Okay, Now I'm Officially Scared

[Lego]

My parents were down on the weekend, and as I've probably mentioned, my father collects some coins and is hardcore into hockey cards. Purely as a hobby, and he has no worries on the money side of things.

 

But immediately after coming in the door, he starts asking me about comics (!!), something he never does, and tells me that old graded comics are an excellent investment, and how he's been seeing on TV, reading in the papers, etc. about what a "sure fire investment" they are. He knows I collect, but he wasn't certain on how many CGC books I had.

 

I tried to calm him down, but he got kinda testy, and didn't believe me when I told him CGC comics were currently in a market high right now. He wouldn't let it go, and kept saying that these were "guaranteed sure-fire investments" and how they "are sure to rise in value", along with quoting all kinds of "percentage increases" from 5, 10, 15, etc. years, and how CGC comics "far outpaced the stock market". He was just hammering me with facts and figures that he's read, and I got the feeling he was itching to buy in.

 

This is not a dumb person we're talking about here, but apparently there is a lot of funny book hype out there right now, and this is coming from someone who has never mentioned investing in comic books for a very long time... probably back to reading in the paper about comics in the early-90's.

 

I am now officially scared for this hobby of mine, and I understand more why recent auction sales have been hitting record highs. Thank God my father isn't very good at the Internet...

 

I'm going to go ahead and call "B.S." on this story. You're telling me that you, JC, The King of Krash, had this experience over the weekend but you waited to share it? You started posting at 8:30 this morning and had 40 new posts before you got around to this little nugget?

 

I don't need to be smothered by a poly-blend to smell a fabrication.

[FlyingDonut]

Could conceivably be this story - but it is from May.

 

That's the only thing I could find. No CNN or CBC stories about CGC books since at least 2003.

[Silver Surfer]

I believe an issue of The Financial Post had a story on comic collecting last week.

 

JC, Introduce your papa to the board. I can't wait to have a Joe Collector sr.

 

Can't wait for JC Jr to put pappa in his place, that would be an all-time classic.

[sckao]

The key seems to be that Avengers #4 (and in 9.4) was mentioned. That's pretty specific and seems to indicate someone like Metropolis going on television and talking about the high grade market. (And the Avengers movie coming out, etc.)

 

 

 

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2009/06/08/3-stocks-that-just-make-sense.aspx

 

Motley Fool also just pushed Marvel as a stock to buy.

 

Superhero returns

Marvel's transformation is what makes it such an interesting company to me. At one point, Marvel was in large part a licensing company, lending its collection of superheroes and supervillains to production studios and toy makers, but it's recently taken a big step to change that.

 

If we go the football metaphor route, we could say that today Marvel is attempting a quarterback keeper. With the launch of MVL Productions, the folks responsible for comic book legends like The X-Men, Spider-Man, and Captain America are now also in the business of making movies.

 

It's been a bit of a mixed bag so far, as The Incredible Hulk's box office numbers didn't exactly blow the doors off, but Iron Man was very successful.

 

Now, I don't expect that little ol' Marvel will be staring down Disney (NYSE: DIS) or News Corp. anytime soon, but with an extraordinarily deep bench of popular characters to pull from, I see good things ahead for Spidey and the gang.

 

From CNN: (Action #1)

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/books/02/26/comic.book.auction/index.html

 

 

 

[sckao]

From February 2009:

 

http://www.comicspriceguide.com/blog/post/2009/02/12/CGC-94-Avengers-4-Brings-2413000-on-PedigreeComiccom.aspx

 

Avengers #4 CGC 9.4 Brings $13,000 on PedigreeComic.com

 

This article indicates a Press Release detailing a rise from $7,750 to $13,000 in 2 years for Avengers #4 in 9.4.

[Lego]

From February 2009:

 

http://www.comicspriceguide.com/blog/post/2009/02/12/CGC-94-Avengers-4-Brings-2413000-on-PedigreeComiccom.aspx

 

Avengers #4 CGC 9.4 Brings $13,000 on PedigreeComic.com

 

This article indicates a Press Release detailing a rise from $7,750 to $13,000 in 2 years for Avengers #4 in 9.4.

 

That's an article from a comic book website.

[the blob]

if these books had suffered deflation like so many other "assets" out there I don't think this investment advice would necessarily be so terrible, but given that, by and large, the high end stuff has not dipped, one would have to exercise a lot of caution.

[thehumantorch]

I believe an issue of The Financial Post had a story on comic collecting last week.

 

JC, Introduce your papa to the board. I can't wait to have a Joe Collector sr.

 

Can't wait for JC Jr to put pappa in his place, that would be an all-time classic.

 

[supapimp]

i missed on the MVL boat about 3-4 years ago.

[sckao]

From February 2009:

 

http://www.comicspriceguide.com/blog/post/2009/02/12/CGC-94-Avengers-4-Brings-2413000-on-PedigreeComiccom.aspx

 

Avengers #4 CGC 9.4 Brings $13,000 on PedigreeComic.com

 

This article indicates a Press Release detailing a rise from $7,750 to $13,000 in 2 years for Avengers #4 in 9.4.

 

That's an article from a comic book website.

 

Right, but we're talking about the web here... Press Releases can get picked up by any number of local papers looking for some fluff articles.

 

 

[BeachBum]

Could conceivably be this story - but it is from May.

 

That's the only thing I could find. No CNN or CBC stories about CGC books since at least 2003.

