Early Duck Books dropping in Value

[the blob]

"I have MANY friends and acquaintances who collect comic books, but off the top of my head I can only think of one guy who actively collects the duck books."

 

A bunch of people here under 45 do.

 

I don't have many friends who collect comics though. A couple. One guy, tough prosecutor type, is currently into 50s - 70s Romance Books. He had been into 50s - 60s Marvel Westerns. He's all over the place, gets into some niche and has fun.

[FineCollector]

When's the last time a Barks painting was auctioned off? Some good press around a piece like would certainly get people to start sniffing around, wouldn't it?

[That Ron Dude]

I am in the last stage of middle age and I barely remember Hopalong Cassidy.. I have no interest in Hopalong memorabilia. I don't know if I am pushing it but Hopalong was probably a moment in pop culture and good for a time. Barks was around for quite a while, decades, and appealed to every strata of American society. I guess it doesn't matter much though. I am glad I didn't invest much in the collection. My thirty year old son has told me that he will kill me if I sell my Duck comics, though. He doesn't care at all about the Marvels or ECs though.

[Ryan.]

[MusterMark]

Well one thing is for sure: all those Disney books, Ducks included, are awesome, in both story and style.

[ComicConnoisseur]

I am in the last stage of middle age and I barely remember Hopalong Cassidy.. I have no interest in Hopalong memorabilia. I don't know if I am pushing it but Hopalong was probably a moment in pop culture and good for a time. Barks was around for quite a while, decades, and appealed to every strata of American society. I guess it doesn't matter much though. I am glad I didn't invest much in the collection. My thirty year old son has told me that he will kill me if I sell my Duck comics, though. He doesn't care at all about the Marvels or ECs though.

 

Hopalong Cassidy had a 25 year run at the top. 1930s to 1950s. He was the king of cowboys.

You and others never heard of him, but your grandfathers did.

That`s the point. It`s not that we 40 to 50 something's know of Barks comics, but will our grandchildren?

 

In 15 to 25 years will people even know who Barks is? Will he be thought of as a Hopalong Cassidy?

Actually Hopalong Cassidy is shown on COZITV,so Barks could fade even quicker in popularity with no new generation discovering him.

HOPALONG TV LISTINGS.

 

What people are confusing is Donald Duck popularity with Barks duck comics.

Already if you ask anybody under 40 who the duck artist is we will find a lot will say Don Rosa, so already people are not remembering that the duck artist is Carl Barks.

I hope collectors spread the word to new generations about Barks.

 

[rodan57]

Go down, way down...then I can buy them. Yay.

 

This sentiment I understand completely and take seriously.

[Norrin's lawyer]

I am later 40s. I collect them, love them, and would welcome a short drop in price so I could afford the Barks grails I would love to have in my collection. Outside of even the Barks books (which in my opinion was the master), so many of the early Disney stories are well written, funny, and the art is incredible (although I am Disney biased). I collect the higher grade ones for keeps, and pick up readers whenever I can to read to my 5 year old daughter who loves the stories and flips through the readers herself. Out of all the diverse and often esoteric books I collect, DC and Marvel Hero, War, PCH, GGA, Romance, Crime and funny animal ... my Disney books may very well be my favorite.

[dupont2005]

I don't have a single friend who collects comics, so they must all be worthless.

[dupont2005]

I'm in my mid 30's. I probably had never read a Barks comic until last year. I have known about him since I was a young child though. The only problem is back then the reprints were expensive and hard to get even. They were always archival hardcovers for adults from what I was able to tell based on the adverts in the back of the Disney comics I did buy. It's possible there were Barks stories in some of them, and also possible there wasn't.

 

But if we're going on what people with a faint memory of being mildly interested in comics when they were a kid think, the first issue of Youngblood should be worth about a thousand times more than the first issue of Archie.

[ThreeSeas]

I am 52 now, or the New 52 as I like to think of myself. I've been collecting Barks books since the 70's. I just wish I had completed my U.S. collection when prices were lower years ago. If current prices drop, I still may be able to complete my collection, but I have mixed emotions about that, sure we would all like to get what we want on the cheap, but also we do not want to see what we love drop in price either.

[NewWorldOrder]

Of course, none of this says these folks will be interested in dropping 10 grand for some 40s Donald Duck book, but does show potential for there to be interest in a broader array of affordable stuff.

That`s the difference.

Donald Duck will always be popular, but Barks Ducks we just don`t know.

At one time Hopalong Cassidy and the Buck Rogers ruled the nest with large collecting fan bases, and now look at those fan bases.

An example is at one time Hopalong Cassidy was bigger then Barks.

