The Future of Comic Book Collecting & Investing

[ThothAmon]

I'll make up for the loss with volume.

[1Cool]

I'll make up for the loss with volume.

 

Hope you have a REALLY big basement.

[Phicks]

Comic books are doing much better in terms of diversity and youth than other popular collecting venues. You want to see a collection of 60-80 year old middle aged white guys at a convention,go to a baseball card or coin show.go to an antique radio swap meet

 

Fixed that for you.

Fixed that for you.

 

I have to laugh, since I belong to an antique radio forum, and this same subject comes up every other month, with the same thoughts about no one younger ever wanting to collect antique radios...

 

And building model kits. And fishing. And board games. And everything else kids (and adults) used to do back in the 1970s to kill time. Truthfully, it's quite a wonder that colouring books are making a comeback!

[SquareChaos]

I don't know, I've had this demographics discussion before, and all I can go by is what I see at the relatively small regional cons I still bother with. It's wall to wall 30+ white guys with a smattering of other folks.

 

I live in the Midwest, so your experience may vary.

 

Try C2E2 or WW Chicago if you want to bust the wall to wall 30+ white guy experience.

 

I don't doubt it. That is, after all, what these threads always end up being - worldview after worldview, each justified by the tellers own finite and limited sphere of experience.

 

[1Cool]

I don't know, I've had this demographics discussion before, and all I can go by is what I see at the relatively small regional cons I still bother with. It's wall to wall 30+ white guys with a smattering of other folks.

 

I live in the Midwest, so your experience may vary.

 

Try C2E2 or WW Chicago if you want to bust the wall to wall 30+ white guy experience.

 

I don't doubt it. That is, after all, what these threads always end up being - worldview after worldview, each justified by the tellers own finite and limited sphere of experience.

 

I don't know if I've ever seen data on this topic but I do know the more a Con concentrates on actual comic books the older the crowd becomes (from my couple years experience). C2E2 and WW Chicago are great cons in terms of having a ton of books on hand but I'd guess a lot of the younger crowd (and women) are there for the cos-play and the entertainment aspect rather then the comics.

 

Is anyone arguing the notion that there will be considerable less comic book collectors in 25 years compared to today? The characters may be going strong in 25 years but the prices paid for 95% of all collectible comics will have to drop drastically unless comic book collecting has a huge resurgence in the young people of today (which I would not bet on happening).

[1Cool]

But in the general - who really cares what the comic market will be in 25 years. 25 years is a LONG time and a lot will change for all of us over that time. Heck, I better lose a couple pounds and exercise more or I may not make it to 2040.

[MetalPSI]

25 years isn't as long as you think it is. I'm still living in '96 for the most part

[vaillant]

But in the general - who really cares what the comic market will be in 25 years. 25 years is a LONG time and a lot will change for all of us over that time. Heck, I better lose a couple pounds and exercise more or I may not make it to 2040.

Aside from this (I second your getting in a better form! ) no one knows how the comic market will be in 25 years, because the future is yet to come.

And, even more important, it’s what we make of it…

[vaillant]

25 years isn't as long as you think it is. I'm still living in '96 for the most part

Golly! And reading all these awful Marvel comics?

[MetalPSI]

If by reading, you mean slabbing, then yes

[mattn792]

I don't know, I've had this demographics discussion before, and all I can go by is what I see at the relatively small regional cons I still bother with. It's wall to wall 30+ white guys with a smattering of other folks.

 

I live in the Midwest, so your experience may vary.

 

Try C2E2 or WW Chicago if you want to bust the wall to wall 30+ white guy experience.

 

I don't doubt it. That is, after all, what these threads always end up being - worldview after worldview, each justified by the tellers own finite and limited sphere of experience.

 

I don't know if I've ever seen data on this topic but I do know the more a Con concentrates on actual comic books the older the crowd becomes (from my couple years experience). C2E2 and WW Chicago are great cons in terms of having a ton of books on hand but I'd guess a lot of the younger crowd (and women) are there for the cos-play and the entertainment aspect rather then the comics.

