High grade non-keys losing value?

[rjpb]

Pulp collecting is a pretty good example of what happens when paper ephemera outlives the generation that originally collected it. Anyone who bought firsthand the last of the pulps before they were replaced by digests is at least in their 70s, and those that can directly recall them from their depression era heyday are pushing 90.

 

Commonly available pulps that were quite popular in their day; westen, romance, railroad, have only token value in average shape, a few bucks just because they are old ( not unlike a lot of western and romance comics from the 50s). But ones with seminal work by still famous authors, continuing characters for which there is still some institutional memory, and covers and genres that have shown consistent appeal ( horror, GGA , etc.) have held their value, though perhaps not always against inflation. The gap between lower grade and high grade has widened over the years, but not to the dramatic multiples comics have.

 

However, material that was more likely to be saved at the time, specifically post-war sci-fi pulps, are surprisingly inexpensive, even with dramatic covers and work by better known authors.

 

What I take from this is, is that even as comic reading moves from the stapled pamphlets to digital and trade formats, and the generations with first hand memory drop out of collecting, that perennial favorites from the GA, in terms of character and genre will hold most of their value, but more peripheral books, and those with more faddish interest, will drop to a token value, even in higher grade, and for Silver it will be even more dramatic, as barely anything from the 60s is remotely scarce. In short, low grade Batman books from the 40s will hold value, while even high grade copies of SA westerns will probably not.

[The_Captain]

You guys always say that, yet I meet more and more 20-something GA and SA collectors all the time. So, rules be danged. If something is cool, fun to collect, read, enjoy, and perhaps even profit on, people will join in that fun.

 

[Sqeggs]

Pulp collecting is a pretty good example of what happens when paper ephemera outlives the generation that originally collected it. Anyone who bought firsthand the last of the pulps before they were replaced by digests is at least in their 70s, and those that can directly recall them from their depression era heyday are pushing 90.

 

Commonly available pulps that were quite popular in their day; westen, romance, railroad, have only token value in average shape, a few bucks just because they are old ( not unlike a lot of western and romance comics from the 50s). But ones with seminal work by still famous authors, continuing characters for which there is still some institutional memory, and covers and genres that have shown consistent appeal ( horror, GGA , etc.) have held their value, though perhaps not always against inflation. The gap between lower grade and high grade has widened over the years, but not to the dramatic multiples comics have.

 

However, material that was more likely to be saved at the time, specifically post-war sci-fi pulps, are surprisingly inexpensive, even with dramatic covers and work by better known authors.

 

What I take from this is, is that even as comic reading moves from the stapled pamphlets to digital and trade formats, and the generations with first hand memory drop out of collecting, that perennial favorites from the GA, in terms of character and genre will hold most of their value, but more peripheral books, and those with more faddish interest, will drop to a token value, even in higher grade, and for Silver it will be even more dramatic, as barely anything from the 60s is remotely scarce. In short, low grade Batman books from the 40s will hold value, while even high grade copies of SA westerns will probably not.

 

Excellent analysis. (thumbs u

[Mmehdy]

Pulp collecting is a pretty good example of what happens when paper ephemera outlives the generation that originally collected it. Anyone who bought firsthand the last of the pulps before they were replaced by digests is at least in their 70s, and those that can directly recall them from their depression era heyday are pushing 90.

 

Commonly available pulps that were quite popular in their day; westen, romance, railroad, have only token value in average shape, a few bucks just because they are old ( not unlike a lot of western and romance comics from the 50s). But ones with seminal work by still famous authors, continuing characters for which there is still some institutional memory, and covers and genres that have shown consistent appeal ( horror, GGA , etc.) have held their value, though perhaps not always against inflation. The gap between lower grade and high grade has widened over the years, but not to the dramatic multiples comics have.

 

However, material that was more likely to be saved at the time, specifically post-war sci-fi pulps, are surprisingly inexpensive, even with dramatic covers and work by better known authors.

 

What I take from this is, is that even as comic reading moves from the stapled pamphlets to digital and trade formats, and the generations with first hand memory drop out of collecting, that perennial favorites from the GA, in terms of character and genre will hold most of their value, but more peripheral books, and those with more faddish interest, will drop to a token value, even in higher grade, and for Silver it will be even more dramatic, as barely anything from the 60s is remotely scarce. In short, low grade Batman books from the 40s will hold value, while even high grade copies of SA westerns will probably not.

