but really...., Kazar always dead,
Son of Satan needs a good tie in, all those ealy marvel spotlight issues are undervalued.
Warlock. Always a favorite. We will see where he is led soon? Still room there.
Thanos. Always a favorite IM 55 but proven not to be that hard to get and be is a villain, but as a kid, that book stood out before values showed up.
Nomad cap 180. Still undervalued and as a kid I stood out...
Moon Knight...always loved the character image, background and rarely came across the early appearances and when I did they were always well worn. We're pretty inexpensive for a long time but not available. Now with the huge rise in value some are coming out, but really shouldn't the floodgates be let loose at these values in high grade....and yet still not too many out there. Whether you love him or hate him, most love him and some day we will all be wondering why they let the ship pass by. Can they still be found in the wild ...yes but not likely in 9.4+.
Lot more I could reminisce about but iPhone typing has my thumbs tired...
Nuff said naysayers
Moon knight and so many other bronze are just now getting truly recognized by the late baby boomers and start of Gen x generations and the race is on for securing gems in the collection.
I remember hearing and believing the BA book for over $3 was insane....
Great post. A lot of food for thought here.