 

Is anyone arguing the notion that there will be considerable less comic book collectors in 25 years compared to today? The characters may be going strong in 25 years but the prices paid for 95% of all collectible comics will have to drop drastically unless comic book collecting has a huge resurgence in the young people of today (which I would not bet on happening).

 

I personally think the biggest threat to the hobby is how everything is moving away from print and into digital (think of the storage capacity of a Kindle or whatever book storage tablet the kids are using these days). That alone wouldn't kill the vintage book market, but it could get the younger generation so used to having everything in the palm of their hand that they're sole focus would be having a Hulk 181 in e-form without any interest in owning the original source material. Honestly, only time will tell though.

 

To your first point about the younger crowd at the big cons -- at least from the behind the booth perspective I got from this year's C2E2, yes, most of the book sales were to men of varying ages, whereas the autograph line for Melissa Benoist (TV's Supergirl) was where many of the young kids were spending their time. At the same time, strong attendance with repeat attendees year over year could spawn new collectors as time goes on. Again, time will tell.

[Aweandlorder]

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.

 

The ones I know are actually buying older records. More expensive records. Rare records. :shrug:

 

 

But yes, they're not buying $75k records, nor is your average comic collector. Even your average slabbed comic collector. The hobby only needs a few of those collectors, it needs an army of the rest.

 

The average comic collector spends more money than the average record collector.

If you want to take it a step further:

The average comic READER spends more than the average MUSIC consumer

[MetalPSI]

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.

 

The ones I know are actually buying older records. More expensive records. Rare records. :shrug:

 

 

But yes, they're not buying $75k records, nor is your average comic collector. Even your average slabbed comic collector. The hobby only needs a few of those collectors, it needs an army of the rest.

 

The average comic collector spends more money than the average record collector.

If you want to take it a step further:

The average comic READER spends more than the average MUSIC consumer

 

To be fair, after the Metallica fiasco, music in digital form skyrocketed for sales, comics and books in general were lagging way behind that train

[Aweandlorder]

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.

 

This reminds me I was in a Half Price Books a few months ago and there was small group of teenage girls going through the records. One of them pulls out the Beatles Rubber Soul album and asks an employee who was nearby, "I've heard the Beatles have some goods songs, are they good singers?" The employee answered a little dryly "yeah they are pretty good." She did end up buying it, so I guess there is some hope.

 

 

 

 

Remember this?

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2896408/This-Paul-McCartney-guy-gonna-huge-Kanye-West-fans-funny-joke-One-collaboration.html

[MetalPSI]

Too busy looking at Sophie Turner's dress

[Aweandlorder]

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.

 

The ones I know are actually buying older records. More expensive records. Rare records. :shrug:

 

 

But yes, they're not buying $75k records, nor is your average comic collector. Even your average slabbed comic collector. The hobby only needs a few of those collectors, it needs an army of the rest.

 

The average comic collector spends more money than the average record collector.

If you want to take it a step further:

The average comic READER spends more than the average MUSIC consumer

 

To be fair, after the Metallica fiasco, music in digital form skyrocketed for sales, comics and books in general were lagging way behind that train

 

not too sure where youre getting your stats from

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2016/07/07/music-downloads-worse-decline/

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2016/07/06/digital-downloads-falling-faster-physical/

 

 

[MetalPSI]

Back then. Read context

[ThothAmon]

I'll make up for the loss with volume.

 

Hope you have a REALLY big basement.

 

Don't tell anyone!

[Aweandlorder]

Back then. Read context

 

Dont know when back then was, but to put it in context, there are far more music consumers than comic collectors of course. But the average comic collector will spend more money on comics than the average record buyer. This is more pronounced when looking at big ticket items compared to small ticket items in each category

[MetalPSI]

K