Fire sales going on?

[conditionfreak]

With the economy being bad and all, I understand folks having to raise money for this bill and that want.

 

But, doesn't it seem like lately (say, four months or so) that there are books being offered for sale that normally would not be offered for sale and would remain in collections of those who "live" for their collections?

 

Is it just the economy, or is interest waning in this hobby?

 

I read more and more long time collectors deciding to "sell all of their books" for other interests or whatnot. I have even considered it myself and I have been collecting for longer than most here have been alive. My interest does die down after a few years and then resurfaces again and again. But when it does die down, I don't sell. I just don't buy for a year or two.

 

Then I'm back in the hunt again.

 

So. Do y'all think that interest is dying to more than normal lately? Is it the nature of collecting in general, to lose interest periodically and then get back "into it" again and again? Is there something to be said for the hunt, versus being satisfied with a great collection. So that starting over is an alure that many succumb too?

 

Or is it just me imagining things again?

[Cimm]

In short... Yes.

[dupont2005]

i haven't been here long but i have noticed good prices. it's why i joined

[Boozad]

My sales are through being broke. Someday I'll replace all my books in higher grade.

[lizards2]

It's the economy - less bucks chasing more available books - it's (for the most part) a buyer's market, and sellers are having to drop prices to move books.

 

I wish I had more money to dump into books right now, as the deals are exquisite.

 

[innocuous]

I know. There is a lot I want to buy right now, but can't. But then again, I've spent more this year than ever, so no complaints.

[Lebowski]

Hey, if it ain't HG Silver and in-demand OA, it's going for peanuts right now. Almost every book I've purchased lately has been a new GPA low.

 

Hell, I just bought a Sandman #1 (certainly a Modern key) 9.8 White off eBay for $163 + shipping and that's the lowest price paid since 2005. And I can see this book slipping farther until the market turns around.

 

If you have to sell anything, be sure it's a high-demand or rare item, otherwise you're better off just holding it, IMO.

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

Once, when this is economic drought is all over, I'm going to start a Great Recession Acquisition Thread either in Comics General or in The Gold Forum (since I am primarily a GA collector). It will showcase all the wonderful books we collectively have been able to acquire because of the financial strains caused by this most severe of economic downturns.

 

Granted, I've only been collecting GA since 2006, but its safe to say that the last 12 months have been the most fruitful for me in acquiring long term "keepers" for my collection. While I didn't get a bargain on all of them, sometimes just getting the opportunity to purchase a rare book, even at FMV, is an accomplishment. But there are plenty more where I got smoking deals, way beyond what I could've hoped for.

 

With a baby on the way, I've had to reign my spending in a bit, but even if I don't buy a single GA "keeper" in the next 6-12 months, the previous 12 was so good, I have plenty of great books to tide me over for a while.

 

 

 

 

 

[jimjum12]

Marc Nathan was having a 50% off sale at the VaComicon this weekend and I sure wish I'd had more money. That was very unusual for him as his stuff is usually priced pretty fair to begin with. He said he's been offered a lot of really nice material recently. I, too have noticed a lot of great deals lately. The economy definitely seems to have a lot of collectors in hibernation mode. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

[TupennyConan]

I spend a lot of money on my hoard year after year.

 

Anyone wanna sell me some HG WT's Brundage covers?

[JohnT]

I think it's a buyer's market, but there are fewer buyers due to the economy. You'd think that would put drastic downward pressure on prices, but so far I haven't noticed a drastic change, just a modest change. But then I'm mostly buying midgrade SA and GA.

 

Personally, I find it harder to haggle when I think people might be hurting financially. So I'm probably not getting the most out of this recession, but that's okay!

 

And I too wish I had more money to sink into comics right now, but like everyone else I think I feel a little more cautious because I don't know what the future of our economy will be.

[MisterX]

I wonder if there's also a simultaneous price correction going on for various comics in various grades, i.e. mid-grade and lower Silver, VF/NM or lower Bronze, Copper and Moderns, common undergrounds, etc.

 

When the recession is over, will these books stay at rock bottom prices, or go up again? There were once a group of Modern books that seemed like future Blue Chips, i.e. Y the Last Man, Sandman, Fables, etc., that now seem to be permanently headed south.

 

(There could be other factors involved in their slide, I know.)

 

What do you think?

[MR.COMICBOOK]

I wonder if there's also a simultaneous price correction going on for various comics in various grades, i.e. mid-grade and lower Silver, VF/NM or lower Bronze, Copper and Moderns, common undergrounds, etc.

 

When the recession is over, will these books stay at rock bottom prices, or go up again? There were once a group of Modern books that seemed like future Blue Chips, i.e. Y the Last Man, Sandman, Fables, etc., that now seem to be permanently headed south.

 

(There could be other factors involved in their slide, I know.)

What do you think?

Definately people rather buy hardcovers,tradepaperbacks,omnibuses and archives then the floppies with comics 1980 and up. the paper is better plus looks better on shelf. (thumbs u

[MedicAR]

With the economy being bad and all, I understand folks having to raise money for this bill and that want.

 

But, doesn't it seem like lately (say, four months or so) that there are books being offered for sale that normally would not be offered for sale and would remain in collections of those who "live" for their collections?

 

Is it just the economy, or is interest waning in this hobby?

 

I read more and more long time collectors deciding to "sell all of their books" for other interests or whatnot. I have even considered it myself and I have been collecting for longer than most here have been alive. My interest does die down after a few years and then resurfaces again and again. But when it does die down, I don't sell. I just don't buy for a year or two.

 

Then I'm back in the hunt again.

