What you collect sucks: featuring The Walking Dead #1

[Ogami]

Let's recap:

 

An 8.0 is worth $400 because:

 

- The creator is an advocate for something that only artists care about

- This book saved the industry by encouraging speculation

- The millions of people watching the show want a slabbed copy of #1

- This book is about more than zombies

- I'm a person_having_a_hard_time_understanding_my_point

 

[mt1000]

Tried to find one a couple months ago and i was shocked to see they were that much. Figured couple hundred and i could get one, but i was sadly mistaken.

[VintageComics]

Let's recap:

 

An 8.0 is worth $400 because:

 

- The creator is an advocate for something that only artists care about

- This book saved the industry by encouraging speculation

- The millions of people watching the show want a slabbed copy of #1

- This book is about more than zombies

- I'm a person_having_a_hard_time_understanding_my_point

 

 

He forgot to add:

 

- Dan from Showcase New England said that Moderns would unexpectedly heat up the way Bronze, Silver and Gold have in the past.

 

[COI]

With the videogame on the way to Xbox. The skys the limit! I see this a CGC 9.8 as a $3000 book soon.

 

If that happens, it's only because the same people who are buying cgc 9.8s for 2K now will get excited and start trying to hoard the book. It's the same irrational nonsense over and over with this speculator-driven market.

 

No one who isn't already an insane slab collector is going to watch the latest episode of the show, or play the game, and think it's so good that they need to go spend 3K for an entombed copy of this comic. Best case scenario, the game and tv show affect TPB sales because people actually want to read the darn things.

 

 

From my own limited, personal experience, I agree with this. I absolutely loved Captain America, the Iron Man movies and I kind of liked the second hulk movie. I felt absolutely zero desire to go and lay out thousands of dollars on IM, CA or Hulk keys. I'm just not a big fan of the books and if I want to read the stories I'm going to pick up the marvel masterworks or an omnibus.

 

Maybe movies/tv/games whatever have a measurable impact on the value of the books beyond the collectors but to me it kind of reminds me of spammers trying to pump up penny stocks.

 

Now, on the other hand, if Neal Adams or Bernie Wrightson were to star in a porn movie with Kate Hudson, that might influence me to pay double or triple GPA for their work. Wait those guys are all old, that'd be kind of disgusting. Let me rephrase that, if Kate Hudson was in a porn movie reading a neal adams HoM book that would totally get me to empty my wallet for those books.

 

My theory is that movies/television result in higher prices, but not because they actually bring new collectors into the fold; rather, they cause pre-existing speculators to buy more on the premise that new collectors will enter the fray.

 

Kate Hudson? Really?

[8milemax]

I see ultimate spiderman #1 white variant all over again

[batman_fan]

I consider myself pretty neutral on the Walking Dead series for both comics and the TV. I watched the first season pretty religious and really found it to be pretty basic and a rehash of many other movies and series. The series is very repetitive as is the comic. I still see the Zombie craze as the current fad just like vampires and to a lesser degree werewolves. How long will it last, who knows. If someone really wants a copy of the first issue, I would still hold off until the next fad emerges and some number of the current WD fans migrate over to it and dump their WD titles.

[MrBedrock]

Best case scenario, the game and tv show affect TPB sales because people actually want to read the darn things.

 

That's exactly what is happening. Folks are watching the show, liking it, hearing about the comics series, looking at the Comic Shop Locator Service, going to stores, buying the trades, liking them, and then looking for the first issue.

[COI]

Best case scenario, the game and tv show affect TPB sales because people actually want to read the darn things.

 

That's exactly what is happening. Folks are watching the show, liking it, hearing about the comics series, looking at the Comic Shop Locator Service, going to stores, buying the trades, liking them, and then looking for the first issue.

 

Why in the world would a person who has never walked into a comic book shop, and who is looking for trades, go to a comic shop locator instead of ordering the books for 50% off or more on Amazon?

 

I'm not doubting you, but I'm starting to think I'm not the person_having_a_hard_time_understanding_my_point here.

[Park]

Best case scenario, the game and tv show affect TPB sales because people actually want to read the darn things.

 

That's exactly what is happening. Folks are watching the show, liking it, hearing about the comics series, looking at the Comic Shop Locator Service, going to stores, buying the trades, liking them, and then looking for the first issue.

 

How many of them balk when they see the price of the first issue though?

 

I can't see too many people, new or returning collectors, dropping $400 for a VF #1.

[Walls]

 

Kate Hudson? Really?

 

Hey, I could have said George Takei, right?

[Park]

 

Kate Hudson? Really?

 

Hey, I could have said George Takei, right?

 

They are built about the same.

[COI]

Best case scenario, the game and tv show affect TPB sales because people actually want to read the darn things.

 

That's exactly what is happening. Folks are watching the show, liking it, hearing about the comics series, looking at the Comic Shop Locator Service, going to stores, buying the trades, liking them, and then looking for the first issue.

 

How many of them balk when they see the price of the first issue though?

 

I can't see too many people, new or returning collectors, dropping $400 for a VF #1.

