High grade non-keys losing value?

[mintcollector]

I would never have thought books would be dying out as a household item, but they are. They thrived for 500 years (just a tad bit longer than comics' 80-year history), but are becoming less and less relevant to the average person every day.

 

All of this stuff may be as useful to the vast majority of the next generation as owning a horse would be to the vast majority of today's population.

 

Technology changes everything.

 

I think reading paper formats will become increasingly marginalized, but won't completely disappear. My teenage kids still enjoy reading tangible books, even though they are completely wired otherwise. On the other hand, my 80 year old father, always a voracious reader, pretty much only reads books on his iphone anymore.

 

But you're right. I see major authors putting out limited edition print runs to appease those of us who still prefer books... maybe in editions of only a few thousand copies, and these will likely run $40-$50, but will have decent bindings and paper.

 

Even if comics take off digitally, which hasn't really happened significantly yet, for the forseeable future there will still be graphic novels and archive editions... though they are likely to increase even more in price.

 

Just as I said earlier that every popular trend fades, it's also true that very little disappears completely. There are still collectors out there for dime novels...

 

and both of them are quite happy with their hobby, thank you very much.

 

 

Do you collect books by chance? I collect first editions of classic American literature. Books like The Great Gatsby and Ethan Frome sit proudly in my library. I am always looking to see who else collects these popular works of art.

 

 

[conditionfreak]

Has anyone done a search of this site, and found threads from years ago that predicted the demise of comic book values and collectibility, that should have occurred by now?

 

i bet there are some predictions of this hobbies demise by now, that have not come true.

 

I also bet that there were some here that predicted continued collectibility. Witht eh movies that have come out, those people were absolutely correct in their predictions of rising prices and collectibility by the public.

 

If I get time. I will do some research of this site, c/w with those predictions and how they worked out.

 

Again. Most books cost many times over, what they were bought for a few years ago. Not all for sure. But most. Run of the mill books, selling for hundreds of times what they were originally priced at. Beats gold, silver, land, houses and cocaine in value rises. Plus there is no annual tax on a comic book investment. There is on land or a house. Gold and silver goes up and down with the wind. Cocaine, well....that could be real trouble. With comic books, you might not gain, but you will always at least break even, if you bought wisely and didn't invest in X-Force #1's. Heck, I bet I could sell a Speed Racer #1 for more than I paid for it. .50 cents.

 

How about some of you guys selling some of your "doomed to fall" books for some serious discounts right now? Instead of those ridiculous high prices you usually offer them up for.

 

hmmm...?

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

I would never have thought books would be dying out as a household item, but they are. They thrived for 500 years (just a tad bit longer than comics' 80-year history), but are becoming less and less relevant to the average person every day.

 

All of this stuff may be as useful to the vast majority of the next generation as owning a horse would be to the vast majority of today's population.

 

Technology changes everything.

 

I think reading paper formats will become increasingly marginalized, but won't completely disappear. My teenage kids still enjoy reading tangible books, even though they are completely wired otherwise. On the other hand, my 80 year old father, always a voracious reader, pretty much only reads books on his iphone anymore.

 

But you're right. I see major authors putting out limited edition print runs to appease those of us who still prefer books... maybe in editions of only a few thousand copies, and these will likely run $40-$50, but will have decent bindings and paper.

 

Even if comics take off digitally, which hasn't really happened significantly yet, for the forseeable future there will still be graphic novels and archive editions... though they are likely to increase even more in price.

 

Just as I said earlier that every popular trend fades, it's also true that very little disappears completely. There are still collectors out there for dime novels...

 

and both of them are quite happy with their hobby, thank you very much.

 

 

Do you collect books by chance? I collect first editions of classic American literature. Books like The Great Gatsby and Ethan Frome sit proudly in my library. I am always looking to see who else collects these popular works of art.

 

 

I've been tempted to pick up first edition Steinbeck and Faulkner novels over the years but the siren song of comics always seems louder. I've also toyed with the idea of putting together a collection of OZ novels.