 

Just found the original stories with Metropolis on CNN Video, but alas both video links don't seem to work.

 

http://search.cnn.com/search.jsp?query=metropolis%20comics&type=video&sortBy=date&intl=false

[Fazybones]

 

Anyone seen these programs in question? I think he mentioned Suze Orman and some local magazine and newspaper articles, but I was a bit hesitant to talk about it after I tossed cold water on his "sure-fire investment news".

 

I have Pay TV and a channel called IFC has comic book shows

on weekly and for the most part have interviews with the artists and

writers and how the hobby has progressed. Not that much financial

talk on these shows although the shows are still very entertaining

and the odd book is discussed about their current values.

 

Right after the sale of the Universal 6.0 Action Comics # 1, the

Vancouver Sun Newspaper did a rather large article about that

sale and the investment potential in older comics and mentioned

CGC and the record breaking prices certain key comics slabbed

in HG are selling for.

 

Think about your inheritance JC and give him some advice. (thumbs u

 

[bronze_rules]

http://www.forbes.com/2005/04/22/cz_ms_0422soapbox_inl.html

 

A bit older, but I think a lot of it has to do with where the wealthy are trying to diversify their money that will track a highly expected inflationary environment. Clearly markets have been much more inflationary than we are told by government numbers (many of the commodities can attest to that). They are also scared by stocks and real estate as witnessed by recent events. Gold is a pretty heavy and costly asset to store, yet, comics can present a high value with minimal storage costs (action 1/marvel 1). That is the intuitive view, I think. Also, don't assume that comic buyers are from US only; I'm sure plenty of foreigners are also hitting the bandwagon, rather than buy our debt, they are likely diversifying into hard assets (China has tons of cash for instance).

 

Yet, I tend to agree with JC here. When the older folks start to gravitate to some hot thing, you better strike while that iron is hot. It's just another sign that the bubble is about to be pricked. Even the movie hype is a cyclical fad; all bubbles eventually burst at some point. The trick is to be unloading near a top, not after it implodes.

 

On bursting of bubbles in comics and other collectibles:

http://www.forbes.com/2008/10/21/comic-book-bubbles-markets-bubbles08-cx_ds_1021tiny.html

--------------------

Google news search for alternative publications on the subject:

http://news.google.com/archivesearch?q=comic+investment&btnG=Search+Archives&scoring=a

[chromium]

 

As for Marvelman, he strikes me as an earnest, nice guy, but didn't even know what CGC stood for. He has a very nice collection, but fancies himself far more knowledgeable than he actually is.

 

Lots of loons putting comic vids on youtube these days

 

There's this guy from Belgium on there who cracks slabs so that he can actually read his books. How nutty is that?

 

Somebody should put a stop to that !

[towards2112]

My dad thought funny books were kid stuff for years and years.

Then I opened up the store and made a few extra bucks for a while

and he got the same "deer in the headlights" look on investing.

I took the blackhand's approach, and whacked him in the head

with a shovel, he came around a short while later.

[divad]

I remember when I bought my first "collection" at age 11. I took $150 from my paper route and tobacco farm earnings and bought 4 boxes (about 600 books) off a teenager in Rockville, CT. When I got home, my parents went absolutely-freakin' nuts.!

 

Those books became the foundation of the "tomato box" pedigree.

[sckao]

I remember when I bought my first "collection" at age 11. I took $150 from my paper route and tobacco farm earnings and bought 4 boxes (about 600 books) off a teenager in Rockville, CT. When I got home, my parents went absolutely-freakin' nuts.!

 

Those books became the foundation of the "tomato box" pedigree.

 

$150 dollars back then was worth about $600 in today's dollars.

 

How Much things cost in 1975

Yearly Inflation Rate USA 9.2%

Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 858

Interest Rates Year End Federal Reserve 7.25%

Average Cost of new house $39,300.00

Average Income per year $14,100.00

Average Monthly Rent $200.00

Cost of a gallon of Gas 44 cents

Average cost new car $4,250.00

Foster Grant Sun Glasses $5.00

 

http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1975.html

 

 

 

 

[worldsbestcomics]

JC,

 

I have been asked a bit about this topic for the past year from friends and family who know that I collect comics. I was told that the Wall Street Journal did an article on "investing" in comics and some other collectibles as an alternative to stocks.

 

I give them the same advice that you gave your father.

[Bronty]

 

Anyone seen these programs in question? I think he mentioned Suze Orman and some local magazine and newspaper articles, but I was a bit hesitant to talk about it after I tossed cold water on his "sure-fire investment news".

 

I have Pay TV and a channel called IFC has comic book shows

on weekly and for the most part have interviews with the artists and

writers and how the hobby has progressed. Not that much financial

talk on these shows althougth the shows are still very entertaining

and the odd book is discussed about their current values.

 

Right after the sale of the Universal 6.0 Action Comics # 1, the

Vancouver Sun Newspaper did a rather large article about that

sale and the investment potential in older comics and mentioned

CGC and the record breaking prices certain key comics slabbed

in HG are selling for.

 

Think about your inheritance JC and give him some advice. (thumbs u

 

No kidding! I subscribe to the Sun but I missed that. Do you happen to have the article?

[DarkKnightReturns]

I'd only be worried if I was paying crazy multiples of guide for cgc 9.4's and up.

I don't think these prices will last and eventually people are gonna lose money.

As long as you buy what you can afford everything should be fine.

If you're putting stuff on your credit card or line of credit hoping to flip for profit be careful cause you could get burned.