Dukes40

Not really. Great pieces sell-out, become less and less available, and eventually start commanding a premium. That said, I think "investing" in these things would be a logistical nightmare. To make a significant amount of money at it, you'd need a lot of space for storage (which obviously costs money too), and you'd have to factor stuff in like breakages, shipping, insurance, etc... Also, the best time to buy would be pre-ordering (especially with Sideshow exclusives) and there's a lot of risk with pre-ordering, including significant delays and the product not meeting expectations or having a significant problem. Not to mention that there are usually restrictions on the best stuff (usually one per customer) so speculating on multiples of the same piece would be very time and cash intensive. Overall, there are much easier ways to make a buck. But if you collect what you like, and get in on the right pieces at the right time, you'll eventually end up with a collection that's worth more than you paid, and probably significantly so. 1-Some more sought-after statues and busts go up a bit, but I think many can be had for much less than regular price, just due to the fact that I think a lot of people tend to get rid of at least some of their statues after a while (money, space, etc.). 2-Initial price vs profit on them isn't nearly as much as say a valuable comic (plus a lot bigger buy-in per item vs a comic or even a toy). I can't think of many that would double in price ever, just due to the fact that they're expensive enough as it is. A lot of them, like someone else mentioned, for the rarer/highly desired ones, they tend to go up in price, then plateau for a long, long time. Pretty much they stay at that price for good. 3- Like COI said, it's just more of a hassle than anything to deal with these en-mass. Points 1 and 2 are salient and interconnected. There are a couple of pieces available for pre-order right now from Sideshow that I would be my house will eventually double and maybe even triple in price. But as you said, how many are you gonna buy? You can only pre-order one, unless you get friends and family to make dummy accounts, and even then you'll have to shell out a lot of money to get them and store them for a relatively significant amount of time. Then, when it's time to sell, you'll have to put the pieces out for a decent amount of time if you want to get maximum FMV. Yeah, not worth it. Do the Sideshows go up that much? (i.e. $500 statue worth $1,000- $1,500) It's more practical for an actual store to do this, I guess. Buy like 4 or 5 of something, sell a couple initially, and hold the others for a while. But again, they still couldn't do that for tones of statues, maybe a piece here or there. And then you get into popular characters vs the "oddball" characters (which I usually love). Have to decide which is the wiser investment. Most people are much more likely to buy a Hulk than an Apocalypse, but then the oddballs are going to be rarer, less statues around of them, etc., so might be more valuable, but harder to sell possibly.

You may be right. I think the book will hold solid with or without rumors. It is a top stack book for me and I hope it stays that way. (thumbs u TSB!!! It is, though, eh?

How many of the Saga RRP were there?? Was it 1000, or 500??? and you're talking about which East of West? 250 is NOTHING. Such a small number. If it ever takes off, then a 250 copy variant is going to skyrocket. Think of the not so popular, but rare titles from the 80's that are worth a lot. Even if Manifest Destiny doesn't hit Saga popularity, the sheer scarcity of that variant will make it just as valuable, if not higher (assuming the title has a good amount of popularity, i.e. 50% of Saga's).

(thumbs u Moi auci. The 616 wasn't built in a day!

Not really. Great pieces sell-out, become less and less available, and eventually start commanding a premium. That said, I think "investing" in these things would be a logistical nightmare. To make a significant amount of money at it, you'd need a lot of space for storage (which obviously costs money too), and you'd have to factor stuff in like breakages, shipping, insurance, etc... Also, the best time to buy would be pre-ordering (especially with Sideshow exclusives) and there's a lot of risk with pre-ordering, including significant delays and the product not meeting expectations or having a significant problem. Not to mention that there are usually restrictions on the best stuff (usually one per customer) so speculating on multiples of the same piece would be very time and cash intensive. Overall, there are much easier ways to make a buck. But if you collect what you like, and get in on the right pieces at the right time, you'll eventually end up with a collection that's worth more than you paid, and probably significantly so. 1-Some more sought-after statues and busts go up a bit, but I think many can be had for much less than regular price, just due to the fact that I think a lot of people tend to get rid of at least some of their statues after a while (money, space, etc.). 2-Initial price vs profit on them isn't nearly as much as say a valuable comic (plus a lot bigger buy-in per item vs a comic or even a toy). I can't think of many that would double in price ever, just due to the fact that they're expensive enough as it is. A lot of them, like someone else mentioned, for the rarer/highly desired ones, they tend to go up in price, then plateau for a long, long time. Pretty much they stay at that price for good. 3- Like COI said, it's just more of a hassle than anything to deal with these en-mass.

I think it's a little more than that. With regards to pre-sales, how can it not be? You have mad typing skills by the way. ??

Why? -slym When numbers are in for 4 and 5 that will tell the tale on MD it had a large drop from issue 1 to 2. Agree waiting 5+ issues to analyze the numbers, but from #1-#2, it was only a 30% drop. This is pretty much par for most titles, from issue #1 to issue #2.

I think it's a little more than that. With regards to pre-sales, how can it not be?

