Will non-key issues become nearly worthless??

[Dr. Balls]

I know about comichron, but what I mean is, I don't see any tracking being done by anyone to see where these people came from. Comic sales went up and down when there were no movies to speak of, so it could be correlation, I don't know.

 

I have to think Marvel has done studies, even if they are not releasing them.

 

And, yeah, there are always new readers and collectors to the hobby, but we don't know why they're here. Again, there were new readers and collectors before the movies.

 

There's no up and down in the data since the first big-budget, heavily marketed movie push starting in 2000 (with X-men). It increases every year.

 

If you're looking for definitive proof, you're not going to find it publicly. It's pretty easy to surmise that billions of dollars in movie revenue is going to drive people to buy like products from the company that produces the characters to which those billion dollar movies are based upon.

 

Did the Twilight movies increase book sales? Yes. Did the Harry Potter movies increase book sales? Yes. It's called brand awareness, and it turns potential customers into paying customers because they are constantly immersed in the imagery and discussion of the brand.

 

Anyone with a small bit of interest can be easily turned onto the product becuase it's all around them. This is how advertising works, and while it's measureable - which I'm sure Marvel has statistics on that - it's not going to be information that is obtained for free, because it's costly to procure.

 

If you choose to be skeptical, you're in the minority - since there is a wide variety of evidence showing that comic books are more on-topic and profitable now that they have been in the past. Just because the specific data you want to see isn't available does not mean that there's some underhanded misconception at work here. Movies have increased the awareness of comics and driven up revenue.

[1Cool]

I don't really agree with much of this. I think the books are still highly desirable, and I still have many, many people completing runs and collections. There are always going to be people working on the runs they grew up reading.

 

If there are people who grow up collecting only keys, because they were told they were good investments, or because they saw a movie about them may or may not collect the issues of the books.

 

One consequence of all this stuff is that someone had to read the books to find the first appearance of Nebula and Livewire, etc.

 

And there is a whole untapped world of potential out there. Its called DC.

 

I would love to buy more DC books but they just sit and sit on E-Bay and they do not get a nibble on the boards unless they are priced at 1/3 guide. I do see some people buying non-key books and it seems like they live in Canada or oversees. The key books get all the views on E-Bay and sell almost as quick as you can post them.

[1Cool]

I know about comichron, but what I mean is, I don't see any tracking being done by anyone to see where these people came from. Comic sales went up and down when there were no movies to speak of, so it could be correlation, I don't know.

 

I have to think Marvel has done studies, even if they are not releasing them.

 

And, yeah, there are always new readers and collectors to the hobby, but we don't know why they're here. Again, there were new readers and collectors before the movies.

 

There's no up and down in the data since the first big-budget, heavily marketed movie push starting in 2000 (with X-men). It increases every year.

 

If you're looking for definitive proof, you're not going to find it publicly. It's pretty easy to surmise that billions of dollars in movie revenue is going to drive people to buy like products from the company that produces the characters to which those billion dollar movies are based upon.

 

Did the Twilight movies increase book sales? Yes. Did the Harry Potter movies increase book sales? Yes. It's called brand awareness, and it turns potential customers into paying customers because they are constantly immersed in the imagery and discussion of the brand.

 

Anyone with a small bit of interest can be easily turned onto the product becuase it's all around them. This is how advertising works, and while it's measureable - which I'm sure Marvel has statistics on that - it's not going to be information that is obtained for free, because it's costly to procure.

 

If you choose to be skeptical, you're in the minority - since there is a wide variety of evidence showing that comic books are more on-topic and profitable now that they have been in the past. Just because the specific data you want to see isn't available does not mean that there's some underhanded misconception at work here. Movies have increased the awareness of comics and driven up revenue.

 

Are those people going back and collecting a set of X-Men 148 - 200 for example? Or are they seeking out a nice set of Captain Marvel 2 - 10? People may enjoy modern comics and a select few books but t seems very few are becoming "comic book collectors".

[Shadow Images]

I believe we are in a current hot trend bubble. Comics is the new classic car or real-estate thing to do. A lot of the people I see getting into the hobby are there because it is the cool thing to do right know. I see the signs everywhere here of a bubble ready to burst. The local shop are ramping up pricing at an astonishing rate, people are complaining about all the variant covers they have to buy and most people are looking for keys even if they are small unheard of keys. Soound like any other time people remember. The bubble will burst, things we settle down to a sane rate and the true comic collectors( whether like me who collects runs or just the key chaser)that are in it for the long haul will remain.

[thunsicker]

I know about comichron, but what I mean is, I don't see any tracking being done by anyone to see where these people came from. Comic sales went up and down when there were no movies to speak of, so it could be correlation, I don't know.