[mintcollector]

I would never have thought books would be dying out as a household item, but they are. They thrived for 500 years (just a tad bit longer than comics' 80-year history), but are becoming less and less relevant to the average person every day.

 

All of this stuff may be as useful to the vast majority of the next generation as owning a horse would be to the vast majority of today's population.

 

Technology changes everything.

 

I think reading paper formats will become increasingly marginalized, but won't completely disappear. My teenage kids still enjoy reading tangible books, even though they are completely wired otherwise. On the other hand, my 80 year old father, always a voracious reader, pretty much only reads books on his iphone anymore.

 

But you're right. I see major authors putting out limited edition print runs to appease those of us who still prefer books... maybe in editions of only a few thousand copies, and these will likely run $40-$50, but will have decent bindings and paper.

 

Even if comics take off digitally, which hasn't really happened significantly yet, for the forseeable future there will still be graphic novels and archive editions... though they are likely to increase even more in price.

 

Just as I said earlier that every popular trend fades, it's also true that very little disappears completely. There are still collectors out there for dime novels...

 

and both of them are quite happy with their hobby, thank you very much.

 

 

Do you collect books by chance? I collect first editions of classic American literature. Books like The Great Gatsby and Ethan Frome sit proudly in my library. I am always looking to see who else collects these popular works of art.

 

 

I've been tempted to pick up first edition Steinbeck and Faulkner novels over the years but the siren song of comics always seems louder. I've also toyed with the idea of putting together a collection of OZ novels.

 

Great choices and well worth getting. Glad I am not the only literary buff on the forums who happens to have a desire to collect books.

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

I would never have thought books would be dying out as a household item, but they are. They thrived for 500 years (just a tad bit longer than comics' 80-year history), but are becoming less and less relevant to the average person every day.

 

All of this stuff may be as useful to the vast majority of the next generation as owning a horse would be to the vast majority of today's population.

 

Technology changes everything.

 

I think reading paper formats will become increasingly marginalized, but won't completely disappear. My teenage kids still enjoy reading tangible books, even though they are completely wired otherwise. On the other hand, my 80 year old father, always a voracious reader, pretty much only reads books on his iphone anymore.

 

But you're right. I see major authors putting out limited edition print runs to appease those of us who still prefer books... maybe in editions of only a few thousand copies, and these will likely run $40-$50, but will have decent bindings and paper.

 

Even if comics take off digitally, which hasn't really happened significantly yet, for the forseeable future there will still be graphic novels and archive editions... though they are likely to increase even more in price.

 

Just as I said earlier that every popular trend fades, it's also true that very little disappears completely. There are still collectors out there for dime novels...

 

and both of them are quite happy with their hobby, thank you very much.

 

 

Do you collect books by chance? I collect first editions of classic American literature. Books like The Great Gatsby and Ethan Frome sit proudly in my library. I am always looking to see who else collects these popular works of art.

 

 

I've been tempted to pick up first edition Steinbeck and Faulkner novels over the years but the siren song of comics always seems louder. I've also toyed with the idea of putting together a collection of OZ novels.

 

Great choices and well worth getting. Glad I am not the only literary buff on the forums who happens to have a desire to collect books.

 

The other books I always dream of finding at a garage sale are first edition Narnia and Lord of the Rings books. Dream on!! I did buy the first edition Silmarrilion when it appeared in 1977.

[Bookery]

Do you collect books by chance? I collect first editions of classic American literature. Books like The Great Gatsby and Ethan Frome sit proudly in my library. I am always looking to see who else collects these popular works of art.

 

I number of years back I pretty much quit collecting anything that might interfere with my customers' want-lists. It's tempting... often... but if I'm going to be a dealer, I figure best to go all-in.

 

That said, I began in the rare-book business helping out in my folks' store (about 40 years ago). I got into the comics side about 30 years ago. I still think I get more excited about rare books than comics... one reason being "rare" books and pulps tend to be rare, while often "rare" comics are surprisingly common.

