Watchmen

[ft88]

I don't think I have ever seen a fall off in prices like I have with watchmen books. Maybe Daredevil 131? Anyway, wondered who did well selling at the top and who got burnt buying in to the hype.

 

I mean these are great books and all but the 9.8's went from consistant $300-$500 books to now $100 books. Raw NM-/NM+ sets were selling from $200-$300 and now sell for $50-90.

 

Ed

[shiverbones]

It was always a shock to me how high they went. I always saw TONS of theses around in all the local comic shops, many times in 3 for a dollar boxes. There are just HUGE numbers of them. I personally would rather have a 1st print trade paperback in NM, those are REALLY hard to find.

[DocGo]

I've been collecting Watchmen slabs since the January of '07 so I went through all the ups and downs. Luckily, when I finally decided to sell all my 9.6s and 9.8 dupes, it came at one of the highest possible points (late summer & fall of '08). Some examples:

 

Complete set of 9.6s, 08/08, $900.00

#7 9.6 SS, 10/08, $159.95 (resold in 03/09 for $255 )

#8 9.8, 09/08, $535.00

#8 9.8, 10/08, $539.95

#10 9.6 SS, 10/08, $169.95 (resold 03/09 for $217 )

12 individual 9.6s, 08/08-09/08, all sold for at least $49.95 each (average $58)

 

Except for the SSs, if I had attempted to sell these just a month later I would have been lucky to get 50% of those prices. Lucked out big time.

[ft88]

I bought 2 partial sets in late '08 and then sold them for about what I paid in early '09 (about $15 per issue) plus another set for about $200 that was part of a collection. No big deal on my end but interesting movement.

 

Ed

[Aman619]

Im shaking my head at how NOBODY out there even mentions the film... It had so much promise and hype. Very disappointing. As for the 9.6s and 9.8s?? Gee, what a surprise. Wouldnt prices have taken most of the hit anyway even if the film grossed a billion? Theres ZERO scarcity factor to them.

 

 

[Warlord]

I don't think I have ever seen a fall off in prices like I have with watchmen books. Maybe Daredevil 131? Anyway, wondered who did well selling at the top and who got burnt buying in to the hype.

 

I mean these are great books and all but the 9.8's went from consistant $300-$500 books to now $100 books. Raw NM-/NM+ sets were selling from $200-$300 and now sell for $50-90.

 

Ed

 

I cashed out, selling my entire OO set and dupes of #s1-4 starting around early Dec. All were 9.6s and 9.8s. Prices were falling fast then but were still very nice prices being realized! If my sub hadn't taken 8 weeks to get back to me instead of the expected 4 weeks from the time of my MOC submission I probably would have pulled in hundreds more. I had one buyer stiff me (he was buying Watchmen issues separately and trying to flip entire sets) on one issue. By the time I wasted 2 weeks waiting on that hoser and then re-ebayed the issue in Jan the price had dropped $100!

[Bonds25]

I started trying to build a 9.8 set about a year ago, and got frustrated when I couldn't buy the #8, 9 or 10 for less than $200 each. I ended up selling all of them about 5 months ago, and couldn't be happier!

[Bonds25]

Now that prices have dropped off a cliff, I might try to put the set together again. I love the series and the covers, and think owning a set in 9.8 would be pretty cool.

[He11blazer]

Now that prices have dropped off a cliff, I might try to put the set together again. I love the series and the covers, and think owning a set in 9.8 would be pretty cool.

 

My feeling exactly. I started buying last month and may have started just a little too soon. I got the books a lot cheaper than they were before the film, but they've continued to settle even further. Still, I'm happy to have my keeper set.

[valiantman]

Learning from previous movie/CGC 9.8 sales records, the best times to buy are:

 

1) about 60 days after the movie

2) about 18 months after the movie

3) about 30 days after the movie

4) about 9 months after the movie

5) anytime there are an unusually high number of copies for sale at the same time after the movie

 

The only exceptions would be situations where there have not been any sales in a while,

because the next sale after a "market drought" is usually a higher sale than normal.

[husslord26-migration]

I have the complete set and am debating on selling them....all 9.8 I agree maybe in 2 yrs they may go back up, but its a risk!! I really haven't lost much putting the set together, got some good deals, if I were to sell the set now I would take a little hit, but hey thats part of the game!! I do the love covers and just having the set is great!! Its funny how on ebay some people want $4500 for it, come in this economy!! I also believe the economy is playing a role in a lot of comics right now, not just Watchmen, but we shall see!!!

[AGGIEZ]

I bought a few raw sets about 5 years ago for $40-50 each. Always thought this series was underrated and undervalued. Sold a few sets for $200+.

 

I'll probably make a few lowball bids on a #1 9.8 soon. I'd like to have one of those in my collection...

[joe_collector]

Im shaking my head at how NOBODY out there even mentions the film... It had so much promise and hype. Very disappointing. As for the 9.6s and 9.8s?? Gee, what a surprise. Wouldnt prices have taken most of the hit anyway even if the film grossed a billion? Theres ZERO scarcity factor to them.

 

And even if the movie wasn't a big steam pile of it holds no sequel potential, and other than a possible prequel or two, there was never anything to keep the hype going.

 

People *investing* in Watchmen CGC slabs likely weren't the sharpest knives in the drawer.

