Stop collecting???

[bronzejunkie]

Hey, gang...

 

Who here is ready to bail as soon as all the [!@#%^&^] hits the fan and all the comics lower down to 2000 guide prices and the speculaters move on to beany babies the sequel?

 

I personally have just moved away from the true investment side of collecting and stepped into the obsession round of comic book collecting, I must have so many things and I love it... woo-hoo! I'm a monster that must be stopped!

 

Just wondering about your thoughts on the matter.

 

'best

 

Bronzejunkie

 

PS:

By the way, I hope you all say yes, so I can buy up your collections.

[Rickdogg]

I'm personally waiting for the [!@#%^&^] to hit the fan since i'd love to buy the books I "need" @ lower prices I'm definitely a buyer before i'm a seller!

 

RUN FOR THE HILLS!!!! THE COMIC APOCALYPSE IS COMING!!!!

 

[bronzejunkie]

I'm actually just wondering how many of you collect out of the love and passion and not the money side of it... The world would be so much cooler if it was all about the passion of collecting instead.

 

'best

 

Bronzejunkie

[Rickdogg]

I basically collect what I like, so it wouldn't matter much to me if the value of my books drop. People always knock on me for collecting GI Joe and Transformers books, but I don't care since I like them and that's the bottom line.

 

I believe the majority of board members love comic books for what they are and the money/investment aspect is just a plus for our crazy hobby

 

Time to hit the sack

[bronzejunkie]

I couldn't agree more, I collect Pacific Comics titles from the eighties out of the pure weird love for them and I don't care who knows it.

 

'best

 

Bronzjunkie

 

PS:

Anyone have CGC 9.4 or higher copies of Alien Worlds, Twisted Tales or Three-Dimensional Alien Worlds#1(my all time geek out comic book) please PM me and I would love to buy one or all for cash or trade

[chromium]

Well I'm a full-run (or partial run) collector... so I need to use a LOT of love and passion when completing a series, because even the best titles have some real stinkers....

I'm also advocating a nice price drop on backissues value, sure my collection would be worth a lot less, but as I still have close to 2000 titles on my want-list,cheap is better

 

I'm not in the same league as some of the big-boy collectors here, I spent about $15.000 on comics the last 18 months and I'm pretty sure I'll never get my money back.

I mean who's going to buy a $75.00 comic from a Belgian guy that comes with a $10.00 shipping tag and the risk that it has to travel a few thousand miles ?

 

Sure, I'd love to make a few bucks on some books I have,but it's not going to happen,so every time I buy a comic, deep down inside I know I'll probably keep it forever,so I read it and enjoy it

 

This also saves me from the 'high-grade addiction'... because

 

a) I'm easily pleased with a VF book, don't feel the need to have the best copy out there.

 

b) no use shelling out the big bucks,partially hoping I'll flip it someday and make a profit...once I buy a book, I'm stuck with it

 

c) Having never met another Bronze/Silver collector in my entire life,there is nobody I could show off my high grade stuff to...

 

We have a lot of comic fairs, but I'm the national pariah because I collect those 'American comics that are printed on recycled newspaper' as a local (European-strip) collector once called them.

So glad I have you guys to 'talk' comic...I would get pretty lonely otherwise

[comicartfan]

I have to agree with Rickdogg and say "let the market crash" so I can buy my books that I want for "gman dollars" !!

I think that the market is just going thru a low and that in a month or so, it will rebound. This is just the time of year with X Mas and tax season approaching. I remember two summers ago the market had dropped dramatically where a Hulk 181 CGC 9.4 was going for $1000 and it would have sold in the $1500 range at that time.....then Sept. hit and the prices were jumping back up on track. - Then I realized that July and Aug were great times to buy and lousy to sell.....so this past summer, I noticed the same trend. The "boom" that was caused by CGC's

genesis won't go away.....or crash as so many of these threads indicate. It is like the stock market and sometimes you buy high and sell low and sometime you buy low and sell high and hopefully come out in the middle. I think there will always be a huge demand for Key books of all eras, and the other stuff will have it's fans. And we all have guilty pleasures !!

[blazingbob]

Having had my best Christmas season ever I am glad to see the market crashing. I wish it crashed like this more often because if it did I think Gene might even see me at a show smiling.

[drbanner]

I'm ready for the crash on the good books so I can complete my runs, fill out my want list, and upgrade. I'm looking for nice-looking early silver marvel in mid-high grade (no restoration), and low-mid grade golden age books (resto ok!). So somebody please PM me when the this stuff crashes, ok?

 

Thanks!

[Guest]

I wont knock you for collecting GI JOE Ricky.....

[fantastic_four]

I don't think anybody who posts here regularly will bail. Anybody with more than 100 posts in this forum most likely isn't a pure speculator who is just in it for the money; they just enjoy owning and talking about comics. I could see some people here dumping some of their extremely high-grade stuff they paid more than Overstreet prices for, but I doubt anybody here will stop collecting comics just because the multiples die down a bit.

 

But then again...here's hoping nobody reading this is paying 5% to 20% loan or credit interest on comics you bought for 3x to 1000x Overstreet. That could be tough to take if it's a significant enough portion of your disposable income.

