silverage collecting, whats its lifespan?

[murph0]

Most people with a job at Mcdonalds could even afford a 200 dollar comic book a couple times a year.

 

Brian

[delekkerste]

Having a f/t job does not necessarily mean u have the funds to buy cgc back issues. Need to consider marital status, kids, stability of job, economic outlook, war.

 

Seriously, especially that martial status part! I'm not married, but a lot of my friends (which include collectors on this board) are, and I've seen how quickly one's spending priorities change once the little lady starts running your life. Most of the 20-something collectors on this Board will be lucky if their future wives even let them keep their existing collections, let alone spend hundreds/thousands of dollars a year on "lowly" comic books. Trust me, if your wife wants to remodel the kitchen and you want to buy more Spidey back issues, you WILL lose that battle!!

 

I think you married guys know what I'm talking about (at least the ones who aren't fabulously rich and building beach houses...sorry, couldn't resist CT).

 

Gene

[delekkerste]

For every person who just collects from a certain point up, there's 2 more that collect the full run. It's easily evidenced by the price difference for those older issues

 

That's a function of lower supply and enough rich collectors to sustain those prices. It's not because 2 out of 3 collectors of a title are gunning for those early issues. Most people simply don't have both the means and desire to collect full runs.

 

but most of the books are readily affordable to anyone with a job..exceptions are easily taken with books like ASM 1-10...Most people with a job at Mcdonalds could even afford a 200 dollar comic book a couple times a year.

 

If everyone was a hard-core comic collector, this might be true. But in real life, most people want a nice house, nice car, nice vacation, nice home entertainment system, etc. before they want nice comics. Once you factor in all of the other things that all but the hardest-core comic collectors would rather have, that doesn't leave much left over for comics. A guy making $6 or $8/hr. tops at Mickey D's I'm sure has his priorities straight enough not to blow money on $200 comic books!

 

While spending a few hundred dollars on a book or two passes for normal on this Board, I think most casual collectors and non-collectors would view it as an extravagant expense. I think we often lose sight of that fact since we're all heavy hitters and BSDs here.

 

Gene

[jimjum12]

i managed to put together a nice little batch of golden age batmans while working at 7-11 a few years back.i ate a lot of beans and rice...

a chap can pick up some fairly cool golden age on ebay now.i picked up a bat 73

(joker utility belt cover) for about 1/2 guide and traded it at the tyson's corner show

for full price.i once had a notion to put together a small gold collection of 2 to 3 examples of most of the cooler golden age books.maybe someday.i still get the most out of the silver age stuff for the most part.back in 1966, my aunt took up a collection of comic books from her high school p.e. students to try and ship to the troops in 'nam.the shipping costs proved to be insurmountable,so she gave 'em to my sister,my two cousins,and i.the comics filled the trunk of her chevelle.my share was a stack taller than i was.i still remember the covers to asm 37 and f.f.

47.they blew me away.not exactly what i would call classic today,but i never forgot em.i love the covers to f.f. 8,11,13,16,18,23,29,33,39,42,47,49,51,52,55,57,60,64,

66,73,etc.i have recently remembered how wild some of those hulk's were.that 109

is something else.GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[murph0]

ok then what's your explanation for people like myself..who are 25, weren't alive during the silver age and my parents probably weren't even alive during the Golden Age..I have no real job..yet I can manage to plop down 200-1000 dollars on a comic fairly regularly? I know of 3-4 other people like me in Iowa who are younger then I am..the idea that comics just won't translate due to their cost is an ineffective one, IMO. If you want something bad enough, you'll find a way to get it.

 

Brian

[PovertyRow]

most people tend to collect books they read as a child

 

I read probably 10 comic books as a child. So few that I can actually remember most of them. I know for absolutely sure I had an FF #1 tucked under the cabinet in the bathroom I read and re-read often (I re-read it mainly because I had a hard time figuriing out what was going on! ). I had a few Superboy comics that I loved and re-re-re-read. One Classic Illudtarted: Robionson Crusoe. And one of the JLA that left me completely befuddled. That was about it. This was one of the last comics I read as a kid (I was born in 1950).

 

So what do I collect? Pre-code horror. Started by making comic collecting something to share with my godson around 1980 or 1981 so I was 30 or 31 years old. Ity took me about 2 years of buying modern to switch to Silver Age, then about 2 or so to switch to pre-code horror. Is funny because I was between unborn-5 years old when pre-code horror was about.

 

BUT - and this is a big but and hey! Maybe it DOES jive with your idea...the very first comics I ever "read" was when I was about 5 years old and found, in the cellar, a small box containg a few EC comics like Tales from the Crypt that were owned by my then-14 year old brother. I was able to read every third or so word but it was easy to "read" the pictures! After going through all of them it took an eternity to actually climb back up the cellar stairs - I was SURE I was gonna be killed or worse. I DID have many a nightmare but I continued to sneak down to the cellar to re-read/re-lookatthepictures and then make the hundred-mile climb up the cellar stairs.