 

Excellent analysis. (thumbs u

 

 

Holding value and making a return on an investment, and I dont care what people say over 1k for a comic book is an investment, is going to be more difficult as time goes on.

 

1-No more book stores, no more magazines, and in less than 10 years no more hand held comic books. The trend will begin with ON DEMAND publishing to go with digital, and then its OVER.

that is reality, yes digital will be there. But the early 50's fiction house, various publishers are not gonna get bought BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT GONNA BE MORE VALUABLE IN THE FUTURE. It is downward from here. Yes, Spiderman, Superman,Batman, and Cap those will be save. But 97% of comic books are going on a slow downward spiral.

 

That is why condition is so important, the market is gonna get limited, and to get any kind of buyer return, it is gonna have to be in top shape and be in the public eye.

 

The original art market however, is just the opposite. With the new George Lucus museum , ORIGINAL art is gonna be exposed to the masses. There are not 50 copies floating around of the original. That is why, the BIG money is in and going to comic book art.

 

As a GA comic book collector, I am not gonna put my head in the sand. I knew the future trend many years ago, when SDCC no longer became a true comic book convention, 9 out of 11 comic book stores closed in San Diego, NOWHERE can you walk in and buy a comic book( 7 eleven, drugstore, etc), and publishing sales are going down every month.

 

The CGC needs to understand the long term trend that is occurring. They need to clean up their act, and try and eliminate the flippers and pressers by not rewarding that conduct and making once and for all, a set of rules as to what is rest, and sticking by it. My rule is simple: Anything done to the original comic book is RESTORATION including pressing, kissing, facejobing the spine, tape etc.

 

I have been saying this since day one,

 

1- If you are gonna spend BIG bucks on a GA comic book ( over 1k) make sure its unrestored if possible, a high grade copy of one the major top titles.

 

2-TRADE UP: get rid of the little stuff and stack the money and buy the top GA tiles in top grade. you would be surprised how quickly you can stack up the money, buy GA reprints if possible of the stuff you sell. In future, All DC,Timley etc is gonna be available on the internet for a small price. If you buy CGC you cant read the Dammm book anyway. Folks, trade up while you still can.

[mintcollector]

http://www.harryrinker.com/col-1328.html

 

Here is an alternate view. Note that NES games are currently in a speculative bubble. In ten years most will not be worth what they are selling for; especially given the fact that you can easily download most of the more popular games for $5 each own the Wii and Wii U.

 

I don't expect you to be aware if this, but I sell video games on eBay and have been a dealer for for close to twenty years; even before eBay. I remember the same people telling me that Atari games would never drop in value...then came that time. The same can be said for PEZ. There is nothing creating new demand for these stated objects. They just get older and older. Lego will end up in the same situation due to a glut of supply. Soccer moms are hoarding this stuff.

 

In conclusion, the Internet changed the dynamic on how collectible things will become in the future. Economies of scale is working on a global scale now and companies have learned how to maximize efficiency of production on newer items.

 

My claim to fame in the video game collecting field was finding a warehouse full of sealed NES games made by all the big manufactures. I was getting games like SMB, Kid Icarus, Castlevania, and some lesser known titles for less than $10 each (in bulk I paid $5 each). Mind you these were case fresh in bulk. I made a killing selling these and consigned a lot to third parties. There is a lot of these kind of finds still out there. Most of these items were produced in the millions. If people want to overpay for them, let them. Calling them an 'investment' is not wise; in my opinion and the opinion of many others. I generally deal in high end antiques and collectibles as I make more money on items that sell for four figures than those that sell for tens of dollars or a few hundred. That being said, I am still active in the video game collecting field as well. I am also a collector who has well over 10,000 games sitting in climate controlled storage.

[MrBedrock]

Pulp collecting is a pretty good example of what happens when paper ephemera outlives the generation that originally collected it. Anyone who bought firsthand the last of the pulps before they were replaced by digests is at least in their 70s, and those that can directly recall them from their depression era heyday are pushing 90.

 

Commonly available pulps that were quite popular in their day; westen, romance, railroad, have only token value in average shape, a few bucks just because they are old ( not unlike a lot of western and romance comics from the 50s). But ones with seminal work by still famous authors, continuing characters for which there is still some institutional memory, and covers and genres that have shown consistent appeal ( horror, GGA , etc.) have held their value, though perhaps not always against inflation. The gap between lower grade and high grade has widened over the years, but not to the dramatic multiples comics have.