 

Exactly. People don't go from not collecting any comics, to buying $400 slabs, regardless of grades. Seasoned collectors often have trouble looking at their hobby from the perspective of someone with no knowledge, seeing a comic book stuck in a case that they can't read, selling for 1-2 car payments, while the trade is like $8 on Amazon.

[MrBedrock]

My theory is that movies/television result in higher prices, but not because they actually bring new collectors into the fold; rather, they cause pre-existing speculators to buy more on the premise that new collectors will enter the fray.

On the whole, I agree with this. But every once in a while there is a title that the general non-comic buying public latches on to in a different way. Watchmen was one of those. It didn't translate to big back issue sales because the print runs were originally so huge. Harry Potter is another example. Try buying a first edition of the first book for any kind of reasonable amount. Walking Dead is the newest example of this. The Walking Dead property is responsible for drawing more non-comic fans into my stores than any other. Heck, almost as much as ALL others.

[ComicConnoisseur]

The Walking Dead is good for the comic industry. (thumbs u

 

No doubt, but being good for the industry and saving it are 2 different claims in my book. How do you think it saved the industry? you said it gave a dying industry a shot in the arm.

You don`t think the Walking Dead gave the industry a shot in arm? Isn`t it nice to talk about something else besides upcomic comic book movies?

[VintageComics]

Best case scenario, the game and tv show affect TPB sales because people actually want to read the darn things.

 

That's exactly what is happening. Folks are watching the show, liking it, hearing about the comics series, looking at the Comic Shop Locator Service, going to stores, buying the trades, liking them, and then looking for the first issue.

 

How many of them balk when they see the price of the first issue though?

 

I can't see too many people, new or returning collectors, dropping $400 for a VF #1.

 

Exactly. People don't go from not collecting any comics, to buying $400 slabs, regardless of grades. Seasoned collectors often have trouble looking at their hobby from the perspective of someone with no knowledge, seeing a comic book stuck in a case that they can't read, selling for 1-2 car payments, while the trade is like $8 on Amazon.

 

I think we need a Walking Dead issue with a Stan Lee signature and a big azz honking zombie cockroach sketch on it.

 

 

[MrBedrock]

Best case scenario, the game and tv show affect TPB sales because people actually want to read the darn things.

 

That's exactly what is happening. Folks are watching the show, liking it, hearing about the comics series, looking at the Comic Shop Locator Service, going to stores, buying the trades, liking them, and then looking for the first issue.

 

Why in the world would a person who has never walked into a comic book shop, and who is looking for trades, go to a comic shop locator instead of ordering the books for 50% off or more on Amazon?

 

I'm not doubting you, but I'm starting to think I'm not the person_having_a_hard_time_understanding_my_point here.

As easy as Amazon is, there are still a ton of people who prefer to put their hands on something and browse it first. Especially if it is something unique or unknown to them.

[dupont2005]

I thought it was just the other day that 9.8 copies went for $400

[Park]

Best case scenario, the game and tv show affect TPB sales because people actually want to read the darn things.

 

That's exactly what is happening. Folks are watching the show, liking it, hearing about the comics series, looking at the Comic Shop Locator Service, going to stores, buying the trades, liking them, and then looking for the first issue.

 

Why in the world would a person who has never walked into a comic book shop, and who is looking for trades, go to a comic shop locator instead of ordering the books for 50% off or more on Amazon?

 

I'm not doubting you, but I'm starting to think I'm not the person_having_a_hard_time_understanding_my_point here.

As easy as Amazon is, there are still a ton of people who prefer to put their hands on something and browse it first. Especially if it is something unique or unknown to them.

 

It's called people over 30.

 

My nephew is 25 and if Amazon delivered groceries, that is what he would use.

[Mike's Rack]

I picked up one of the Walking Dead trades at a thrift store a few years back. I had sworn off comics in the 90's and had no desire to spend another dime on one. I read it and I was hooked. It re-kindled the love I had for comics before I got burned out. In fact, it drew me to pre-code horror and to the black and white horror magazines. Since then I have spent tens of thousands of dollars on silver and golden age books, much of that here on the boards. I assume there are others like me.

 

Each generation has it's icons. When I was a kid, the old timers said Wolverine and The Punisher were fads, then Ninja Turtles then Deadpool. They were right, trends change but the keys have held their value. Once something is engrained in the mind of popular culture it is difficult to put the genie back into the bottle. I don't see walking dead going anywhere, anytime soon. Low supply + high demand always equals high prices in this hobby. I imagine that a lot of the modern books will hold their value better than the copper and bronze age books becasue of the drastically lower print runs. WD #1 appears to be "the" modern age key.

 

[MrBedrock]

Best case scenario, the game and tv show affect TPB sales because people actually want to read the darn things.

 

That's exactly what is happening. Folks are watching the show, liking it, hearing about the comics series, looking at the Comic Shop Locator Service, going to stores, buying the trades, liking them, and then looking for the first issue.

 

How many of them balk when they see the price of the first issue though?

 

I can't see too many people, new or returning collectors, dropping $400 for a VF #1.

Most of them aren't looking for a #1 first. They just want the trades. By the time they make that leap to a first print #1 they have already invested in 15 trades at $15 each. $400 isn't going to scare them at that point.