top 10 best comic investments under $200?

[Aman619]

Delek ar you saying that the comics market WILL "crash" hard in the near future? Or just that, "It sure seems like it should" based on the trajectory it has taken post-CGC?

 

Are you still buying comics? or selling out now since "the end is near?" You make a lot of sense, and many of us can make th esame observations based on the recent trends....Im wondering if your alarm level is sufficient that you are actually getting out??

[kimik]

Hey Gene,

 

Yes, there is more than one way to skin a cat in the markets, but there is a difference between trading and investing for the long term. Short term, you can play the news, technicals, etc., but you still need a significant amount of cash to make a decent return. Buying a few hundred shares (or even a few thousand in some cases) is not going to get you anywhere fast. It sounds like you have enough scratch to play the markets for real which is good for you. Not everyone is in the same position. However, if you want to do it properly for long term investing, then you need to put some time and effort into it. In fact, most of the big money investors I know put in at least 2 - 3 hours per day at a minimum studying investment opportunities, which is definitely more time than I spend on comics.

 

And I agree that we are due for a slowdown in the comic markets, but I am still going to pick up as many high grade late 70s or early 80s keys that I can while they can be had for just a couple of dollars (many for less) apiece. Sure, I may have to sit on them for a bit if the comic market collapses, but how is this different from anyone who invests using a buy and hold strategy for the long term (asides from storage costs, I guess - but mutual funds have fees as well)?

 

 

[delekkerste]

Delek ar you saying that the comics market WILL "crash" hard in the near future? Or just that, "It sure seems like it should" based on the trajectory it has taken post-CGC?

 

No one can say with certainty, though I think the odds greatly favor not just a modest correction, but a sharp, secular and in some cases permanent decline in prices based on historical precedents, demographic/cultural trends, macroeconomic factors, etc. IMO, the timing is debatable, but the outcome inevitable.

 

 

Are you still buying comics? or selling out now since "the end is near?" ...Im wondering if your alarm level is sufficient that you are actually getting out??

 

I am only buying new issues, TPBs and cheap (sub-$10) back issues these days. There are still some nice CGC books I wouldn't mind owning, but I'm content to hold out for better prices. I have not bought a CGC book in 5 months and even before then was only buying very inexpensive books for some time. I sold off a number of books earlier this year, but am content to hold most of the rest.

 

If I had bought my collection for "investment" and/or put a substantial amount of non-discretionary funds into these books, I would be aggressively selling now. As I did neither, I intend to continue holding my collection, regardless of upward or downward fluctations in their external value.

 

Gene

[Aman619]

I agree that many comics will lose their values in terms of decades as the demographics and entertainment trends really force changes in collectibles, especially comic books..., if that is one of the factors for what you see happening. And in the near term there will be a further correction to the CGC excesses we have seen due to irrational census exuberance. I wonder if you see a connection to the timing between comics latest resurgence and the co-existing stock market crash. It seemed as if the last crash 1987 kick-started the baseball card boom. Perhaps 15 years later, a new generationof stock portfolio victems has turned to THEIR collectible of choice for investing when the traditional markets have failed them. Do you have friends in your circles who are aware of or actually buy comics?

 

In this market, I try to buy only comics that will hold their values or increase due to scarcity in grade, continued collector interest, etc. But it's truthfully only a guess, like picking the right stock at the right price.

 

And while I also buy (too) many comics each week (even with a hefty discount) the only thing I question about your stance is that you still buy new comics at all! As a use of one's money (not to say "investment") there are few items that lose so much of their value the minute you get your receipt. I keep buying, but it sure is just like burning money.....

[sckao]

This talk of investments, etc. is pretty interesting... but let's face what should be the obvious question. How much is your collection REALLY worth and how much is "junk"?

 

$5,000? $10,000? More? Less?

 

If someone offered you $1 per comic for every comic in your collection, would you take it?

 

I might.

 

I've only entered about 1/3 (6876 books) of my collection into ComicBase 7.0 (including none of my "expensive stuff") and ComicBase has already calculated that they're worth $22k. (About an average of $3 per book.) Considering that ComicBase tends to be lower than Overstreet in terms of pricing, you might think the collection is worth something. Realistically though, if I had 20,000 comics and someone offered me $20k for them, that'd be hard to pass up.

 

Just going to San Diego each year tends to cost about $1500 (stayed at the Hilton the last two years.) And I've gone for over 12 years. That alone could be more money than my collection is worth. (It's also a vacation for my wife and a chance to visit relatives in the area.)

 

If your 15 year collection is worth say $5k. Think how long you'd have to work to make that much? For a lot of people, that's a 2-week paycheck. (I live in the SF Bay Area where the median house price is over $500,000.)