 

However, material that was more likely to be saved at the time, specifically post-war sci-fi pulps, are surprisingly inexpensive, even with dramatic covers and work by better known authors.

 

What I take from this is, is that even as comic reading moves from the stapled pamphlets to digital and trade formats, and the generations with first hand memory drop out of collecting, that perennial favorites from the GA, in terms of character and genre will hold most of their value, but more peripheral books, and those with more faddish interest, will drop to a token value, even in higher grade, and for Silver it will be even more dramatic, as barely anything from the 60s is remotely scarce. In short, low grade Batman books from the 40s will hold value, while even high grade copies of SA westerns will probably not.

 

Excellent analysis. (thumbs u

 

 

Holding value and making a return on an investment, and I dont care what people say over 1k for a comic book is an investment, is going to be more difficult as time goes on.

 

1-No more book stores, no more magazines, and in less than 10 years no more hand held comic books. The trend will begin with ON DEMAND publishing to go with digital, and then its OVER.

that is reality, yes digital will be there. But the early 50's fiction house, various publishers are not gonna get bought BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT GONNA BE MORE VALUABLE IN THE FUTURE. It is downward from here. Yes, Spiderman, Superman,Batman, and Cap those will be save. But 97% of comic books are going on a slow downward spiral.

 

That is why condition is so important, the market is gonna get limited, and to get any kind of buyer return, it is gonna have to be in top shape and be in the public eye.

 

The original art market however, is just the opposite. With the new George Lucus museum , ORIGINAL art is gonna be exposed to the masses. There are not 50 copies floating around of the original. That is why, the BIG money is in and going to comic book art.

 

As a GA comic book collector, I am not gonna put my head in the sand. I knew the future trend many years ago, when SDCC no longer became a true comic book convention, 9 out of 11 comic book stores closed in San Diego, NOWHERE can you walk in and buy a comic book( 7 eleven, drugstore, etc), and publishing sales are going down every month.

 

The CGC needs to understand the long term trend that is occurring. They need to clean up their act, and try and eliminate the flippers and pressers by not rewarding that conduct and making once and for all, a set of rules as to what is rest, and sticking by it. My rule is simple: Anything done to the original comic book is RESTORATION including pressing, kissing, facejobing the spine, tape etc.

 

I have been saying this since day one,

 

1- If you are gonna spend BIG bucks on a GA comic book ( over 1k) make sure its unrestored if possible, a high grade copy of one the major top titles.

 

2-TRADE UP: get rid of the little stuff and stack the money and buy the top GA tiles in top grade. you would be surprised how quickly you can stack up the money, buy GA reprints if possible of the stuff you sell. In future, All DC,Timley etc is gonna be available on the internet for a small price. If you buy CGC you cant read the Dammm book anyway. Folks, trade up while you still can.

If all the things you say are going to happen actually happen then it won't matter if comics are high grade or low grade. Why would someone care what condition printed matter is in if they don't want printed matter in the first place? Your argument would actually support the idea that true fans should get out of high grade comics and reduce their exposure. TRADE DOWN!

[rodan57]

I'll throw my 10c worth in here.

 

As has been said, there just aren't many collectors left, and those ranks are thinning. Almost everyone is a collector/dealer/flipper.

 

There's nothing wrong with that, but people should be honest when moaning about a collapse in prices realised.

 

Collectors don't really care. They are not interested in selling - any downward trend in prices is seen as an opportunity to fill those runs or start another one.

 

Sure, I'd rather not see values crater - but as joe_collector once offered, he saw money spent on comics as money gone. Not an investment, but rather the price paid to enjoy an ephemeral piece of pop culture for a while.

 

....

 

Me? I'm a collector of lots of books, some good, some rubbish, but I am under no illusion as to their future worth.

 

A collapse in prices? I'd welcome it.

 

 

Same here.

[Cat-Man_America]

You guys always say that, yet I meet more and more 20-something GA and SA collectors all the time. So, rules be danged. If something is cool, fun to collect, read, enjoy, and perhaps even profit on, people will join in that fun.

 

[font:Times New Roman]Very well put, Bill.

