Im hating this hobby right now!

[ChicksCosmiComics]

i have been trying to save up for one book ... avengers #4 .... I was thinking I could find & pick one up at emerald city comic con in person but I think the movie will be out by then & the trailer has already been released so I think I am doomed at getting one with what I think is nice eye appeal

 

Wait 2 years and the market will crash on that book. In the short time I have gotten back into the hobby. I tried to buy some books I thought would increase in value do to movies coming out. I have decided to scrap that plan and just buy the things I want to collect and hang on to.

 

I almost bought a Avengers #4 cgc 7.5 for like $1,850 about 1 year ago betting it would go up but it really has'nt and I'm glad that deal fell through. To really cash in on the movie tie ins you have to buy years in advance

 

[Norrin_Radd]

Poverty brings with it clarity. No need to worry about what books I want to bid on. My comic budget is $0.

[chrisco37]

Poverty brings with it clarity. No need to worry about what books I want to bid on. My comic budget is $0.

 

(worship)

 

 

Also, if high priced auctions are at the top of your "worry list", you're doing something right. You should walk in these shoes right now.

[Ringfinger]

way too many great books all coming up for auction all @ the same time recently and in the near future

 

not enough funds!

 

this hobby has become way too expensive

 

You can say that again!

[Whizzer]

Someone is buying all of these books.

 

On the other hand, the vast majority of the market....well over 99%...is ignored (low grade Silver-up, off-brand Gold, off-brand Silver in any grade but "uber high", almost everything Bronze and up.)

 

If you're not after super books, this is a WONDERFUL time to be buying.

 

You can get 9.8 almost anything 1980-up for less than the slab cost these days.

 

Agreed, for me life is too short to be obsessive about 9.8's. I like owning, reading and collecting runs of books of all ages. I would rather buy 10 nice presenting fines than one uber high grade book. I am a collector not an investor.

 

That said, it is horses for courses. If you only collect 9.8 keys, more power to you and I will enjoy looking at the scans on here.

[ComicConnoisseur]

Someone is buying all of these books.

 

On the other hand, the vast majority of the market....well over 99%...is ignored (low grade Silver-up, off-brand Gold, off-brand Silver in any grade but "uber high", almost everything Bronze and up.)

 

What are the reasons why 99% of the market is ignored?

I also bet 99% of the market doesn`t know that 99% of the market is being ignored, as they see the million dollar sales of Action #1,Detective #27,and AF #15 to make them think all comic books are worth lots of money.

[Senormac]

I've made it my personal goal to collect only the second highest graded copies of books. Ok, sometimes the third highest.

[LordRahl]

way too many great books all coming up for auction all @ the same time recently and in the near future

 

not enough funds!

 

this hobby has become way too expensive

We must ask ourselves

why are all these great books coming up for auction and

if they’re so great why are they being sold.

 

Good question. It's a seller's market like never before (at the high end), whilst the online auction houses that now dominate that market are keen to exert their presence in it and increase turnover. Clearly consignors feel that now is the time to maximize and cash out on their investments, and feel that prices can't continue to rise much further in what is essentially a bubble. Add more recently unearthed tranches of super high grade books that need to be absorbed into the market (cause if they don't, it'll breed loss of confidence) and.....

 

I have to say that I agree with everything in your post, however I've been hearing this exact same thing since I joined this board in 2002. It is possible that we are just plain wrong because so far "the crash" has not happened although it has been forecasted for almost 10 years now.

[Jeffro.]

Someone is buying all of these books.

 

On the other hand, the vast majority of the market....well over 99%...is ignored (low grade Silver-up, off-brand Gold, off-brand Silver in any grade but "uber high", almost everything Bronze and up.)

 

What are the reasons why 99% of the market is ignored?

I also bet 99% of the market doesn`t know that 99% of the market is being ignored, as they see the million dollar sales of Action #1,Detective #27,and AF #15 to make them think all comic books are worth lots of money.

 

Is 99% the new meme?

[Dr. Balls]

I actually stopped looking at auctions. Everything has been higher grade and more expensive then what I typically buy.

 

Amen to that. It's hard cruising around here and fight the urge to delve into the 9.6+ arena. I've taken the plunge on a couple books, but I've had my fun. My collection is bronze and silver age raw keys, mostly 6.0 or less. And that's all it's ever going to be. I just can't compete with the high grade stuff.

[Chespirito]

I'm a mid-grade collector , but I sure do love my books.

[goldust40]

way too many great books all coming up for auction all @ the same time recently and in the near future

 

not enough funds!

 

this hobby has become way too expensive

We must ask ourselves

why are all these great books coming up for auction and

if they’re so great why are they being sold.

 

Good question. It's a seller's market like never before (at the high end), whilst the online auction houses that now dominate that market are keen to exert their presence in it and increase turnover. Clearly consignors feel that now is the time to maximize and cash out on their investments, and feel that prices can't continue to rise much further in what is essentially a bubble. Add more recently unearthed tranches of super high grade books that need to be absorbed into the market (cause if they don't, it'll breed loss of confidence) and.....

 

I have to say that I agree with everything in your post, however I've been hearing this exact same thing since I joined this board in 2002. It is possible that we are just plain wrong because so far "the crash" has not happened although it has been forecasted for almost 10 years now.

 

Hence the ellipsis. It's true, I was summarizing the "chicken little" scenario (© Joe_Collector) that has been around since the board's inception. I should qualify it by saying that there are now more auction sites dealing with the high end than ever before (and more intensely), yet the market continues to remain buoyant, which I do often find incredible. Just when you think that the market has hit the ceiling, it carries on.

 

Maybe the market is bulletproof, and only certain areas of it will decline, as has been seen already. My concern is that one day all that will be keeping the market afloat will be the keys and super-keys, but that may well be a long way off. It's up to those twentysomethings on the boards to keep the hobby going, long after its pop cultural relevance has been extinguished.