In 40 years, Is Comic Collecting Dead? ?

[Bookery]

ready for dinner? its not even 3PM!

 

She gets up at 4am for a 5:30 workday start, and gets off work at 3pm. On days other than Mondays, I start at about 8am and may not get home until after 7pm, which as a pre-diabetic is too late for me to eat. We eat together on the rare opportunities we can, and the times are generally all messed up.

 

Today, by the time I picked her up, ran an errand, and got over there, we ate about 4:30pm. Next time?

 

[Kevin.J]

The same thing that happened in England could happen in the US also.

 

I am speaking from an experience that I had about 10 years ago.

I went to buy some comics after someone responded to my advert "comics wanted"

When I got there a very old guy sold me a few American comics then said come with me.

He took me to a cupboard in the kitchen and showed me an old collection of British stuff, I told him that I didnt collect British comics, but he insisted that I take them for only £50, I told him that I thought they may be worth much more but he said he wasnt bothered and just wanted rid of them. He actually pleaded with me to take them, I gave in and argued with him to take £100, which he did eventually.

When I got them home and went through them they were from the late 1800s - 1940s, Now, you would think would be worth a fortune but in actual fact they are next to worthless as most anyone that collects them is dead and their relatives flooded the market with their collections when they died.

I haven't tried to sell these comics as I would rather keep these even though I don't collect them, as the amount of money these go for is almost insulting to the old collectors what put all that time into them.

Here are some photos of the collection of about 200 issues

 

 

 

 

 

 

[troydivision1]

Comic collecting will be dead in 50 years.

Go into your LCS and count the number of kids looking at comics.

There aren't many.

That is a problem.

As you need to grab them young so they will be loyal to your 'brand' throughout life.

[Buzzetta]

In my mid 30's.

 

I collect SA Marvel and try to pick up Golden Age Superman and Batmans with a tendency to pick up the WWII covers.

 

Not a single issue within the scope of that focus was originally printed while I have walked the Earth.

[Aces]

In my mid 30's.

 

I collect SA Marvel and try to pick up Golden Age Superman and Batmans with a tendency to pick up the WWII covers.

 

Not a single issue within the scope of that focus was originally printed while I have walked the Earth.

I think the rare WW 2 comics (most were destroyed in paper recycling drives for the war effort) and the very early SA hero books will keep most of their value for some time. Even if people trend away from paper comic to digital the characters like Hulk Spider-man Superman will still be the characters and collector's will want their early appearances. However the common drek from 1965-up will mostly die out save for key books that have 1st appearances or major events like the death of Green Goblin. Just think how hard it is to collect all the Spidey books now and then think of it 40 years from now. Who's gonna want to do all that, and from scratch?

 

[dupont2005]

Comic collecting will be dead in 50 years.

Go into your LCS and count the number of kids looking at comics.

There aren't many.

That is a problem.

As you need to grab them young so they will be loyal to your 'brand' throughout life.

Only when you are selling a brand and not a story.

[Old Fashion PB and J]

after this weekend I think movies will save comics. I actually saw alot of kids at wwpa and it made me believe again.

[c-mack]

I work at one of the biggest if not the biggest comic shops in Houston and there are still lots and lots of kids still looking to read and collect...besides im pretty sure the words ( no more kids read comics and collecting will be dead in X amount of years) has been said during the 70's,80,90, and 2000's by the "grown up" ...So im not worried at all.

[Davenport]

Today's moderns are really the start of a new Golden Age.

Wow. I wish that were true. As a DC Comics fan I catch myself jonesing for something worthwhile, but there's nothing I'm aware of. So I find myself turning to their animation library, again and again.

 

Most of DC's top tier material seems decades old now. Even Meltzer's Identity Crisis was what? 2004?

 

Anyway, I wish DC would turn back toward writers instead of reboots and gimmicks. In my opinion the Karen Berger years were probably DC's "Golden Age" of highest quality output. Since then...worthwhile tales seem few and far between.

[batman_fan]

I work at one of the biggest if not the biggest comic shops in Houston and there are still lots and lots of kids still looking to read and collect...besides im pretty sure the words ( no more kids read comics and collecting will be dead in X amount of years) has been said during the 70's,80,90, and 2000's by the "grown up" ...So im not worried at all.

 

I was heavily involved in comics since the 70s and I have to say I never heard anyone say comics were dead. In the 70s and 80s, I knew a lot of collectors. Many of the used book stores sold comics which were always busy. In the 1980s I went to my first comics book store (Mile High Comics in Ft Collins, CO). Later I went to their store in Boulder, CO. No place did I ever hear anyone talking about the demise of comics. Even in the 1990s after the big implosion of the speculators but even then it wasn't really mentioned. It wasn't until recently that I heard people talk about the demise. I think a lot of this is largely from the huge drop in the sales numbers for comics and the decline in younger readers/collectors.

[c-mack]

Ive talked to alot of "older guys" who always said there was a worry of the "kids" keeping it going with new fads that come , and it always seems like reading comics for a kid is a thing of the past i remember in the 90's it was video games to be the nail in the coffin and needless to say its still kicking with gaming becoming as big as it is now ether way i sell to alot of kids ( Low grade GA,SA,and BA ) and Im happy with what i see

[shiverbones]

The bottom line is the cream always rises. Keys will reign, filler issues will die. The best Pulps, LPs, Magazines, Nintendo games all still have strong demand even thought their format is dead, because as mediums change, the champions still are sought after as examples of the past. AF #15 yes, ridiculously expensive in 40 years, ASM #24, not so much.