 

The only thing missing from this equation is a discussion about mentoring, which is something that we, as keepers of the eternal flame and passion for this hobby may need to be more pro-active about. Given the many distractions and interests that seem to be displacing paper comics, introduction to the joys of appreciation for comics as we know them needs to be nurtured early. Older collectors certainly inspired my lifelong passion for GA comics. [/font]

 

Are the majority of collectible comic books, more valuable now than they previously were? (disregard modern and copper drek)

 

Why would that not continue?

 

You posed a question but then assumed that the answer was yes. I don't entirely agree.

 

Most everything pre-modern is more valuable now than when it was on the newsstand and more valuable than it was when the hobby was in its infancy (early 70s let's say), but much GA material, like funny animal, western, humor, adventure, and even lesser-known super-hero books, is probably not worth more than it was 10 or 15 years ago, when that segment of the hobby was fully mature; if you factor in inflation, much of it is likely worth substantially less. So, certain things do seem to plateau.

 

I do think the major GA titles, especially Action and Tec, will continue to outplace inflation for the next few years, but most everything else (classic covers aside) will level off (and probably lose value when inflation is factored in) fairly soon.

 

When it comes to SA, Spider-Man's popularity has at least twenty years left, but since the supply of SA books is likely to increase (as another boardie just mentioned), prices on those books will likely level off as well.

 

Value is ephemeral. Buying for investment is more like a snake than a river.

 

[font:Times New Roman]True, to keep your head above water never buy what you can't fiord.[/font] (thumbs u

 

 

Pulp collecting is a pretty good example of what happens when paper ephemera outlives the generation that originally collected it. Anyone who bought firsthand the last of the pulps before they were replaced by digests is at least in their 70s, and those that can directly recall them from their depression era heyday are pushing 90.

 

Commonly available pulps that were quite popular in their day; westen, romance, railroad, have only token value in average shape, a few bucks just because they are old ( not unlike a lot of western and romance comics from the 50s). But ones with seminal work by still famous authors, continuing characters for which there is still some institutional memory, and covers and genres that have shown consistent appeal ( horror, GGA , etc.) have held their value, though perhaps not always against inflation. The gap between lower grade and high grade has widened over the years, but not to the dramatic multiples comics have.

 

However, material that was more likely to be saved at the time, specifically post-war sci-fi pulps, are surprisingly inexpensive, even with dramatic covers and work by better known authors.

 

What I take from this is, is that even as comic reading moves from the stapled pamphlets to digital and trade formats, and the generations with first hand memory drop out of collecting, that perennial favorites from the GA, in terms of character and genre will hold most of their value, but more peripheral books, and those with more faddish interest, will drop to a token value, even in higher grade, and for Silver it will be even more dramatic, as barely anything from the 60s is remotely scarce. In short, low grade Batman books from the 40s will hold value, while even high grade copies of SA westerns will probably not.

 

[font:Times New Roman]Barring trends elevating characters which are currently out of favor, I concur with your assessment, but I'm not sold on comparing comics with pulp magazines to make the case. Aside from a couple of failed film attempts, pulp nostalgia never evolved into the widespread media-fueled hobby vis-à-vis comic books (with stratospheric prices paid for iconic titles that coincide with lucrative franchise tie-ins).

 

From my perspective, too much separates pulps from comic books to build a solid case for an analogy given the evolution of the collecting hobby. Granted, both comics and pulp magazines use (or rather used, in the case of pulps) evocative cover art in marketing, but with colorful interior art (which has always held a symbiotic relationship with cinematic storyboards) comic books achieved a significant imprint on the collecting landscape that contrasted the more sophisticated literary aspirations of pulp authorship.

 

Other noteworthy differences:

 

Comic books coexisted on the newsstand with pulps in a non-competitive atmosphere. For the most part, the demographic for funny books[sic] was entirely different (kids and adults with little time to read).

 

As tastes changed pulps disappeared or evolved into other literature (paperbacks, SF digests & men's magazines) while comic books, which have always had a chameleon-like ability to adjust thematically to changing trends, remained essentially the same in respect to format.

 

Nevertheless, while any relationship between comic books and pulps may be an apples/oranges affair, it's all passion fruit from this collector's POV. [/font]

[mintcollector]

Pulps are and Western Collectibles are some of the best cautionary tales to date. Unless it is something that is truly rare and desirable, Western type collectibles have been selling at a huge discount. By the same token, comic books have had a huge run up in value over the last few years; especially after the formation and acceptance of CGC. What is to say this trend will continue? I do not see this happening. The person who made the best 'speculative investment' in comic books is the person who bought them off the rack and carefully stored them until the last decade or so. Unfortunately, I do not think those who buy modern mass over produced 'collectibles' will be so lucky.

