Another Collectible Bites the Dust- Parallels to Comics- Quesada: Pay Attention

[DiceX]

Sounds like a good time to start buying Hummels (for keepsake purposes only)

 

I could use a Hummel, myself.

 

 

There's a L at the end of that word. Not an R.

 

 

Ah. I thought you guys were typing it wrong to get around the filters.

This thread has a whole new meaning now.

 

 

[hockey&comicsguy]

If any of you guys do feel that vintage books will become obsolete then please by all means PM me with all your GA/SA/BA books and I will be happy to take them off your hands at the PREDICTED FUTURE going out of business prices.

 

I don't think vintage (desirable) comics will ever suffer such a fate until they up and disintegrate into nothingness. Sort of the same way I feel about vintage (desirable) sports cards. Babe Ruth has been dead for over 60 years and his popularity, or that of his collectibles certainly hasn't become obsolete.

 

[3319comics]

Is it worth throwing in the reason people collect as a factor to all this? Monetary ? Escape reality? entertainment? Art appreciation? Mob mentality?

 

I think alot of the companies in the collectible markets started to change thier business models to the detrement of the core clients and that might have caused the decline in that collectible field?

[hockey&comicsguy]

Steve Carolton....

Who in the world is Steve Carolton?

 

 

 

For the record

 

#1 Koufax

#2 Spahn

#3 Plank

#4 Carlton

#5 Randy Johnson

#6 Lefty Grove

#7 Tom Glavine

 

[handyjack]

sheesh, anybody interested in my wife's beenie baby collection? She swore they would be our kids college education someday.

Otherwise, I think GA, SA, and in some cases BA comics will retain value for quite some time and as one other poster said, at least throughout our own lifetime, so whatever happens after that doesnt matter unless the idea of your collection is for leaving a major inheritance to your ancestors.

Lets just enjoy it and let the books fall where they may.

[action1kid]

The death knell................limited edition #35 of 5000.

[comicalgems]

I'm sure at some point people were collecting pine cones until they slapped a limited edition # 35 of 5000 sticker on them.

[NewWorldOrder]

When sports players retire they are forgotten and their value goes down.

 

 

 

 

Just to address this point. I think that's debatable.

 

 

Mickey Mantle

Sandy Koufax

Gordie Howe

etc....

 

The value of the cards printed from their playing days certainly have not gone down in value. If you know where I can find a box of 1950's/60's baseball cards, especially Mantles, for cheap, please let me know. I'll even pay you a finder's fee.

 

I would beg to differ that they are forgotten as well.

 

The only name IMO that will stand the test of time is Mickey Mantle, the other two not so much.

 

Sorry but maybe in Canada Howe is a better sell.

 

I am diehard Philadelphia Flyers fan and I know you are a RW fan, but hockey is dying sport in the USA.

 

Either way those players cards should usually be worth money just like Action #1, AF #15 will be as well. I am talking about players like Nolan Ryan, Mike Schmidt, Tony Gwynn and other Hall of Fame players.

 

How will they fare? I doubt very well.

 

I hope I am wrong, but you are also talking to someone who shake his head as I why I ever spent .25c on sports cards to begin with.

 

 

Fair enough.

 

Although I think you're wrong about the bolded part. You might say the NHL is dying but I'm not sure that's even true. I'd have to dig up the numbers to be certain but I believe that since the institution of the salary cap, which is based in part on league wide revenue, has gone up every year since it's inception. I do believe they are anticipating a decline going into next year though. But to say it's dying? I don't know.

 

NHL aside, absolutely youth hockey has exploded in the US. More programs throughout the country. More teams, more players, better players. The US developmental programs are doing fantastically well.

 

Recent draft history shows it's still largely Canada heavy up top but the US has made huge strides

 

2005 #1 Crosby (Can), #2 Ryan (USA), #3 Jack Johnson (USA)

2006 #1 E. Johnson (USA) Also, of the top 10 first round picks 4 were from the US and 3 from Canada

2007 #1 Patrick Kane (USA) back to back Americans picked #1. #2 your very own VanReimsdyk (USA)

2008 #3 Bogosian (USA). Very heavy Canada draft. Also heavily leaned towards defenseman. Odd draft with not a lot of flair. A pretty weak draft if you ask me.

2009 no Americans in the top 10 but 5 picks in the 1st round which was basically dominated by Canada and the Swedes.

 

I would say that youth hockey has never been more alive in the US than it is now.

 

I hope so as Hockey is still very big in Philly.

[NewWorldOrder]

If any of you guys do feel that vintage books will become obsolete then please by all means PM me with all your GA/SA/BA books and I will be happy to take them off your hands at the PREDICTED FUTURE going out of business prices.

 

I hope you're as flippant when the sheit actually hits the fan, as that's the only time it counts.

 

I have been waiting since 1993 for that to happen.

 

 

 

 

[drbanner]

I'm sure at some point people were collecting pine cones until they slapped a limited edition # 35 of 5000 sticker on them.

 

You have Pine Cone limited edition # 35 of 5000!?!?

 

How much you want for it?

[comicalgems]

I'm sure at some point people were collecting pine cones until they slapped a limited edition # 35 of 5000 sticker on them.

 

You have Pine Cone limited edition # 35 of 5000!?!?