 

And I confess, that now, when I get a new pre-code horror acquisition, I get this little "chill" that takes me back to the cellar. SO I guess, after al,I AM collecting what I read as a child kind of.

[delekkerste]

ok then what's your explanation for people like myself..who are 25, weren't alive during the silver age and my parents probably weren't even alive during the Golden Age..I have no real job..yet I can manage to plop down 200-1000 dollars on a comic fairly regularly?

 

Murph, that's kinda the point. You're not even close to representative of the typical collector. For starters, you're the leading poster on this Board, which says to me that you are as hardcore as they come. Most 25 year olds do not spend hundreds/thousands of dollars on books published before they were born nor are trying to complete an entire ASM #1-#441 run.

 

How many people on this board collect ASM? Probably quite a few. How many of them, regardless of age, are trying to collect the entire series from #1 to #441 like you are? I bet you are the only one, or is there anyone else on the Board who will admit to collecting issues #400-441, for starters? It's most certainly *not* 2 out of 3 collectors trying to complete the run as you suggest. That 2 out of 3 ASM collectors are trying to complete the entire 441 issues plus annuals volume 1 series is not even remotely close to plausible.

 

I admire your passion for collecting, but here is a clear example where it has clouded your judgment. Collecting books like you do is not something everyone is willing and able to do. I think even a lot of the gainfully employed members of this board would cringe at the thought of shelling out "$200 to $1000 a book fairly regularly" like you do. Certainly the "McDonald's employee" that you cite is not going to be able to do so without cutting back his/her lifestyle dramatically. And let's face it, only the hardest core collectors are willing to do that.

 

Vintage comic books are a luxury item. They are not a staple or necessity. Spending $500 on a vintage ASM book might not seem much to a serious collector, but to most people, that pays a month's rent or puts food on the table for their family. And the higher back issue prices go, the harder it will be to convert the next generation of collectors into hardcore collectors willing to pay those big bucks to buy those older books (let alone attempt to complete entire runs).

 

Gene

[murph0]

Must just be an Iowa thing..I've stopped into a few (or more appropriately THE few) comic shops here and everything is said to be going well. I even watched a kid buy an ASM 101 CGC 9.4 for 400 dollars (he couldn't have been older then 20). I also have seen a lot of other purchasers from Iowa buy some pricey stuff on eBay, there was a guy recently that's 24 that bought a few CGC 9.2 ASM's in the 20 range. And that's just of the people I know of and this is IOWA.

 

Brian

[fantastic_four]

How many people on this board collect ASM? Probably quite a few. How many of them, regardless of age, are trying to collect the entire series from #1 to #441 like you are? I bet you are the only one, or is there anyone else on the Board who will admit to collecting issues #400-441, for starters? It's most certainly *not* 2 out of 3 collectors trying to complete the run as you suggest. That 2 out of 3 ASM collectors are trying to complete the entire 441 issues plus annuals volume 1 series is not even remotely close to plausible.

They often do if they ever get the disposable income. I started buying ASM regularly somewhere in the low 230s as a young teenager. Since I had jack-squat for cash from my paper route, I expanded to Peter Parker, Marvel Team-Up, and Marvel Tales because I didn't think I'd ever be able to finish the ASM run. Once I got the adult funds, I started filling all the old Marvel runs I never thought I'd be able to finish.

[delekkerste]

OK, let me clarify what I mean here. ASM currently sells around how many copies a month? 100,000 plus or minus 25,000? And then there are a ton of ASM collectors who don't buy the new stuff but collect back issues. So, the total number of ASM collectors is probably well over 100,000. How many people are trying to complete the entire volume 1 run of #1 to 441? If Murph is to be believed, we are talking about tens of thousands of people. Ding! Thank you for playing. The correct number of people trying to get EVERY SINGLE ISSUE (think about that - every single issue of the extremely pricey Silver Age stuff to the issues published in the 1990s that most people wouldn't wipe their with) is indisputably closer to "tens" than "tens of thousands".

 

Gene

[murph0]

Ok see the problem you have here is that I said that there's actually 2 people for everyone 1..I think you took it literally..what I meant by full run was the original 1-441 run..that would be in my mind..the full run..the others are partial runs b/c they're not the real series just new volumes of it. I didn't mean that they were buying EVERY single issue I just meant that there's probably 2 more people collecting issues from the original run to every 1 person just collecting the newer issues.

 

Brian

[awe4one]

ok then what's your explanation for people like myself..who are 25, weren't alive during the silver age and my parents probably weren't even alive during the Golden Age..I have no real job..yet I can manage to plop down 200-1000 dollars on a comic fairly regularly?

 

The vast minority. Just because you do or some of your comic collecting friends do doesn't mean that evryone does. In fact, according to Tropic Comics personnel, when I frequented there, most comic buyers don't spend over $20.00 for a single book.

