art market prices deline 7.5%..... will comic prices follow?

[action1kid]

My health insurance has surpassed my mortgage as my #1 expence as of this year..2000 a month! Thats 500 a week for a family of 4.

**************

 

That's crazy. Luckily Hillary has a plan to fix all of that.....

 

But seriously, do you have a super primo plan or some preexisting condition or something?

 

I think it's time for the wife to get a job with some good subsidized health insurance, which I assume isn't the case! (I know you have your own business, so it's a problem for you.) Just kidding, I know things usually are the way they are for a reason. Two working parents with little kids is a PITA. I know, that's my life!

 

We're about $200/mo for a family of 3, but I know our employers pay like 80-90% of our cost plus like 60-75% for the little guy.

 

I'll have to ask my brother what he's paying. He runs his own business in NY, but has a lot of pseudoemployees (consultants he rents out), so he may benefit from economies of scale (or buying in bulk).

 

your employer is paying the great majority of the health cost for you. Im sure you realize that.He is probably paying close to my figures.

[Big Daddy]

We have an 80-20 plan where I work and I still pay $230 every month. Health insurance is one thing that you can't do without if you have a family, and unfortunately it keeps going up. So being a business owner you get hit harder. Ouch.

[action1kid]

Yes, if you are the employer you get literally destroyed.For the 1st time ever,I no longer offer it to new employees. I simply cant

[Thegoldenage]

oil hit $115 today....

this has got to cause some serious hurt real soon...

 

how are ordinary people making the same money they were 5 years ago surviving this? And, since the answer involves a whole lot of cutting back, how can the economy NOT take a serious hit since free spending has kept it all going so far.

 

 

or do the millions of people who DO make decent money still going to be spending enough?

 

Well said. I don't think that oil has topped out yet. The oil speculators are going nuts and the prices will continue to rise. This has got to affect the comic market, and I believe it already has begun to do so.

 

The reason oil is exploding is because 2.5 billion people have just entered the industrialized world[india and china]..thats 1/2 the world entering the marking for oil as they are now becomming industrialized.

 

Speculation is the number one reason for the surge in oil prices. It is true that China and India are becoming more industrialized, but they have a very long way to go before they begin to make a big enough impact on oil prices to justify the increases we have seen in the past two years.

[action1kid]

I dont agree with that.Just a tiny percentage of those 2 countries is a hude shift in oil demand..It is the dominant reason amongst many.Sure speculation with arb itrage and oil futures contracts is involved but there are fundimentals behind it too.

[VintageComics]

There are a lot of things wrong today. some of this stuff is staggering.

 

1) Food is becoming too expensive to buy because huge countries like India and China are restricting export so that they can feed their own people. Rice and other grains are through the roof.

2) Food has an "apparent" scarcity because they use tons of grain to feed a cow and then feed a few people in our carnivorous society the dead animal. Why not use the tons of grain and get rid of all the cows? There will be 100's more times the food, less sickness, less smell etc. I guess it does not fit into the business model of the new world.

3) Cars are overused. There is a spot in Toronto where 300,000+ cars pass in a day. OH MY GOD. That is insane. And each car has one person in it. And each car burns (I'm guessing) between 5-10 litres of fuel a day. OMG. That is just one spot in one city. That is insane.

4) the list goes on and on...

 

there is a correction happening. That's all it is. It's nature and it will balance out. Don't know when...but it always does.

 

R.

 

 

[action1kid]

You are right.What eventually cures inflation is a recession.I know its hard to think of it this way but a recession is actually a necessary part of the economic cycle.It is part of the balancing out process that creates the birth of new opportunities....eventually.

[tth2]

maybe the comic market... but I was thinking the grocery market and clothing and restaurants and electronics etc etc Comics in total are a pimple in the overall economy, and the high end is merely a small group of people with enough assets to not be overly affected. Even the rest of the comic market shouldnt suffer unless a lot of you are using credit to buy comics?? or the grocery money? or will have to choose "comics or xxx"?

 

Does little Timmy need lunch every day?

Yes I do.

[the blob]

1) Food is becoming too expensive to buy because huge countries like India and China are restricting export so that they can feed their own people. Rice and other grains are through the roof.

********

 

In theory, the U.S. and Canada have more than enough grain for their own populations. It's one of the few things we export. Bread basket of the world, etc.

 

But corn/ethanol is muddying things up. It "seemed" like a decent idea, but it's playing havoc with world food prices by removing so much corn from the food equation.

 

I sure hope all these ethanol plants we're building are adaptable to other plant/vegetable sources and not just corn because that's apparently one of the least efficient ethanol sources.

 

If only we (society) had thought about gasoline 10-15 years ago when gas was still relatively cheap before there was a crisis. We'd be in year 10 of hybrids/electric cars, the kinks would be worked out and maybe our SUVs would get 100 MPG.

[Flash105]

Did anyone see the stock market yesterday....

CSCO up

XOM up

SLB up

WWY up

JNJ up

ATI up

DNA up

GS up

 

I'm selling some and building my war chest. Comic Link and Heritage coming in one month.