[DocGo]

Im shaking my head at how NOBODY out there even mentions the film... It had so much promise and hype. Very disappointing. As for the 9.6s and 9.8s?? Gee, what a surprise. Wouldnt prices have taken most of the hit anyway even if the film grossed a billion? Theres ZERO scarcity factor to them.

 

And even if the movie wasn't a big steam pile of it holds no sequel potential, and other than a possible prequel or two, there was never anything to keep the hype going.

 

People *investing* in Watchmen CGC slabs likely weren't the sharpest knives in the drawer.

 

I did very well reselling my slabs last year.

[Zonker]

Im shaking my head at how NOBODY out there even mentions the film... It had so much promise and hype. Very disappointing. As for the 9.6s and 9.8s?? Gee, what a surprise. Wouldnt prices have taken most of the hit anyway even if the film grossed a billion? Theres ZERO scarcity factor to them.

 

And even if the movie wasn't a big steam pile of it holds no sequel potential, and other than a possible prequel or two, there was never anything to keep the hype going.

 

People *investing* in Watchmen CGC slabs likely weren't the sharpest knives in the drawer.

 

I did very well reselling my slabs last year.

 

Related question... who actually buys this stuff after the movie opens? (Even a good movie). I mean, I can understand buying stuff to flip in the 6 months before the movie hits. History shows that demand is there. But ultimately that demand is driven by the expectation that the movie will bring increased popularity and increased prices to the comic. Has that ever worked beyond the film's opening day? Apart from perhaps the original Tim Burton Batman film, I'm not aware of any long-lasting bump in prices for comics with tie-ins to movies. (For instance, are Iron Man comics selling for more today than they did 2 or 3 years ago?)

 

So is it just a massive case of hot potato: who can get in and out before the movie actually drops (regardless of whether the movie bombs or not)?

[RockMyAmadeus]

I sold a NM-ish set in March for $160+. Not bad, since that probably paid for every copy I'd ever purchased. I didn't have any 9.8 candidates, so I didn't have anything to slab, but I'm happy I sold the set. Unfortunately, I have 10 copies of #12, and only one copy of #8.

 

I did NOT sell one of my slipcases, like I should have. Oh well.

[He11blazer]

Im shaking my head at how NOBODY out there even mentions the film... It had so much promise and hype. Very disappointing. As for the 9.6s and 9.8s?? Gee, what a surprise. Wouldnt prices have taken most of the hit anyway even if the film grossed a billion? Theres ZERO scarcity factor to them.

 

And even if the movie wasn't a big steam pile of it holds no sequel potential, and other than a possible prequel or two, there was never anything to keep the hype going.

 

People *investing* in Watchmen CGC slabs likely weren't the sharpest knives in the drawer.

 

I did very well reselling my slabs last year.

 

Related question... who actually buys this stuff after the movie opens? (Even a good movie). I mean, I can understand buying stuff to flip in the 6 months before the movie hits. History shows that demand is there. But ultimately that demand is driven by the expectation that the movie will bring increased popularity and increased prices to the comic. Has that ever worked beyond the film's opening day? Apart from perhaps the original Tim Burton Batman film, I'm not aware of any long-lasting bump in prices for comics with tie-ins to movies. (For instance, are Iron Man comics selling for more today than they did 2 or 3 years ago?)

 

So is it just a massive case of hot potato: who can get in and out before the movie actually drops (regardless of whether the movie bombs or not)?

 

Don't lose sight of the wood for the trees!

 

I can understand buying stuff to flip in the 6 months before the movie hits. History shows that demand is there.

 

Exactly. That demand isn't entirely made up of speculators! The speculators move in because they anticipate that there will be genuine collector demand. And there is. A movie like this not only brings new fans, but it also rekindles the property for those who read it and loved it years ago, prompting many of them to recapture a bit of it.

 

It's like "Watchmen! Man, I loved that book back in college. I should reread it. In fact, it would be pretty cool to have a high grade slab of #1..."

 

Theoretically, the majority of the increased demand should be that kind of buyer. In practice, I fear there are sometimes more speculators than there are collectors, but still there are collectors too.

[joe_collector]

Im shaking my head at how NOBODY out there even mentions the film... It had so much promise and hype. Very disappointing. As for the 9.6s and 9.8s?? Gee, what a surprise. Wouldnt prices have taken most of the hit anyway even if the film grossed a billion? Theres ZERO scarcity factor to them.

 

And even if the movie wasn't a big steam pile of it holds no sequel potential, and other than a possible prequel or two, there was never anything to keep the hype going.

 

People *investing* in Watchmen CGC slabs likely weren't the sharpest knives in the drawer.

 

I did very well reselling my slabs last year.

 

Exactly, those people BUYING are the ones I'm referring to.

[Zonker]

Theoretically, the majority of the increased demand should be that kind of buyer. In practice, I fear there are sometimes more speculators than there are collectors, but still there are collectors too.

 

Well, sure... I'm familiar with the theory. It's the practice I was questioning!

[He11blazer]

Theoretically, the majority of the increased demand should be that kind of buyer. In practice, I fear there are sometimes more speculators than there are collectors, but still there are collectors too.

 

Well, sure... I'm familiar with the theory. It's the practice I was questioning!

 

So who buys this stuff after the movie? People who actually want the books.

 

I know you know that, but you did ask