 

How much you want for it?

 

Your oldest SA Hulk book.

[RockMyAmadeus]

I think the biggest difference between comics and other collectibles such as baseball cards or figurines is that after looking at the cover image of a comic, there is so much more there to be discovered between those covers.

 

But once a comic is encapsulated, that "so much more there" is no longer accessible. So in essence, a 3D object with a storyline and 32/64/128 pages of colored artwork becomes a 2D slab.

 

This is why we should be encouraging people to NOT slab mid and low grade books, and if they must because of restoration concerns...UNslab them when they get them.

 

Yeah, I know how ridiculous that sounds to people who think comics are only investments.

[supapimp]

a over saturation of stan lee CGC SS might single handily take down the comic collectibles hobby.

[action1kid]

If any of you guys do feel that vintage books will become obsolete then please by all means PM me with all your GA/SA/BA books and I will be happy to take them off your hands at the PREDICTED FUTURE going out of business prices.

 

I hope you're as flippant when the sheit actually hits the fan, as that's the only time it counts.

 

I have been waiting since 1993 for that to happen.

 

 

 

 

Nothing can EVER take away that Superman Batman Spiderman and the Hulk were born in Comicbooks. Cementing there collectibility !

[EastEnd]

The back issue comic book market today (and of the last few years) is deeper and more vibrant than it's ever been... more deep pocket participation... more large auctions... more external publicity... etc.. And yes, former comic collectors are coming back... I'm not sure that this is happening with any other collectible. All this despite the fact that comic books have been a serious collectible for a good half century now AND despite the fact that young children basically haven't been buying comics for the last quarter century. There are very few other collectibles that one could say the same thing for (illustration art and vintage toys come to mind, but there aren't many others). If there isn't something different about comics, then we should already be in the dustbin instead of in this unprecedented market that we're in today. In my mind, regardless of whether kids are reading comics or not, comic books will be collected as long as superheroes continue in the forefront of mass media. I myself got hooked on the George Reeves Superman TV series as a kid long before I read my first comic. Heck, I even remember dressing up as Superman for halloween before I could even read -- comics didn't get me into Superman; mass media did (and this was at a time when Superman comics sold through the roof). And it was the mass media that eventually led me to comics.

 

I do think that the rampant "manufacturing" of high grade vintage comics through pressing etc. does pose a serious threat of a coming correction down the road... a collectible field does tend to get itself in trouble when too many folks show up to "game" the system. But absent that, I have no worries whatsoever about comic books turning into beannie babies.

[comicalgems]

Yes mass media led me to comics as well. I knew who/what Spider-Man was before I ever picked up a comic book, but I got a Spider-Man comic after having looked at Marvel trading cards and finding out that there was a lot more to Spider-Man than just Doc Ock and Doctor Doom (Amazing Friends cartoon). I looked at Marvel trading cards after getting DC Toy Biz action figures AFTER seeing Tim Burton's Batman.

[PovertyRow]

I think the biggest difference between comics and other collectibles....

 

It never ceases to amaze me how comic collectors self-delude themselves into believing the fantasy that "their hobby" is somehow superior to someone else's.

 

Here's a newsflash: There is absolutely no logical reason why a grown adult would pay hundreds of thousands of dollars on a piece of old newsprint, or an old piece of cardboard, or a hunk of common metal, or small piece of paper with glue on the back.

 

Trying to argue that one collectible is inherently 'better' and therefore 'less prone to economic upheaval" is insane.

 

Joe, there is a basic flaw in this. One might just as easily say that there is no logical reason why someone would pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for a piece of rock (aka a sculpture) or some ground up pigments, oil and cloth (a painting). The base materials is not what comprises inherent value. I am sure you know that.

 

I will be going to Wondercon this year. It will be interesting to make note of the ages of the people there and what kinds of things they are looking for.

 

I do agree about the manufactured collectibles (I have railed against them myself several times here over the years.) And I agree that movies probably do not create many new collectors - perhaps a few but yes, more the investor type hoping movie hype will up the $$$ of a book.

 

But to make a long post shorter, there are inherent qualities beyond material that makes some collectibles more special. Comic books DO possess many of them. Initially they were not made to collect. They combined art and story (in some cases quite amazing art and story). They created modern day "mythic" characters: kind of their own world of American folklore. They not only reflected the current times but proved in later years to be cultural time capsules. And even the non-hero characters made their way into this new folklore.

 

I think there is enough historical, emotional, cultural and aritstic relevance in comic books to set them apart from something like a Hummel figurine.

[BrianR]

Maybe I should email that article to my parents they have about a 1000 hummels...seriously.

[joe_collector]

If any of you guys do feel that vintage books will become obsolete then please by all means PM me with all your GA/SA/BA books and I will be happy to take them off your hands at the PREDICTED FUTURE going out of business prices.

 

I hope you're as flippant when the sheit actually hits the fan, as that's the only time it counts.

 

I have been waiting since 1993 for that to happen.

 

Where were you in 1997-1999? There were insane deals across the board on vintage comics..

[PovertyRow]

Maybe I should email that article to my parents they have about a 1000 hummels...seriously.

 

If they are still collecting I bet they are aware of the current trends. Heck, if they genuinely like them they are probably acquiring even more?