Pondering Supply and Demand

[David Swan]

.

 

I begin to wonder what makes a comic collectable and I want to fall back on Western Comics as just an example. By and large when they are available for sale online they don't sell. It seems like I can take all the time in the world waiting to buy a high graded comic with no fear of losing it. Having said that I would note that if you look at a super hot collectable like Amazing Spiderman at least half don't sell when auctioned on Amazon. But why would a golden age comic with some pretty high grade issues have such disinterest? The obvious answer is because it's a western comic and nobody gives a mess about western comics. These comics are filled with obscure characters, there is very little in the way of first appearances or "important issues" and there are no heroes in tights. Are these the reasons for the disinterest? Probably. But there may be more.

 

I had originally intended to collect All Star Western comics but currently own precisely zero. They are nearly impossible to find and the only ones I did find were middle to low grade and massively overpriced. I didn't collect because I couldn't. Western Comics is more available but at 104 total issues graded the comic can only support a handful of collectors. Completionists would only find this comic frustrating. There is no sense of community among Western Comics collectors because there is nothing to support a community. There is the old supply and demand maxim but I have to wonder if there isn't a certain threshold where supply is SO low that it dries up demand. I would imagine this would be the same even for superhero comics. I think it's entirely possible that Western Comics could actually BENEFIT in value by having more comics available. Will the western genre ever heat up as a collectible? I wouldn't bet money on it but I still take pride in the uniqueness of my collection.

 

See more journals by David Swan

[mysterio]

I think you answered your own question in your first paragraph when you said that nobody gives a mess about western comics. That is a genre that is falling (or has fallen) by the wayside in terms of demand as older collectors exit collecting for various reasons. It doesn't make the western comics any less cool, if that is what floats your boat, and simply means that you won't have a lot of competition. There is no incentive for someone to slab these books for profit, so the few that have been slabbed have been submitted because someone liked the book. Those books are typically going to stay locked in collections. It just means you will need to seek out raw books and sub them yourself if you want to add them to your collection. I have had to do this for some books in my collection that are rarely (or never) slabbed and it is a fun challenge.

[David Swan]

My issue now is it's really hard even to find high grade unslabbed issues of many of the comics I need.

[the420kid]

I can understand the lack of high grade copies...

 

1. No one cares to slab or even scan/ebay these books since there is little or no interest.

 

2. I can imagine alot of these books being tossed out as there is little value there and collectors have been ignoring them for a long time (seller "I've got a ton of these awesome western comics to sell ya!" comic shop "yea good luck selling those ...no one wants that garbage.")

 

 

I have no fear about picking up a 6.0-7.0 copy of a book from the 40's-50's. Sometimes that might be the best copy out there.

[jackowick-migration]

@Mysterio FYI great signature banner collection...

 

@David

 

I have a couple obscure comics I collect from the Golden Age, but the tough task is sometimes finding that person who actually has it and will sell it. In the case of the western comics, I think we're in a bit of a lull/plateau for the market based on other western collectibles. I've seen "similar" trends with those other pop culture topics including vampires/horror, and retro sci fi.

 

High grades may be tough to find and never exist. I have a 7.5 copy of the Atomic Thunderbolt from 1946, and last I saw on the registry, the only higher unrestored is an 8.0. It's subjective to some whether that 7.5 or 8.0 is what they are looking for as "high" grade, but don't underestimate the value of getting a copy of lesser condition than you desired and putting it into the bowels of your collection. It may end up as the "high" grade after all.

[thehumantorch]

@Mysterio FYI great signature banner collection...

 

@David

 

I have a couple obscure comics I collect from the Golden Age, but the tough task is sometimes finding that person who actually has it and will sell it. In the case of the western comics, I think we're in a bit of a lull/plateau for the market based on other western collectibles. I've seen "similar" trends with those other pop culture topics including vampires/horror, and retro sci fi.

 

High grades may be tough to find and never exist. I have a 7.5 copy of the Atomic Thunderbolt from 1946, and last I saw on the registry, the only higher unrestored is an 8.0. It's subjective to some whether that 7.5 or 8.0 is what they are looking for as "high" grade, but don't underestimate the value of getting a copy of lesser condition than you desired and putting it into the bowels of your collection. It may end up as the "high" grade after all.

 

I wouldn't write off Western comic collecting or for that matter any of the other out

of vogue genres. There are lot of collectors for that material but they are generally

price sensitive and not looking for high grade expensive copies or CGC graded

copies.

[Dr_Neff]

@Mysterio FYI great signature banner collection...

 

@David

 

I have a couple obscure comics I collect from the Golden Age, but the tough task is sometimes finding that person who actually has it and will sell it. In the case of the western comics, I think we're in a bit of a lull/plateau for the market based on other western collectibles. I've seen "similar" trends with those other pop culture topics including vampires/horror, and retro sci fi.

 

High grades may be tough to find and never exist. I have a 7.5 copy of the Atomic Thunderbolt from 1946, and last I saw on the registry, the only higher unresto .

 

I wouldn't write off Western comic collecting or for that matter any of the other out

of vogue genres. There are lot of collectors for that material but they are generally

price sensitive and not looking for high grade expensive copies or CGC graded

copies.

 

+1