Do we want the prices (values) to excalate?

[conditionfreak]

I was reading the thread concerning the SDCC and saw a comment from CDForever, that we DO NOT want the prices on comic books to escalate and it got me reflecting.

 

Do we?

 

The simple answer is yes, if we have the book/s already in our possession. No, if we don't have it/them yet.

 

However, I would like to hear what others think. Does a true collector want the prices/values to escalate, or is that just for the full time dealers, part time dealers (isn't that what we all are) and speculators to desire?

 

Me? I have to stick with my original thoughts on the matter. I want them to excalate if I have the book/s already..............But then again. I would be tickled to death if Action #1, Tec #27 and a few other goodies dropped down about half from what they are now. I might actually be able to get a seond mortgage and buy one of them in a 3.0

[Silver Surfer]

"Excalate"

[chromium]

The simple answer is the one you gave as an example, yes if you already have the book and I would be lying if I said it doesn't give me a warm and fuzzy feeling when I see a book in my collection take a jump in guide.

 

But on the other hand, it is sad if books appreciate into the realm where they become unattainable for a lot of people. I think it would be fantastic if everyone in the hobby that's really in love with the Silver Age would be able to pick up a decent FF #1 or AF #15 for a lot less than the price is now.

 

It's happening in OA right now, a number of artists have moved out of the realm of the affordable and that's a shame as I know a lot of people will now never be able to get a piece from that book or artist.

 

I rarely sell books or art, so yes I wouldn't mind that much if the value of my collection wouldn't go up anymore making it possible for more people to get the pieces/books they are after (well maybe I would mind just a little bit, but I would be able to swallow it )

[Schmakt]

If prices do not rise, there is really no such thing as a secondary market. Without a secondary market, dealers go out of business, Cons stop being held...

 

So... even though I can't afford a lot of what I like, prices staying at a steady but slight upward trend is good for the hobby.

 

 

There is, of course, the idea that the upward trend in pricing is not necessarily hobby-wide. So maybe Action went up this year, but 'Tec fell... more or less leveling the playing field and still giving dealers a way to move cash around and come out on top.

[silverweb]

I like prices to escalate/appreciate, especially on all the books I own!

[Count]

Books that I do not own are worthless

[Old Fashion PB and J]

Good question. Yes is the only real answer. The fact that something could appreciate in value is what draws new people into the collectibles market. No new people= extinction.

 

I think the rate that certain books escalating is RIDICULOUS. But I am not one of the guys forking over that cash. The real problem comes when people stop spending the ridiculous cash for books , a crash will follow. When people start seeing the books they overpaid for settle back down to guide, that could cause collectors to lose interest and hurt the hobby.

[Aces]

Excalate!

 

Except for the books on my want list.

[joe_collector]

"Excalate"

 

Is that when you dig really fast?

[Silver Surfer]

"Excalate"

 

Is that when you dig really fast?

 

Faster than this thread's title being edited.

[Subliminal]

"Excalate"

 

It sounds like something Stan Lee would like.

 

 

 

 

[rodan57]

I collect picture postcards (1900-1915). The prices for these items have been relatively stable for years. They are not expensive. Most run between $8 to $15. A $20 or $30 card would be expensive. Though it is possible to spend hundreds on a one of a kind historically significant card. The thrill in acquisition is in the hunt -- in the discovery... pocket book is not an issue.

 

The feeling, "I'll never be able to afford a copy of that issue", does not arise. There is an element of disappointment in seeing an issue you would love to own, but realise that economics preludes. (Of course, the response to my last sentence probably should be grow up.)

 

 

 

[conditionfreak]

Won't be editing the title as it gives some a chance to participate that otherwise would or could not.

 

It gives this thread a little character. Besides, I drive an Escalate

 

Seriously though. I do not think that I would participate in the hobby if there was no appreciation of my books, value wise.

 

There is so much to say concerning this topic. I think that the 10.0 prices on just any ole book hurts the hobby. It is silly. I think that the cost of a Daredevil #158 hurts the hobby. It makes no sense as there are thousands and thousands of them "out there", and it really isn't such a big deal book in the big scheme of things. I think that the low values of certain actually rare books is also silly. Best comics #1 from 1939. Historically hugely significant and yet not that expensive as compared to some recent books that are plentiful. The prices being paid for Hero for Hire #1 or The Walking Dead, are baffling. Even the prices being paid for Amazing Spiderman #1 and the like, are questionable in my mind (yes, I own all of the examples I am mentioning). There are tons of them around. How many Gasoline Alley #1's are there? It was hugely popular in it's day, yet very affordable and rather hard to find. I could buy Walking Dead #1 all day long if I had the money but I could not buy Gasoline Alley #1 all day long, no matter how much money I had. Ten years down the road, books like The Walking Dead, will be dead and not worth ten bucks. Even if a CGC 9.9.

