In 40 years, Is Comic Collecting Dead? ?

[greenhoody]

 

 

[HouseofComics.Com]

Sitting on the front stoop in 1944, reading my ADVENTURE COMICS #94,

never did I think I would still have it this many years later and that it would

be worth more than a dime. You never know.

 

[bounty_coder]

Paintings that are 400 years old still retain their value beyond belief. Okay so that's closer to Original art. But what if limited prints of 2,000 had been made at that time of that Original Art and never printed again? Would those prints still retain their value today? I'm pretty sure.

 

So a few things. First, there is a limited supply in comics. There are only x amount printed, and only x amount survive in certain conditions.

 

Some of the best artists came to America in the last 80 years to make a living ,and their work is present on many of the covers that we own. Hand drawing doesn't get much better than this. Computer graphics will increase dominance in the future. So does this mean that there will be extra value and scarcity to "Hand Drawn Comics"? Who knows

 

Scarcity and limited supply still has extreme value, especially when given a slight hint of media attention.

 

Either way, I love comics. They provided me with an outlet for creativity with both thinking and drawing. If the medium can continue to capture that, then the hobby will thrive through that.

 

 

- b unty

[mintcollector]

I recently had this discussion about how the future of comics going to be dead in 30-40 years. Are we the last generation to be shelling out 100K for slabbed books? in 40 years, is anyone going to care about an AF 15 enough to be paying 20 million for a 9.4? Or is it all going to be worthless pieces of paper that we aren't reading the writing on the wall?

 

I answered this before in another thread, so I will paraphrase what I wrote here. I think the hobby and collecting field will continue to thrive. I am not sure you are aware of this, but one of the most popular collecting categories (even among young adults) is antique bottle collecting. This hobby has continued to grow and grow by leaps and bounds; and it is now in the top ten of the most antique collectibles sought. Most people are not even aware of this. The point I am trying to make is that I just shelled out over $1,000 for a poison bottle. I am 35 years of age. I can sell this bottle today or tomorrow for close to $1300-$1500. Five years ago I was in a debate with someone who said 'bottle collecting is dead.' At that time, this same bottle was worth about $500-$800.

 

Most collecting fields that are NOT close to dying off go in cycles. Right now comic collecting is in a sort of 'speculation' period (in my opinion). I see a major comparison to what happened in 1989 during the Batman movie frenzy; just in a different form. I am sure some will argue this and they can. It is a controversial point to say the least. That being said, if you buy smart and know what you are buying, I think you will be fine.

 

Please understand that these are only my opinions and my opinions tend to differ highly with some members of this forum. Only time will tell who was right and who was wrong. Unfortunately, by that time no one will care; as people age and change. Therefore buy what you like, do your research, and plan for the future.

 

Respectfully yours,

 

'mint'

 

[jjonahjameson1]

Very interesting posts and I'd like to add that I used to collect Silver Age comics heavily from the mid-80s through 2000 and stopped cold turkey. I didn't stop because I got married or had kids or purchased a house. Nope, I stopped collecting comics because I found collecting original comic art. And once I started, I spent like a druken sailor and didn't look back.

 

Sure, there's been some moments when I think about getting back into collecting comics, but then I look at a nice original cover or panel page sequence and I can truly appreciate the effort that went into it. Original comic art is a one-of-a-kind item and I can't help but think the 'thrill of the hunt' aspect has some role in my desire to add to my collection. I really can't say the same about comics anymore.

 

Your mileage may vary.

[EastEnd]

To "House of Collectibles" -- I don't know if Batman was a good choice or not... it's just a popular character that I looked up as an example... there may be better or worse examples out there to base an analysis on.

 

I disagree with Dale, like I've said before, on the movies-as-influence angle. They have never in the entire history of comics caused more than a temporary uptick of interest in the actual comics title. If now is going to be different, there would have to be a solid argument as to why now, and only now, this trend would change.

 

I think most in this thread have some good points, but I don't think all is doom and gloom. I think the future of comics is bright, and in my opinion, comics are here to stay for the forseeable future, in some form or another.

 

Well, again, I don't think it's doom and gloom either. In fact, I try not to analyze these things with thinking either "good" or "bad", as that influences to the detriment of the analysis. I think it's more about predicting changes in the hobby, and adjustments in scale, rather than the "death" of anything. I think the following quote will likely be accuarte, but it's just an opinion...

