Who Will Be the Vintage Back Issue Dealers of Tomorrow???

[KEY ISSUES Comics]

As we all know, the great majority of vintage back issue dealers are 40+ years of age. So my question is: "Who will carry the torch when they retire?".

 

These are guys, for the most part, who got into the business a looong time ago and have seen their inventory skyrocket in value over time. I cannot see younger dealers being able to get into the biz in this day and age at the current costs of acquiring vintage books on a large scale, the good stuff in particular.

 

There are some younger guys, but they don't have the BULK quality vintage inventory of the older guys. The former pick and choose keys and high-grade specimens, while other younger/newer dealers focus on flipping hot high-grade moderns. So, do you think there will be a shortage of vintage dealers in a few years, or will they blow-out their inventory to someone else???

 

[mikenyc]

Clone Roy, problem solved.

[KEY ISSUES Comics]

Clone Roy, problem solved.

But isn't Roy one of the guys who purchases a select few items??? He's even told me he only buys high grade and/or expensive keys.

 

So once again, who will carry the torch and sell the remaining 99.5% of the vintage books out there to the remaining 99.5% of the market? Unless we make 10,000 Roy clones, each specializing in different types of vintage books...

[mikenyc]

Clone Roy, problem solved.

But isn't Roy one of the guys who purchases a select few items??? He's even told me he only buys high grade and/or expensive keys.

 

So once again, who will carry the torch and sell the remaining 99.5% of the vintage books out there to the remaining 99.5% of the market? Unless we make 10,000 Roy clones, each specializing in different types of vintage books...

 

Sorry, I thought this was the who will carry the leather pants torch thread.

[Davenport]

So once again, who will carry the torch and sell the remaining 99.5% of the vintage books out there to the remaining 99.5% of the market?

Probably whichever app button becomes the most popular. Best guess.

 

[chromium]

Clone Roy, problem solved.

But isn't Roy one of the guys who purchases a select few items??? He's even told me he only buys high grade and/or expensive keys.

 

So once again, who will carry the torch and sell the remaining 99.5% of the vintage books out there to the remaining 99.5% of the market? Unless we make 10,000 Roy clones, each specializing in different types of vintage books...

 

Doesn't Chuck have three daughters ?

[VintageComics]

Clone Roy, problem solved.

But isn't Roy one of the guys who purchases a select few items??? He's even told me he only buys high grade and/or expensive keys.

 

I gravitate towards high grade only because that is what I liked as a collector. It's just a personal preference and I fill a niche.

 

It's impossible to be a "one size fits all" dealer so all dealers choose some sort of a niche to fill, and it's usually whatever they are comfortable with.

 

Usually what happens is those that are serious about their work and good at what they do progress and evolve. Building a reputation and finding books takes time, but eventually some become very successful at it.

 

I go to shows and see plenty of young dealers (I'm only 41 but there are plenty of dealers who are well beyond those years and still successful). I don't think finding dealers is really a problem. I see hundreds of them every month. 1/2 of them are board members or lurkers.

 

[Dr. Balls]

Primeinvestibles? I hear they got a line on some collection from Oregon that is really sweet...

[comicwiz]

The Overstreet advisory model and once-a-year publication is over. There are already signs that the valuation system will be completely controlled by the collecting community. I also think the supply glut of US issues will have an impact on how the secondary market evolves. This may mean spreading out the secondary market to rarer market niches, which means anyone with an eBay account or some half decent web dev skills sitting on a collection or inventory of comics that were overlooked for generations might well have a go at it as a dealer.

[Davenport]

Doesn't Chuck have three daughters ?

Sure they're daughters?

[Dr. Balls]

On a serious note - I think the comics industry is going to mimic the classic car industry in terms of who "collects".

 

I've been driving classic cars (read: beat up hotrods and musclecars) for 20+ years. I've seen them go from $500 for a hammered out '68 Camaro, to that same car being practically untouchable by anyone who doesn't have deep pockets 20 years later.

 

I see comic books being the same way here in 20 years. At some point, I think the costs of desirable back issues are going to be so high, the only people who can collect are people who have a lot of disposable income. The only thing that will be left to collect are modern comics with high print runs and lower values.

 

But I think those will slowly deteriorate in price because over the long run, comic collecting will slough off people who can't afford the 'collecting' part of the hobby - and there will be an over-abundance of moderns (maybe like the 90s?) available to people because the amount of collectors will have been diminished.

 

Vintage back issue dealers? I don't know - the classic car industry is 90% older guys and 10% new blood who have been able to learn the trade and carve a niché in the industry - being able to charge a premium price for their talents. I imagine comic dealers of the future will be few and far between - because selling books is going to be very lucrative, but only for a select few.

[tth2]

Clone Roy, problem solved.

But isn't Roy one of the guys who purchases a select few items??? He's even told me he only buys high grade and/or expensive keys.