[Conan_Aficionado]

Collecting as we know it only really takes off after the introduction of the middle class. Prior to that it was only museums, libraries, universities and the very wealthy that were the traditional collectors, but they collect for very different reasons than you and I and most of us. Museums to study and preserve, universities to study and educate as well as libraries, basically for posterity.

 

When I think of collecting, if think of it was mostly a western society 21st century phenomenon, and more or less the latter half of the 21st century after wwII. Go to any third world or developing nation, they don't collect, they're to preoccupied with putting food on the table. Collecting has very much to do with disposable income, and as long as the middle class has disposable income, we'll have a viable comic collecting community. Like someone mentioned in an earlier post, the hobby will exist, but with regards to values, who knows.

 

Ah, who gives a mess, ce la vie. What will be will be. Enjoy your hobby and stop thinking about how much or how little your books will be worth in 40 years.

[bushwood]

I think what we will see is that the way the world is changing, most people live in the mobile I want it now world and boxes and boxes of comics will become less and less appealing. The ability to have any comic on your iPad, phone, computer, etc will change it a lot.

 

It's happened to me in a way already...

 

[Buzzetta]

You walk around NYC Comic Con and visit places like Midtown Comics and you will see plenty of kids. On Long Island though, this is not the case.

[dupont2005]

Today's moderns are really the start of a new Golden Age.

Wow. I wish that were true. As a DC Comics fan I catch myself jonesing for something worthwhile, but there's nothing I'm aware of. So I find myself turning to their animation library, again and again.

 

Most of DC's top tier material seems decades old now. Even Meltzer's Identity Crisis was what? 2004?

 

Anyway, I wish DC would turn back toward writers instead of reboots and gimmicks. In my opinion the Karen Berger years were probably DC's "Golden Age" of highest quality output. Since then...worthwhile tales seem few and far between.

You'll have to look outside DCU, but there are plenty moderns out right now that are absolutely amazing.

[fc]

One has to be careful when using the word "dead" when talking about comic collecting.

 

What does it actually mean for the hobby to be dead? Does it simply mean that the actual

printing of new comic books on paper has to cease? Does it mean that people are no longer

willing to pay lots of money for comic books? Does it mean a certain percentage of the population

no longer buy comic books?

 

Until one defines what it means for the hobby to be dead we cannot really determine if it can

happen. Do we really mean the hobby is transitioning? Is the hobby aging and no longer a spring

chicken during a growth phase?

 

If one was to point to a phase that is the decline of comic book collecting would it be the beginning

of direct marketing in the 1970s which was in response to poor results in grocery/candy/pharmacies

stores? The closing of many direct market comic shops in the mid 90s?

 

Is it possible for the hobby to never die out if you consider the comic nature of story/art can simply

transition to other mediums? TV/movies/video games/online comics/etc... Or does collecting

involve the actual hoarding of 1000s of paper comics to be considered alive and kicking?

 

So until someone really defines what dead means... we will just end up with discussions that

are all flash but no bang.

[Kevin76]

You know, Back in the 1800/1900's art collectors were paying 5K for Rembrant paintings, They could have thought "Who's going to be around to buy this stuff in 200 years? People that were buying the art weren't "kids" Today, people pay millions for 500 year old paintings. So when someone told me "Kids today might not care about Spider-Man in 40,50, year and beyond. I know my 19 year old nephew eats and sleeps comics, but he's only a reader and not a collector.

[dr_manhattan]

I suppose one of the big questions about collecting gold and silver age comics in 40-50 years is a conservation issue - what condition will older comics be in, four or five decades from now? Considering most older books are basically printed on newsprint, I'd imagine alot will be brittle or severely yellowed in 40-50 years, even if kept in Mylar or slabs!

[Bookery]

I work at one of the biggest if not the biggest comic shops in Houston and there are still lots and lots of kids still looking to read and collect...besides im pretty sure the words ( no more kids read comics and collecting will be dead in X amount of years) has been said during the 70's,80,90, and 2000's by the "grown up" ...So im not worried at all.

 

This argument and chastisement of previous "doomsayers" always comes out in these threads to indicate that today's "doomsayers" are out of touch. Of course it's based on a strawman to begin with. Few people have used the term "dead" to describe the future of comics, and if they do, they don't mean it to be taken literally... as in, "not a single person on the entire planet will ever read or collect a comic book again!"

 

If, we replace "dead" with the still-loaded word "dying", however it paints a different picture. You are making fun of all those over the years that expressed dismay over the future trends of comic books... but you know what... they were right, and you chastisers among you were wrong.

 

Batman monthly sales (for instance):

 

1970 = 294,000

1980 = 129,000

1990 = (?... couldn't locate)

2000 = 51,000

2010 = 63,000

 

So, despite a very small uptick by 2010, probably in this case due to the Dark Knight movies, all of those people you are making fun of in the 70s, and 80s, and 90s, etc., were 100% correct in their predictions.

 

That, of course, doesn't mean that "past patterns will be indicators of future events", but it is extremely silly to put down people whose crime was making accurate predictions and analyses. Do you folks still make fun of that Galileo guy too?