VintageComics

Flash #132 CGC 9.8 OWW (hard to believe that this book is from 1962 - it's just stunningly fresh and from an OO collection that was put away years ago)
Asking $8250

Are you sure about that?
The last GPA sale shows $57,555 last September (2017) and I sold a 7.5 for more around the same time period.
I don't think a Hulk #1 has been a $30K book in 7.0 in a couple of years.

All good points.
But in general, you don't find that buying books at shows has become tougher over all for various reasons?
The general consensus seems to be that it's; tougher to find stuff over all than it used to be. Whether it's inventory for dealers, keys for customers or just high grade anything.
The exception would be lower grade filler. That stuff is common.
The Metros and the Bob Storms of the world are going to have much more supply due to networking and time in the hobby but the general consensus from the average dealer is that the good stuff has been drying up for some time.

Really?
Comics have an 80 year track record. How long did Beanie Babies last? A couple of years.
Like anything, it depends on what you choose. If you're investing in something pedestrian or manufactured, it's not going to turn out so well. But people who have gravitated towards quality pieces have not been disappointed.
Investing in assets has always been a viable investment choice. Again, it all comes down to how well you choose. There is risk in almost any investment.
 
 

I disagree.
I think comics have turned a corner over the last decade (due in no small part to the Marvel Cinematic Universe).
The average Joe that I speak to is always amazed at my profession (I sell comics for a living) and then immediately goes on to talk about how much they are worth.
Comics were a funny thing to people in the past. They no longer are.
And that is because people realize they have value and hold their value.

Now you're moving goal posts to win a discussion.
My post was throwing comics into the same investment risk as beanie babies. I twas not talking about the history of stuffed toys.
Disagree. I think very few people would argue parking their money into an Action #1 compared to a zillion Harbinger #1's. Certain books will 'always' have value and appeal. I put always in quotes because that obviously only holds true for as long as people value popular culture.
It's no different than the way certain corporations or stocks have value based on how relative they are to the real world.
I'm in no way implying that comics should be universally accepted investments. I'm just saying that they are not a flash in the pan like beanie babies were.
Overpriced relative to what? You say they are overpriced but the only way to know that is to see where prices go in the future.
And now you are saying exactly what I did. It all comes down to how well you choose.
Nobody needs a Caravaggio or a Pollok either but many people invest in them.
Again, I'm not saying that everyone should invest in comics. I'm saying there are worse things with less stability than many blue chip books.
And I also want to qualify...I hate talking about books as investments. I was always a collector first, but I can't deny the fact that many people do invest in them.
 
 

CGC allows only Golden Age books with a small amount of glue and / or color touch to be in a blue (universal) holder if the glue and / or color touch do NOT improve the grade. The glue and / or color touch are factored into the grade as defects because they are foreign material.
If they improve the grade, the book is encapsulated in a Restored label and the restoration is factored into the grade.
It's been like this since day one.

Perception is a big deal for investing. Not for collecting.
Collectors love the books regardless of the movies.

Marvel Mystery Comics #76 CGC 9.2 OWW - another stunning book.
Asking $4500

Flash #132 CGC 9.8 OWW (hard to believe that this book is from 1962 - it's just stunningly fresh and from an OO collection that was put away years ago)
Asking $8250

Really?
Comics have an 80 year track record. How long did Beanie Babies last? A couple of years.
Like anything, it depends on what you choose. If you're investing in something pedestrian or manufactured, it's not going to turn out so well. But people who have gravitated towards quality pieces have not been disappointed.
Investing in assets has always been a viable investment choice. Again, it all comes down to how well you choose. There is risk in almost any investment.
 
 

I've never received a negative reception from telling someone I am a comic book dealer, except from one of my daughters when I switched over from my other day job. She did understand the model and worried that I wouldn't be able to pay the bills. She was young at the time and it's pretty funny now, looking back.
I travel for a living and meet 1000's of new people every year. They general trend has been that they know comics are huge (again, based on the movies) and almost always follow with some story about how they either wish their mom didn't throw out their comics when they were younger, or that they own some comics now too and ask me about their value.
Everyone that owns 'old' comics think they are going to be rich because of it. Old being comics from the 1990's.
 

Hulk #1 CBCS 8.5 went for $140+ last year if I'm not mistaken.
Obviously stronger looking books go for more money but are you saying that FF #1 should go for more than Hulk #1, grade for grade?
Personally, I think Ff #1 should always have stayed more valuable than AF #15.

Perception is a big deal for investing. Not for collecting.
Collectors love the books regardless of the movies.