What happened? The fan base got old and died with no new fan base to replace them.

15 to 25 years ago Hopalong ruled.

 

 

 

Hence why Disney wanted to buy Star Wars and Marvel Comics.

 

Disney's characters were fading faster than Westerns.

[Dormian]

I have been a Barks collector since 1981. I have the majority of 20+ page issues and all of the Four Colors except for 9, 29, 48, and 62. Over the last ten years I have purchased a few of the early Four Colors at cons and I was always able to negotiate for much lower than the asking price. I have suspended my purchasing due to the lowering prices of the 9, 29, and 62 over the years.

[Bookery]

I don't have a single friend who collects comics, so they must all be worthless.

 

Your comics or your friends?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[That Ron Dude]

Thanks. I had no idea. I just know his name.

I am in the last stage of middle age and I barely remember Hopalong Cassidy.. I have no interest in Hopalong memorabilia. I don't know if I am pushing it but Hopalong was probably a moment in pop culture and good for a time. Barks was around for quite a while, decades, and appealed to every strata of American society. I guess it doesn't matter much though. I am glad I didn't invest much in the collection. My thirty year old son has told me that he will kill me if I sell my Duck comics, though. He doesn't care at all about the Marvels or ECs though.

 

Hopalong Cassidy had a 25 year run at the top. 1930s to 1950s. He was the king of cowboys.

You and others never heard of him, but your grandfathers did.

That`s the point. It`s not that we 40 to 50 something's know of Barks comics, but will our grandchildren?

 

In 15 to 25 years will people even know who Barks is? Will he be thought of as a Hopalong Cassidy?

Actually Hopalong Cassidy is shown on COZITV,so Barks could fade even quicker in popularity with no new generation discovering him.

HOPALONG TV LISTINGS.

 

What people are confusing is Donald Duck popularity with Barks duck comics.

Already if you ask anybody under 40 who the duck artist is we will find a lot will say Don Rosa, so already people are not remembering that the duck artist is Carl Barks.

I hope collectors spread the word to new generations about Barks.

[chrisco37]

 

Hence why Disney wanted to buy Star Wars and Marvel Comics.

 

Disney's characters were fading faster than Westerns.

 

They bought those because they know they can make more money with them. I doubt that Disney was worried that their characters were fading into oblivion.

 

As others have mentioned, Disney does a great job keeping their mainstays in the public eye. Every kid I know watches or used to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. The kids all know all the characters (Mickey, Donald, Minnie, etc...).

 

And they have no problem creating their own hits. I'd bet that Anna and Elsa are bigger $$$ makers for Disney than Spider-Man or Iron Man.

[Robot Man]

Here is how I like to re-read mine. Years ago, I picked up two bound volumes of all the Barks Ducks one shots and two volumes of Uncle Scrooge #1-40. I've been trying to sell my old individual copies for years...

 

[FineCollector]

I am 52 now, or the New 52 as I like to think of myself. I've been collecting Barks books since the 70's. I just wish I had completed my U.S. collection when prices were lower years ago. If current prices drop, I still may be able to complete my collection, but I have mixed emotions about that, sure we would all like to get what we want on the cheap, but also we do not want to see what we love drop in price either.

 

I see it differently. I love what I love because I love it. If the price goes down, I can be even fussier picking my copies, and I'll enjoy them all the same! The key is understanding when everyone in the world is wrong except you...

[the blob]

"What people are confusing is Donald Duck popularity with Barks duck comics.

Already if you ask anybody under 40 who the duck artist is we will find a lot will say Don Rosa, so already people are not remembering that the duck artist is Carl Barks.

I hope collectors spread the word to new generations about Barks."

 

If you become a Duck collector you will find Barks. It's not a matter of confusing things. He CREATED Scrooge McDuck, the Junior Woodchucks, Gyro, etc., basically all the ancillary Duck characters except Daisy.

 

 

[the blob]

 

Hence why Disney wanted to buy Star Wars and Marvel Comics.

 

Disney's characters were fading faster than Westerns.

 

They bought those because they know they can make more money with them. I doubt that Disney was worried that their characters were fading into oblivion.

 

As others have mentioned, Disney does a great job keeping their mainstays in the public eye. Every kid I know watches or used to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. The kids all know all the characters (Mickey, Donald, Minnie, etc...).

 

And they have no problem creating their own hits. I'd bet that Anna and Elsa are bigger $$$ makers for Disney than Spider-Man or Iron Man.

 

I suspect Disney TV dominated the viewership of the 6-12 year old crowd before buying Marvel and Star Wars. Adding those two just cements the domination.