[FlComicFan]

In the new Guide you can count on the prices being higher. I cannot remember in the history of Overstreet the prices being lower from year to year. Even books that that died as far as people collecting them it took Overstreet several years before they "caught up" and lowered prices. My curiosity is with the new changes will 9.0 books be worth as much as 9.4 in thispast years guide and what will 9.4 be worth. I dont think its possible for Overstreet to accurately list prices above 9.0 as they will vary a tremendous amount depending on the book. If they shoulld go with a common multiplier say 3X 9.0 value it might get very very messy for a while. Personally I too wish prices would slow down or even go down since they have gone up at such a rapid pace especially on the Bronze and Silver Age books but its just not going to happen. Like it or not as long as really big money collectors dont care what it costs you will be paying stupid money for quality books. I'm with Dr Banner give me all the mid/low grade Gold with nice paper. Its too expensive for the common collector and the big $ guys snub their noses at the stuff so I'll take it and at at a significant discount!

[Bugaboo-migration]

I just posted this in another thread but it seems relevant to this one as well:

 

I dumped all my high dollar books a while back. Made about $400 profit from my Hulk 181 CGC 9.4 and made money on most of the other ones I sold. Although I really didn't buy them to flip and make money off of......I just wanted them.

 

I've since decided to just collect the books that got me started collecting and that I loved as a kid. It makes it much more enjoyable for me than worrying if I'm going to make or lose money on a book should I ever decide to sell it. The ones I'm buying now, I intend to keep forever.

 

And, none of the books from my childhood are key issues or anything so I can get them in high grade for not a lot of money.

 

And, I've said it before, I do hope the market crashes some and brings all of the stupid prices back down to reality. Them maybe some of the speculators out there that have hoarded the high grade books will have to dump their books and start eating a little crow.

 

 

[Lockjaw]

Right now I am just picking up a few monthlies (and an occasional trade paperback/graphic novel) when I visit my LCS (I have a pull-list with this store). After over 18 years (I am 31 now) of collecting comics, and sticking them in a box to probably never see the light of day again in my garage, I found that I needed money a little over a year ago (and thought to myself...where the frig am I going to live that provides with me with enough storage space for over 25 long boxes worth of comics, not to mention the trouble of transporting them...), so ebay called to me...sell your books, sell your books, come to me and sell your books:)

 

I am almost through selling ALL my books, and after I let go of four pending CGC modern Uncannys, a couple hundred raw ASMs in varying grades (a guestimate, I have 121,122, 129, 194, and a fair run of books from 195 - 400), and some other odds and ends books, I will be left with a small handful of Jonah Hex's that will take up less than one long box worth of space. One box is easy enough to transport:). I did fairly well on ebay selling comics...but as far as mass accumulations go, I have moved on.

 

I tend to pick up trades of independent series (they have such sporadic schedules...trades are a great way to enjoy independent comic books), and more things like the Special Edition of Liberty Meadows Big Book of Love (comes with a bookmark and a signed print that is not bound into the book, was excited to pick up this book...can you tell:) ), and although it is limited, hopefully I will get a copy of the upcoming James Steranko signed HC art book put in my put-away box. I am also enjoying reading a whole year of things like Incredible Hulk via Marvel's HCs (without having to worry about selling off the singles).

 

Christopher H.

 

 

[COI]

I understand and respect all of you who would like to see a market crash solely for the purpose of buying books you love to collect, but it seems that with many people in this hobby the issue is too black and white; You're either a speculator or a collector.

 

For me it's both. Making money off of comics as a part time venture is very rewarding for me BECAUSE I love the books. In this respect, I'm often torn between wanting lower prices, and wanting a healthy market. So when I buy something, it goes into one of 2 groups: Resale/convention inventory, or my personal collection.

 

The only books that bring in "crazy prices" are the top shelf, certified super high grades. And in my opinion, with the exception of a very small few who have VERY deep pockets or large amounts of disposable income, if you buy these very high end books re-selling must be a consideration even if it's not for 30 years, or until after you're dead. Otherwise, what's the point in paying 20X guide for a book you could pay guide for and settle for a slightly lesser copy.

 

Bottom line: I don't wish for a crash, but the occasional dip is a good thing.

[comicwiz]

My reply should be appropriately titled "stopped finding"; I can't express in words my disappointment with not seeing as many obscure material pooping-up on ebay. I guess I'll just have to burrow down, concentrate on storage and preservation of my existing collection, and snipe like crazy when something good comes along. Safe to say that my spending and quantity purchases have dropped significantly in the past months.

[PovertyRow]

Not ready to bail. Ready to buy. But even if it does not impact my genre - still ready to buy.

[Kevin Boyd]

Who here is ready to bail as soon as all the [!@#%^&^] hits the fan and all the comics lower down to 2000 guide prices and the speculaters move on to beany babies the sequel?

 

I've never bailed before, so why stop now?

 

I'm not much of a back issue collector, as I've already pursued most of the ones I want for my collection anyway. But I will buy stuff cheap for when I sell books at shows (and sometimes on e-bay).

 

In fact, I've bought more back issues in the last three months at ridiculously low prices at shows than I have in the last decade including a lot of mid-grade+ Marvel bronze for less than a buck each.

 

As a result I've filled holes in my Avengers, FF, and Hulk collections without actively trying to and I've been able to upgrade the quality of some of my collection and add more Marvel bronze to my sale stock.

 

Kev

 

[FlComicFan]

I dont agree with that. Its not just the gem books that are being sold for stupid money. When 1970's books sell for 10 times guide or Moderns sell for multiples even though there are sealed case of them around there is something wrong. Marker crash no market correction? Bring it on!