Ever think about the $$$ you lost enjoying this hobby.

[Kevin76]

Been smart enough to not have lost my shirt in this hobby.

 

Want to think about all the money you've lost over the years? Look what's sitting in your driveway? How many of those have you bought over the years, and how much did they cost?

 

People tell me I'm crazy for spending 10K on a single comic, then they go out and buy a 40K truck....

[fc]

The op seems like he was talking more about buying off tge rack then proven collectible popular books. With that said...

 

The hobby of reading new comics costs too much so i quit years and years ago. And what is ironic is that i make multiples more now then i did back when i was buying and they still seem outrageously expensive for what you get. I can spend 30 dollars on 10 comics per month and read them in two hours or i can buy 3 novels and get hours of enjoyment plus a story that is normally so much better written then almost every comic out i ever read.

 

Now the art is a factor but when you have been reading comics for decades it takes a very special talent to get a wow from me now days.

 

Now about older comics. Back in the day reprints were not so available. Today? Heck. No reason to buy originals anymore in most cases. Even 80s comics are being reprinted if they feel they can sell it. And that includes indies.

 

So i guess i got old... As a way to put it. Other things have a much higher priority.

 

Now with that said when my son gets old enough you can bet your rear i will take him to a comic shop, hobby store, and all that good stuff!!!

[chrisco37]

no. its a hobby. you have to spend money on something. beats hookers and blow

 

Or does it?

[nwpassage]

What do you pay for Cable TV? I bet you have absolutely nothing to show for that...

 

Just pulled out my most recent cable bill. I have all the premium channels, all the reg/HD channels, 3 HDDVRs in my home and 20 mbps Internet service.

 

My bill is $23 total out the door.

 

Damn bastards be charging me for the 2nd and 3rd HDDVR. Those should be free like everything else. Just one of the perks of working for the evil cable company.

 

 

And there's still nothng on.

[passion4comics]

You're going to be dead a long time. Enjoy what you like. Don't worry if you dropped a ton of cash on comics over the years because in the end either the lawyers get it or someone takes it. Just think of all the comics I could have had without the first wife.

 

If you like comics, then buy them and don't worry about how much you've spent as long as there is a roof over your head and food on your table.

[slym2none]

In answer to the OPs question:

 

Nope.

 

 

 

-slym

[Dr. Balls]

As ThoseBackPages said - you have to spend money on something. At least if I ever decide to part with my books, I'll have a chance to get that money back.

[Bill1]

No. If I didn't collect comics, whatever money I saved would still be spent on something, and likely something that you would not have anything to show for it. Now, ask who regrets ever having sold their comics, or who stopped collecting for a few years and then restarted, and you will have a bunch of people who wish they never had sold/stopped! Not me though. I survived a first wife who was always saying I should sell them, and have always collected in some form since 1969.

[Bio-Rupp]

I think Bill is right... if the money wasn't spent on comics, then it would go toward something else with high entertainment value (of course entertainment value would depend on the person).

 

Its just so much of our hobby drops waaaaaaaay below retail. I, myself, have had a lucrative career selling Dark Tower hardbacks (a $29.99 retail value) for $4 - $5 each.

 

I don't know what amazes me more... the fact that this stuff can drop so low below retail value... or the fact that we as consumers have no problem letting it go at that price. I know the two are related through supply and demand... but still.

 

It hits all areas of our hobby. Comics, mini busts, statues, toys, TPB etc.

 

Its almost like we are primed to pay more than its worth from the get go.

 

Worth is the key word there though. Our hobby is crazy when it comes to the word "worth".

 

Ex Machina as a story is worth more to me than any issue of Saga. Team America was 10x more fun than the new Suicide Squad. The first 15 issues of the Fury of Firestorm was better than anything that has came out in the last two years concerning the New 52. Camelot 3000 is still the mini/maxi series to beat in my humble opinion... and McFarlane's anatomy was just as bad as Liefeld's if you just look at it.

 

Maybe a person's individual idea of worth is where the meaning of value lies?

