Comic Book Investing

[jaeldubyoo]

Did anyone ever answer my question, in 20 words or less, if comics were a good investment?

 

Yes. No. Maybe.

[ianrush95]

Comic book investing, load of "bollocks" I am selling my collection and have made a loss on everything so far.

[mintcollector]

Buy Dr. Strange. That was better advice two years ago but there is still plenty of profit to be made in his early appearances. The Inhumans. Even if there is no movie you won't lose money on FF #45. Silver Age DC keys. Shazam #28. Plenty of great options have been mentioned in this thread.

 

The only thing that's starting to worry me about the market right now is that it's almost too easy to make money. Every book that I mentioned two months ago was an obvious choice that many others had been scooping up for awhile already, and yet, look what's happened in the last few weeks.

 

Who wanted a Shazam! #28 but waited until it was $300 to buy one? I thought it would jump up in price once an official announcement was made, but quintupling in a couple of weeks is kind of obscene.

 

Luckily, this isn't the same situation as the early 90s when you could buy a case of Valiants every month and double your money - that was never going to be sustainable. FF #45 and other key Silver Age books have many reasons to hold their value beyond movie hype, so I'm not changing my tune and suddenly predicting a crash or anything. No one is getting stuck with a stack of Strange Tales #115 that they can't unload for even pennies on the dollar. These huge price increases are too predictable to last though.

 

There has to come a time in the near future when these books steadily rise in value as the characters become more widely known and sought after, rather than quintuple in price as soon as a casting announcement pops up on the internet.

 

Until then, with a little common sense and caution, there is some easy money to be made at the moment.

 

Well said and a very good observation. I took a break from buying books exactly because of this. The ridiculous highs we are experiencing are not sustainable. As I said before what happens when these books stop delivering these kinds of returns and new movie announcements no longer cause immediate gains? Worse yet what happens when books like these start to fall? Speculators will leave the hobby causing prices to fall as a result. Another market correction will occur. It has happened before. Remember when high grade bronze took a nose dive? Most of those books never came back and never will.

[HighStakesComics]

I've said it before and Ill say it again, Mint. We have a couple of years of strong returns left. There's plenty of good opportunities. I just landed one of my BA grails tonight for a very reasonable price in an Ebay auction. The book? My precious Forever People #1, in raw 8.5, signed by the King himself.

[BarryAllen]

You can invest in comics..?

[HighStakesComics]

Just took another look. Probably closer to a 7.5-8.0. Any keys with Kirby sigs are rare though. I've got this one and a VG Avengers #5. I'd love to get an early FF signed by Kirby as well. I've heard from a pretty reliable source these can now be certified by a 3rd party (not CGC nor would I send to PGX-my ebay trs rating has more street cred). I'd be interested to hear what my new financial advisor, Petey's Wheatcake, feels about hoarding Kirby sigs.

[oakman29]

Comic book investing, load of "bollocks" I am selling my collection and have made a loss on everything so far.

Then you are doing it wrong my friend.

[Logan510]

Comic book investing, load of "bollocks" I am selling my collection and have made a loss on everything so far.

Then you are doing it wrong my friend.

 

You ain't kidding..a loss on everything?

[Mijael.Levy]

I've said it before and Ill say it again, Mint. We have a couple of years of strong returns left. There's plenty of good opportunities. I just landed one of my BA grails tonight for a very reasonable price in an Ebay auction. The book? My precious Forever People #1, in raw 8.5, signed by the King himself.

 

Steve B signed your Forever Peaople 1?

[Sqeggs]

Just took another look. Probably closer to a 7.5-8.0. Any keys with Kirby sigs are rare though. I've got this one and a VG Avengers #5. I'd love to get an early FF signed by Kirby as well. I've heard from a pretty reliable source these can now be certified by a 3rd party (not CGC nor would I send to PGX-my ebay trs rating has more street cred). I'd be interested to hear what my new financial advisor, Petey's Wheatcake, feels about hoarding Kirby sigs.

 

If you are thinking of who I think you are thinking of I think you have misunderstood the procedure at who I think you are thinking of.

[lou_fine]

Comic book investing, load of "bollocks" I am selling my collection and have made a loss on everything so far.

Then you are doing it wrong my friend.

 

You ain't kidding..a loss on everything?

 

Well, at least you will be able to use it as a taxable loss to offset against gains which you have made from your other investments such as stocks, bonds, or whatever.

[HighStakesComics]

These are way too important to stuff in green slabs, Squeggs. Ill send it someplace where hopefully it gets a little tlc .

[oakman29]

These are way too important to stuff in green slabs, Squeggs. Ill send it someplace where hopefully it gets a little tlc .