[Cat-Man_America]

Pulps are and Western Collectibles are some of the best cautionary tales to date. Unless it is something that is truly rare and desirable, Western type collectibles have been selling at a huge discount. By the same token, comic books have had a huge run up in value over the last few years; especially after the formation and acceptance of CGC. What is to say this trend will continue? I do not see this happening. The person who made the best 'speculative investment' in comic books is the person who bought them off the rack and carefully stored them until the last decade or so. Unfortunately, I do not think those who buy modern mass over produced 'collectibles' will be so lucky.

 

[font:Times New Roman]On this last point we can agree; the remainder is open to speculation with reasonable arguments pro and con. [/font] (thumbs u

[Marty Mann]

The person who made the best 'speculative investment' in comic books is the person who bought them off the rack and carefully stored them until the last decade or so.

 

I guess that sounds like me...

 

mm

[Mmehdy]

Pulp collecting is a pretty good example of what happens when paper ephemera outlives the generation that originally collected it. Anyone who bought firsthand the last of the pulps before they were replaced by digests is at least in their 70s, and those that can directly recall them from their depression era heyday are pushing 90.

 

Commonly available pulps that were quite popular in their day; westen, romance, railroad, have only token value in average shape, a few bucks just because they are old ( not unlike a lot of western and romance comics from the 50s). But ones with seminal work by still famous authors, continuing characters for which there is still some institutional memory, and covers and genres that have shown consistent appeal ( horror, GGA , etc.) have held their value, though perhaps not always against inflation. The gap between lower grade and high grade has widened over the years, but not to the dramatic multiples comics have.

 

However, material that was more likely to be saved at the time, specifically post-war sci-fi pulps, are surprisingly inexpensive, even with dramatic covers and work by better known authors.

 

What I take from this is, is that even as comic reading moves from the stapled pamphlets to digital and trade formats, and the generations with first hand memory drop out of collecting, that perennial favorites from the GA, in terms of character and genre will hold most of their value, but more peripheral books, and those with more faddish interest, will drop to a token value, even in higher grade, and for Silver it will be even more dramatic, as barely anything from the 60s is remotely scarce. In short, low grade Batman books from the 40s will hold value, while even high grade copies of SA westerns will probably not.

 

Excellent analysis. (thumbs u

 

 

Holding value and making a return on an investment, and I dont care what people say over 1k for a comic book is an investment, is going to be more difficult as time goes on.

 

1-No more book stores, no more magazines, and in less than 10 years no more hand held comic books. The trend will begin with ON DEMAND publishing to go with digital, and then its OVER.

that is reality, yes digital will be there. But the early 50's fiction house, various publishers are not gonna get bought BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT GONNA BE MORE VALUABLE IN THE FUTURE. It is downward from here. Yes, Spiderman, Superman,Batman, and Cap those will be save. But 97% of comic books are going on a slow downward spiral.

 

That is why condition is so important, the market is gonna get limited, and to get any kind of buyer return, it is gonna have to be in top shape and be in the public eye.

 

The original art market however, is just the opposite. With the new George Lucus museum , ORIGINAL art is gonna be exposed to the masses. There are not 50 copies floating around of the original. That is why, the BIG money is in and going to comic book art.

 

As a GA comic book collector, I am not gonna put my head in the sand. I knew the future trend many years ago, when SDCC no longer became a true comic book convention, 9 out of 11 comic book stores closed in San Diego, NOWHERE can you walk in and buy a comic book( 7 eleven, drugstore, etc), and publishing sales are going down every month.

 

The CGC needs to understand the long term trend that is occurring. They need to clean up their act, and try and eliminate the flippers and pressers by not rewarding that conduct and making once and for all, a set of rules as to what is rest, and sticking by it. My rule is simple: Anything done to the original comic book is RESTORATION including pressing, kissing, facejobing the spine, tape etc.

 

I have been saying this since day one,

 

1- If you are gonna spend BIG bucks on a GA comic book ( over 1k) make sure its unrestored if possible, a high grade copy of one the major top titles.

 

2-TRADE UP: get rid of the little stuff and stack the money and buy the top GA tiles in top grade. you would be surprised how quickly you can stack up the money, buy GA reprints if possible of the stuff you sell. In future, All DC,Timley etc is gonna be available on the internet for a small price. If you buy CGC you cant read the Dammm book anyway. Folks, trade up while you still can.

