Will Hulk #181 keep increasing in value?

[MMMarvel-migration]

If you were buying comics for fun why would you be looking for multiple HG copies of Byrne X-men if you weren't actually going to sell at some point? Why not just buy 1 low-mid grade copy to read? Why buy HG for any reason if you aren't speculating that they are more valuable and will continue to rise in value?

 

It's becoming obvious you cannot separate "investment value" from "comic collecting", and it's always gonna be about the greenbacks. I guarantee comic values will fall across the board in the coming years; it's a preordained fate, due to the demographics, so there's no way I'm "speculating" on any comic.

 

I'm just a Byrne fanatic for his 70's Marvels, much the way some 60's guys are Neal Adams addicts.

 

In terms of cash outlay, I actually feel quite foolish for putting even the small amount of money I do into comic collecting, but I pass it off as sunk entertainment costs. It's my hobby and as such, I can spare a bit of "fun money" to buy some comics.

 

But "investing in comics" during one of the most insane price spikes in history? Come on! That's a fool's game and it always has been.

 

Guess it is just me, but if you truly believed the market was going to fall you wouldn't be collecting HG copies of anything now when the prices are sky high. You would buy LG now and HG after the preordained fall in values that you believe will happen. Actually, even if you are just a Byrne fanatic why would you buy more than 1 copy per issue and why would the grade even matter if you are not a speculator and comics have no monetary value to you? What do you consider a small amount towards comics? Didn't you say you have so many comics that you have no idea what they are worth? It just doesn't add up to me, but to each their own. I know I collect HG bronze and silver Marvels for investment (LG to read) and buy new comics simply for the joy of reading and their condition doesn't matter to me. I think I represent the norm.

 

What is the point in collecting multiple copies of HG raw or CGC graded comics that you don't read and don't care about their monetary value? Don't mean to pick on you, but you have me curious about your thinking process. You seem to be going against what most people would consider logical.

 

[joe_collector]

Guess it is just me, but if you truly believed the market was going to fall you wouldn't be collecting HG copies of anything now when the prices are sky high. You would buy LG now and HG after the preordained fall in values that you believe will happen.

 

Because I like to own "nice looking" comics. I'm not a straight NM+ guy, and will take a VF/NM copy with nice color and centering over it anyday, especially at current prices. This is a well-known fact on the forums, so let's not paint me as a NM+ fanatic.

 

As I said before, you don't seem to grasp that some people just like collecting comics. I buy lots of DVDs, PC games, CDs, etc. for entertainment, and I could care less if they're ever worth anything. I enjoy them for what they are. I don't view comics any differently. I don't buy DVDs to keep that are all scratched up and with dents in the plastic either.

 

Actually, even if you are just a Byrne fanatic why would you buy more than 1 copy per issue and why would the grade even matter if you are not a speculator and comics have no monetary value to you?

 

Because his art represents my "Golden Age" and I started buying comics about the time he started drawing them. I used to riff his style in drawings, looked through back issue bins for years until I had a full run of his Marvel books, and even bought the entire FF and Alpha Flight (and some West Coast Avengers) runs, even though his style had gone way south by then.

 

Why do I buy multiples? Because I can, and I'd much rather have 10 copies of MTU 67 than one copy of USM. You may see it as stockpiling or speculating, but I just view it as buying more of what I like. I don't buy new books anymore, or anything past 1970, so I'm somewhat limited in the issue selection.

 

I know I collect HG bronze and silver Marvels for investment (LG to read) and buy new comics simply for the joy of reading and their condition doesn't matter to me. I think I represent the norm.

 

Unfortunately, you are probably correct. Of course, doing what everyone else is doing is not investment, but simply being another one of the sheep. I guess dealers need to fleece someone.

 

You seem to be going against what most people would consider logical.

 

Exactly, and that's the key to my success. I just buy what I like, at a price equivalent to my "enjoyment level", and from the key issues I have catalogued, I seem to have come out alright without even thinking about it.

 

You seem to be under the mistaken impression that following current trends will actually get you somewhere.

 

During the 1980's Independant Boom, I was happily buying NM Bronze issues while the Fish Police, Mage and Flaming Carrot buyers were forking over big bucks and laughing at me for picking up a run of HG Bronze ASM comics. When the 90's Speculator Fiasco came around, I was doing the same thing, while keeping an eye out for some nice Moderns. I actually helped one insufficiently_thoughtful_person buddy carry out cases of X-Men #1's to his car, while I nabbed some nice Bronze books I liked. Oh how he laughed and told me I was "missing the wave". Now we've in the 2000's, during another speculator craze and I'm not changing my buying habits one bit. I still buy what I want, I still get jabbed for doing so, and I will still amazingly come out ahead of the sheep-like specs without even trying.

 

Buy what you like and buy where they ain't.

[MMMarvel-migration]

[During the 1980's Independant Boom, I was happily buying NM Bronze issues while the Fish Police, Mage and Flaming Carrot buyers were forking over big bucks and laughing at me for picking up a run of HG Bronze ASM comics. When the 90's Speculator Fiasco came around, I was doing the same thing, while keeping an eye out for some nice Moderns. I actually helped one insufficiently_thoughtful_person buddy carry out cases of X-Men #1's to his car, while I nabbed some nice Bronze books I liked. Oh how he laughed and told me I was "missing the wave".

 

To me the actions you describe above sound exactly like the norm for any speculator with a shred of common sense. Probably not too many people who post in this forum with stacks of Jim Lee's X-men #1. Of course there probably aren't too many (if any) people in this forum with stacks of Hulk #181. Did you happen to help a buddy carry out boxes of Hulk #181s to his car in 1974?

[drbanner]

Joe...your whole post sounds exactly like something BB13 told you long ago as the reason for buying high grade books:

 

Because I like to own "nice looking" comics....you don't seem to grasp that some people just like collecting comics...I could care less if they're ever worth anything. I enjoy them for what they are...Why do I buy multiples (insert "high grade comic books")? Because I can...

 

Please keep your perspective in mind the next time you're ripping someone for "collecting comics" and "enjoying them for what they are", because that's exactly they're perspective too, okay?

 

It's becoming obvious you cannot separate "investment value" from "comic collecting"

 

How can you possibly say this as if you're focused solely on "comic collecting"??? You are more obsessed with the value of comics, the price someone paid for comics, whether or not that comic will go up or down in value, the history of the price of comics, the future price of comics, etc.,. than anyone I've ever known...going back to your website, your ebay name, and your original handle here. If you want to be perceived as a true collector, quit obsessing on comic book prices...and start obsessing on comic books.

[joe_collector]

To me the actions you describe above sound exactly like the norm for any speculator with a shred of common sense.

 

Ah, the benefits of 20-20 hindsight.

 

In the real world, I was a comic shop pariah, a guy who 'was missing the boat", so to speak. The "smart money" in the 90's was on Valiant, Modern Marvels and DCs, and if you were to transpose your current buying habits to 1991-93, you'd have a few longboxes of Valiant comics and huge stacks of X-Men/X-Force/Spider-man #1's gathering dust.

 

I guarantee there are tons of forum members who got caught up in various speculator fads, and many who are doing exactly that right now.

[joe_collector]

Please keep your perspective in mind the next time you're ripping someone for "collecting comics" and "enjoying them for what they are", because that's exactly they're perspective too, okay?

 

That's not true at all, since Bruce and others freely admit their big-dollar purchases are at least partially investment-based.