The Future of Comic Book Collecting & Investing

[mrwoogieman]

The "Golden Era" we've been experiencing can be traced directly back to Iron Man (2008.)

 

Before that, going back to about 1994-1995, the market was still very much in its "crash" mode, from which it didn't begin to recover until the aforementioned Iron Man, and the very new "movie hype" phenomenon.

 

Yes, yes, obviously there was something of that type before Iron Man...but the Batmania of 1989 didn't extend to Avengers, or Superman, or Lobo, or Spiderman.

 

No, this "Golden Era" starts with IM, and continues through Thor, Avengers, Man of Steel, Dark Knight, etc.

 

Not even Batman Begins, or Superman Returns had much of an effect.

 

There certainly wasn't any "Golden Era" in the late 90's/early 00's. That was when the market was at its all time lowest point, so far.

 

 

 

I think the new "golden era" started earlier than the Iron Man movies. I believe it began its uninterrupted run up starting around 2000 with the Spider-man and X-Men movies, the creation of CGC, and the internet specifically eBay.

 

 

[grebal]

b) A large part of the Eastern world is more into Japan's comic output than the U.S. comic output.

 

Exactly. And they don't all read Japanese. So we agree the propensity is there.

 

There is no reason to believe China won't follow it's neighbors into embracing the Japanese comic output, even considering historical animosity towards Japan. That didn't stop other countries in that part of the world from jumping into Japanese pop culture including comics.

 

It is just my opinion, but I don't think you'll get a sizable enough Chinese population to care about U.S. comics to make a difference.

 

Well, my comment specifically said "this country (never mind the rest of the world...)."

 

But on that scale, when dealing with characters with a global appeal/recognition, all you'd need is a relatively few to want the original source material for the movies or shows they grew up loving.

[EastEnd]

I've been hearing about the demise of comic collecting since the late 1970s when circulation rates began deteriorating and yet here we are nearly forty years later with the market growing and as vibrant as ever...

 

As I've said before, comic collecting as a hobby will collapse only when superheroes collapse as pop culture icons. Till then, there will always be significant numbers of folks that will seek out the source material.

 

And since superheroes today are arguably more popular than ever, I don't expect this collapse in my lifetime...

[Bill1]

Dump 1.3 Billion Chinese into the market, and that may help a collection or two.....

 

A see this affecting a lot of markets but collectible comics is not one of them. I can't imagine comic books (especially collectible English speaking ones most of us tend to collect) will ever be a hot item for the general populous of countries like Indian and China. There may be a few collectors that pop up here and there but not enough to make much of a price difference overall.

 

I only need one!

[mattn792]

I predict in 20-30 years, all titles will relaunch on a monthly basis. Just think about 2037:

 

Jan - Spectacular Spider-Man

Feb - Stupendous Spider-Man

Mar - Scintillating Spider-Man

Apr - Sizzling Spider-Man

May - Surreptitious Spider-Man

Jun - Slender Spider-Man

Jul - Surly Spider-Man

Aug - Slandered Spider-Man

Sep - Slandering Spider-Man

Oct - Slovenly Spider-Man

Nov - Sullen Spider-Man

Dec - Santa Spider-Man

 

An endless supply of #1s for the market!

[the blob]

It is just my opinion, but I don't think you'll get a sizable enough Chinese population to care about U.S. comics to make a difference.

 

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while i agree that counting on the chinese to prop up comic collecting in 20 years is sort of optimistic, I think you probably only need about 50-100,000 enthusiastic collectors for that to actually happen and that is what, .000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% of the chinese population? some chunk of the population probably has american pop culture fetishes. so many affluent chinese are going to college here....

[RockMyAmadeus]

The "Golden Era" we've been experiencing can be traced directly back to Iron Man (2008.)

 

Before that, going back to about 1994-1995, the market was still very much in its "crash" mode, from which it didn't begin to recover until the aforementioned Iron Man, and the very new "movie hype" phenomenon.

 

Yes, yes, obviously there was something of that type before Iron Man...but the Batmania of 1989 didn't extend to Avengers, or Superman, or Lobo, or Spiderman.

 

No, this "Golden Era" starts with IM, and continues through Thor, Avengers, Man of Steel, Dark Knight, etc.

 

Not even Batman Begins, or Superman Returns had much of an effect.

 

There certainly wasn't any "Golden Era" in the late 90's/early 00's. That was when the market was at its all time lowest point, so far.

 

 

 

I think the new "golden era" started earlier than the Iron Man movies. I believe it began its uninterrupted run up starting around 2000 with the Spider-man and X-Men movies, the creation of CGC, and the internet specifically eBay.

 

 

 

I don't think that's true. Yes, Spiderman in 2002 had a definite effect on Spiderman keys, but that's about it. There was nothing like the widespread exposure IM gave to comics and the comics market.

