Soon Every Marvel Comic Book Will Be a Key

[SquareChaos]

so if you are fairly certain that this is a brief upsurge in the value of these books, does it make sense to jump on the opportunity to sell off these items now at their (assumed) peak value. You can always pick them up cheaper later if you want them back once the interest level returns to normal.

 

Some thought is required, but over all I think that is a good strategy. Not all of these books are created equal.

 

Howard the Duck? Sell.

 

IM55? Probably want to hold on to that.

[shadroch]

Does anyone here really believe that books like Avengers 28 and Astonishing tales 13 will not be cheaper three years from now?

I sold my Avengers 1-10, and TOS 55s before the movies hit and bought them back this year at substantial discounts. Got close to $300 for one 55, and bought it back for $180.

[Logan510]

This is the best time to be a comic collector and fan. I don't have any issue with movies raising awareness and hype about first appearances, etc.

 

It's fun and exciting.

 

But is that raised awareness translating into new readers? Not so sure.

 

Absolutely not. History has shown that comic book movies are good for nothing better than a short term spike as far as comic sales go.

 

If Marvel were smart, they would've had a new printing of the GotG TPB ready to go once the movie came out. I have several colleagues whose children loved the movie and wanted more material, but could not find it at reasonable prices

 

 

When the first Batman came out, I had a table inside the theatre lobby for the first weekend. I was limited to selling Bat books, pins and posters but my distributor and Joe Koch both gave me extra stock I could return. I made a deal with the manager for 15% of my net sales. I didn't make a killing but gave out about a thousand flyers for my store and got a few new customers. Several hundred stores did the same nationally.

This would have been a great movie to do this again, but today's retailers are simply not the guerrilla fighters that we were.

 

That was a great idea

[Aces]

Does anyone here really believe that books like Avengers 28 and Astonishing tales 13 will not be cheaper three years from now?

I sold my Avengers 1-10, and TOS 55s before the movies hit and bought them back this year at substantial discounts. Got close to $300 for one 55, and bought it back for $180.

Well the 13 (groot) is actually kinda rare in any decent grade so rarer comics will hold most or some of their value. The more common Ultron Avengers from the late 60s that were worth $100 in 9.4 and now $1000 will probably settle back down to $200-$300 two years after Avengers 2.

 

[Logan510]

This is the best time to be a comic collector and fan. I don't have any issue with movies raising awareness and hype about first appearances, etc.

 

It's fun and exciting.

 

But is that raised awareness translating into new readers? Not so sure.

 

Absolutely not. History has shown that comic book movies are good for nothing better than a short term spike as far as comic sales go.

 

If Marvel were smart, they would've had a new printing of the GotG TPB ready to go once the movie came out. I have several colleagues whose children loved the movie and wanted more material, but could not find it at reasonable prices

 

They did.

http://www.amazon.ca/Guardians-Galaxy-Abnett-Lanning-Collection/dp/0785190643/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407256922&sr=8-1&keywords=guardians+of+the+galaxy

 

Says it's not out but Amazon is slow, showed up in LCS's 2 weeks ago.

 

Interesting. I'm willing to bet most of my colleagues looked on Amazon as opposed to searching out a comic shop.

[letsgrumble]

Still beats the gimmick books, foil covers etc of the 90's.

 

Gawd. No kidding - by a mile.

 

DC releases 21 variant covers? At least they all have different art. In the 90s, they would have changed the color of the masthead and people would have bought three copies of each. Sooooo much worse back then.

 

I still remember early 90's my friend buying 5 foil cover books at a comic book store in NY and the guy telling him how much they would be worth. He paid $295 for the 5 books (Believe they were valiant and image books) and looked at me and said they were going straight to a safety deposit box and would hold them there for 20 years to put his kids through college. Years later i asked him about them (15 years later or so ) and he had threw them out at some point. Such an embarrassing period in comics.

 

 

The amount of $$$ I see being spent on variant printings in today's market gets me thinking that nothing has changed much.

[Flaming_Telepath]

This is the best time to be a comic collector and fan. I don't have any issue with movies raising awareness and hype about first appearances, etc.

 

It's fun and exciting.

 

But is that raised awareness translating into new readers? Not so sure.

 

I'm sure it's not.

 

The current speculator boom is not sustainable and in fact, is a barrier to potential new readers entering our hobby.

 

Most people with a modicum of interest in obtaining the 1st appearance of Groot, or Rocket Racoon, or Nova, or Warlock, or whichever lame 8th tier character that's currently 'hot', are going to be put off by the huge premiums currently attached to these books. Almost the only people buying them are speculators and flippers, who are then selling to other speculators and flippers, and some poor schmuck down the road is going to be left holding the baby.

 

This isn't a 'boom'. It's a contrived bubble built on less substance than a ponzi scheme.

[Dr. Balls]

This is the best time to be a comic collector and fan. I don't have any issue with movies raising awareness and hype about first appearances, etc.