 

So. Do y'all think that interest is dying to more than normal lately? Is it the nature of collecting in general, to lose interest periodically and then get back "into it" again and again? Is there something to be said for the hunt, versus being satisfied with a great collection. So that starting over is an alure that many succumb too?

 

Or is it just me imagining things again?

 

I seem to recall some political slogan from a few years ago.....what was it? Oh yeah, "it's the economy, stupid!" No disrespect meant.

 

The economy has been brutal, plus there have been fewer and fewer chances for me to get overtime and everything seems to be getting more and more expensive. The board members have been fantastic in letting me make time payments and such, but I'm still having to sell books that I never dreamed I would part with. I'm preparing to search my boxes tonight or tomorrow again to find some gem that I think might move at a decent price.

 

There have been so many great opportunities though, I don't want to miss out. So I've been having to decide which I value more. That which I already own or that which I've just seen posted.

[MedicAR]

I know. There is a lot I want to buy right now, but can't. But then again, I've spent more this year than ever, so no complaints.

 

Yeah, my spending has been way out of control. To the point I'm seriously considering outside help.

[MedicAR]

Hey, if it ain't HG Silver and in-demand OA, it's going for peanuts right now. Almost every book I've purchased lately has been a new GPA low.

 

Hell, I just bought a Sandman #1 (certainly a Modern key) 9.8 White off eBay for $163 + shipping and that's the lowest price paid since 2005. And I can see this book slipping farther until the market turns around.

 

If you have to sell anything, be sure it's a high-demand or rare item, otherwise you're better off just holding it, IMO.

 

Holding it would be ideal, but I gots to have the phat bank!

[MedicAR]

I wonder if there's also a simultaneous price correction going on for various comics in various grades, i.e. mid-grade and lower Silver, VF/NM or lower Bronze, Copper and Moderns, common undergrounds, etc.

 

When the recession is over, will these books stay at rock bottom prices, or go up again? There were once a group of Modern books that seemed like future Blue Chips, i.e. Y the Last Man, Sandman, Fables, etc., that now seem to be permanently headed south.

 

(There could be other factors involved in their slide, I know.)

What do you think?

Definately people rather buy hardcovers,tradepaperbacks,omnibuses and archives then the floppies with comics 1980 and up. the paper is better plus looks better on shelf. (thumbs u

 

This is certainly true of most of the audience for the books mentioned. Fewer people buying them are the "traditional" comic fans and don't have the desire to build a collection or wait months to get the full story.

[Warlord]

Once, when this is economic drought is all over, I'm going to start a Great Recession Acquisition Thread either in Comics General or in The Gold Forum (since I am primarily a GA collector).

 

 

Why wait?

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

Once, when this is economic drought is all over, I'm going to start a Great Recession Acquisition Thread either in Comics General or in The Gold Forum (since I am primarily a GA collector).

 

 

Why wait?

 

Cause it ain't over yet...here comes the pain (again).

[catrick339]

Various parts of the market wax and wane regularly. So does my interest.

 

My interest hit a low in the late 70's, and again in 1991 (The Summer of Image. Bleagh.) and yet again to a lesser extent around 2002, but always there was something that came along and rekindled my interest in the medium. Oddly enough, in 1991, at the peak ( or nadir if you prefer) of the Image Boom it was...MINICOMICS!

 

After seeing the geekery surrounding the Image Gang at Chicago (Anyone else go look at Rob Leifeld signing in the big white tent in the back parking lot?) I wandered aimlessly around for a while and found, in the basement of the hotel, the Underground (Get it? Underground? Basement? Oh, never mind) a group of lunatics who simply and plainly loved comic books. They loved them enough to self-publish their own work, 8 or 16 page minis xeroxed on to plain typing paper and then cut and assembled into tiny pamphlets.

 

What an eye opener! Here was the enthusiasm for comics that I remembered as a youngster! Folks trading books, talking about stories, offering advice back and forth, admiring a particularly nice piece of artwork or story, trading tips about brushes, pencils, graphics, and all the other tools of the trade, and so on and so forth. A happier buncha comics geeks you'll never find, and none of them, with the possible exception of Larry Welz, who was selling early issues of Cherry like gangbusters, was going to make a dime all weekend.

 

Restarted my love for the medium, and it hasn't really ever died down since.

 

On the prices front, the general trend has always, since the early 70's at least, been up up up. There have been a couple serious corrections in price, always on the low end of grade, but those corrections have been both necessary and good for the hobby, I'm thinking. They have kept entry level books affordable for start up collectors and readers, while sparking further interest in nicer grade items.

 

Occasional adjustments have also been made here and there on various genres, titles, and companies also. EC used to be the hottest company out there, and now most EC comics are very affordable except for the very top level grades. When I can pick up a beat-but-complete EC book for about double the price of a new comic that's VERY affordable. Other things I have seen come and go are Disney Ducks, romance books, Fawcett hero books (about due for a resurgence, I'm thinking, there is some GREAT art and story telling in there) very early books like Single Series and first run of Four Color, no one even remembers them any more let alone collects them, with the possible exception of Tarzan, and the latest genre to tank: Westerns. Western collectors are all coots like me or older, and I've turned down the opportunity to buy two major collections in the last 3 years, I couldn't give them a fair offer because I'd have a helluva time ever selling them.

 

My next prediction for something to tank is midgrade and lowgrade Bronze. There are an awful lot of 70's books showing up at the larger conventions in the 50 cent and dollar bins. When I can scoop up Starlin Warlock books (Strange Tales 178-181, and Warlock 9-15 in VF or better) for a buck apiece there's something wrong with that market. One other possibility is Marvel Silver in G thru F, the bottom end of that group may be due for another adjustment, I've been finding some real bargains both here and elsewhere in the last year.