 

X-Men in 2000 barely created a blip in the back issue comics market.

 

And 2000 and 2001 were two of the worst years in the new comics market ever.

 

eBay and the internet made things more available, as buyers traded directly between themselves, without the dealer middleman. But for the most part, prices were where they were at around 1990-1991...you could buy solid VG copies of AF #15 for $1,000 off of eBay in 2000.

 

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

I've been hearing about the demise of comic collecting since the late 1970s when circulation rates began deteriorating and yet here we are nearly forty years later with the market growing and as vibrant as ever...

 

 

Except 1. I don't think anyone's said that comic collecting would end, and 2. in that 40 years, there have been some hideously awful years, especially for the back issue market.

 

1978

 

1983

 

1995-2002

 

For example.

 

 

 

 

 

[Aweandlorder]

Walking Dead TV show jump started the comic book spec era just as much as TMNT did back in the 80s.. How long did that last back then... 8 years? guess were due a correction any day now

 

 

 

[Mercury Man]

I think the majority of Millenials (not all, but a majority), are into the more compact, downloadable, disposable mindset. They show very little interest in the print medium, unless it's graphic novels. Sure they go to the movies, play the video games, with a lot of them dressing up in their cosplay and going to shows. But how many do you see at your Conventions actively buying Gold/Silver/Bronze age comic books?

 

How many are you seeing at your LCS picking up new releases?

 

This is still a Boomer and Gen X'er dominated hobby. How about these boards? Many Millenials here?

 

 

Will the Millenials be there with wads of cash ready to buy you/me out when we are at Shady Acres Assisted Living Facility? Tick Tock.....Tick Tock....

[gadzukes]

It is just my opinion, but I don't think you'll get a sizable enough Chinese population to care about U.S. comics to make a difference.

 

--------------

 

while i agree that counting on the chinese to prop up comic collecting in 20 years is sort of optimistic, I think you probably only need about 50-100,000 enthusiastic collectors for that to actually happen and that is what, .000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% of the chinese population? some chunk of the population probably has american pop culture fetishes. so many affluent chinese are going to college here....

 

I watched a Wine Documentary on Netflix recently where the Chinese were so into collecting French wine that they bought up a French Winery & vineyard and brought it over to China brick by brick. They then started the vineyard growing and started producing wine. They were so meticulous that they were able to start creating award winning wines (actually beating out the french).

If the chinese can be that gung ho about French wine..... I think they can become gung ho about American Superhero comics. At least a small percentage of them and that's all we need to keep the hobby alive and well.

 

[fastballspecial]

I think the majority of Millenials (not all, but a majority), are into the more compact, downloadable, disposable mindset. They show very little interest in the print medium, unless it's graphic novels. Sure they go to the movies, play the video games, with a lot of them dressing up in their cosplay and going to shows. But how many do you see at your Conventions actively buying Gold/Silver/Bronze age comic books?

 

How many are you seeing at your LCS picking up new releases?

 

This is still a Boomer and Gen X'er dominated hobby. How about these boards? Many Millenials here?

 

 

Will the Millenials be there with wads of cash ready to buy you/me out when we are at Shady Acres Assisted Living Facility? Tick Tock.....Tick Tock....

 

I agree I have liquidated quite a bit for that reason the last couple of years.

[1Cool]

It is just my opinion, but I don't think you'll get a sizable enough Chinese population to care about U.S. comics to make a difference.

 

--------------

 

while i agree that counting on the chinese to prop up comic collecting in 20 years is sort of optimistic, I think you probably only need about 50-100,000 enthusiastic collectors for that to actually happen and that is what, .000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% of the chinese population? some chunk of the population probably has american pop culture fetishes. so many affluent chinese are going to college here....

 

I watched a Wine Documentary on Netflix recently where the Chinese were so into collecting French wine that they bought up a French Winery & vineyard and brought it over to China brick by brick. They then started the vineyard growing and started producing wine. They were so meticulous that they were able to start creating award winning wines (actually beating out the french).

If the chinese can be that gung ho about French wine..... I think they can become gung ho about American Superhero comics. At least a small percentage of them and that's all we need to keep the hobby alive and well.

 

Everyone is on an equal ground in terms of loving and enjoying wine but it's an uphill battle to get people to buy collectible books that are not from your country or from your culture. I've been selling for a bit and I've never send a package to India or that portion of the world. India has been doing pretty well for awhile.

[PKJ]

It is just my opinion, but I don't think you'll get a sizable enough Chinese population to care about U.S. comics to make a difference.

 

--------------

 

while i agree that counting on the chinese to prop up comic collecting in 20 years is sort of optimistic, I think you probably only need about 50-100,000 enthusiastic collectors for that to actually happen and that is what, .000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% of the chinese population? some chunk of the population probably has american pop culture fetishes. so many affluent chinese are going to college here....