 

 

This is why collecting comics is a hobby for me. If you wanted to make real money, you'd be into real estate or stocks. (I sell occasionally to recoup expenses, etc. associated with the hobby and because I like being on the other side of the table, but that's a drop in the bucket.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[delekkerste]

I wonder if you see a connection to the timing between comics latest resurgence and the co-existing stock market crash. It seemed as if the last crash 1987 kick-started the baseball card boom. Perhaps 15 years later, a new generation of stock portfolio victems has turned to THEIR collectible of choice for investing when the traditional markets have failed them.

 

I can't speak with authority about cards post-1987, though I do believe that the speculative boom in cards started its big upswing around 1985/1986 (I have a closet full of near-worthless unopened 1986 Topps wax boxes back in California to prove it! )

 

However, there is NO QUESTION that many people swore off stocks and piled into comfortable "things they know" following the crash of 2000-2003, boosting their spending on consumption items and investing only in tangible, familiar things like real estate and collectibles. Several Board members have posted in the past on doing just that. Plus, just look at what people on the Boards are saying - it seems as though the only two legitimate asset classes from their point of view are 1. Comics and 2. Real estate.

 

 

Do you have friends in your circles who are aware of or actually buy comics?

 

No. It's funny - there are so many people in the U.S. who have made a ton of money the past 20 years, on Wall Street and elsewhere, and continue to do so. A mere trickle of this money into the comic market could really set prices soaring. I'm surprised that we didn't see more tech geek/dot-com money flow into the market while the getting was still good. If it didn't happen during the greatest orgy of speculation and easy wealth creation in human history, don't hold your breath waiting for it to happen in the future!

 

 

the only thing I question about your stance is that you still buy new comics at all!

 

Well, from an investment point of view, you are correct, but I view the purchase of new comics as "consumption". I read them and get entertainment value out of them. I no longer slab them or buy multiple copies to speculate on price appreciation. To me, it's no different than if I decided to go see a movie or grab a vanilla chai at Starbucks.

 

Gene

[Foolkiller]

I can't speak with authority about cards post-1987, though I do believe that the speculative boom in cards started their big upswing around 1985/1986 (I have a closet full of near-worthless unopened 1986 Topps wax boxes back in California to prove it! )

 

Yeah... a closet full of baseball cards... now there's something that I can truly relate too. Especially since they are now, completely, totally worthless.

 

Oh, and if someone offered me a $1 for every book in my collection... I'd probably say yes. I don't have enough slabbed and/or high grade books to make the whole collection worth selling piecemeal, and I think my GL 182 in Fine is certainly worth selling for $1. But then again, I'd probably just not sell at all.

 

 

[shiverbones]

I feel that the market is do for adjustment in certain areas, but do you really think that the people spending 50x guide on 9.8s are the same people who are buying reader copies of older comics because they love them? Pre code horror for instance begain its INSANE upswing as the market crashed around it. The loss of speculators is not going to hurt the value of a comic that 70 readers want & 50 copies are available. I also think that the main difference between the early 90's crash & the impending one is the role of new comics. Everyone was investing in new books then so when that tanked, so went all the sales of new books and that caused stores to go under, etc. Now it really just seems to be the uber high grade CGC books which are in trouble, and i think that will push out those speculators who have lost dough, but comic readership is pretty strong right now, & those people are not involved in the high end game.

[Aman619]

50s and 60s star baseball cards are still worth close to their values 10 years ago. And slabbed ones shot up just like CGC comics have done. I havent followed that market closely enough to know how the second tier condition cards have done, or the midgrades in the HG wake.

 

But as you all know, the NEW card market, the Mattingly, Gooden, Frank Thomas etc 80s star card market certainly has suffered. Does anyone else see the link to Ultimate Spider-man? I bought a white cover variant when it came out, Im thinking of digging it out and making it my first CGC submission! If I get luck in grade, off it goes to a lucky (high I hope) bidder.

[dam60]

If your 15 year collection is worth say $5k. Think how long you'd have to work to make that much? For a lot of people, that's a 2-week paycheck. (I live in the SF Bay Area where the median house price is over $500,000.)

 

DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Way to make me feel like a poor mo-fo. If $5K is a two week paycheck, that's $10K a month, and on a gross basis that's north of $200K a year, which is something that a lot of people don't make IMO . . .

 

Say, if I ever go to SD can I stay at the Hilton with you and your wife? I promise not to make a mess or to eat too much

 

DAM

[dam60]

I can't speak with authority about cards post-1987, though I do believe that the speculative boom in cards started their big upswing around 1985/1986 (I have a closet full of near-worthless unopened 1986 Topps wax boxes back in California to prove it! )

 

Yeah... a closet full of baseball cards... now there's something that I can truly relate too. Especially since they are now, completely, totally worthless.