Now you're moving goal posts to win a discussion.
My post was throwing comics into the same investment risk as beanie babies. I twas not talking about the history of stuffed toys.
Disagree. I think very few people would argue parking their money into an Action #1 compared to a zillion Harbinger #1's. Certain books will 'always' have value and appeal. I put always in quotes because that obviously only holds true for as long as people value popular culture.
It's no different than the way certain corporations or stocks have value based on how relative they are to the real world.
I'm in no way implying that comics should be universally accepted investments. I'm just saying that they are not a flash in the pan like beanie babies were.
Overpriced relative to what? You say they are overpriced but the only way to know that is to see where prices go in the future.
And now you are saying exactly what I did. It all comes down to how well you choose.
Nobody needs a Caravaggio or a Pollok either but many people invest in them.
Again, I'm not saying that everyone should invest in comics. I'm saying there are worse things with less stability than many blue chip books.
And I also want to qualify...I hate talking about books as investments. I was always a collector first, but I can't deny the fact that many people do invest in them.
 
 

I disagree.
I think comics have turned a corner over the last decade (due in no small part to the Marvel Cinematic Universe).
The average Joe that I speak to is always amazed at my profession (I sell comics for a living) and then immediately goes on to talk about how much they are worth.
Comics were a funny thing to people in the past. They no longer are.
And that is because people realize they have value and hold their value.

Now you're moving goal posts to win a discussion.
My post was throwing comics into the same investment risk as beanie babies. I twas not talking about the history of stuffed toys.
Disagree. I think very few people would argue parking their money into an Action #1 compared to a zillion Harbinger #1's. Certain books will 'always' have value and appeal. I put always in quotes because that obviously only holds true for as long as people value popular culture.
It's no different than the way certain corporations or stocks have value based on how relative they are to the real world.
I'm in no way implying that comics should be universally accepted investments. I'm just saying that they are not a flash in the pan like beanie babies were.
Overpriced relative to what? You say they are overpriced but the only way to know that is to see where prices go in the future.
And now you are saying exactly what I did. It all comes down to how well you choose.
Nobody needs a Caravaggio or a Pollok either but many people invest in them.
Again, I'm not saying that everyone should invest in comics. I'm saying there are worse things with less stability than many blue chip books.
And I also want to qualify...I hate talking about books as investments. I was always a collector first, but I can't deny the fact that many people do invest in them.
 
 

Really?
Comics have an 80 year track record. How long did Beanie Babies last? A couple of years.
Like anything, it depends on what you choose. If you're investing in something pedestrian or manufactured, it's not going to turn out so well. But people who have gravitated towards quality pieces have not been disappointed.
Investing in assets has always been a viable investment choice. Again, it all comes down to how well you choose. There is risk in almost any investment.
 
 

Really?
Comics have an 80 year track record. How long did Beanie Babies last? A couple of years.
Like anything, it depends on what you choose. If you're investing in something pedestrian or manufactured, it's not going to turn out so well. But people who have gravitated towards quality pieces have not been disappointed.
Investing in assets has always been a viable investment choice. Again, it all comes down to how well you choose. There is risk in almost any investment.
 
 

Really?
Comics have an 80 year track record. How long did Beanie Babies last? A couple of years.
Like anything, it depends on what you choose. If you're investing in something pedestrian or manufactured, it's not going to turn out so well. But people who have gravitated towards quality pieces have not been disappointed.
Investing in assets has always been a viable investment choice. Again, it all comes down to how well you choose. There is risk in almost any investment.
 
 

If anything, Heroes seems to have a very wide breadth of available material from Golden Age (keys and esoteric stuff) to the Modern Age.
 

Hulk #1 CBCS 8.5 went for $140+ last year if I'm not mistaken.
Obviously stronger looking books go for more money but are you saying that FF #1 should go for more than Hulk #1, grade for grade?
Personally, I think Ff #1 should always have stayed more valuable than AF #15.

The market has been crazy and sellers are often pricing books into where they think the book will be next year. Nobody wants to leave any meat on the bone any more because they think that next year they be able to get double what they are getting this year for a 'hot' book.
This has definitely caused buyers to leave disappointed from shows and probably disappointed dealers because some aren't selling as many books.
Rising booth costs and shrinking margins are eventually going to squeeze out the little guys (as it is happening across the country) making shows only profitable for international dealers who can afford to bring top shelf material to every show.
 

That is not true. Not all bound copies are trimmed.

Yes. Been that way for a few weeks.
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I'm on a PC and it doesn't work all the time. Sometimes it's annoying.