 

It's fun and exciting.

 

But is that raised awareness translating into new readers? Not so sure.

 

Absolutely not. History has shown that comic book movies are good for nothing better than a short term spike as far as comic sales go.

 

If Marvel were smart, they would've had a new printing of the GotG TPB ready to go once the movie came out. I have several colleagues whose children loved the movie and wanted more material, but could not find it at reasonable prices

 

They did.

http://www.amazon.ca/Guardians-Galaxy-Abnett-Lanning-Collection/dp/0785190643/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407256922&sr=8-1&keywords=guardians+of+the+galaxy

 

Says it's not out but Amazon is slow, showed up in LCS's 2 weeks ago.

 

Interesting. I'm willing to bet most of my colleagues looked on Amazon as opposed to searching out a comic shop.

 

I'm sure. It's so easy to find stuff on Amazon. We went to the LCS the next day, and it was actually pretty busy. We saw a kid who was dressed up as Star Lord at the Friday showing there, too. Comic movies are good for comic shops in general.

 

Comic shops could coordinate their advertising with movie releases. When I had my shop, I always advertised my commercial on new episodes of X-Files, and my business spiked every single time. Not nearly as much on repeat weeks.

 

Advertising works, but people actually have to advertise to get results. Whether it's throwing a GotG afterparty or handing out leaflets, LCS owners could be pro-active and draw away some of that Amazon money if they put forth some effort.

 

Competing in business today is not about gaining customers, it's about taking them away from your competition. There's way too many outlets for people to get their comic-related fix - as a seller you have to figure out how to get those customers.

[Dr. Balls]

Almost the only people buying them are speculators and flippers, who are then selling to other speculators and flippers, and some poor schmuck down the road is going to be left holding the baby.

 

People now are buying hard-to-find BA or SA books for inflated prices - I don't think that's nearly as bad as buying a $700 variant that came out a few months ago. And I'd like to point out that most of those variants that have stupid pricing rarely have anything to do with a movie.

 

At least with BA and SA books there are limited quantities, not like new books that can simply be printed, reprinted and in some cases, have their availability ratios mis-represented.

 

I don't disagree that there's a speculator problem going on, but I have no problems with people speculating on old, vitage books. I think that's great.

[jools&jim]

 

Almost the only people buying them are speculators and flippers, who are then selling to other speculators and flippers, and some poor schmuck down the road is going to be left holding the baby.

 

People now are buying hard-to-find BA or SA books for inflated prices...

 

There really is no such thing (or, very few such things) as "hard-to-find" mainstream BA Marvel comic books, unless we're talking solely about ultra-high-grade copies.

 

Unfortunately (i.e., for buyers), price inflation due to speculation is happening across the spectrum of grades. I agree that this is most likely temporary for some books; I do not agree that it is a long-term positive for the hobby...

 

 

[Dr. Balls]

Almost the only people buying them are speculators and flippers, who are then selling to other speculators and flippers, and some poor schmuck down the road is going to be left holding the baby.

 

People now are buying hard-to-find BA or SA books for inflated prices...

 

There really is no such thing (or, very few such things) as "hard-to-find" mainstream BA Marvel comic books, unless we're talking solely about ultra-high-grade copies.

 

Unfortunately (i.e., for buyers), price inflation due to speculation is happening across the spectrum of grades. I agree that this is most likely temporary for some books; I do not agree that it is a long-term positive for the hobby...

 

 

Well, true - BA and SA books are not rare items by any means - but way better for collectors to be on the hunt for those than endless, readily available copies of new books.

[letsgrumble]

This is the best time to be a comic collector and fan. I don't have any issue with movies raising awareness and hype about first appearances, etc.

 

It's fun and exciting.

 

But is that raised awareness translating into new readers? Not so sure.

 

I'm sure it's not.

 

The current speculator boom is not sustainable and in fact, is a barrier to potential new readers entering our hobby.

 

Most people with a modicum of interest in obtaining the 1st appearance of Groot, or Rocket Racoon, or Nova, or Warlock, or whichever lame 8th tier character that's currently 'hot', are going to be put off by the huge premiums currently attached to these books. Almost the only people buying them are speculators and flippers, who are then selling to other speculators and flippers, and some poor schmuck down the road is going to be left holding the baby.

 

This isn't a 'boom'. It's a contrived bubble built on less substance than a ponzi scheme.

 

BINGO

 

Was at the one-day comic show in Toronto on Sunday. Couldn't help but notice, at the beginning of the show, dealers raiding other dealers for precisely the types of books you mentioned above. They in turn mark them up and sell them to the next person who hopes the trend will continue upward. One adept dealer in particular had nothing but the hottest secondary keys: Strange Tales #180 for $150, Howard the Duck #1 for $120, Nova #1 for $120, etc., etc. What young reader is going to pay those prices?

