Everyone says Moderns aren't going to be worth anything, meanwhile.....

[LOBrie81-migration]

Everyone says that moderns are pretty much worthless investment-wise and collecting-wise. Meanwhile, this is just my observation after looking at auctions on ebay over the past few months, it seems that each time certain moderns (no matter which ones really so long as theres a "first appearance" or even just a cool looking cover) cgc 9.8 go up, there ending price is higher than the last. This is just something I've noticed and I'm not saying ALL. But from what I've noticed they seem to go up. And thats despite which movie is coming out soon and so on as peopel say is a reason. Sorry for the rant and im sure a good deal of this post makes little or no sense....but, thats what I've seen...

[Rocketeer]

Shhh!!!...it's a secret...we're not supposed to notice...Modern books are worthless ...

[THE_BEYONDER]

I think the argument is that modern books will be worthless.....not that they are already.

[valiantman]

Comic book advice through the "ages"...

 

1960s - Don't bother with current books...

what you really want are the best books from the 1930s.

 

1970s - Don't bother with current books...

what you really want are the best books from the 1940s.

 

1980s - Don't bother with current books...

what you really want are the best books from the 1950s.

 

1990s - Don't bother with current books...

what you really want are the best books from the 1960s.

 

2000s - Don't bother with current books...

what you really want are the best books from the 1970s.

 

Of course you should stop bothering with current books... it's the RULE.

[DaethWalker]

I wouldn't really consider moderns worthless. But, paying more than cover price is a little stupid in my opinion.

 

Basically what you see now on ebay is a combination of people still jumping on the CGC wagon and specualtors. Though, I'm sure a few of the bidders are also just wanting to pick up back-issues that they somehow missed out on.

 

Many of the Moderns are good for speculation. Buying low and selling high. Speculation usually means a buyer is only holding onto his book for days or months and then flipping for a profit.

 

But, usually when someone is speaking about a comic as an investment, they are looking more at what it will be worth 5, 10, 20 yrs from now.

 

So, for speculation, moderns can be a cash cow.

 

But, for investment? Paying more than cover price would be an unwise decision.

 

Perfect example. Valiants. When they started shooting up in price many investers, who had bought at cover price made a killing. Many speculators jumped on board and also made money flipping comics. And, many of both who got on board at the end of the ride lost their shirts.

[BassGMan]

I think the argument is that modern books will be worthless.....not that they are already.

 

Yes, with "WILL" being the key word here. Most Moderns today are like Cabbage Patch Kids and that Elmo doll a few years back. Hot today (or at least hot this year) and gone tomorrow when the new fads hit. But, we need to remember that there are alot of young collectors, or even older guys that cannot afford the older more "investment" grade books and everybody does need to invest in something that they can afford and believe may "go up" in the future and hold it's value. I would like to see any suggestions that people may have. Personally my interestes stop around 1990 or so, so I am not familiar with the later Moderns but I am sure many of you guys out there are. ----Sid

[Rocketeer]

I think the argument is that modern books will be worthless.....not that they are already.

 

Yes, with "WILL" being the key word here. Most Moderns today are like Cabbage Patch Kids and that Elmo doll a few years back. Hot today (or at least hot this year) and gone tomorrow when the new fads hit. But, we need to remember that there are alot of young collectors, or even older guys that cannot afford the older more "investment" grade books and everybody does need to invest in something that they can afford and believe may "go up" in the future and hold it's value. I would like to see any suggestions that people may have. Personally my interestes stop around 1990 or so, so I am not familiar with the later Moderns but I am sure many of you guys out there are. ----Sid

 

Oh yeah...I totally agree,...but I'm going to ride that horse till it quits...

[BassGMan]

 

Oh yeah...I totally agree,...but I'm going to ride that horse till it quits...

