Are we experiencing a comic book renaissance? 1 1

[Lt. Eckhardt]

I noticed a funny thing the other day.  There are once again comic book themed stores in my shopping mall, a new lcs opened in the neighborhood and it feels like you have to beat other collectors off with a stick at the flea market when a long box full of comics is discovered.

With the success of Marvel superhero movies under the watchful eye of Disney among others, would you say the Comic book industry is really back?   I am shocked to see many books that were heavily speculated in the 1990's actually coming back and having some sort of value.   Deals on eBay even seem far and few between lately.  7-10 years ago, I felt there were some great deals to be had on major keys.  Today, not so much.

While I feel we haven't approached 1993 levels again, do you feel the resurgence is sustainable long term?  Will there be another comic book crash?   Are we even experiencing a comic book renaissance?  I would love to hear your opinions and thoughts. 

[comicwiz]

Whatever is happening, is happening across other collecting areas, not just comics.

I frequently check in a few thrift shops, and without fail, I always see a handful of people in the store holding something and checking eBay prices. We have long winters, so this will happen with yard/garage sales soon as well.

The real miscue in this "frenzy" is that everyone thinks there's no shortage of buyers, but what they aren't realizing is it's because everyone's become a dealer.

Edited February 23, 2017 by comicwiz

[Mercury Man]

I think the speculators are back, and that is not good for any collectible.  Look at what is going on with some of the Modern books.  It eventually will implode when they all want to sell and realize they overpaid for that variant, once they have to start selling for a loss. 

[oakman29]

It sure does seem like a new awareness is going on with non collectors, and the movies and TV shows have fueled the fire. I welcome this new golden age of comics, and comic related shows. 

[LordRahl]

4 hours ago, comicwiz said:

Whatever is happening, is happening across other collecting areas, not just comics.

I frequently check in a few thrift shops, and without fail, I always see a handful of people in the store holding something and checking eBay prices. We have long winters, so this will happen with yard/garage sales soon as well.

The real miscue in this "frenzy" is that everyone thinks there's no shortage of buyers, but what they aren't realizing is it's because everyone's become a dealer.

This is mostly true. Maybe not everyone is a dealer, but most do a little selling and buying. However, maybe that's not a bad thing in the long term. I know I spend wayyy more on comics because I'm able to fund it through selling than I would if I didn't do that. Because of the internet mostly and 3rd party grading secondly, it has become easy to sell books at/close to/above what you paid for them in order to finance other purchases. Let's face it, everyone has some sort of budget, whether it be thousands per month or $10 per month. The fact that you can in effect "trade" one comic for another by selling and buying something else that appeals to you more at the moment just makes collecting easier. 

Pre-internet days, it was difficult to do this. If you spent $100 on a book you were lucky to get $50-60 in trade at an LCS, assuming they had what you now wanted to begin with. You needed a constant flow of new funds and you lost a lot of money on books that you had lost interest in. These days, if you spend $10K on a bunch of books, you can likely cycle that same $10K indefinitely and constantly get new books. That makes it fun. It also keeps money in the hobby. Of course there is also new money coming in but just the fact that most people aren't getting fleeced every time they lose interest in a book and liquidate it is keeping that money in the hobby. Of course there are exceptions to this, like buying at the height of movie speculation and expecting a windfall a few months later. However, I think the amateur dealer mentality a lot of people have in this hobby is likely a good thing for the long term health of the hobby.

[Chadwick]

I've been on eBay for 17 years and its been about 4 years since I was the only person buying comics and other collectibles at yard sales, flea markets, etc, in my area. 

The online market is no secret anymore, and there's always demand in a global market, it just changes what the demand is for over time. 

Try to find an original NES Zelda cart you couldn't give away 5-7 years ago. 

I sold a VHS tape to Italy last month for $200, that just wouldn't have happened without a global market. 

I've also been getting more and more buyers from China that are shipping toys back home. They have a third party system that accepts their item on the west coast and sends it to their address in China. 

I don't think we will see any more "bubble bursting", a market might cool down, but once that collectible levels out to what buyers will actually pay it'll see sales again. Obviously there are some items that people will just not buy anymore, like certain variants that dealers won't price down due to market memory, but I wouldnt call that a burst.