 

And, as a collector, I constantly have to stay ahead of the curve by speculating which books may get hot, try to nail down those ones before I'm paying stupid money for them, and then continue on with the rest of the non-glamorous, non-key books.

[kav]

I have the first appearance of Peter Parker the Spectaculator Spiderman....

[prez]

This is the best time to be a comic collector and fan. I don't have any issue with movies raising awareness and hype about first appearances, etc.

 

It's fun and exciting.

 

But is that raised awareness translating into new readers? Not so sure.

 

I'm sure it's not.

 

The current speculator boom is not sustainable and in fact, is a barrier to potential new readers entering our hobby.

 

Most people with a modicum of interest in obtaining the 1st appearance of Groot, or Rocket Racoon, or Nova, or Warlock, or whichever lame 8th tier character that's currently 'hot', are going to be put off by the huge premiums currently attached to these books. Almost the only people buying them are speculators and flippers, who are then selling to other speculators and flippers, and some poor schmuck down the road is going to be left holding the baby.

 

This isn't a 'boom'. It's a contrived bubble built on less substance than a ponzi scheme.

 

BINGO

 

Was at the one-day comic show in Toronto on Sunday. Couldn't help but notice, at the beginning of the show, dealers raiding other dealers for precisely the types of books you mentioned above. They in turn mark them up and sell them to the next person who hopes the trend will continue upward. One adept dealer in particular had nothing but the hottest secondary keys: Strange Tales #180 for $150, Howard the Duck #1 for $120, Nova #1 for $120, etc., etc. What young reader is going to pay those prices?

 

And, as a collector, I constantly have to stay ahead of the curve by speculating which books may get hot, try to nail down those ones before I'm paying stupid money for them, and then continue on with the rest of the non-glamorous, non-key books.

 

OSPG, eBay app, and a practical budget should be in each collector's back pocket.

 

Always a hit-n-miss at comic shows. 70% of the time, I find better deals at this forums or my LCS.

 

 

[vaillant]

If Howard became hot in the 1970s it was because it was a good comic – of course there might have been speculation to some point but nothing comparable to this nonsense.

 

If Howard becomes "popular" now is surely not for the quality of the stories.

 

R.I.P. Steve Gerber, and I am really missing you…

[Logan510]

This is the best time to be a comic collector and fan. I don't have any issue with movies raising awareness and hype about first appearances, etc.

 

It's fun and exciting.

 

But is that raised awareness translating into new readers? Not so sure.

 

I'm sure it's not.

 

The current speculator boom is not sustainable and in fact, is a barrier to potential new readers entering our hobby.

 

Most people with a modicum of interest in obtaining the 1st appearance of Groot, or Rocket Racoon, or Nova, or Warlock, or whichever lame 8th tier character that's currently 'hot', are going to be put off by the huge premiums currently attached to these books. Almost the only people buying them are speculators and flippers, who are then selling to other speculators and flippers, and some poor schmuck down the road is going to be left holding the baby.

 

This isn't a 'boom'. It's a contrived bubble built on less substance than a ponzi scheme.

 

BINGO

 

Was at the one-day comic show in Toronto on Sunday. Couldn't help but notice, at the beginning of the show, dealers raiding other dealers for precisely the types of books you mentioned above. They in turn mark them up and sell them to the next person who hopes the trend will continue upward. One adept dealer in particular had nothing but the hottest secondary keys: Strange Tales #180 for $150, Howard the Duck #1 for $120, Nova #1 for $120, etc., etc. What young reader is going to pay those prices?

 

And, as a collector, I constantly have to stay ahead of the curve by speculating which books may get hot, try to nail down those ones before I'm paying stupid money for them, and then continue on with the rest of the non-glamorous, non-key books.

 

 

That's always been the case though. The books you mention are 30+ years old.

 

When I first started reading / collecting comics as a kid, most of the 60's stuff was way out of my price range and I didn't let that stop me.

[drbanner]

The crazy prices for these 4th-tier keys do make the crazy prices for the real keys more palatable, crazy though they also be!

 

"Young Readers" aren't buying these books at $100-150 a pop (half a week's paycheck for a kid working the summer at the YMCA earning minimum wage), it's the young flippers/wannabe dealers buying and selling them to each other...just like it always has been.

 

Groot? Rocket Raccoon? HTD? Nova? Uff Da!

[conditionfreak]

How many books without superheroes or super villains have become keys?

 

Some Sgt. Rock's and Sgt. Fury's, for sure. A very few Archie's (and the Pep)But what others are there? Any horror keys?

[mysterio]

How many books without superheroes or super villains have become keys?

 

Some Sgt. Rock's and Sgt. Fury's, for sure. A very few Archie's (and the Pep)But what others are there? Any horror keys?

 

Would HOS #92 count as a horror key? Or is ST more of a hero at this point?

[jools&jim]

 

How many books without superheroes or super villains have become keys?

Here are a few off the top of my head...