H0RR0RSH0W

Just now, Nathan81 said:

So even in 50 years, you don’t think current books will be valuable? What about books like Y: The Last Man or Saga? I can’t believe that nothing will be valuable. 

No certainly not. But let me put it this way : I think your thinking may be wrong in regards to new comics in that it seems you are looking at every comic purchase as an investment. If all it took was money to invest in comics anyone could do it right? It is the understanding that comes from being involved in comics as a hobby and being able to decide for yourself from the knowledge you gain that may enable a person to make a profit from their collecting. So as far as valuable goes I do not personally know what will be worth a lot 50 years from now. Certainly most of what you buy will be worth something, but I do believe most if not all of what the average Joe comic collector is able to come across will not be worth much of anything , no.

As you mentioned in your first post your collection from 25 years ago has not seen a significant increase in value. You would not be the first to have this realization . So then why would the next 25 years or even the next suddenly cause these books value to exponentiate? There has to be a cause and effect. 

There is a mentality out there that sort of says "hey I've got old comics- I must be rich". In order to enjoy collecting one should avoid this trap.

Just now, Nathan81 said:

I recently purchased a slabbed Saga 1 first print. Would it be advisable to resell it now, wait and see if the value increases, or hold onto it for the long haul?

I was thinking about a Next Men 21, or Usagi Yojimbo first appearance or first fantagraphics issue. Would those be good or should I just focus on old DC or Marvel?

 I admit I know nothing about these books other than Saga 1 is hot and I would hold onto that for the long haul if I were you.

Just now, Nathan81 said:

You mentioned “buy the best you can afford.” So if I wanted to spend $1000, would I be better off buying one 9.8 book or two 9.6 books (from what I’ve seen a 9.8 seems to be double the value of a 9.6)? Or something older in lower grade?

It depends on the books really. It is not a general equation that you can just look at and sum it all up. For moderns the 9.8 - 9.6 grade point is really the sweet spot .

We could look at a book like ASM #300 over the last couple of years as an example. Recently 9.8 have seen well over $1000 dollars for a sales. This having been reached from the high 3 figures to the low $1000's about a year ago . Now to look at 9.6s's of the same book the prices went from around $350 to around $800 over the last year.So it is for the most part the same . Just a matter of how you want to spend the money. This has actually been a topic discussed on the boards and is itself a ratherbroad discussion. I personally look at the 9.8 as  a little more risky. 

19 hours ago, Nathan81 said:

From an investment standpoint, is it a good idea to buy new comic books? I've been buying new comics recently, and have wondered if I should just buy old books, and focus on quality over quantity. Although I enjoy speculating that something might become valuable, and the idea of getting something at cover price that might be worth hundreds someday, I don't want to through money away though. Most of my collection is from the first half of the 90's, and if I was to try to sell them, I don't think I could even get cover price back for most of them, and those are 25 years old. Most of the books that I bought as a teenager that are valuable now, I purchased after they already had some value, not new. I used to think that with enough time, everything would become valuable, but sadly that doesn't seem to be the case. I was a teenager then and I think I have a better eye now. If I don't buy new comic books, I could miss out on something that becomes valuable. I've bought some sets of more recent books on eBay, and maybe that is the way to go, because the sets are usually less that cover price per book. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I just see no potential for new books. Someone is always left holding the bag with the rampant speculation that is going on. Although "the older the better" is not always true either. New comics are really a different breed than their fore goers but I think that is a different conversation. The money in new comics does not seem to be in quality but quantity. What I mean by that is that comics have more widespread interest now ( even in the properties themselves) and as a side-effect a very large populace of readers.

For an "investment" try to buy the best you can afford, but none the less follow the golden rule of buy what you love and love what you buy. It may be you left holding those books someday and it not so pleasant to be forced to hold onto books you dislike.

Myself, I really enjoy buying new books for my reading part of the hobby I enjoy. So in regards to that I will use myself as the example: You will never find me buying a new book for 3 figures although I do indeed spend 3 figures in a year on books to read.If that makes sense.

Eat at Maoz!!!

I would copy paste this to PGM thread. Looks like about a 5.0 to me .  A press might bring it up to a 6.0 or a 7.0 without getting PLOD.  You have to weigh what you might put into the book to have it graded against what you could sell it for after in case.

So probably not a restoration but maybe a press since it does have a pretty square centered cover wrap.

FWW inregards to the OPs question if we look at "just" a milion dollar key like action 1 (or even only the highest graded Hulk 1 in my case) that amount of money would literally buy 100 mid- to low keys or semis.

That is a REALLY awesome book though.