 

....Nah, its market reports, GPA and asking prices....

 

 

 

[Erndog]

I think of the money I lost in the sportscard world and I cringe. Truly just shutter.

 

I think of my comics and I smile

 

BIG difference! Even if I may have lost some money in this hobby, I love everything about it. The novelty, history, collectiability and hey, even the liquidity. Sportscards on the other hand? They are like cars... when you buy something high end, good luck getting your money back. Everything's a loss in that hobby.

[HarryRod]

just got finished reading through this thread, and in response to the OP, I guess I don't really look at it as "money lost"

A hobby is a hobby....not an investment that my future hinges upon.

ANY hobby costs money and/or time and i guess I just want to look at it from the perspective of how much entertainment and enjoyment have I gotten from the money I have put towards my hobby of choice.

My answer is ALOT on both counts.

 

I think if you start looking at this from a perspective of Profit/Loss and speculation then you are no longer enjoying the hobby.

[Bio-Rupp]

 

I think if you start looking at this from a perspective of Profit/Loss and speculation then you are no longer enjoying the hobby.

 

I hear you Mr. Rod... but I don't think I'm looking at it as a "profit/loss" sort of thing... just more of a "loss/loss" based on monetary of value of what I'm buying.

 

Now don't get me wrong... I've enjoyed every single comic I've ever bought from a collector's standpoint. Either something to do with the cover, or to read, or just the damn coolness of it. I've gotten my entertainment value out of it by owning it... I'm just saying it just "stings" a tad bit when you see something you purchased for $3.99 end up in a quarter box a month later.

 

It's acceptable to us to write this off as entertainment value... but how many of you would trade me $4 cash for a quarter?

 

I know there is no entertainment value there... except looking at the sheeeet eatin' smile plastered across my face when I snag that $3.75 profit... but in reality that's basically what we are doing with our money.

 

That said, I just spent $165 on a comicbook that I can't read because its sealed in plastic and some guy wrote his name in black marker on the cover that I could probably buy for $5 out of the plastic and without the marker name damage too.

[dgarthwaite-migration]

I think if you start looking at this from a perspective of Profit/Loss and speculation then you are no longer enjoying the hobby.

 

Not really true. I was looking at it this way when I got back into the hobby in the 90's. I was unemployed and had no money to go to movies or anywhere that charged admission. I pulled out my comic collection and saw that comics I bought for $100 were worth $600. I saw that "hot" comics from the 80's like Micronauts ended up in dollar boxes by the 90's.

 

When you don't know where you are going to get money for your next meal, you start to appreciate the value of things you already own and you start appreciating the logic which made you acquire them. At that point, I immediately quit going to movies. Eventually, I did get a small income and I started doing cash/trade deals for comics that I'd always wanted. My first deal was for a Tales To Astonish #60 I traded 80's comics and put cash with it. After that I traded some 70's and 80's duplicates for a Strange Tales #110.

 

Spending money wisely allows you to both buy comics that retain value AND leverage for things you might not be able to afford otherwise. I own a Hulk #1, an FF#1, and an AF#15 because I bought comics that were holding value and then traded or sold them for a substantial profit or net value increase.

 

I enjoyed the hell out of acquiring a Hulk #1. I own it BECAUSE I focused on profit/loss and not in spite of it.

 

I am not enjoying comics currently, but it has everything to do with what publishers are doing editorially and the whole attitude of the fan base. Profit/Loss is affected because of these factors but I am able to enjoy a good comic even if it doesn't increase in value.

 

DG

[ComicConnoisseur]

Just notice a great thread over in the sales section that had X-Men # 1 - #30 for $15.

 

Now when I bought these issues off the stands 20+ years back... cover price before tax was around $41.45 for all thirty of these issues purchased over the course of almost two and a half years.

 

Figure in the gas involved to get to the shop/store those thirty different times... and add the tax... plus the cost of bag and board (because who didn't b&b those hot X-Men books) and I'm just wondering how much money I have thrown away over the years.