 

 

Jim

[murph0]

I've never spent more then 50 dollars at a comic shop..majority of the time they never have anything or you have to ask them to show you something decent. By saying that I know many people who do I was trying to point out that just b/c people don't always see it, doesn't mean it isn't there.

Btw, at the Dallas con..I was anything BUT the minority.

 

Brian

[FlComicFan]

you guys all have some valid points.I dont think too many colectors spend over $10 for any one issue. If you watch the action at conventions the majority of comic collectors are happy to be digging through 50 cent boxes and buying up batches of $2 12 centers in vg rather than spending their mortagage payment for a few choice books.Here is my humble opionion. Silver Age especially the high grade books are beginning to border on the insane as far as prices. The higher these prices get the less collectors there will be to collect them. It happened in the late 1970's early 1980's with Golden Age books where almost no collectorscould collect runs and it wasnt till the mid 1990's that Silver Age books got to be so expensive that advanced collectors/investors started the back isse market for Golden Age back up again. Now I can see the Silver Age market will be seeing some changes very soon. Few people will be able to afford whole runs so it stands to reason many collectors will give up on runs ( I sure have) and will concentrate on selective issues they feel stand out (in Golden Age the Photo Journal really kickstarted this with all the covers many of which most of us saw for the first time pre Ebay and the availability to see a constant stream of Golden Age books) Likely it will probably force many to drop out alltogether or move to another area. I see a lot of collectors getting serious with Bronze Age books as you can still put together a high grade run of most of those titles and even that is getting a little pricey with folks willing to plunk down $1,000 + for 25 year books that most dealers up top 5 years ago said were garbage. I know that Marvel and DC's policy of retstarting books with #1 issues probably stopped some collections as well. Most old timers couldnt care less about the tripe that is being published today. So either the prices will level off to allow enough collectors to stay in this hobby or it will end up being a dead hobby. Many people especially those who are fortunate to have enough capital to afford to drop thousands for books that the comic back issue can only keep climbing. Well I noticed Heritage sucked most of the $ out of the market for higher end stuff and that only took a few auctions totalling about 15 Million $ if you believe all those lots actually did sell. I dont think there are enough collectors with the kind of cash needed to buy up all this high end stuff at these prices and hold it long enough to wait till the next level of buyers comes in. Just how many collectors in the market can afford to pay $100,000 for a Spidey 1 in NM CGC 9.4-9.6 and keep it for at least a few years?? Supply and demand rules the market but with CGC's census showing more and more super copies being slabbed is there enough $ available in the collectors to absorb all this stuff? I know and understand people want the best and are willing to pay for it but it can just keep going straight up can it? I'd like to know just how many collectors there are with the desire and ability to be spending $500+ for just one books. I'd say a few thousand tops. Look at the bidders buying golden age books on Ebay and high end CGC Silver Age books its the same group of people over and over again. Add the fact that new comics are down to a fraction of what they were and that kids are not able to afford to collect books (geez $3 and up for a new comic?) and this hobby may really be in trouble very soon. Chet

[Rickdogg]

"ok then what's your explanation for people like myself..who are 25, weren't alive during the silver age and my parents probably weren't even alive during the Golden Age..I have no real job..yet I can manage to plop down 200-1000 dollars on a comic fairly regularly?"

 

Hey murph not hating, but using yourself as an example of the average joe blow makes me laugh because isn't it daddy's money?

 

Delekkerste is right I make tons of sacrifices to buy all of the books I want. I can't wait till I get a real job so I can buy some of the holy grails.

[murph0]

That's why I used the illustration that I also have a couple friends that do as well. However...All that money from my father to me is tied up in houses. The money I'm actually using is what I gained through investments in Microware..if you don't know what that is just ask Delekwhatever..he knows all the answers.

 

Brian

[Rickdogg]

lmfao! I sense hostility among members

[murph0]

Not really hostility but the amount of negativity on here is ridiculous.

 

Brian

[awe4one]

Not really hostility but the amount of negativity on here is ridiculous.

 

I don't see the wide amount of negativity discussed by you and others. Some? Maybe. Mostly I see differences of opinion being misconstruded as negativity.

 

 

Jim

[fantastic_four]

Common debating mistake there, misconstruing disagreement as a negative thing. In my experience this is the way most people are; I work with a lot of people who can't hold a neutral debate that doesn't descend into a contest or verbal dispute. When you're focused on discovering truth in some facet of the world, it's really hard to deal with people like that!

 

The positive outlook on disagreement is much more productive; when someone disagrees with you, they could be pointing out a mistake in your logic, which doesn't hurt you, it helps you. Not being able to rationally discuss issues in a largely neutral way is a big weakness; it holds you back.

 

Delekkerste makes mostly good points and debates from a primarily neutral position, but he often pushes the wrong ego buttons on people when he directly challenges their ideas. Ah well, ego takes some people a lifetime to get control of.