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CBS MarketWatch: Collectibles Are "The Stupid Investment Of The Week"

Started by delekkerste,

302 posts in this topic

garthgantu

garthgantu

Posted
Posted

I've been playing Doom 2 and Quake since the early 90s online, back when people dialed into to bulletin board systems and used those as networks...

 

FF, did you ever hear of the Professional Gamers' League? Ever play against any of the top Quake/Quake2 players like Thresh, Reptile, Immortal, etc.? I was involved in the founding and mgmt. of the PGL, and must have played 2,000 hours of it online in a 3-year span smile.gif *You should check out the book "Masters of Doom," by David Kushner, about Carmack and Romero and the founding of id Software...

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Zanarkand

Zanarkand

Posted
Posted
I also bet a large percentage of the collectors that got out because they were tired of the gimmicks got back in once Marvel changed their ways.

 

I bet they didn't.

 

I'll bet they didn't too. I haven't been back, for example. Getting back in is hard.

 

Do I really want to spend $10-$20-$30 a week on new comics that I could be putting towards back issues?

 

No.

 

Do I want to get involved in a team/character/idea that will either a) Not be very big and therefore will be a newbie mill, talent-wise, b) Will be big and spawn numerous spinoff titles with questionable continuity, or c) hm... there doesn't seem to be a c.

 

No.

 

Do I want to get involved in any kind of plot/story/continuity of any kind when I know there's just going to be some cosmic something-or-other in a couple of years that will scrap it all?

 

No.

 

893frustrated.gif

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fantastic_four

fantastic_four

Posted
Posted
FF, did you ever hear of the Professional Gamers' League? Ever play against any of the top Quake/Quake2 players like Thresh, Reptile, Immortal, etc.? I was involved in the founding and mgmt. of the PGL, and must have played 2,000 hours of it online in a 3-year span smile.gif

 

I haven't gotten involved in organized play, mostly called "clans" these days. The top-end clans, especially the guys who go to the national competitions, haven't just been playing for a long time, they've been playing 20-80 hours a week for a long time. I'm a long-time above-average amateur, not a pro.

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CosmicBob

CosmicBob

Posted
Posted
I also bet a large percentage of the collectors that got out because they were tired of the gimmicks got back in once Marvel changed their ways.

 

I bet they didn't.

 

I got out. It had nothing to do with Marvel or gimmicks. I just got tired of changes that DC was making. I haven't gotten back in to the new comics market. I now stick to buying old ones and have sold most of my modern comics.

 

I only really ever bought one Marvel title as it was being published, and that was Sensational She-Hulk. But I used to buy lots and lots of DCs and other publishers.

 

I doubt I will get back in to new comics, unless my son decides its something he's interested in when he gets older.

 

My comics were not bought for investment purposes, and they still aren't, considering how badly I seem to overpay for many of them!

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Illiterati-migration

Illiterati-migration

Posted
Posted
I also bet a large percentage of the collectors that got out because they were tired of the gimmicks got back in once Marvel changed their ways.

 

I bet they didn't.

 

I'll bet they didn't too. I haven't been back, for example. Getting back in is hard.

 

Do I really want to spend $10-$20-$30 a week on new comics that I could be putting towards back issues?

 

No.

 

Do I want to get involved in a team/character/idea that will either a) Not be very big and therefore will be a newbie mill, talent-wise, b) Will be big and spawn numerous spinoff titles with questionable continuity, or c) hm... there doesn't seem to be a c.

 

No.

 

Do I want to get involved in any kind of plot/story/continuity of any kind when I know there's just going to be some cosmic something-or-other in a couple of years that will scrap it all?

 

No.

 

893frustrated.gif

 

Which raises the question:

 

How many NEW books do you (any of you) buy every month?

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jeff2004

jeff2004

Posted
Posted
For lack of a better source for information about the stamp market, here are the total number of auctions currently on ebay for a few collectible areas:

 

  • Comics = 158,756
  • Stamps = 194,164
  • Coins = 200,825
  • Beany babies = 51,140
  • Sports cards = 434,043
  • Bottles = 17,780
  • Lamps (I've met a few older women who collect these) = 17,784
  • Dolls and bears = 247,572

Can't tell much from that about stamps versus comics except that it appears stamps are "dead" yet.

 

Wow! That's pretty cool. How did you determine that information since I am curious how many auctions are running in some other areas.

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Freiherr

Freiherr

Posted
Posted

I plan on trying out new comics when I get back to work (2 layoffs in 2 years...ick). The last new comic I bought was probably in early 2000. However, I doubt I end up buying near the amount of titles a month when I was at my highest.

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jeff2004

jeff2004

Posted
Posted

sign-rantpost.gif

 

I really don't buy new comics anymore. I went to the store when the hulk movie came out and was gonna buy the latest issue of the Hulk. I changed my mind though when I saw the comic. You know why? It was on part 2 of 6. They could of got me hooked on new Hulk comics but they screwed it up and I didn't feel like spending lots of time searching through their back issue bins to find last issues comic if they had it at all.

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dakra

dakra

Posted
Posted

I'm replying to the first post, not the 20 pages that I need to read smile.gif

 

In buying my house, I inherited a great deal of "junk" in the basement, I also got a good deal of "junk" from my father-in-law. One sunny day, I decided I wanted to start going through the junk and see what I could throw in the dumpster that I rented that weekend.

 

I threw out nothing but empty cardboard boxes. I found German Beer Steins, an Original Barbie doll, a 1960's Jadite Hamilton Beach Malt Mixer, German Decanters, China from Germany, Japan, England...etc...etc. I said "EBAY"... and I really didn't take it seriously until I lost my job. I was probably making $1000 a month after my expenses... which isn't a high paying job but It paid the bills.

 

The collectors market runs in cycles, from time to time I bring up the prices on some of the items I sold and I can't believe what I sold for $130 then is going for $30 today... I'm amazed and greatful that I sold at the right time. My most amazing find was a piece of Zwarovski (sp?) crystal that I bought at a garage sale for $3.... checked the price on ebay and it was going anywhere from $150-200... I sold it for $130.

 

My friend is a Sports Card dealer, he tells me the market is horrible but he makes his profit like any other dealer. Buying low and selling high smile.gif

 

My friends Dad has collected stamps as long as I can remember. I remember seeing him in his den day and night, spending countless hours with those stamps. I saw his Dad a few months ago and he was thoroughly disguested with stamps and how much they have lost value... and I don't think he thought of this as an investment, he ENJOYED this hobby.

 

Besides cycles, I believe the internet has had an impact on how the collectible hobby works. People are "smarter", if you find an item you like, you can always compare prices on the Internet. The brick and mortar dealers have a good deal of competition on the internet. I know a few dealers in my area who actually look up their own merchandise on ebay to see what prices they fetch and tag their items accordingly!! Which makes it tougher for me to buy something with thoughts of turning around and selling it for a profit.

 

Sorry about the jumble of thoughts but that's how the market is going.

 

-Dave

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