 

Hey, I'm with ya'. I will most certainly try to take advantage of current fads (Punisher movie anyone?) for as long as they work. When it stops workin' I'll move on to the next fad. Hey, it's business ya' know. If you can make money off of your funny books, and are honest in your dealings, then go have at it and rake in as much as you can. ------Sid

[joe_collector]

Comic book advice through the "ages"...

 

Of course you should stop bothering with current books... it's the RULE.

 

This looks amusing on paper, but the fact is, that in 1960, new comics similar to USM #1 Variant didn't shoot up to a few thousand dollars for a high-grade copy. It was mostly kids buying to read, as it was through most of the 70's.

 

A far better example would be 1984-up, where the adult buyer and speculative trends started taking over. Take a random stack of comics from 1984, then compare them to 1994 and 2004.

 

If you look at an overall industry-wide set of books (and not some anomaly like ASM 300), there has been no longterm "comic-wide" appreciation in those years, and certainly not over the rate of inflation.

 

Now do the same for 1960's and 70's books, and you'll see that kid readers and a mostly non-speculative environment translate into a more realistic resale market, as opposed to the 1980's-2000's, where the trends reversed, speculation was/is rampant, and "hot books" just off the printing press could jump to several hundred dollars overnight.

[Ze-man]

While I dont really know what are the actuall "raw " numbers of books printed for each title in the 60, 70, 80, and nineties , and current comics are.

I know for a fact, that modern comics are much more mass produced then back in the day.

 

 

I think modern collecting as an investment is harder due to the fact that so many more copies were printed, and hencley more are hoarded.

 

Is Spawn #1 a rare comic? no.. popular? kinda.. 30 years from now will anyone want it? perhaps.. thats the big gamble.

But still.. if you have 50 copies of a NM Spawn #1 now and 30 years from now its worth $150, and you paid 2 bucks a pop , then you do the math..

 

Unlike Golden/Silver/ and even early bronze. Modern comics are so widespread, and so lukewarm sometimes , and so varried, that its hard to pick what you think might prove to be a keeper for the longterm.

but back in the day it was all new, fresh and undone to an extent.A handfull of writers produced everytthing, a handfull of artists drew everything, and only a few select companies made comics.

Today it would take all day to make just "top ten " lists of popular writers, artists, inkers etc..and comic companies that dont make it.

 

So we all clamor for those old titles that really were first among firsts.

And that why we pay so much for them, since numbers are finite, and dwindling everyday.

 

So if you want to put some modern comics in a timecapsule in a cornerstone and 50 years open it up.

Some one might actually scream with glee.. when they say "OMG.. look at this, Mint copies..comics from the year 2000..

but then again, they might take those comics out , look at them ,, toss them aside, and say.. [!@#%^&^], no good comics, in here only stuff from 2000.

 

So as I always say.. "buy it if you like it first and foremost "

, "collect it as a "keeper" investment secondly",

and, "buy it only in the hopes to resell someday it only.... last"

my point?.

If you at least cant read and enjoy the comic for what you paid for it, than most times you will lose out on the deal.

 

Zeman

[Rocketeer]

While I dont really know what are the actuall "raw " numbers of books printed for each title in the 60, 70, 80, and nineties , and current comics are.

I know for a fact, that modern comics are much more mass produced then back in the day.

 

 

I think modern collecting as an investment is harder due to the fact that so many more copies were printed, and hencley more are hoarded.

 

You kinda got that backwards,....an average Modern print is anywhere between 55,000-125,000 depending upon the book,....the average Silver book in it's prime was a minimum of 200,000 to upwards of 750,000.....

 

[Ze-man]

You kinda got that backwards,....an average Modern print is anywhere between 55,000-125,000 depending upon the book,....the average Silver book in it's prime was a minimum of 200,000 to upwards of 750,000.....

 

 

Once again I stands corrected......

But ..

Arent many, many modern titles that have hopes of selling well printed in at least a million?

 

Or was it just that back then, there was no video games, cell phones, DVd's, computers.

And all a kid has was comics?... so they printed a ton?