Why? -slym Just have to learn to separate the hype from actual sales and circulation numbers. When numbers are in for 4 and 5 that will tell the tale on MD it had a large drop from issue 1 to 2. Now all that said I like the book and for once agree with the crowd of speculators here. I think its well written and the art is well above average. I think it can do well. By issue 5 or 6 we should have a real concrete idea. Currently its just speculation driving up the prices by the same ones who are invested in the book. (thumbs u Kind of crazy how the speculation gets out now before one word of the story is even read. (sometimes just a 3 page preview). For brand new creations, I understand when people go on premise+artist+writer. Sometimes it's just a now brainer, but even then some that seem like their guaranteed home-runs go nowhere. But like each month, I can EASILY pick out 10 new series that have a promising/neat/interesting premise. I'm usually surprised, out of those, say, 10 or so new series, by what others invest heavily in, or speculate on, and what gets the heavy hype and early heat. Similarily, it's surprising as well that some of the titles, after reading, the light goes on "this should be an INSTANT hit! Huge winner", yet the title never gets heat, and then others that are so hyped,, others rave about, the heat is scorching, it's like "yeh, that was O-KAY, but nothing special (ahem, Thief of Thieves, ahem). Side-Not, related to pre-orders which I've found interesting: Marvel has mastered squeezing money out of pre-orders. I'm always wondering how I have so many issues of certain titles only after 2 months. After looking at the release schedule for All-New X-Factor, I see why. Marvel's model for new titles is: -Orders are done 2 months in advance (therefore, cancellations have a 2 month period before they kick in. -Put out 5 titles of a new series within a 3 month span. -By the time you've read issue #1, you are already locked in to 4-6 issues. Snneeeaa-kkkyyy.....

Did a quick search on the Mileston statues. That Wolverine turning Brood one is PIMP-tastic!!!

Name Names. I know it wasn't me! because three weeks before Bedlam came out ... You drove WHERE?!?!?!?! I drove to Detrorit Fan Fare and made Bank on 50 of those variants! just remember boys and girls, If Rob Liefeld is crying at a desk about how sales have dropped on all of his books to under 300,000 - the speculative variant boom is over! No one should ever go to Detroit.

Can we quote you on that???

I agree that not reading a comic regularly can make the story confusing....but....there are like 50 different ways you can remedy that situation. Easiest is to just read the synopsis on Wikipedia, or skim a review of the previous comics. Second easiests is just skim the other issues you've read. Third is to actually read the comics again. No reason to read the rest of the comic??? I mean, cmon.

You drove WHERE?!?!?!?!

....actually, make that TWO Deadpool variants for Avengers #24

I don't think Bedlam's failings should have anything to do with this book though. I guess that depends on what people think Bedlam's failings where. If it is generally agreed that too many variants killed the book.... any books with too many variants can be linked to Bedlam as a historical " remember when..." tale. It's why we study history after all. Just saying... Are you talking about too many variants killing a books value or readership??? If it's the former, then I can see that, but if the later, then I don't see how that would affect it. Speaking of too many variants, man, I can't believe how many variants Marvel is putting out now per #1. I love GOOD/COOL/INNOVATIVE/THEME/HOMAGE/ETC variants, but man, just the inundation of them is ridiculous. I'll walk into three different stores, and be shocked to see like 4 DIFFERENT variants, for the same title, at each store. I actually picked up some cools ones today. APPARENTLY, Avengers #24 (Pretty arbatrary issue, "#1" aside,?) has a whole bunch of really good homage covers that weren't on my radar in the least. ....and checking at ComicCollectorLive shows that their are......TWENTY different covers. At least the majority are good variants, but cmon Marvel. And since when has a "Deadpool" variant become a standard type of variant, especially to comics that he has NO ties to??? I mean, I'll get some of the neater or funnier ones, but like----WHY doe these even exist???

I don't think Bedlam's failings should have anything to do with this book though. I guess that depends on what people think Bedlam's failings where. If it is generally agreed that too many variants killed the book.... any books with too many variants can be linked to Bedlam as a historical " remember when..." tale. It's why we study history after all. Just saying... It's a great story though. Don't tell me they cancelled the title???

Isnt' that how she looks all the time though?

I've always wondered that too. Looks like it goes for a lot because of scarcity and that it's supposedly good, but ya, you never hear about the actual story much. Is this because a) Since it's so rare, not many people have actually read it? or b) It's not that great?

???The Deadpool one is only going for $15.

Man, the subsequent printing variants are a lot better than the actual first print covers! Well, at least the Photo cover and the TIME cover are.

I saw it to in the previews, sounded good, and just ordered one copy of the series for me to read. Debated on getting mutliples of #1, but budget got in the way. On the strength of the story alone, I'd say this one is a winner for sure. It reads like a movie. Has that feel to it.

$10 each for a hot comic?? How is that BS? #3 just came out, so say that's $5, so even if you go $15 and $10, or $20 and $5 for the other two issues, that seems like a reasonable price.

Stop what??? Political inferences. Really? They shut down message threads if politics get talked about??? Geez.

+$5 million for shipping to Canada....