If all the things you say are going to happen actually happen then it won't matter if comics are high grade or low grade. Why would someone care what condition printed matter is in if they don't want printed matter in the first place? Your argument would actually support the idea that true fans should get out of high grade comics and reduce their exposure. TRADE DOWN!

 

The better the condition the greater the demand even if it is going down. High grade mid range comic books such as adventure, human torch should be sold and Key comic books or key character books should replace them.

For example replace a some high grade adventure comic books with a mid to low grade cap 1.....

[tb]

[...]

[font:Times New Roman]Very well put, Bill.

 

The only thing missing from this equation is a discussion about mentoring, which is something that we, as keepers of the eternal flame and passion for this hobby may need to be more pro-active about. Given the many distractions and interests that seem to be displacing paper comics, introduction to the joys of appreciation for comics as we know them needs to be nurtured early. Older collectors certainly inspired my lifelong passion for GA comics. [/font]

 

I'm very happy to see someone else pointing this out. When I started buying US Godlen Age comics more seriously, I kept asking the same questions relating to the supply of the books that I wanted for years and was unable to get answers. It takes a lot to make me angry, but I was furious that I was feeding fresh money into the hobby to the benefit of older collectors, yet no one seemed to want to put important facts (relating to the known quantity of file copies, for example) on the table. I finally found extremely nice and knowledgeable mentors who helped me thanks to the boards, but the experience left me determined to watch out for prospective new collectors and lend them the helping hand that I didn't get back then. Fortunately, I do see that a lot of people here are very generous sharing their passion with younger collectors off the boards. I am not saying that we should post everything that we know publicly for the joyful consumption of speculators and dealers, but when we see a spark of genuine interest in a newcomer, I believe that helping them by providing hard-to-find information privately is one of the best things we can do for the future of the hobby.

[Cat-Man_America]

Pulp collecting is a pretty good example of what happens when paper ephemera outlives the generation that originally collected it. Anyone who bought firsthand the last of the pulps before they were replaced by digests is at least in their 70s, and those that can directly recall them from their depression era heyday are pushing 90.

 

Commonly available pulps that were quite popular in their day; westen, romance, railroad, have only token value in average shape, a few bucks just because they are old ( not unlike a lot of western and romance comics from the 50s). But ones with seminal work by still famous authors, continuing characters for which there is still some institutional memory, and covers and genres that have shown consistent appeal ( horror, GGA , etc.) have held their value, though perhaps not always against inflation. The gap between lower grade and high grade has widened over the years, but not to the dramatic multiples comics have.

 

However, material that was more likely to be saved at the time, specifically post-war sci-fi pulps, are surprisingly inexpensive, even with dramatic covers and work by better known authors.

 

What I take from this is, is that even as comic reading moves from the stapled pamphlets to digital and trade formats, and the generations with first hand memory drop out of collecting, that perennial favorites from the GA, in terms of character and genre will hold most of their value, but more peripheral books, and those with more faddish interest, will drop to a token value, even in higher grade, and for Silver it will be even more dramatic, as barely anything from the 60s is remotely scarce. In short, low grade Batman books from the 40s will hold value, while even high grade copies of SA westerns will probably not.

 

Excellent analysis. (thumbs u

 

 

Holding value and making a return on an investment, and I dont care what people say over 1k for a comic book is an investment, is going to be more difficult as time goes on.

 

1-No more book stores, no more magazines, and in less than 10 years no more hand held comic books. The trend will begin with ON DEMAND publishing to go with digital, and then its OVER.

that is reality, yes digital will be there. But the early 50's fiction house, various publishers are not gonna get bought BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT GONNA BE MORE VALUABLE IN THE FUTURE. It is downward from here. Yes, Spiderman, Superman,Batman, and Cap those will be save. But 97% of comic books are going on a slow downward spiral.

 

That is why condition is so important, the market is gonna get limited, and to get any kind of buyer return, it is gonna have to be in top shape and be in the public eye.

 

The original art market however, is just the opposite. With the new George Lucus museum , ORIGINAL art is gonna be exposed to the masses. There are not 50 copies floating around of the original. That is why, the BIG money is in and going to comic book art.

