What Really Caused the 90s Crash?

[minutekev@50]

How about a poll?

[Aces]

Maybe it was all my fault.

 

I left collecting from 1986 to 1994/5 and missed this crash everyone talks about.

[supapimp]

hey you left out fantazia collectibles

[Rip]

This is going to sound funny, but I'd like to add (aside from all the usual suspects) a dropping of mkt reports from almost all major mkt. magazines. A couple examples...

Oversteet monthly stopped and swiched to "Fan" (dropped detailed mkt report),

The CBG also dropped the mkt reports around this same time for a while.

[ArAich]

Isn't Ron Perelman the guy that played Hellboy???

[minutekev@50]

Yes, but prior to that he owned Marvel and dragged it to hell with him!

 

Here's Perelman's Bio

 

[PUNYHUMAN]

The Death of Superman,that didn't help any!!!! That's what Chuckie says!!! Damn Speculators!!!!

[Silver Surfer]

As did I, but for a longer period. Can you imagine working for Marvel in those days when you don't even know if your going to get a paycheque next month or not. Most of the people were probably jumping ship on a daily basis. I think that the new movie craze has put some life back into the business but they need to do more on the marketing side of things to get people interested. How about a comic version of the Apprentice but without the "your fired" [!@#%^&^]. The winner gets to co-draw a new issue. Stan Lee can do some of the promo's and take us back to some of the early Silver Age classics such as FF, The Hulk and tell us how the stories were developed, drawn, etc.

 

Hey I'd watch it.

[FlyingDonut]

Bill Clinton. He gets blamed for everything else these days.

[supapimp]

Bill Clinton. He gets blamed for everything else these days.

 

[Wally's Comics]

yea, saddely enough I dropped from reading comics for awhile myself because my favorite

comic ASM was in clone / crossover / foilcovered hell!!!

 

As were the rest of the marvel books at that time period.

 

I should of picked up more DC's I guess, but I was just so down and out over the whole idea that nobody was writing good stuff at Marvel why both with any others.

 

sigh!

[joe_collector]

Ummm, where is Valiant on that list?

[valiantman]

Ummm, where is Valiant on that list?

Evidently, it's not as important as you think, Joe.

http://boards.collectors-society.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=moderncomics&Number=414210&Forum=f19

[joe_collector]

Ummm, where is Valiant on that list?

Evidently, it's not as important as you think, Joe.

 

Actually, the Valiant crash is quite important, but people tend to have selective memories with things they adore.

 

Not me, I blew off all my Valiants long before, and got to watch from the sidelines when the hit the fan. Lots of a stores lost lots of money on Valiant overstock, and some even closed down because of the meltdown.

 

That was the domino effect at work.

[valiantman]

Actually, the Valiant crash is quite important, but people tend to have selective memories with things they adore.

 

Not me, I blew off all my Valiants long before, and got to watch from the sidelines when the hit the fan. Lots of a stores lost lots of money on Valiant overstock, and some even closed down because of the meltdown.

 

That was the domino effect at work.

 

Was it part of the problem? Sure... there's no doubt it.

 

But there would still be a crash without Valiant...

They killed Superman "on the news" and printed six million copies of his return.

Wizard reported sales of books that didn't reflect reality at the time.

Speculators bought dozens of ANYTHING with a #1 on the cover.

Sportscard shops decided overnight that they could sell comics, too.

You can drop Valiant right out of the 90's equation and still get the same crash.

[blowout]

You didn't mention The Speculators, who for me are the reason for the unsustainable growth in the early 90's market.

[Aman619]

seems to me what precipitated the crash was when the majority of comics buyers/readers/speculators finally woke up and realized that their prized comics collections were [!@#%^&^] and a dime-a-dozen. That all the multiples they bought cause "they were going to go up" in value....werent! Just like the non-sports/Marvel trading card boom and bust. Collectors "suddenly" realized they were spending lots of money on pieces of cardboard with foil on it. And they werent nearly as limited or rare as they were led to believe...

 

so they stopped buying them

And stores got stuck with unsold copies in the 1000s, and cases.

And finally publishers pre-orders plummeted after stores woke up that the party was over. (unfortunately too late for many of them who only got into comics a few years earlier cause they were 'hot' and a no-brainer way to print money in their sportscard stores.

 

This of course isnt the whole story...but the underlying cause. You can only fool people for so long into happily buying manufactured collectibles.

[valiantman]

You can only fool people for so long into happily buying manufactured collectibles.

On that note... how old are Home Shopping Network and QVC?

Have they EVER offered a collectible of any kind that could be described as a "deal"?

How do they stay in business?

 

Whatever the answer... it just proves that you can't educate some people.

Don't lose sleep over the "unsuspecting people" who will lose money on comics,

or Wizard First, or Ebay, or sportscards, or comic cards, or Pogs, or Beanies,

it's just not worth the worry. People will always be people.

[Aman619]

they really get me angry the few times I tune in. Ive called the operators to deride them for working for scammers. But of course, all you ever speak to is minimum wage telephone order takers who really need their sorrry jobs - - and dont need or want to hear a lecture or any suggestions that their bosses are crooks, cause they got mouths to feed too.

 

I guess they survive by nit relying on any one collectible field and go with whats hot....and cause there are a lot of lonely people with more cash and gullibility than imagination.

[thanos_oftitan]

So would you say that people are smarter today?