 

An exception to the above is that I do have tucked away a 1st ed. of Bradbury's "Something Wicked This Way Comes"... a childhood favorite. I also have the original typed manuscript of Ed Wood's "Orgy of the Dead" complete with all of the galleys and editorial corrections as well.

 

The books my family used to have sitting on their store shelves were pretty amazing... an entire shelf of Twain 1st editions, multiple near-mint copies of The Grapes of Wrath, early Faulkner and Hemingway 1sts, lots of signed copies, etc. Now all long gone, of course.

 

 

[Bookery]

How about some of you guys selling some of your "doomed to fall" books for some serious discounts right now? Instead of those ridiculous high prices you usually offer them up for.

 

hmmm...?

 

Done!

 

Odd that you bring this up now, as I am in the process of marking down hundreds of gold-silver-bronze comics a minimum of 40-60% below guide. When I'm done I expect 80% of all my inventory will be priced this way for the forseeable future (this will be thousands of issues). This includes pretty much anything that isn't in higher-grade, or is truly scarce, or is in unusually high demand.

 

[mintcollector]

How about some of you guys selling some of your "doomed to fall" books for some serious discounts right now? Instead of those ridiculous high prices you usually offer them up for.

 

hmmm...?

 

Done!

 

Odd that you bring this up now, as I am in the process of marking down hundreds of gold-silver-bronze comics a minimum of 40-60% below guide. When I'm done I expect 80% of all my inventory will be priced this way for the forseeable future (this will be thousands of issues). This includes pretty much anything that isn't in higher-grade, or is truly scarce, or is in unusually high demand.

 

Do you happen to have a website? I am more into the rare books-!

 

Some of the books you mentioned are great finds and very hard to find. I am still bewildered by the prices for some of the first edition modern books that seem to be gaining in value.

 

I wondered if you dealt in books, as I wasn't sure if you only handled 'pulps.'

 

Kind Regards,

 

'mint'

[Gatsby77]

I'm not a book collector, but one of these days I'll spring for Bradbury's Dark Carnival.

 

Favorite author when I was a kid; always regret not writing to him when I had the chance.

[mintcollector]

I'm not a book collector, but one of these days I'll spring for Bradbury's Dark Carnival.

 

Favorite author when I was a kid; always regret not writing to him when I had the chance.

 

You mean you don't have a first edition of 'The Great Gatsby?'

 

 

That is my favorite American classic of all time.

[Bookery]

Do you happen to have a website? I am more into the rare books-!

 

BookeryFantasy.com

 

But I don't have a sales-cart program... most collections are announced in general terms, to give customers an idea of whether it's worth their time to stop by or send an email.

 

I would buy significant collector books in a variety of areas... and a few do trickle in... but unfortunately once would-be sellers see that you have a strong comics presence, they assume that's all you want to deal in (along with SF, perhaps). So I'm rarely offered other material anymore. But one never knows...

 

[mintcollector]

Do you happen to have a website? I am more into the rare books-!

 

BookeryFantasy.com

 

But I don't have a sales-cart program... most collections are announced in general terms, to give customers an idea of whether it's worth their time to stop by or send an email.

 

I would buy significant collector books in a variety of areas... and a few do trickle in... but unfortunately once would-be sellers see that you have a strong comics presence, they assume that's all you want to deal in (along with SF, perhaps). So I'm rarely offered other material anymore. But one never knows...

 

This is an awesome site! I will be sure to 'bookmark' it for future reference. I had no idea your store was that big.

 

(thumbs u

 

Thank you!

[ciorac]

The "collapse" of the hobby is hogwash. Period. Any of you that think it is right around the corner are delusional.

 

Why in every one of these threads does someone do this?

 

First of all, the hobby is obviously thriving right now, in terms of price escalation anyway, if certainly not in large increases of new readers/collectors.

 

"Collapse" and "decline" are two different things, and most of us who believe all things ebb in time are talking decades from now, not "around the corner".