[FFB]

Nothing prints out at a million anymore. The most popular comic last year shipped about 200,000 copies through the direct market, which is what, 90+% of comic sales these days?

 

You kinda got that backwards,....an average Modern print is anywhere between 55,000-125,000 depending upon the book,....the average Silver book in it's prime was a minimum of 200,000 to upwards of 750,000.....

 

 

Once again I stands corrected......

But ..

Arent many, many modern titles that have hopes of selling well printed in at least a million?

 

Or was it just that back then, there was no video games, cell phones, DVd's, computers.

And all a kid has was comics?... so they printed a ton?

[fantastic_four]

I'm not sure that there have EVER been enough comic collectors to support a million-copy printing...the only reason they did that for X-Men #1 and Spawn #1 in the early 90s is because they knew a lot of people would be buying multiple copies.

[joe_collector]

You kinda got that backwards,....an average Modern print is anywhere between 55,000-125,000 depending upon the book,....the average Silver book in it's prime was a minimum of 200,000 to upwards of 750,000.....

 

Of course, and many Golden Age (and 1990 comics) had million-copy print runs. Now let's all go try and find copies of Superman #1 GA and Superman 75 (Death of...), and count how many of the million++ copies are out there in NM?

 

Print runs by themselves mean nothing, but when combined with attrition and younger demographics, it determines the future market:

 

Golden Age: Huge Print Runs + Extreme Attrition + Tons of Kids Reading = $$$$$$$$$$

 

Silver Age: Large Print Runs + Medium Attrition + Most Kids Reading = $$$$$$

 

Bronze Age: Medium to Large Print Runs + Moderate Attrition + Many Kids Reading = $$$

 

Modern Age: High to Medum to Low Print Runs + Virtually No Attrition + Few Kids Reading = Nada Long Term.

 

It's all about lots of kids reading and entering the hobby, huge amounts of books being consumed and disposed of, and thus providing a ready-made environment for adults to buy them back in the future.

 

If adults are the ones buying, the vast majority of comics are being stored in pristine shape, and print runs are dropping, this naturally begs the question:

 

Who's the target market for our Modern back issues in 20 years?

[Mister_Comics]

Sure the modern now will be worth something in 30 - 40 years.

[justiceleaguer]

 

You kinda got that backwards,....an average Modern print is anywhere between 55,000-125,000 depending upon the book,....the average Silver book in it's prime was a minimum of 200,000 to upwards of 750,000.....

 

 

 

Wow !!!.....those numbers are pretty sad. In the past 30-40 yrs comics have lost more than a three-quarters of their readership audience. How low can print runs actually go before printing the comic no longer becomes profitable? 20,000-25,000

[Ze-man]

the average Silver book in it's prime was a minimum of 200,000 to upwards of 750,000.....

 

So when you read about a silverage comic having a "low dristribution" such as S.S. #4 ... what on average does that mean, less then, more then 200,000?

just curious.

 

The history of comics fascinates me, bare with me .

Thanks

Zeman

[joe_collector]

Wow !!!.....those numbers are pretty sad. In the past 30-40 yrs comics have lost more than a three-quarters of their readership audience. How low can print runs actually go before printing the comic no longer becomes profitable? 20,000-25,000

 

Well, as long as the comic-addicted graybeards will continue to fork out for utterly-insane cover prices, then you could probably get away with selling a few thousand copies.

[fantastic_four]

So when you read about a silverage comic having a "low dristribution" such as S.S. #4 ... what on average does that mean, less then, more then 200,000?

 

None of us can figure out why Overstreet leaves that comment in the guide...it misleads almost EVERYBODY. Low distribution doesn't mean a low print run, it means that it didn't make it to all parts of the country. If we still were riding horses everywhere, this might be an issue, but with modern transportation and the mail system, who cares about the fact that that issue was originally distributed to fewer markets? Since then, it has spread far and wide, and Silver Surfer #4 is one of the most commonly traded issues in that run.