Before seeing the cover I would have said probably, but now I would say definitely.

Just now, W16227 said:

purple label - but something else pretty interesting, no????

 

 

Will Eisner?

 

...And with the color touch on the front the chances of that being authentic are???

I think I would prefer 1 high grade mega key like Action 1 or highest graded Hulk 1 or X-men 1 over even some other favorites in lower or mid-grade.

Although with that said I would not stop all my other collecting so I would still try to enjoy comics just readers and such though.

Honestly I would find it hard to make an objective observation or remark on the book since you are not showing the front cover. 

Can you add some close-up cover photos so that myself and others might be able to get a bigger picture?

I think it looks like bleeding from printing since the rest of the cover has so much red.

I am no expert by far but I have vague notion of some the restoration techniques so perhaps my attention to the matter will attract the attention of others much more knowledgeable.

"Dry cleaning" is just that. A dry-cleaning. It is anon-invasive technique that involves using something like an absorptive powder to remove blemishes from a book, usually the cover. I suppose an eraser to remove pencil would be the simplest version of this technique.

As opposed to a wet-cleaning which might be like a bath for the book in a chemical solution. This would be a more invasive technique and I can see why some of the proponents of cleaning would be a against it. It can potentially change the paper quality on a whole nother level. Chemical cleaning is something you might see in preparation for a rebuilt book. 

In terms of pressing I think it is a risk( that some would prefer not take) that can actually make a book kind of ugly( see spine realign above). All pressing does most often involve using water to protect the book and actually hydrate the paper pulp so I could see how it might fall into resto-although CGC does not see it so. I really have no problem with it although technically you are "cooking the books".

In terms of bagging and boarding with a balance between speed and care for the comics I find the method that works best is board into bag then comic into bagged board. Arrange a stack and then tape.

The reason I like the method above best is for two main reasons. First it allows for some prevention of spine denting and other damage to the book in the process. Also it further keeps and tape out of the equation for the time being, eliminating again any tape damage that may be done whilst going so fast.

I mean I think bagging then slipping the board in is going to be quicker but more likely for damage to occur. Individually placing the book on the board and then slipping it together into the bag is safest but certainly much more time consuming.

Never done 1000 at once; more like 100 or so in groups. So I guess I would say this mostly resembles your method #1 above.

On 9/12/2014 at 8:01 PM, H0RR0RSH0W said:

Captain America #1

Journey Into Mystery #83

Incredible Hulk #1

Our Army at War #83

Sgt. Fury #1,or#5,or #13

All in 9.0 or better

Scratch that off the list.

Just now, wildcats72 said:

Hi Guys, new to site.  Where can I go to see Avengers #57 CGC graded comics and will it show total graded issues and grades?

Thanks for help

Go here.  https://www.cgccomics.com/

Type in the comic title you are looking for in to the census search.

Or try here. https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?minyr=1960&maxyr=1969&tid=79131&pgi=51

Looks like there are 2121 total issues of that comic graded.

For some strange reason I often have a problem accessing the census on the CGC page. Not sure if other experience the same.

I personally think bank safe deposit box will be bad for anything but a set of receipts or invoices and a copy of your insurance policy. I think it is not a safe environment for the best level of preservation.

I have heard of people having success with a fire safe bolted to the floor and silica packets but they sort of rotated the comics out and air them out every couple of months. In that case the books were early golden age and they had no deterioration problems.

Myself,  I choose to just find a good hiding spot and change it every so often.  I mean the safe place needs to be safe not just from prying eyes but a good environment for comics too.I imagine my neighbors know I have a decent collection and would think nothing of passing that information along to an interested party. I guess that is not a very nice thing to say and it is a little paranoid but I doubt any thief has respect for my funny books;  So I would sooner be not a nice guy with a collection than a nice guy with no collection. 

2 hours ago, aerischan said:

Renaissance is probably a more apt term.

That said, looking solely at floppy sales is myopic unless your primary concern is comic valuation in which case, yes, modern speculation looks like the wild west.

Graphic novel sales figures through book channels (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, etc):

Year - Units Sold - Retail Value

2012 - 9,562,236 - $164,415,366

2013 - 10,153,628 (+6.18%) - $176,419,370

2014 - 11,820,324 (+16.41%) - $207,598,355

2015 - 15,269,550 (+29.18%) - $259,807,532

2016 - 17,302,891 (+13.32%) - $293,583,180

Graphic novels sold through/to indie book stores, book fairs, comic book stores, libraries or digital are not included in the above. I do have to say, comics/graphic novels seem to be more accepted now by librarians compared to what it was like even in the recent past.