 

But if you want to believe that comic books, and only comic books, will buck the trend of everythng that has ever been collected in human history, feel free to keep calling others deluional.

Well one reason is you. I've always been amazed at what a sourpuss you are about the hobby. For a guy that has made his living for a long time selling comics, pulps, etc, I'm always amazed at what a negative nelly you are about the hobby. Simply amazed.

 

Do you even attend or setup at shows anymore? Do you travel at all?

 

If the answer is yes to both of those questions and you don't see the 3 year olds sporting their batman t-shirts and tennis shoes, but yet you still feel comic characters are slipping into obssolesence, then yes I think you are delusional.

[ciorac]

Do you happen to have a website? I am more into the rare books-!

 

BookeryFantasy.com

 

But I don't have a sales-cart program...

 

So, you are an admitted technology luddite, but pontificate about the future of the hobby from your vacuum in the bustling metropolis of Fairborn Ohio?

[Pat Calhoun]

I have a first (jacketless) of Light in August & a Something Wicked This Way Comes with DJ... and I sure used to like reading Perry Mason -lots of cool vintage PB editions...

[Mmehdy]

Has anyone done a search of this site, and found threads from years ago that predicted the demise of comic book values and collectibility, that should have occurred by now?

 

i bet there are some predictions of this hobbies demise by now, that have not come true.

 

I also bet that there were some here that predicted continued collectibility. Witht eh movies that have come out, those people were absolutely correct in their predictions of rising prices and collectibility by the public.

 

If I get time. I will do some research of this site, c/w with those predictions and how they worked out.

 

Again. Most books cost many times over, what they were bought for a few years ago. Not all for sure. But most. Run of the mill books, selling for hundreds of times what they were originally priced at. Beats gold, silver, land, houses and cocaine in value rises. Plus there is no annual tax on a comic book investment. There is on land or a house. Gold and silver goes up and down with the wind. Cocaine, well....that could be real trouble. With comic books, you might not gain, but you will always at least break even, if you bought wisely and didn't invest in X-Force #1's. Heck, I bet I could sell a Speed Racer #1 for more than I paid for it. .50 cents.

 

How about some of you guys selling some of your "doomed to fall" books for some serious discounts right now? Instead of those ridiculous high prices you usually offer them up for.

 

hmmm...?

 

 

The GA comic book market is changing, the original collectors from the 1930's are dead and buried. The SA will follow this downward trend also.

 

There are really no new comic book collectors. Period....you cannot drive to a local store(they are closing down every day) and buy a comic book, pretty soon it will be all magazines and newspapers. That is the new age, the 15, 16 year old that CANNOT COLLECT PHYSICAL MEDIA, not that they give a crappp anyway other than looking into their cell phone for text messages.

 

You cannot frame a comic book like a piece of original comic book art, and who knows what some pressing fool is trying to out grade you by tricking the CGC and eliminating you top spot on the CGC.

 

Let me repeat myself, the BIG money has shifted to OA. The very smart collectors have already made the move and are making a killing on the rinsing price of art.

Jim Halpin, Theo,......these people SEE the future.

 

If you want to ride on the sinking ship, at least do it in style, with unrestored or high grade restored KEY GA/SA which has a chance to appreciated or at least break even when you exit. You have to remember, when buying GA the10%- 20% rule...if you want the highest price you are gonna have to use one the of the Big Boys such as Ha.com, CL. and CC and believe me as the market declines those fees will go up.

 

Spending $10,000.00 on a high grade flash, low number Flash or GL is a risky choice.

 

We are not seeing a collapse, but a normal and natural reaction to the lack of new collectors and places to obtain physical media. Demand is on a downward spiral. We have cut off the head of the future comic book collector, with the society's change of eliminating print media which you can hold in your hands, the Tree huggers have WON.

 

[ciorac]

Has anyone done a search of this site, and found threads from years ago that predicted the demise of comic book values and collectibility, that should have occurred by now?

 

i bet there are some predictions of this hobbies demise by now, that have not come true.