 

I watched a Wine Documentary on Netflix recently where the Chinese were so into collecting French wine that they bought up a French Winery & vineyard and brought it over to China brick by brick. They then started the vineyard growing and started producing wine. They were so meticulous that they were able to start creating award winning wines (actually beating out the french).

If the chinese can be that gung ho about French wine..... I think they can become gung ho about American Superhero comics. At least a small percentage of them and that's all we need to keep the hobby alive and well.

 

I at one point bought a ton of NBA authentic jerseys in 2002 or so. In retrospect I really don't know why since I never planned on wearing them, but being a fan I bought multiple players/teams. I amassed a decent collection of them. When I was moving in 2012 no one in the family cared about them so I threw a few on ebay. Every one of them sold to China for ridiculous prices. Not sure what that market is now but I remember selling Jerseys for 6-700 I paid 30 for (since they were past year jerseys NBA store practically gave them away the next year). Vancouver Grizzles Mike Bibby Jersey was one they went nuts over.

[Junkdrawer]

Not sure where I picked this info up but here goes. It was a several years back and I had heard that people from China were not allowed to own silver. I think it has since changed and the thought was that if everyone in China all of a sudden went out and bought just 1 oz, there would be a big rift in the market and drive silver sky high. Not sure what happened or how things panned out as you can see silver is at $20/oz and I'm not sure what the law is currently on that in China. carry on

[gyro-1]

Given the thread title and the OP's user name, I'm tremendously disappointed that this isn't someone taking another swing at ComicCoin, the world's favorite crypto currency based on buying up all Avengers Annuals with other people's money.

When I was a kid 45 years ago Stamp collecting in my town was far bigger than comic book s . Older wiser fellows had great stamp collections' from around the world . I hustled and built a nice collection in wonderful German binders . Over the ears I have reduced It many times and after spending thousands of hours on my stamp collection selling my stamps for next to nothing and giving away entire country's I now just have my core Netherland collection in the wonderful German binders all worth nothing

so fake money may be a option

[MetalPSI]

My grandfather had a stamp collection. Around 2001 or so he passed on and the proceeds from the value of that collection went to his eleven kids. At 20k a piece, that wasn't so bad

[SquareChaos]

I think the majority of Millenials (not all, but a majority), are into the more compact, downloadable, disposable mindset. They show very little interest in the print medium, unless it's graphic novels. Sure they go to the movies, play the video games, with a lot of them dressing up in their cosplay and going to shows. But how many do you see at your Conventions actively buying Gold/Silver/Bronze age comic books?

 

How many are you seeing at your LCS picking up new releases?

 

This is still a Boomer and Gen X'er dominated hobby. How about these boards? Many Millenials here?

 

 

Will the Millenials be there with wads of cash ready to buy you/me out when we are at Shady Acres Assisted Living Facility? Tick Tock.....Tick Tock....

 

When people talk about what young people will or will not get in to... I'm always reminded of the fact that some of them still collect vinyl. It doesn't seem too far of a stretch to me to compare collecting vinyl to collecting comic books, not in this day and age anyway.

[FineCollector]

When people talk about what young people will or will not get in to... I'm always reminded of the fact that some of them still collect vinyl. It doesn't seem too far of a stretch to me to compare collecting vinyl to collecting comic books, not in this day and age anyway.

 

Sifting through milk crates of $2 records at yard sales is a far cry from supporting the market for mega-keys. Besides, they're not buying Beatles or Elvis, they think the 90's is vintage.

[1Cool]

I think the majority of Millenials (not all, but a majority), are into the more compact, downloadable, disposable mindset. They show very little interest in the print medium, unless it's graphic novels. Sure they go to the movies, play the video games, with a lot of them dressing up in their cosplay and going to shows. But how many do you see at your Conventions actively buying Gold/Silver/Bronze age comic books?

 

How many are you seeing at your LCS picking up new releases?

 

This is still a Boomer and Gen X'er dominated hobby. How about these boards? Many Millenials here?

 

 

Will the Millenials be there with wads of cash ready to buy you/me out when we are at Shady Acres Assisted Living Facility? Tick Tock.....Tick Tock....

 

When people talk about what young people will or will not get in to... I'm always reminded of the fact that some of them still collect vinyl. It doesn't seem too far of a stretch to me to compare collecting vinyl to collecting comic books, not in this day and age anyway.

 

I think this a bad example. The number of baby boomer collectors of vintage records is a pretty big group. The number of gen x record collectors is I think is a lot less comparatively. And if you look at the number of millennial record collectors it has to be crazy low numbers. The price of classic collectible records would be expected to drop drastically once the baby boomers die off and the gen-x group is looking to downsize with no buyers. No collectible completely dies out since there will always be hardcore fringe new buyers but those guys tend to be buying for pennies on the dollars since there is very little competition and a lot of sellers.