Collectibles in all forms are/have been seeing a renaissance since online commerce is no longer an outlier.  I don't see the bottom falling out any time soon. 

 

[1Cool]

13 hours ago, Lt. Eckhardt said:

I noticed a funny thing the other day.  There are once again comic book themed stores in my shopping mall, a new lcs opened in the neighborhood and it feels like you have to beat other collectors off with a stick at the flea market when a long box full of comics is discovered.

With the success of Marvel superhero movies under the watchful eye of Disney among others, would you say the Comic book industry is really back?   I am shocked to see many books that were heavily speculated in the 1990's actually coming back and having some sort of value.   Deals on eBay even seem far and few between lately.  7-10 years ago, I felt there were some great deals to be had on major keys.  Today, not so much.

While I feel we haven't approached 1993 levels again, do you feel the resurgence is sustainable long term?  Will there be another comic book crash?   Are we even experiencing a comic book renaissance?  I would love to hear your opinions and thoughts. 

I believe the resurgence is the number of people making money (or at least trying) in the comic industry and not a resurgence in people buying and reading comic books.  You go to almost any Con and it seems most are there for the resale rather than to purchase for a collection.  Has there ever been a vibrant collectibles market that is all about the flip?  Most of the time a collectible market switches over from collectors to sellers it's right before the crash in my opinion (beanie babies, sports cards, etc.)  Collectible markets have to be geared to collectors - it's in the name.

Edited February 23, 2017 by 1Cool

[ComicConnoisseur]

13 hours ago, comicwiz said:

Whatever is happening, is happening across other collecting areas, not just comics.

I frequently check in a few thrift shops, and without fail, I always see a handful of people in the store holding something and checking eBay prices. We have long winters, so this will happen with yard/garage sales soon as well.

The real miscue in this "frenzy" is that everyone thinks there's no shortage of buyers, but what they aren't realizing is it's because everyone's become a dealer.

Exactly, joining comics having a strong resurgence are video games(Nintendo), sports cards(especially rookie NBA stars and NFL quarterbacks) action figures(Star Wars and Transformers)collectible card games (Magic The Gathering and Pokemon cards). Really it seems to be collectibles that are tied to pop-culture that have stormed a huge comeback. 

[ComicConnoisseur]

1 hour ago, Chadwick said:

I've been on eBay for 17 years and its been about 4 years since I was the only person buying comics and other collectibles at yard sales, flea markets, etc, in my area. 

The online market is no secret anymore, and there's always demand in a global market, it just changes what the demand is for over time. 

Try to find an original NES Zelda cart you couldn't give away 5-7 years ago. 

I sold a VHS tape to Italy last month for $200, that just wouldn't have happened without a global market. 

I've also been getting more and more buyers from China that are shipping toys back home. They have a third party system that accepts their item on the west coast and sends it to their address in China. 

I don't think we will see any more "bubble bursting", a market might cool down, but once that collectible levels out to what buyers will actually pay it'll see sales again. Obviously there are some items that people will just not buy anymore, like certain variants that dealers won't price down due to market memory, but I wouldnt call that a burst.

Collectibles in all forms are/have been seeing a renaissance since online commerce is no longer an outlier.  I don't see the bottom falling out any time soon. 

 

Totally 100% agree with that statement.  

[HarrisonJohn]

I can see comics becoming "cool" like vinyl.

[Buzzetta]

15 hours ago, comicwiz said:

Whatever is happening, is happening across other collecting areas, not just comics.

I frequently check in a few thrift shops, and without fail, I always see a handful of people in the store holding something and checking eBay prices. We have long winters, so this will happen with yard/garage sales soon as well.

The real miscue in this "frenzy" is that everyone thinks there's no shortage of buyers, but what they aren't realizing is it's because everyone's become a dealer.

I agree with this.  There is a boardie here who tells me of how he comes across people that want to sell their collections and they always contact him to take a look first.  He does not live in the NY area.  

 

Up up here everyone is savvy enough to check eBay with their smart phone and try that route first.