 

I have to think Marvel has done studies, even if they are not releasing them.

 

And, yeah, there are always new readers and collectors to the hobby, but we don't know why they're here. Again, there were new readers and collectors before the movies.

 

All I have is my own confirmation bias-based story - I've never met anyone that was a collector that said they got into it due to the Avengers or Iron Man movies, but I'm sure they're out there. One may even be reading this now and preparing to respond!

 

I'm not sure about new collectors, but I'm sure that the movies have gotten some people who collected back in the 70's and 80's back into the fold. You can see many people saying as much on the boards when they tell how they got back into collecting in the last 15 years. "I saw the X-Men movie/Spiderman Movie/Batman Begins movie/Amazing Spiderman movie and thought of those old comics I used to have. Thought I'd see if I could pick them back up and here I am 14/12/9/2 years later..." I myself collected in the 70's and 80's even owning a comics store in the late 80's then got out of it in the 90's until I got the bug in the early 2000's. A third of that was because of finding the old collection in the basement, a third of that was because of having a bit more extra money, and a third of that was because some of the great movies coming out at the time.

[Wall-Crawler]

I know about comichron, but what I mean is, I don't see any tracking being done by anyone to see where these people came from. Comic sales went up and down when there were no movies to speak of, so it could be correlation, I don't know.

 

I have to think Marvel has done studies, even if they are not releasing them.

 

And, yeah, there are always new readers and collectors to the hobby, but we don't know why they're here. Again, there were new readers and collectors before the movies.

 

There's no up and down in the data since the first big-budget, heavily marketed movie push starting in 2000 (with X-men). It increases every year.

 

If you're looking for definitive proof, you're not going to find it publicly. It's pretty easy to surmise that billions of dollars in movie revenue is going to drive people to buy like products from the company that produces the characters to which those billion dollar movies are based upon.

 

Did the Twilight movies increase book sales? Yes. Did the Harry Potter movies increase book sales? Yes. It's called brand awareness, and it turns potential customers into paying customers because they are constantly immersed in the imagery and discussion of the brand.

 

Anyone with a small bit of interest can be easily turned onto the product becuase it's all around them. This is how advertising works, and while it's measureable - which I'm sure Marvel has statistics on that - it's not going to be information that is obtained for free, because it's costly to procure.

 

If you choose to be skeptical, you're in the minority - since there is a wide variety of evidence showing that comic books are more on-topic and profitable now that they have been in the past. Just because the specific data you want to see isn't available does not mean that there's some underhanded misconception at work here. Movies have increased the awareness of comics and driven up revenue.

 

A little story on new readers...This weekend on the drive home I stopped at a comic book shop (this is a nicer shop and whose staff are not the stereotypical comic book guys) and there was a dad there with his two young boys and older daughter.

 

They employee was giving advice on what books would be age appropriate, unfortunately, there were not too many books to choose from but both boys wanted the same title.

 

Rocket Raccoon.

 

The shop did not have issue #2. The boy asked if they could get it and the store employee said he would try. Their older sister was also with them and she had a few trades, but I am not sure which ones.

 

Anyway, it was cool to actually see younger kids in a comic store and it seems like the GOG movie brought them in.

[Comicopolis]

I finally finished reading the Market Reports in the recent Overstreet Price Guide and I really liked this year's crop of articles. The one statement which seemed to be repeated several times is that dealers and collectors foresee a time when random books will become less and less valuable. Almost every person at the Cons are all looking for a Hulk 181 or NM 98 and no one is actively seeking random issues to complete sets. Does this trend trouble you?

 

I see this trend becoming more noticeable in the sales threads on the boards where everyone is hunting for the hot "key" books and the generic books like a X-Men 19 or 33 gets completely overlooked until its at a rock bottom price. I can only see this trend getting worse with the new collectors not caring about completing sets but more interested in getting the showpiece books. Thoughts?

 

This is not a problem. At the current rate, in another 5 years every comic ever published will be considered a "key".

 

[passion4comics]

When I have the time and can find an X-Men run from 94-135 in 9.8 white I want to grab them to create a wall of X-Men. A lot of those are not keys, so I do see value in non-keys for people that want full or partial runs.

 

I see a lot of other people that have been collecting runs for a long time and that's not going to stop. The ones that are in it for flipping or flat out $ are the ones grabbing the key only books. Unless they really like the character.

[Artboy99]

I do 10+ comic conventions a year as a seller/ vendor and I am definitely seeing new buyers of comicbooks. In fact I am seeing that a strong percentage of my buyers are female under age 25.