And really, the value of Golden Age comics is what it is because there were few collectors at the time while having a lot of readers. Nowadays, my guess is almost all the floppy buyers are collectors that keep their floppies bagged and boarded.

A very valuable and interesting perspective to include Graphic Novels. The figures are something to raise an eyebrow at. I would very much agree that graphic novels are a major focus of attention for anyone wanting to read the story line for a property. Many times( although I would personally push people to seek out individual issues as opposed to a republished collection) I talk to people about this TPB or that that they just bought .  Highly sought after(clearly).

Myopic perhaps to look at floppy sales but I highly highly doubt that in 10-20 years time we are going to see key issues come out of this era having experienced exponential growth in value.  In that regard it is common knowledge that the big 2 are doing persistent reboots in their own unimaginative and short-sighted goal to drum up sales. Stats simply show #1's sell more copies. Well duh  . Imagine how that restricts creators. Certainly more readily than it would stoke the creative fires. Like being choked by diversity rather than being suffocated for lack of fuel. The crux being keys become valuable for a reason; because rarity aside they are good comics that create a focal point in a storyline.

If I did have a dog in this race it would have to be with the indie publishers. I find my reading focused around indies and yes I myself bag and board everything. Everything.  

Yeah I think there are some good comics out there right now.... but

1. The speculation in moderns is frightening. Sometimes I fear it  is so wild that it could undermine collecting and turn all comic collecting on its ear. It is rampant and disappointing to see. There is no precedent for the "value" of modern speculation. Any perceived value rests on the real Golden Age as does much of the valuation of the other eras.

2. Plainly there is no where near enough broad interest in comicbooks. Once again referring to the Golden Age the number of people that actually collect and read Modern comics is small in terms of percent that might have interest in a given property. In the Golden Age comics were on every street corner, every drugstore, supermarket, used book store and  gas station , etc. Of the 320 million people living in the US right now how many of us actually go down to the corner store any more to pick up the newspaper and a coffee and get "the kids a comic"? I am not looking at any sales figures or publication #s but I got a hunch it is not a lot. Comics are not what they once were: a major mode of entertainment. 

3. Alot of the reason for the above statement is that we live in the information age. We have technology to circumvent the need to own physical copies. People get the news on-line and so too do many many people read comics; Often for free . This is reflected in what are actual print and sales numbers which are from what I know quite low.  Back when print runs were in the hundreds of thousands and those issues sold in large part comics took up a necessary space on store shelf space. You still have comic shops with pull lists and dedicated readers , I buy more than my share of floppies and back issue readers myself. But the 60's + 70's rebirth is over, the 80's boom is done, the 90's crash is in the past and the modern age simply consists of  the die hard's. 

4. Evidenced this all is in Modern comic culture. Look at comic cons. I hear they consist mostly of pop-culture/cosplay. TV series and movies drum up some interest in comics but a lot of that energy is bled of into other modes of comic culture and fan-dom.  Yes those people in attendance are buying , sometimes big, but does it really consist of a full resurgence and new Golden age? I just do not see how.

Comics will always be a beloved and popular cultural medium . The art , the stories and characters will remain iconic. At best the reflourishing and resurgence could cause a "renaissance" so unless someone can explain how it is a new Golden Age just because of some good writing  I say no way.IMO

I was not so far off with a estimate of $2500 salvage value totaled. My itemized estimate was way off though.

the guy with the name "GTX" wins the car contest. Imagine that !

For a minute I thought the sig was the defect.

Just now, 1Cool said:

Will a press work on a graded book?  I'd think the ink would react poorly to the heat and definitely to heat/humidity.

I was thinking this. 

The signature seals the deal. Whether or not those can be pressed seems moot to me in that the press would ruin the sig.

On 8/17/2017 at 3:31 AM, CaptaenRon said:

2nd issue of this series dropped today. I am enjoying it so far! Granted, my opinion is one of someone who is new to comics...

Anybody happen to know what run(s) would contain the story arc(s) where they (Logan, Rogue & Gambit) were in the Astral Plane before?

IDK about the entire story arc or all the issues,  but I know for sure it is not in the Original (1963) X-men series.

However a couple of issues that took place in the Astral Plane are X-treme X-men #18 (2001) where Rogue , Gambit and Storm leave their bodies for the astral plane and Logan's near death experience is in Wolverine #176 (1988 series).

Chassis is damaged?

1.

2. 

You will likely then have the option to buy the car for its "new" estimated value as a salvage. Probably around $2500. That will give you the option to have the repairs done on your own for far less. 

It just less trouble for the insurance company. 

My itemized estimate.

PERFECT CONDITION looking at the THOR 120