 

As a GA comic book collector, I am not gonna put my head in the sand. I knew the future trend many years ago, when SDCC no longer became a true comic book convention, 9 out of 11 comic book stores closed in San Diego, NOWHERE can you walk in and buy a comic book( 7 eleven, drugstore, etc), and publishing sales are going down every month.

 

The CGC needs to understand the long term trend that is occurring. They need to clean up their act, and try and eliminate the flippers and pressers by not rewarding that conduct and making once and for all, a set of rules as to what is rest, and sticking by it. My rule is simple: Anything done to the original comic book is RESTORATION including pressing, kissing, facejobing the spine, tape etc.

 

I have been saying this since day one,

 

1- If you are gonna spend BIG bucks on a GA comic book ( over 1k) make sure its unrestored if possible, a high grade copy of one the major top titles.

 

2-TRADE UP: get rid of the little stuff and stack the money and buy the top GA tiles in top grade. you would be surprised how quickly you can stack up the money, buy GA reprints if possible of the stuff you sell. In future, All DC,Timley etc is gonna be available on the internet for a small price. If you buy CGC you cant read the Dammm book anyway. Folks, trade up while you still can.

 

[font:Times New Roman]Mitch, there are reasonable cautionary points to be gleaned from your assessment, but you really should ease up on the gas a bit when you're in the loading zone.[/font] (thumbs u

[Sqeggs]

Pulps are and Western Collectibles are some of the best cautionary tales to date.

 

The rise and fall of Westerns really is quite remarkable. Western television shows, Western books, comic books, and movies were an important part of 1950s popular culture. By the late 1960s and 1970s they had faded and now they are practically extinct.

 

As a kid growing up in the early 1960s, I remember having cap guns, a cowboy hat, a Lone Ranger lunch box, watching Western movies and television shows and so on. My own kids growing up in the 1990s and 2000s have been exposed to none of that. Cowboys & Aliens is, I think, the only Western movie they have ever seen.

 

Possible that super heroes could follow that path from ubiquitous to extinct? I dunno but it's certainly possible.

[conditionfreak]

Comic books have a proven track record. Garbage Pail Kids, Pez and Beanie Babies do not. An original set of Roy Rogers guns and holster, or a Davy Crocket tin village set, can set you back a pretty penney.

 

When really smart people like DiCaprio, Cage, Gator, MMehdy, Bedrock and DiceX hoard and invest in comic books. How can I not follow their lead?

 

I would be a fool to not get on that train.

 

Sure. No one cares about Mickey Mouse anymore. Or about the Yellow Kid. But still. Go ahead and buy their early stuff. See what you have to pay.

 

Then get back to me.

 

What else can you buy for .12 cents and sell for $11,000.00? Not even cocaine or gold fits that bill.

[Bookery]

... but I'm not sold on comparing comics with pulp magazines to make the case. Aside from a couple of failed film attempts, pulp nostalgia never evolved into the widespread media-fueled hobby vis-à-vis comic books (with stratospheric prices paid for iconic titles that coincide with lucrative franchise tie-ins).

 

I have to disagree with this. Until James Bond came along, Tarzan was probably the most popular film franchise in history. And there were tons of cross-promotional items. The symbiotic relationship between the radio program and the pulp magazine kept The Shadow hugely popular in both formats for two decades. Zorro? Movies and TV shows. Lots of media tie-ins. Philip Marlowe was a big hit on radio, and helped further the careers of Humphrey Bogart and Powell. Buck Rogers began in the pulps and became a mega-media sensation. Dr. Kildare became a hit TV series. Max Brand spawned tons of B-westerns. Hopalong Cassidy was probably as popular in his day as Spider-Man is now.

 

Items tying in to these characters became quite collectible early on. Burroughs 1st editions were bringing big dollars even back in the 1960s. Chandler was an early favorite of book collectors. Some of these are still quite valuable, some are beginning to decline.

 

If anything, this points out the opposite argument. Even mega-media characters who are household names have their time and place... and no matter how big, are someday supplanted by something new.

 

[adamstrange]

My own kids growing up in the 1990s and 2000s have been exposed to... Cowboys & Aliens

That's child abuse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sqeggs]

My own kids growing up in the 1990s and 2000s have been exposed to... Cowboys & Aliens

That's child abuse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May explain why they hate Westerns.

[Bookery]

Not a masterpiece, but I rather like "Cowboys and Aliens". Very pulp-like (mixing H.G. wells with John Carter style action) or even comic-like (think "Planet Comics" and "Space Cowboy").