 

So, 40 years from now, comic collecting will still be alive, and there may even be some shockingly high prices for certain items, but, by and large, it will be a smaller hobby that is more discriminating about what it values.

 

As a businessman whose livelihood depends on this stuff, I have to constantly make and adjust long-term predictions in order to survive. Right now I am in the process of putting thousands of dollars where my mouth is, by reinventing the shop yet again (something I find necessary to do every few years). And I am also working on collectibles reference projects at present that involve years and thousands of hours of work, so I'm certainly planning on the long haul (one dealing with vintage paperbacks, and two potential projects about comics. The comics projects I'd wished I'd started earlier, as I actually believe they would, at least temporarily, expand interest in vintage comics... but I've got so much time invested in another project they'll have to wait).

 

Heck... only 500 potential customers or not, I'm still dealing in pulps... so comics would have to decline a lot more for me to abandon them!

 

 

I don't think you are looking big enough scale here Tim. Batman was selling 290,000 copies in 1970, not only because of the fact it was 15 cents, but also because there had just been 4 seasons of Batman on TV, and that was TV when there was only 3 or 4 channels for most of us. It was extremely visible, and is still relevant partly because of that show.

 

I am not talking about a 2 year uptick in popularity of a title. I am talking about visibility on a grand scale. I am talking about millions and millions of people who have seen the Avengers who never knew anything about them before.

 

There is no way this doesn't have a positive influence on the comic business on the whole. I am not saying it is going to have any effect in any local store in the short term, but I guarantee there are people out there buying Avengers comics who never have before, and there are people who will grow up with the Marvel movies, playing the Marvel video games, who at some point in their life, will be purchasing an Avengers #1, and many other comics as well.

 

What I am talking about is the 10 - 15 year olds out there who watched the Avengers movie, play the games, and will grow up to be comic collectors of some sort. They may buy the trades through Amazon. They may read digital online comics. They might buy vintage comics. And yes, some of them will buy the Avengers comics at a local store.

 

I agree with this. In my view, comics as a collectible will fade out when superheroes fade out... the two are intrinsically tied together. Until then, I don't see the market tanking, And since superheros are bigger today than they've ever been, I don't see this happening any time soon.

 

I've been collecting comics since the early seventies. Have been, and likely always will be a huge Superman fan. I discovered Superman not through the comics but through the old George Reeves tv series. Comics came later for me. My nostalgic connection is not to comics persay, but to the Superman character (and all the other superhero characters that followed on from that initial exposure). I suspect many other collectors also came into the hobby because of that series, or the Superman movies, or the Batman tv series of the sixties. I don't see it much different today... except that the media presence of superheroes is many times greater today than in the sixties and seventies which makes this effect much greater. The nostalgic attachments that young people are forming to these characters they're seeing on the big screnn or in their video games today will inevitably drive a good chunk of them to seek out the source material later in life... much like it did for me thirty years ago.

 

Why are pulps dead? Well there's probably a number of reasons, but one big one is because the characters that emerged from the pulps (eg, Tarzan, Jon Carter, The Shadow) are simply no longer popular. If Tarzan remained as big over the last fifty years as say Batman or Spiderman, I suspect you'd see a lot more pulp collectors. And by the same token, when Batman and Spiderman and Superman and the X-Men's popularity falls to where the pulp characters reside today, then you'll see a decline in the comic market. Is that 40 years from now? Your guess is as good as mine...

[HouseofComics.Com]

Interesting post. While it was technically reruns of the Batman tv show that got me started, comics were everywhere, so much so that my parents could be buying me comics all over town shortly after I became crazy about Batman.

[HouseofComics.Com]

Nothing like getting the giant treasuries with all sorts of Batman stories from the 40s through the 70s ... at the grocery store.

[Owls Head]

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.

 

 

 

 

pretty good, reasonable summation

[VintageComics]

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.

 

 

 

 

pretty good, reasonable summation

 

That post is an interesting POV and makes you wonder how much collecting is affected by the economy.

 

 

[silverbagel-migration]

Nope. Unless some unforeseeable event like a major earthquake or volcano, nuclear war, total economic collapse, or something of that nature happens. People buy records today and they were a niche item thirty years ago. People like old stuff.

 

Because we can't know, it's tempting to extrapolate forward by looking back. The problem is, we're not on the same trajectory that we were on 30 years ago. Everything is accelerating.

 

It might have been stated above, but no - Comic Collecting won't be dead.

Just the Current Comic Collectors!