 

I'm a card carrying member of this club too!

 

Topps all the way baby!

 

DAM

[dam60]

I also think that the main difference between the early 90's crash & the impending one is the role of new comics. Everyone was investing in new books then so when that tanked, so went all the sales of new books and that caused stores to go under, etc. Now it really just seems to be the uber high grade CGC books which are in trouble, and i think that will push out those speculators who have lost dough, but comic readership is pretty strong right now, & those people are not involved in the high end game.

 

I completely agree with this point. If/when there is a crash, I see the impact more on the cgc / mail order / vintage comic book dealer, not so much as your local bricks and mortar comic book store, where anything past 1980 is ancient.

 

DAM

[sckao]

DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Way to make me feel like a poor mo-fo. If $5K is a two week paycheck, that's $10K a month, and on a gross basis that's north of $200K a year, which is something that a lot of people don't make IMO . . .

 

Well, I usually go by the gross amount.. not the net amount. Different people fall into different tax brackets. It's not uncommon to have more than $30k a year in mortgage interest that you can deduct from your taxes, etc. 10k a month would make it about $120,000 a year. According to the 2002 Salary differentials, a median national salary of $60,000 would pay 19.4% more in San Francisco (or $71,640)

 

This is why there are so many renters in SF and why people are going farther and farther out to find affordable housing.

 

And I don't really care where we stay when in SD... a flea-bag motel would be just fine with me... but I don't call the shots there. ;-)

 

One year, I went down with a friend instead of my wife and we actually got upgraded free to a Business suite at the Clarion. It was two rooms, one with a double bed, and one with a sofabed/meeting area. (Two tv's.) For people sharing rooms, this would be pretty convenient actually.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dam60]

That's a good point about the mortgage - being the renter that I am, I hadn't thought of the tax benefits and what not and from my point of view net of $5K would clear $200K gross.

 

I have never been to SD but really want to be able to go. With my job right now, it will never ever happen. I do a lot of time sensitive stuff at quarter end so I have 45 really busy days and then 45 chill days. If they ever made SD in June vs. July I am all over it!

 

DAM

 

[Dr_Neff]

What do you think the best deals for under $200 are? (and explain why if you feel like it). What books will go up in the long term that arent already $$$? Any feedback you could give me would be appreciated. Here's some of my picks:

1. Hulk 182,

2. Miracleman 15,

3. ASM annuals 3-5

4. Green Lantern 76

 

What do you all think?

 

Thanks, john

 

None of the above - try these (in person buys only)

 

Marvel Spotlight 5

Ghost Rider (motorcycle 1st series) # 1

Incredible Hulk 141

Amazing Adventures # 11 (Beast)

X-Men # 129

Twilight Zone 84

Chilling Adventures In Sorcery # 1

CGC graded issues will already suck up all your cash, so try to buy from a reputable dealer and in person if possible.

 

 

Oh buy all you can of What If? (1st series) # 31

AND Marvel Treasury Edition # 26

 

and of course, if you have to be asking what to buy you should be saving your money

[Silver Surfer]

Avengers/JLA #1, 10.0. While there must be tons that have yet to be logged in the census current numbers are something like 11 at 10.0 and 283 at 9.9. Five, ten years from now there will always be collectors looking to complete a run of issues 1 through 4 at 10.0. I have mine and I'm going to keep it for a long time.

[Foolkiller]

Surfer:

 

I'm not trying to be a total a** here but...

 

that's ludicrous. and it's wishful thinking on your part. If you think 5 to 10 years from now there will be collectors looking for JLA/Avengers (which there are MASSIVE quatities in high grade) in 10.0 or 9.8 then I also have a bridge I'd like to sell you.

 

Books with legs:

 

Marvel Spotlight #5

Miracleman 15

Incredible Hulk 180 (Wolvies ACTUAL 1st appearance full body in one panel)

G.I. Joe 21

[Silver Surfer]

I agree with you partially but for $200 today you could probably get a decent return on these down the road if hold the 10.0 issues. - no? The 9.8's, etc most likely not. It will be interesting to see what the census numbers are a year from now.

[Silver Surfer]

Just to clarrify I am only talking about the gem 10.0's, not 9.9's and below which I agree will have minimal upside potential.

[Foolkiller]

Not even 10.0s. I think the market for a modern 10.0 is very, very small. There aren't enough people who put a premium on having a 10.0 of a modern book in my opinion, and the price driveup is done by speculators. I think it will look worse in the future for those books, not better. It's also a question of rarity... there are already 11. It's not like a one of a kind 10.0 by any stretch of the imagination.