[aldamon-migration]

I dont agree with that.Just a tiny percentage of those 2 countries is a hude shift in oil demand..It is the dominant reason amongst many.Sure speculation with arb itrage and oil futures contracts is involved but there are fundimentals behind it too.

 

There Is No Gas Shortage.

[Ares]

1) Food is becoming too expensive to buy because huge countries like India and China are restricting export so that they can feed their own people. Rice and other grains are through the roof.

********

 

In theory, the U.S. and Canada have more than enough grain for their own populations. It's one of the few things we export. Bread basket of the world, etc.

 

But corn/ethanol is muddying things up. It "seemed" like a decent idea, but it's playing havoc with world food prices by removing so much corn from the food equation.

 

I sure hope all these ethanol plants we're building are adaptable to other plant/vegetable sources and not just corn because that's apparently one of the least efficient ethanol sources.

 

If only we (society) had thought about gasoline 10-15 years ago when gas was still relatively cheap before there was a crisis. We'd be in year 10 of hybrids/electric cars, the kinks would be worked out and maybe our SUVs would get 100 MPG.

 

My parents used to buy flour in bulk for our restaurant!

We used to pay $13 for a huge bag

Now we pay $25

[jbud73]

When the economy is strong, people have more money to buy comics. When the economy is weak, people seek comic books as a safe haven. When the dollar is strong, people want to own comics as they are largely a U.S.-dollar denominated asset. When the dollar is weak, foreigners have more purchasing power to buy comics.

 

There are more comic collectors now than there have ever been. People who grew up in the '80s are now just hitting their peak earnings years and will be buying more comics, especially with the economy doing so great and so many jobs being created in this country. And, with all the publicity from all the fantastic comic book movies like "Daredevil", "Elektra", "The Hulk" and "Spider-Man 3" that have been made, people naturally feel the urge to sink their life savings into comic books, especially high-grade Silver Age slabs. When times get tough, people can make do without food or gas...but try to take away their early Brave & Bolds and you've got a riot on your hands!

 

Comic books have never been better or offered more value for your money. I mean, at what other period in history have we gotten such memorable, must-read storylines like "House of M", "One More Day" or "Sins Past" - Gwen Stacy knocking boots with Norman Osborn spread out over six $2.99 issues? More of the same, please!

 

Kids and younger collectors are getting into this hobby like never before. I see them all the time at my local comic shop. That is, when I'm not tripping over George Clooney or whichever big moneyed Hollywood name that has just gotten into the hobby. Or foreigners who have come to New York to take advantage of the weak dollar to buy comics - especially foreign celebrities; why, just last week I had to fight Jean-Claude Van Damme over some Curator copies over at Metropolis Comics. Hands off my X-Men, Jean-Claude!

 

And don't even get me started on original art! There's all these smart guys who keep coming on the Boards here - Destro, KrazyKat...and more recently Dr. Manhattan and Chameleon_Comics who keep reassuring me that original art is going to go to the stratosphere no matter what!

 

In short, comics are invulnerable to any decline in the art market or, indeed, any other market. They are pretty much recession-proof, depression-proof, child-proof, insufficiently_thoughtful_person-proof, and nuclear, biological and chemical proof as well. (thumbs u

 

You sound like Overstreet's annual "market report"...

 

Or its Annual Market report for the last 20 years.

 

I think Gene is just a realist and lord knows thins place could use a healthy dose of that from time to time.

[the blob]

We used to pay $13 for a huge bag

Now we pay $25

*************************

 

Yeah, and I used to pay 35 cents for a shiney new comic from the newstand?

 

And I used to make...oh, forget about that, I make less now than I did 10 years ago.

 

When are we talking about? Some of this stuff had to go up a bit. It was so low for a while farmers could barely make a living. Maybe it's gone up a bit too much, sure.

 

Gas at $3.50 is expensive, but when gas was $1.50 a gallon people were complaining too and, really, adjusted for inflation $1.50 a gallon was dirt cheap.

 

Honestly, it doesn't seem like food is all that terribly expensive now vs. the past 5 years, though if I was trying to feed a family of 4 on $6.50 an hour just about anything would be too expensive. Yeah, some things have gone up, but criminey, last weekend I bought PRIME rib steaks for $7.99 a pound, And this wasn't Choice pretending to be Prime, this was Mortons/Peter Lugar quality steak. And I bought 5 1 pound boxes of Barilla pasta for $4, less than $1 a box! My local store had a huge loaf of sliced potato bread for $2. I suppose it was once cheaper, but I dunno, how little should a sandwhich cost? Chicken pot pies were 79 cents each! Sure, 15 years ago, in college I sometimes got them 2/$1, but things do have to go up if everything else goes up.

 

Of course, I buy a lot of organic/"natural" stuff, so I'm already paying nosebleed prices. $2.99 for half gallon of milk. I guess the "regular" stuff has gone up, but I'm actually paying a little less for organic milk now than I was 3 years ago.