 

There is an artificial value being produced by movies, book of the month and people with too much money, buying something just to get in the news.

 

The price of anything is based on supply and demand, I know. However, as speculators in the stock market can manipulate the market, so can the comic book market be manipulated. The bottom will drop out of these recent high priced and slabbed books. For sure. I have seen it before. Death of Robin. Death of Superman. Many other examples exist.

 

I do want the value of books to rise, just to keep more people getting into the hobby. Which makes the value rise even more. It also helps me not feel so much out of the mainstream for being a comic book collector. There is a stigma associated with it. When a group of people are talking about their various hobbies and I mention that I collect comic books (and being 55 years old), I get "that look". Of course then, someone will mention how valuable they are or can be and things progress from there. But if the value was not there, then where would that conversation go?

 

Now, would anyone like to buy a Hero for Hire #1?

[Pitboss]

[Silver Surfer]

Besides, I drive an Escalate

 

[homerwannabee]

Yes, having prices escalate is a good thing. The higher the prices on things the higher the chance that you or a future collector will be able to acquire that item. For instance there is a reason why you rarely see early Action Comics. That being that during the 40's and 50's there was almost no interest in comics at all. As a result future generations had to pay the price by having a very scarce supply to acquire. When Amazing Spider-man came around there was the uproots of a hobby. Certain comics were worth around a $100. So a small group of people decided to keep their comics in hopes that these comics would as well be worth $100 someday. Because of the escalating prices of certain comics in the 60's it is now easier to attain these comics.

My main collecting hobby is the Atari 2600. Now here is a hobby were except for extremely rare games the prices for the most part have actually lowered by a large margin in the past few years. Especially for common games like Space Invaders, Pac-man, Frogger, Spider-man, and superman. Go do an Ebay search right now for any of these games. Most of the games I just mentioned sell for under $5. And a lot of times they do not get sold at all. Guess what that means? That's right when people realize that these games have almost no value they throw them out. Last week a guy was trying to sell 12 loose Atari 2600 games for $5. I had them all already. But I knew one thing. If I did not buy those games that day, most likely no one would of and most likely he would of thrown them in the trash. I came back an hour later and of course they were still there. I decided to offer him $3 for the lot, and he jumped on that like a cat to milk. I walked away saddened knowing that my feelings had been validated.

 

[PokerKid]

Yes, having prices escalate is a good thing. The higher the prices on things the higher the chance that you or a future collector will be able to acquire that item. For instance there is a reason why you rarely see early Action Comics. That being that during the 40's and 50's there was almost no interest in comics at all. As a result future generations had to pay the price by having a very scarce supply to acquire. When Amazing Spider-man came around there was the uproots of a hobby. Certain comics were worth around a $100. So a small group of people decided to keep their comics in hopes that these comics would as well be worth $100 someday. Because of the escalating prices of certain comics in the 60's it is now easier to attain these comics.

My main collecting hobby is the Atari 2600. Now here is a hobby were except for extremely rare games the prices for the most part have actually lowered by a large margin in the past few years. Especially for common games like Space Invaders, Pac-man, Frogger, Spider-man, and superman. Go do an Ebay search right now for any of these games. Most of the games I just mentioned sell for under $5. And a lot of times they do not get sold at all. Guess what that means? That's right when people realize that these games have almost no value they throw them out. Last week a guy was trying to sell 12 loose Atari 2600 games for $5. I had them all already. But I knew one thing. If I did not buy those games that day, most likely no one would of and most likely he would of thrown them in the trash. I came back an hour later and of course they were still there. I decided to offer him $3 for the lot, and he jumped on that like a cat to milk. I walked away saddened knowing that my feelings had been validated.

Atari 2600.

 

Without escalating prices, the only people making out are the auction houses and the post office. I'd like to see them continue at a steady, but not too steep, pace.

 

[JohnT]

If I just speak from my own self-interest, I'd like to see prices crash so I could buy everything out there. But I realize there is a collecting and dealing community out there that would be destroyed by that, and I wouldn't want that to happen. So slow and steady excalation is probably the best scenario.

[Aces]

"Excalate"

 

Is that when you dig really fast?

 

I was making fun of the title.

[JWKyle]

I say what the heck let them go up at a slow study pace. If i already own a book and it goes up great if i own a book and it goes down great. I really don't care the only time I sale anything is if I upgrade a copy then I usually put the lower grade example in my trade sale long box which i clean out every now and then. Oh and if the market crashes and books are worth nothing I would just buy all I could and have the best worthless comic collection. Oh and with other COLLECTORS (not dealer collector or people looking to invest) like myself out there books may not always be super high but they in general will never be worthless unless it comes to the end of our society as we know it and the world is thrown back into the dark ages. But I don't really expect that to happen anytime soon.