Nice,but that would still get a blue label since it's been signed on the inside splash page. (thumbs u

[mintcollector]

I've said it before and Ill say it again, Mint. We have a couple of years of strong returns left. There's plenty of good opportunities. I just landed one of my BA grails tonight for a very reasonable price in an Ebay auction. The book? My precious Forever People #1, in raw 8.5, signed by the King himself.

 

When I buy antiques and collectibles I have no desire to own items with 'a couple of years of strong returns left.' I like to own pieces of history whose demand is constant. Sure there may be some years of stagnant growth or negative returns (mostly due to economy), but the years that show positive gains vastly eliminate the negative. There is not one true antique in my collection that I could not sell for much more than I paid.

[Petey's Wheatcake]

Just took another look. Probably closer to a 7.5-8.0. Any keys with Kirby sigs are rare though. I've got this one and a VG Avengers #5. I'd love to get an early FF signed by Kirby as well. I've heard from a pretty reliable source these can now be certified by a 3rd party (not CGC nor would I send to PGX-my ebay trs rating has more street cred). I'd be interested to hear what my new financial advisor, Petey's Wheatcake, feels about hoarding Kirby sigs.

 

I can tell you that I wish I had one, so there will probably still be a market in a couple of years if you feel like selling. :smile:

[Sqeggs]

These are way too important to stuff in green slabs, Squeggs. Ill send it someplace where hopefully it gets a little tlc .

 

Green? Why green? The grade would just be marked down for the writing.

[HighStakesComics]

Exactly. If the guy from Pawn Stars can call in a handwriting expert, surely a 3PG could do the same. Kirby passed in 93', so the SS is out the window. Versus this sig repressing the books value, it would be nice to see it treated as authenticated. Kirby sigs, especially those on key issues, are one of the great treasures of our hobby IMHO. Autographs from our past presidents can and are authenticated regularly. Is there any doubt there are professionals in Florida that could do just that? I would chalk this up as a customer service issue. CGC could easily align with a handwriting expert and mark up the service. I'm pretty certain there's a demand for it.

[uchiha101]

DC has a lot of potential this year

 

My top ten with no particular are :

 

- Forever people 1

 

- Jimmy Olsen 135 - just in case the market decides that this is the full app

 

- Brave and the Bold 85 -

 

- Hawkman 4 , low grades

 

- Star Wars 42

 

- Tales of the teen Titans 44 - price went down so i think its a good time to get one

 

- DC Super Stars 17

 

- DC Presents 26 - Maybe the ship has sailed but you could find a copy at a good price

 

- Sandman 1 - DC Vertigo

 

- Shazam 28

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll add sandman 4 to the list the 1st app of Lucifer

[vaillant]

Exactly. If the guy from Pawn Stars can call in a handwriting expert, surely a 3PG could do the same. Kirby passed in 93', so the SS is out the window. Versus this sig repressing the books value, it would be nice to see it treated as authenticated. Kirby sigs, especially those on key issues, are one of the great treasures of our hobby IMHO. Autographs from our past presidents can and are authenticated regularly. Is there any doubt there are professionals in Florida that could do just that? I would chalk this up as a customer service issue. CGC could easily align with a handwriting expert and mark up the service. I'm pretty certain there's a demand for it.

 

1994.

[conditionfreak]

I was listening to a radio show that was all about financial advise and money matters. I do that a lot.

 

On this particular show, the host was discussing investment in collectibles. He didn't mention comic books. But he mentioned things all around comic books. Such as artwork, trading cards, Hummel's, etc.

 

Anyway. He said that it isn't necessarily a bad thing to invest in collectables. Because it not only could turn out as a great investment. But it is something that you may love. Which is a reward in and of itself.

 

But he said, one thing to consider. Is the age old "I'll pass these down to my kids and grandkids" attitude.

 

He said that your spouse, kids or grandkids may not have any "love" or attachment in those items (as we do), at all. It will just be something to sell for what they can get for them.

 

His advice was, that we collectors/investors should dispose of those items before we pass. Because we have the knowledge about our particular hobby, enough to get top dollar and not be taken to the cleaner when moving our beloved collectibles. But our heir's will, in most cases, not have that knowledge available to them, and will undoubtedly not get anywhere near what the items are actually worth. That it would be better to leave them the money. Even if we think that the collectibles will only increase in value in the future.

 

I think we here, have all known this. But it is eye opening when someone actually says it out loud. We tend to think that an Amazing Fantasy #15 in 7.0 left to our son or daughter, is a good move financially. The financial guru says, maybe, maybe not. But cash is always a good thing to leave to heir's.