Do we want the prices (values) to excalate?

[joe_collector]

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

 

[joe_collector]

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.

 

This is all some wild and bizarre joke, right... and you're gonna jump out with the punchline any minute now.

[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.

 

This is all some wild and bizarre joke, right... and you're gonna jump out with the punchline any minute now.

And this is why Atari Force comics are worthless.

[Flash105]

Which is why every comic shop in America is bombarded by 25 year old males daily trying to sell their 90s books that are collectors items with their foil covers and such.

[FlyingDonut]

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.

 

I have no words. Clearly we are dealing with a Nobel laureate here.

[JohnT]

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.

 

This is all some wild and bizarre joke, right... and you're gonna jump out with the punchline any minute now.

 

Nice contribution. Really added a lot.

[sterlingcomics]

And this is why Atari Force comics are worthless.

 

Atari Force will be HUGE, I tell you...HUGE...

[precodekeith]

That being that during the 40's and 50's there was almost no interest in comics at all...

 

Um... well.... hhmmm.... ahhh...

...nevermind.

[cd4ever]

Wow, all this over something I said.

And I'm pretty sure I was drunk at the time.

[bhhooks22]

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.

 

This is all some wild and bizarre joke, right... and you're gonna jump out with the punchline any minute now.

 

Ya know JC. , That is the guy with the "Invincible Man" hero idea a while back . ! Remember ......

[PLOD-migration]

That being that during the 40's and 50's there was almost no interest in comics at all...

 

Um... well.... hhmmm.... ahhh...

...nevermind.

 

Maybe he meant back issues?

 

"Through much of the Golden age of comic books, Captain Marvel proved to be the most popular superhero character of the medium with his comics outselling all others, including those featuring Superman. In fact, Captain Marvel Adventures sold fourteen million copies in 1944, and was at one point being published monthly with a circulation of 1.3 million copies an issue (proclaimed on the cover of issue #19 as being the "Largest Circulation of Any Comic Magazine").["

[homerwannabee]

That being that during the 40's and 50's there was almost no interest in comics at all...

 

Um... well.... hhmmm.... ahhh...

...nevermind.

 

Maybe he meant back issues?

 

"Through much of the Golden age of comic books, Captain Marvel proved to be the most popular superhero character of the medium with his comics outselling all others, including those featuring Superman. In fact, Captain Marvel Adventures sold fourteen million copies in 1944, and was at one point being published monthly with a circulation of 1.3 million copies an issue (proclaimed on the cover of issue #19 as being the "Largest Circulation of Any Comic Magazine").["

I meant no interest in comic collecting. Sorry for the misunderstanding. Yes I know that comics were hugely popular to read. But they were not popular to collect. Collecting conventions did not start happening until the mid 60's. What I meant was that people in the 40's and 50's had no idea that comics could ever be worth anything. During the 60's this all changed. And because no one saw any value in comics, and had no idea that anyone else would have value in back issues. Most of those comics were thrown away. Remember Action comics were printed in the hundreds of thousands but how many of those are still around?

[joe_collector]

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.

 

This is all some wild and bizarre joke, right... and you're gonna jump out with the punchline any minute now.

 

Nice contribution. Really added a lot.

 

Sorry, but I don't have the time to outline everything that is so incredibly uninformed and obviously incorrect about this post, but I'll try to do it shorthand: Age, attrition, the 2nd WW, paper drives, Wertham, mass comic burnings...

 

If none of the above events happened, many GA comics would as common as dirt.

[joe_collector]

Remember Action comics were printed in the hundreds of thousands but how many of those are still around?

 

I highly recommend you read up on the history of comic books, and stop spreading idiotic misinformation. There are valid reasons why comics from the 40's are harder to find, but it's got virtually nothing to do with your bizarre theories.

[joe_collector]

Ya know JC. , That is the guy with the "Invincible Man" hero idea a while back . ! Remember ......

 

Oh , I thought I had him on ignore - this has gotta be a shill joker, right?

 

And I fell for it... again.

[bhhooks22]

Ya know JC. , That is the guy with the "Invincible Man" hero idea a while back . ! Remember ......

 

Oh , I thought I had him on ignore - this has gotta be a shill joker, right?

 

And I feel for it... again.

 

No , I'm afraid he's quite serious...........

[jools&jim]

homerwannabee is expressing it poorly, but there is a (very) small kernel of truth in what he's saying: "excalating" (sic) prices for old comic books brought media attention to the hobby in the '60s and '70s ("POW! ZAP! WHAM! -- COMICS ARE WORTH BIG BUCKS!!!"), which no doubt saved many old books from rotting away in attics or basements and kept them in circulation. Nobody likes to keep worthless junk...except when it might not be so worthless. (Of course, this also meant that every old coot with a box of tattered & coverless '50s Dells thought he'd hit the jackpot...)

 

It's also true that price spikes have a tendency to bring books to market that would otherwise have languished in private collections or dealer backstock. Could be good, could be bad (depends on the book I guess)...but it does happen.

[joe_collector]

homerwannabee is expressing it poorly, but there is a (very) small kernel of truth in what he's saying

 

Not really, and a far more obvious reason for this, is "continuity" and the growth of fandom that Marvel sowed the seeds for in the early-60's, which created lifelong readers who kept their collections and never stopped buying comics "once they grew up".

 

Older readers took better care of their books than kids.

 

And BTW, most of us were hammering him about the utterly inane comments he made about the Golden Age.

[joe_collector]

And a lot of people are putting the cart before the horse.

 

Prices didn't just magically increase, they did so because of market forces; more collectors demanding a book = higher prices asked by dealers until an equilibrium is reached. Like how it's supposed to work even today.

 

If you want to look at a major boon to comic book collectability, look no further than the Overstreet guide in 1970. That provided collectors with a verified source of pricing, and actually did increase collectability in subsequent years.

[rodan57]

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.

 

 

Sorry, but I don't have the time to outline everything that is so incredibly uninformed and obviously incorrect about this post, but I'll try to do it shorthand: Age, attrition, the 2nd WW, paper drives, Wertham, mass comic burnings...

 

If none of the above events happened, many GA comics would as common as dirt.

 

I agree. If not for external events, most comics would just sit for thirty years as small stacks of books in the back of a kid's closet -- things happened to take these books out of "storage" or discourage storage in the first place. WWII paper/metal drives did a lot to make comic books scarce. You might have loved your comic books, but they came second to patriotic duty. A lot of 50s books are still around, but Wertham and TV did tarnish or reduce the attraction of comic books. Rather than just sticking the books away in a back corner, some kids/parents said, "Out you go."

 

Comics were saved or discarded according to the flavour of times.

 

I haven't touched upon the logic of supply and demand -- but if kids in the forties kept their books because they had the "foresight" to perceive a collectors' market, then these books would be in greater supply and would not have triggered a collectors' market to begin with. It's a bit of a Catch-22.