[1Cool]

I do 10+ comic conventions a year as a seller/ vendor and I am definitely seeing new buyers of comicbooks. In fact I am seeing that a strong percentage of my buyers are female under age 25.

 

From your standpoint do you see a weakening in demand for non-key books or was the demand never really there for a Spiderman 172 or an Avengers 115 so its hard to say?

[1Cool]

I do 10+ comic conventions a year as a seller/ vendor and I am definitely seeing new buyers of comicbooks. In fact I am seeing that a strong percentage of my buyers are female under age 25.

 

I'm also very curious what percent of books on E-Bay are sold to women. Based on names on the packages I'd guess less then 10% for me. I'm guessing a lot of younger women go to the cons for the Cos-Play and the stars and they end up buying a few books while they are there. But do the seek out comic stores or buy more on-line after the con?

[Paul_Maul]

This is an interesting discussion. Good points are made on both sides, but I have to ask: if we're trending in this direction, how long until I see 9.6 copies of the non-key books I want on ebay at a reasonable price? I collect high grade Bronze Supes books, and all I ever see on ebay is $200 buy-it-nows for books that generally sell for $40 when they are rarely offered at auction. Will this ever change?

[1Cool]

This is an interesting discussion. Good points are made on both sides, but I have to ask: if we're trending in this direction, how long until I see 9.6 copies of the non-key books I want on ebay at a reasonable price? I collect high grade Bronze Supes books, and all I ever see on ebay is $200 buy-it-nows for books that generally sell for $40 when they are rarely offered at auction. Will this ever change?

 

Probably for a few of them that are currently slabbed. Some people who are holding onto their books and wanting $200 will eventually bring their prices down rather than having them sit around for years. Of course that will prompt no one to spend the $40 to slab a book that sells for $50 in 9.8.

[Paul_Maul]

This is an interesting discussion. Good points are made on both sides, but I have to ask: if we're trending in this direction, how long until I see 9.6 copies of the non-key books I want on ebay at a reasonable price? I collect high grade Bronze Supes books, and all I ever see on ebay is $200 buy-it-nows for books that generally sell for $40 when they are rarely offered at auction. Will this ever change?

 

Probably for a few of them that are currently slabbed. Some people who are holding onto their books and wanting $200 will eventually bring their prices down rather than having them sit around for years. Of course that will prompt no one to spend the $40 to slab a book that sells for $50 in 9.8.

 

I'd be OK with that. Although I'm sure there are a few trimmers and color touchers out there that would benefit, it would be nice to get a shot at raw books from high grade collections for the old fashion "double guide" rather than watching everyone submitting their near-perfect copies of Action #497 to CGC in hopes of cashing in big.

[romanheart]

I am sure there are more readers. I am sure the movies are pushing interest.

 

At the major cons, the push is primarily for hot comics and key issues. It seems if you want to fill runs you have to go to the less commercial cons and local comic book shows.

[RCheli]

 

I would love to buy more DC books but they just sit and sit on E-Bay and they do not get a nibble on the boards unless they are priced at 1/3 guide. I do see some people buying non-key books and it seems like they live in Canada or oversees. The key books get all the views on E-Bay and sell almost as quick as you can post them.

 

If somebody could find a way to sell non-key Superman-family Silver Age books at anything more than half guide, I will carry them around for a year. Those books are real duds.

[Gatsby77]

I can't speak for the current generation, but the 1989 Batman movie got me into comics.

 

My guess is that The Avengers movie two years ago & the Guardians of the Galaxy movie this summer also turned a lot of new kids into readers.

 

These are all mega-blockbusters, as in the movies of the summer for their respective years.

[RCheli]

I can't speak for the current generation, but the 1989 Batman movie got me into comics.

 

I was working at a comic shop at the time that was released, and the uptick in sales of Batman was negligible. In fact, Batman sales, for the most part, were terrible in the store unless there were some sort of tie-in or special event.

 

Batman Year One sold amazingly well in '87 (it sold 100+ copies for each of the four issues), but issue #408 went right back down to the normal 10 or 12 copies a month.

 

When the movie came out, we had a few people come into the store, but it may have pushed it up from 10 or 12 a month to 15 or 16.

 

What pulled it out was a consistent mini-series within a series that made everyone want to buy it -- the one with the Zeck covers, the death of Robin, and eventually him breaking his back.

[jaeldubyoo]

I think the trend has always been there. It's just that it has become more pronounced over the years. The gap in value between the keys and commons become greater as time passes.

 

[Gem_Mint]

I think most casual comic readers will buy non-keys. Then they will graduate to trying to complete runs. Next would be minor keys.

 

Next thing you know, they're out pawning their mother's couch for a copy of Avengers 1.