 

We can't just hope/expect our wages to go up 3-10% a year, our stock investments to go up 5-15% a year and the value of our home to go up 5-10% a year without this having some inflationary impact as well.

[the blob]

oops, I forgot that I moved from manhattan to brooklyn which probably resulted in a 20-25% drop in the grocery bill by itself, so I haven't felt the 20-25% increase.

 

apparently the wheat issues have been driven by some bad harvests in europe and australia (and maybe canada too). that coupled with a lot of things has driven prices up here and elsewhere. the cheap dollar made our wheat cheap to the Euros, et al., plus a little less production due to shifting crops to biofuels and tah dah, we have $1 bagels.

[That Ron Dude]

The rising price of oil is sending the cost of oil paintings sky high. Acrylic paintings made from plastic, an oil by-product, are also going to be affected. Comics though, made from pulp and printers ink will remain constant.

[NEO-CON-migration]

If one buys 'THE BEST OF THE BEST' than any dip in the collectibles market will be irrelevant.

 

People ALWAYS want THE BEST.

[delekkerste]

If one buys 'THE BEST OF THE BEST' than any dip in the collectibles market will be irrelevant.

 

People ALWAYS want THE BEST.

 

People always want the best, but people are not always willing to pay up for the best. Witness the 1990-1996 fine art market when even the top works by the bluest of the blue chip artists plummeted 40-60% in value after the bubble burst. And those pieces are more highly regarded and sought after than any piece of comic book memorabilia. There were some choice pieces purchased during the pre-1990 art bubble which still haven't gotten back to breakeven (or show only modest profits) even during the last decade of easy money and the plummeting U.S. dollar.

 

I agree that it is always better to own higher quality pieces as far as investment/resale is concerned, but anyone who thinks this stuff is invulnerable hasn't learned the lessons of history (but probably will in the coming years).

 

And, by the way, Matt, maybe you should change your modus shill operandi - pretty lame that people recognized you as a KrazyKat shill from your very first post.

[NEO-CON-migration]

If one buys 'THE BEST OF THE BEST' than any dip in the collectibles market will be irrelevant.

 

People ALWAYS want THE BEST.

 

People always want the best, but people are not always willing to pay up for the best. Witness the 1990-1996 fine art market when even the top works by the bluest of the blue chip artists plummeted 40-60% in value after the bubble burst. And those pieces are more highly regarded and sought after than any piece of comic book memorabilia. There were some choice pieces purchased during the pre-1990 art bubble which still haven't gotten back to breakeven (or show only modest profits) even during the last decade of easy money and the plummeting U.S. dollar.

 

I agree that it is always better to own higher quality pieces as far as investment/resale is concerned, but anyone who thinks this stuff is invulnerable hasn't learned the lessons of history (but probably will in the coming years).

 

You are a doom & gloomer.

 

When I say 'the best of the best' - I am not talking about ASM's in 9.4, 9.6, 9.8.

 

I am talking RARE RARE RARE stuff. Like Action 1's, Detective 27's, OA to THE BEST COVERS.

 

Stuff that is THE BEST will not take a dent,...no way.

 

That is why it is THE BEST!

[namisgr]

When the economy is strong, people have more money to buy comics. When the economy is weak, people seek comic books as a safe haven. When the dollar is strong, people want to own comics as they are largely a U.S.-dollar denominated asset. When the dollar is weak, foreigners have more purchasing power to buy comics.

 

There are more comic collectors now than there have ever been. People who grew up in the '80s are now just hitting their peak earnings years and will be buying more comics, especially with the economy doing so great and so many jobs being created in this country. And, with all the publicity from all the fantastic comic book movies like "Daredevil", "Elektra", "The Hulk" and "Spider-Man 3" that have been made, people naturally feel the urge to sink their life savings into comic books, especially high-grade Silver Age slabs. When times get tough, people can make do without food or gas...but try to take away their early Brave & Bolds and you've got a riot on your hands!

 

Comic books have never been better or offered more value for your money. I mean, at what other period in history have we gotten such memorable, must-read storylines like "House of M", "One More Day" or "Sins Past" - Gwen Stacy knocking boots with Norman Osborn spread out over six $2.99 issues? More of the same, please!

 

Kids and younger collectors are getting into this hobby like never before. I see them all the time at my local comic shop. That is, when I'm not tripping over George Clooney or whichever big moneyed Hollywood name that has just gotten into the hobby. Or foreigners who have come to New York to take advantage of the weak dollar to buy comics - especially foreign celebrities; why, just last week I had to fight Jean-Claude Van Damme over some Curator copies over at Metropolis Comics. Hands off my X-Men, Jean-Claude!

 

And don't even get me started on original art! There's all these smart guys who keep coming on the Boards here - Destro, KrazyKat...and more recently Dr. Manhattan and Chameleon_Comics who keep reassuring me that original art is going to go to the stratosphere no matter what!

 

In short, comics are invulnerable to any decline in the art market or, indeed, any other market. They are pretty much recession-proof, depression-proof, child-proof, insufficiently_thoughtful_person-proof, and nuclear, biological and chemical proof as well. (thumbs u