 

Not just on X-men... but the majority of titles I can pick up now at 50 cents or less.

 

If I had all that money now, I'm sure I could purchase a AF #15's in low/midgrade at least

 

Some simple quick Rupp math shows this...

 

Did I purchase over 1000 comics in between '91 - '94? Hell yes I did.

 

If cover price averaged $1.00 - $1.50 and we take the average of $1.25 for each of those 1000 books then I'd have spent $1250.

 

If I'd have waited 20 years and bought them at 50 cents, they would have only cost me $500... or a savings of $750.

 

Now lets just say that we purchased 1000 books from '94 - '97, and 1000 from '97 - '00, and 1000 from '00 - '03, and 1000 from '03 - '06, and 1000 from '06 - '09, and 1000 from '09 - '12...

 

And for clarity, lets just keep that cover price average at a incredibly low $1.25 even though cover prices have steadily increased to around the average $3.50 today.

 

That's only 7000 books and at $1.25 average, that's $8750 (before tax, gas, b&b).

 

At 50 cents each those 7000 books now (probably already b&b) would cost $3500... thus saving you $5250.

 

Current 90 day GPA on a 3.0 Amazing Fantasy # 15 is $5950... which is pretty close to the savings listed above.

 

Yes I know the value is in the entertainment value... but still, it hurts to think in hindsight.

 

Good thread subject! (thumbs u

[ComicConnoisseur]

What kills me to think about more is that at the current average of $3.50 per new comic... 7000 books would cost $24500 (before tax, gas & b&b.).

 

In 10 - 15 years, if those books only cost you 50 cents, then you could have saved $21,000 !

 

That's a slightly used, new Toyota Camry.... Arrrrgh!

My 20 year old nephew a few months back paid $1500 for a used car. I do not think he could get many keys for that price.That used car gets him to work and college.

It made me look at comics as investments in a different light.

[Jaymole]

I collected laserdiscs for almost 12 years...ended up with almost 2,000 of them at an average price of $40 each. Ended up selling most of them for an average about $3 a disc.

 

I wish i had used that money to buy comics.

[mintcollector]

I collected laserdiscs for almost 12 years...ended up with almost 2,000 of them at an average price of $40 each. Ended up selling most of them for an average about $3 a disc.

 

I wish i had used that money to buy comics.

 

Ironically, there were those who used to try to tell me just how 'collectible' these would become. I thought it was quite funny actually. I am sure some are sought after, but the majority are not worth all that much.

[B-Smooth]

What do you pay for Cable TV? I bet you have absolutely nothing to show for that...

 

Just pulled out my most recent cable bill. I have all the premium channels, all the reg/HD channels, 3 HDDVRs in my home and 20 mbps Internet service.

 

My bill is $23 total out the door.

 

Damn bastards be charging me for the 2nd and 3rd HDDVR. Those should be free like everything else. Just one of the perks of working for the evil cable company.

 

$23? I need to move to Kentucky, and get a job at the cable company.

[Bio-Rupp]

I collected laserdiscs for almost 12 years...ended up with almost 2,000 of them at an average price of $40 each. Ended up selling most of them for an average about $3 a disc.

 

I wish i had used that money to buy comics.

 

Ironically, there were those who used to try to tell me just how 'collectible' these would become. I thought it was quite funny actually. I am sure some are sought after, but the majority are not worth all that much.

 

We just bought my wife a new Nissan Rouge... and I sure wish I had some of that wasted money back

 

But as others stated... the entertainment value was there... just the resale value wasn't. Pretty much like whats going to happen with the Nissan Rouge.

 

[Psithyrus]

I am more concerned with the number of Yankee games and concerts I have been to.

 

Exactly, and when someone brings up a similar argument with going to a casino, I'll say, "It's paying for entertainment in the same way as a concert or sporting event." The way I gamble, it probably would cost me the same amount to go to a Texans game as it would to gamble for a couple of hours.

 

At the end of the day, the only thing you usually bring home with you, that didn't cost extra, is memories. You can get those doing anything you enjoy doing.