 

I gravitate towards high grade only because that is what I liked as a collector. It's just a personal preference and I fill a niche.

Elitist!

[KEY ISSUES Comics]

I guess dealers as we've known them traditionally will cease to be, especially with the sheer quantity of books out there. Once upon a time most major dealers stocked pretty much everything, but now it's near impossible to do so.

[godquest]

I guess dealers as we've known them traditionally will cease to be, especially with the sheer quantity of books out there. Once upon a time most major dealers stocked pretty much everything, but now it's near impossible to do so.

 

I don't think so. Look at baseball card dealers. None of them carry everything. They all specialize. Coin dealers all specialize also. Modern, gold, silver dollars, etc. Its happening in comics already.

[toro]

Clone Roy, problem solved.

But isn't Roy one of the guys who purchases a select few items??? He's even told me he only buys high grade and/or expensive keys.

 

So once again, who will carry the torch and sell the remaining 99.5% of the vintage books out there to the remaining 99.5% of the market? Unless we make 10,000 Roy clones, each specializing in different types of vintage books...

 

Well it would take about 10,000 tries before you get a perfectly cloned Roy. So as I see it, problem solved.

[VintageComics]

I guess dealers as we've known them traditionally will cease to be, especially with the sheer quantity of books out there. Once upon a time most major dealers stocked pretty much everything, but now it's near impossible to do so.

 

Was there ever a dealer that truly carried everything? I don't know.

 

It's impossible to have one of everything unless you have a capital the size of the GDP of a small country.

 

Most people carry what they can afford, what they are comfortable with and what they can make money on.

 

One of the most challenging aspects of being a dealer to me is not selling books, it's finding new ones to replace the ones that you sell.

[HouseofComics.Com]

This is an interesting topic.

 

 

I try to carry everything but that doesn't mean anyone wants to sell me a Hulk 1 or Batman 11. But I'd be very happy if I had every Little Lulu and every Tales of Suspense and every Batman through 429. Are there many others under 45 years of age that try to have extensive pre-1961 as well as the more common 1960s and 1970s? I'm not sure.

 

Definitely there will be fewer dealers in the years to come but the market will have more to do with that than the relative age of the dealers. But I don't think this is much of a problem for years. Chuck Rozanski isn't that old and Lone Star seems like a well-oiled machine that will continue on for awhile. There are lots of other well-known dealers that will be going on for another 10-20 years. Harley is still in his 40s after all. Vincent is a young man too.

 

Perhaps the better question is, who will be the vintage show dealers of tomorrow? That's a tough game and the younger guys are much more comfortable with selling online and really won't be developing that road dog mentality. You need great books and to an extent a memory of doing shows in the 80s when shows were much better, to want to do that today, IMO.

 

I was talking to a veteran "road dog" a few days ago and despite many years of success at Emerald City, he's given up on that show. His vintage sales were slipping and due to it being a huge media show now, table prices have just about doubled.

 

I can't bring a wide variety of stuff to a big show like WonderCon anymore. It has to be keys and very mainstream stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

[thehumantorch]

As long as there are collectors looking for comics there will be dealers. Hell, there are hundreds of part-time dealers here. Over time a few of the best or most determined will build their inventory and become the dealers of the future. Future dealers probably won't have the inventory of a Yee or Metropolis but they will be out there in the retailing trenches.

[cujobyte]

I hope to work for Foolkiller (Brian K.) some day! .

[fc]

I am going to steal a few ideas coin collectors discuss quite often.

 

1. Many modern coin collectors do not require vintage dealers at all. They buy from the mint directly (a

comic store), they can buy from other collectors once the mint stops selling the item (ebay), they

refer to auction prices as their price guide, and if dealers disappeared over night it would not bother

them in the least. As long as their is a way to get new releases and buy from other collectors

they are perfectly happy. So every collector is also a "dealer" by nature as they buy and sell to

craft their collection into what they desire.

 

There is no reason, with the creation of 3rd party grading, the internet, and collector forums that

they could just do without full time dealers. It is already happening with some aspects of hobbies.

 

2. A successful dealer is one who creates a two way market for what they buy and sell. Nothing

can be as bad as buying a comic for 1000 and going back to the same dealer to sell it a year later

and they offer you 200 bucks cash or 300 in trade. This all assumes the market has not

drastically changed for the item in question.

 

That situation basically shows that they are just in the biz to make money selling their goods

and have no desire to buy it back for a reasonable amount. It is all one way. They would prefer

to get their own material slabbed at a very cheap cost and just sell it off. In no way do they want

to buy it back for any significant fraction of what they sell it for.

 

In general, a successful dealer is one who creates a two way market and desires to buy back his

own material as he has confidence in it. I like to think a dealer who does this will stand the test

of time.

 

3. Often the best dealers are ones who used to be collectors and wanted to make a career out of

it. You can really tell the difference between dealers who like what they do and others who do

not seem to care so much anymore. It is just a biz to them now.