[ComicConnoisseur]

1 minute ago, HarrisonJohn said:

I can see comics becoming "cool" like vinyl.

Most definitely. A lot of similarities to both hobbys.

Record store day 

Saturday. April 22,2017 

Free Comic Book Day,

May 6,2017.

Both have limited low print run variant editions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1Cool]

11 minutes ago, ComicConnoisseur said:

Most definitely. A lot of similarities to both hobbys.

Record store day 

Saturday. April 22,2017 

Free Comic Book Day,

May 6,2017.

Both have limited low print run variant editions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Definetely a bunch of similarities.  People don't have the ability to listen to the records and people seem to have little interest in reading the books.  The prime records go for big money while the rest are $1 a piece at a garage sale. 

[VintageComics]

it might be a Renaissance. There are many new readers coming in and buying books.

And it might be possible that in 20-30 years today's readers are tomorrow's collectors.

 

[lou_fine]

4 hours ago, 1Cool said:

I believe the resurgence is the number of people making money (or at least trying) in the comic industry and not a resurgence in people buying and reading comic books.  You go to almost any Con and it seems most are there for the resale rather than to purchase for a collection.  Has there ever been a vibrant collectibles market that is all about the flip?  Most of the time a collectible market switches over from collectors to sellers it's right before the crash in my opinion (beanie babies, sports cards, etc.)  Collectible markets have to be geared to collectors - it's in the name.

+1

This phenomenon is clearly evident as most buyers are chasing after only the keys and classic covers, while ignoring the non-key run books. 

Focus is definitely on buying more for investing and future resale, as opposed to buying for reading and retaining in your collection. 

[VintageComics]

16 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

Focus is definitely on buying more for investing and future resale, as opposed to buying for reading and retaining in your collection. 

That might be true for the vintage titles but there are many kids who are just readers that you don't see buying for investment or resale. They're in my LCS every day buying up new titles, requesting story arcs, buying graphic novels, etc. I didn't notice them earlier because I was so deeply invested in the vintage market but now that I step back I see them.

And those readers of today are the same readers that we had back in the 1950's and 1960's. Not in the same volume mind you, as there are many more distractions today but there are simply people who are readers, nonetheless.

[1Cool]

16 minutes ago, VintageComics said:

That might be true for the vintage titles but there are many kids who are just readers that you don't see buying for investment or resale. They're in my LCS every day buying up new titles, requesting story arcs, buying graphic novels, etc. I didn't notice them earlier because I was so deeply invested in the vintage market but now that I step back I see them.

And those readers of today are the same readers that we had back in the 1950's and 1960's. Not in the same volume mind you, as there are many more distractions today but there are simply people who are readers, nonetheless.

But can we call this a resurgence in the comic industry?  I'd have to vote no since all the comic producers seem to be in a perpetual Chinese fire drill in terms of trying anything under the sun to retain the fairly small readership they have.  I do think the super hero cultural impact is still going strong so maybe we will see a slow trickle of new readers coming into the fold.  Too little for my taste but it is what it is.

[1Cool]

41 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

+1

This phenomenon is clearly evident as most buyers are chasing after only the keys and classic covers, while ignoring the non-key run books. 

Focus is definitely on buying more for investing and future resale, as opposed to buying for reading and retaining in your collection. 

With everyone being able to be a E-Bay dealer you would have to be crazy to not cash in on the comic book crazy rocking the world (tongue in cheek).  I think the sky rocketing prices on some books makes it really tough to be strictly a collector since selling a $100 book that you bought for $20 a year ago is kind of a gimmie for most people.

[STORMSHADOW_80]

I think if the price point of comics were lower it would help get new readers. You would think since Marvel and DC are owned by huge companies profit margin wouldn't be such a big factor.

And why can't we have comics distributed everywhere like in the good old days?

[VintageComics]

6 minutes ago, STORMSHADOW_80 said:

And why can't we have comics distributed everywhere like in the good old days?

Many reasons. For one, it would put comic book stores out of business, through which Diamond sells a ton of other stuff.

It's never going back to the old way.