 

I also bet that there were some here that predicted continued collectibility. Witht eh movies that have come out, those people were absolutely correct in their predictions of rising prices and collectibility by the public.

 

If I get time. I will do some research of this site, c/w with those predictions and how they worked out.

 

Again. Most books cost many times over, what they were bought for a few years ago. Not all for sure. But most. Run of the mill books, selling for hundreds of times what they were originally priced at. Beats gold, silver, land, houses and cocaine in value rises. Plus there is no annual tax on a comic book investment. There is on land or a house. Gold and silver goes up and down with the wind. Cocaine, well....that could be real trouble. With comic books, you might not gain, but you will always at least break even, if you bought wisely and didn't invest in X-Force #1's. Heck, I bet I could sell a Speed Racer #1 for more than I paid for it. .50 cents.

 

How about some of you guys selling some of your "doomed to fall" books for some serious discounts right now? Instead of those ridiculous high prices you usually offer them up for.

 

hmmm...?

 

 

The GA comic book market is changing, the original collectors from the 1930's are dead and buried. The SA will follow this downward trend also.

 

There are really no new comic book collectors. Period....you cannot drive to a local store(they are closing down every day) and buy a comic book, pretty soon it will be all magazines and newspapers. That is the new age, the 15, 16 year old that CANNOT COLLECT PHYSICAL MEDIA, not that they give a crappp anyway other than looking into their cell phone for text messages.

 

You cannot frame a comic book like a piece of original comic book art, and who knows what some pressing fool is trying to out grade you by tricking the CGC and eliminating you top spot on the CGC.

 

Let me repeat myself, the BIG money has shifted to OA. The very smart collectors have already made the move and are making a killing on the rinsing price of art.

Jim Halpin, Theo,......these people SEE the future.

 

If you want to ride on the sinking ship, at least do it in style, with unrestored or high grade restored KEY GA/SA which has a chance to appreciated or at least break even when you exit. You have to remember, when buying GA the10%- 20% rule...if you want the highest price you are gonna have to use one the of the Big Boys such as Ha.com, CL. and CC and believe me as the market declines those fees will go up.

 

Spending $10,000.00 on a high grade flash, low number Flash or GL is a risky choice.

 

We are not seeing a collapse, but a normal and natural reaction to the lack of new collectors and places to obtain physical media. Demand is on a downward spiral. We have cut off the head of the future comic book collector, with the society's change of eliminating print media which you can hold in your hands, the Tree huggers have WON.

 

So is that why there were two OA dealers at Baltimore Comic Con yesterday, and 30+ comic dealers?

[Mmehdy]

Has anyone done a search of this site, and found threads from years ago that predicted the demise of comic book values and collectibility, that should have occurred by now?

 

i bet there are some predictions of this hobbies demise by now, that have not come true.

 

I also bet that there were some here that predicted continued collectibility. Witht eh movies that have come out, those people were absolutely correct in their predictions of rising prices and collectibility by the public.

 

If I get time. I will do some research of this site, c/w with those predictions and how they worked out.

 

Again. Most books cost many times over, what they were bought for a few years ago. Not all for sure. But most. Run of the mill books, selling for hundreds of times what they were originally priced at. Beats gold, silver, land, houses and cocaine in value rises. Plus there is no annual tax on a comic book investment. There is on land or a house. Gold and silver goes up and down with the wind. Cocaine, well....that could be real trouble. With comic books, you might not gain, but you will always at least break even, if you bought wisely and didn't invest in X-Force #1's. Heck, I bet I could sell a Speed Racer #1 for more than I paid for it. .50 cents.

 

How about some of you guys selling some of your "doomed to fall" books for some serious discounts right now? Instead of those ridiculous high prices you usually offer them up for.

 

hmmm...?

 

 

The GA comic book market is changing, the original collectors from the 1930's are dead and buried. The SA will follow this downward trend also.

 

There are really no new comic book collectors. Period....you cannot drive to a local store(they are closing down every day) and buy a comic book, pretty soon it will be all magazines and newspapers. That is the new age, the 15, 16 year old that CANNOT COLLECT PHYSICAL MEDIA, not that they give a crappp anyway other than looking into their cell phone for text messages.

 

You cannot frame a comic book like a piece of original comic book art, and who knows what some pressing fool is trying to out grade you by tricking the CGC and eliminating you top spot on the CGC.

 

Let me repeat myself, the BIG money has shifted to OA. The very smart collectors have already made the move and are making a killing on the rinsing price of art.

Jim Halpin, Theo,......these people SEE the future.

 

If you want to ride on the sinking ship, at least do it in style, with unrestored or high grade restored KEY GA/SA which has a chance to appreciated or at least break even when you exit. You have to remember, when buying GA the10%- 20% rule...if you want the highest price you are gonna have to use one the of the Big Boys such as Ha.com, CL. and CC and believe me as the market declines those fees will go up.

 

Spending $10,000.00 on a high grade flash, low number Flash or GL is a risky choice.

 

We are not seeing a collapse, but a normal and natural reaction to the lack of new collectors and places to obtain physical media. Demand is on a downward spiral. We have cut off the head of the future comic book collector, with the society's change of eliminating print media which you can hold in your hands, the Tree huggers have WON.

 

So is that why there were two OA dealers at Baltimore Comic Con yesterday, and 30+ comic dealers?

 

If you look at the Ha.com catalogs....you can see the trend. The majority of ultra rich collectors are now in comic book art and those headline making prices are coming.

I am not saying to quit comic book collecting, I am saying we need to CHANGE WITH THE TIMES. In the early days of 70's and early 80's you could by everything or anything and you KNEW it was going UP.

 

The CGC, god bless them, blew the stable comic book market price increases and overnight took comic books which were ungraded and got 20 times for for hulk 181 than it was not graded...I am sure you remember the ad. That in turn, bought very large and unnatural price increases without true collector increase.

 

The end result is if you bought a mid range GA comic book and payed a CGC inflated price......you are gonna take a hit, and the longer the hold, the bigger the hit.

2% o GA comic books are a safe investment which will give you ability to exit with a max of a 20% loss. The rest are headed down, some more slowly than others.

The money drain from OA came as a result of the rapid price increases which we still feed today as a result of the CGC grading system. That system is under attack from scammers, pressers, and greedsters.

 

there can be 100 dealers, the number is not what counts, it is looking to the future and protecting yourself as a true comic book collector. I would advise collectors to diversify and sell some books and buy OA which is unique to better protect yourself.

[Rip]

People like to invest money into something; comics, fine art, baseball cards, stamps, you name it. The desire to invest into a fun hobby isn't dying anytime soon. Key books will continue to grow faster than the books around them and cool cover will continue the same trend. I don't see this as a problem in the near future. Like all hobbies you need to pay attention to trends and supply. Be smart with your money and watch the market carefully.

 

Enjoy your OA. But be careful I don't see it being immune to your "no new comic collectors" theory either.

 

I'm quite happy with the comic market, although it takes a lot more money to play the game these days.

[Mmehdy]

People like to invest money into something; comics, fine art, baseball cards, stamps, you name it. The desire to invest into a fun hobby isn't dying anytime soon. Key books will continue to grow faster than the books around them and cool cover will continue the same trend. I don't see this as a problem in the near future. Like all hobbies you need to pay attention to trends and supply. Be smart with your money and watch the market carefully.

 

Enjoy your OA. But be careful I don't see it being immune to your "no new comic collectors" theory either.

 

I'm quite happy with the comic market, although it takes a lot more money to play the game these days.

 

And the more money is exactly my point. The OA came on strong because it was cheaper to the original art to the cover to the comic book, than a 9.6 CGC graded copy. The new comic book collector is not a theory, but a fact......we dont have newsstands any more for young people to get interested in them, they bring laptops to school,not school books, and I first became a collector when I went into drug store and saw a comic book rack.......how about you?