october Posted June 6, 2017 Author Share Posted June 6, 2017 3 minutes ago, buttock said: Typically I'd be more concerned about a bubble, but 3rd party certification has changed the market entirely. You no longer have to worry about being ripped off which has massively expanded the collector base. Couple that with the huge expansion in exposure/acceptance via TV & movies and I feel that the growth to date is something that may have more substance to it. I would expect some contraction (AF 15 prices are just dumb), but I don't see a bursting of the bubble. I could be wrong, but this bubble has a bit more substance to it. I hope so. There have been a lot of rumblings on Instagram about the new breed of collectors, and the characterization of them reminds me a lot of the guys who got into baseball cards when they were hot. We know how that turned out. Maybe this is a new golden ago of collecting and things continue to be sunny for the foreseeable future. I just can't help thinking about what happens when the music stops. mysterio, jsilverjanet, fastballspecial and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttock Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 I lived through the 1990s and I don't see a whole lot of similarity. The flippers, definitely. But the collectors, no. At least not the ones who trickle down to vintage or higher dollar stuff. There are the variant cover/sig series folks that I just don't know from Adam since that's not my wheelhouse. Those who jump on every new "key" that is made by a movie/TV announcement may not last either, but I would guess they (or a good portion of them -- enough to become longer-term collectors) migrate toward more traditional stuff eventually. I mean if you're spending 4 figures on some unknown hero who has no prior history, why not buy a FF 48 in HG also? That TV/movie industry has a vested interest in keeping these people happy also, we can't discount that. But I'm just a crotchety old GA/AA guy who still prefers raw books. I may have no clue what I'm talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrwoogieman Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 30 minutes ago, buttock said: But I'm just a crotchety old GA/AA guy who still prefers raw books. I may have no clue what I'm talking about. The fact that you reference Atomic Age books at all, let alone abbreviate the term, is all anybody needs to know about where you fit on the collector/flipper continuum. buttock 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Man Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 1 hour ago, youmechooz said: i get an average of 4 collections a week. It has actually increased since last year. There has been a huge increase in active buyers on craigslist though. But what kind of collections? Stuff from the '80's on is all over the place and pretty easy to find. How often do you find GA and SA collections and non-common keys? And how many of them are OO? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpepx78 Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 There are still a few undiscovered collections out there. Here is a recent find in Tennessee of unopened boxes of baseball cards from the 1940s to 1960s that could be worth a million dollars! The dilemna is whether to open some of the sealed packs to see what is inside. It's called the Beer Box Find. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidseideman/2017/05/30/beer-box-of-old-baseball-cards-found-in-aunts-attic-likely-to-top-a-million-dollars/#44f2a24c7040 http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/partial-box-1948-bowman-baseball-discovered-set-auction/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artboy99 Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 38 minutes ago, jpepx78 said: There are still a few undiscovered collections out there. Here is a recent find in Tennessee of unopened boxes of baseball cards from the 1940s to 1960s that could be worth a million dollars! The dilemna is whether to open some of the sealed packs to see what is inside. It's called the Beer Box Find. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidseideman/2017/05/30/beer-box-of-old-baseball-cards-found-in-aunts-attic-likely-to-top-a-million-dollars/#44f2a24c7040 http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/partial-box-1948-bowman-baseball-discovered-set-auction/ great article. Thanks for the share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteppinRazor Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 I wonder if the gum's still good. ThothAmon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the blob Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 2 minutes ago, SteppinRazor said: I wonder if the gum's still good. unless they made better gum than the topps 86 gum my shop still has in its unopened packs, the answer is "no" mysterio 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastballspecial Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 2 hours ago, october said: I hope so. There have been a lot of rumblings on Instagram about the new breed of collectors, and the characterization of them reminds me a lot of the guys who got into baseball cards when they were hot. We know how that turned out. Maybe this is a new golden ago of collecting and things continue to be sunny for the foreseeable future. I just can't help thinking about what happens when the music stops. I agree with this. Its the baseball card mentality. It will kill our hobby eventually I am afraid. For that reason I am not keeping anything long term anymore. The market is hot currently, but I would hate to be selling slabs when the market cools down. I stick to raw its cheaper and safer. I still enjoy good comics its just they are harder to find. Its so much about the variant covers now in the modern market that a good quality comic anymore is just tough to find. I could care less about the variants give me damn good story and the buyers will come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Readcomix Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 14 minutes ago, SteppinRazor said: I wonder if the gum's still good. It can't be any worse! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan Boy Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 34 minutes ago, SteppinRazor said: I wonder if the gum's still good. I once tried one 20+ years old bubble gum stick that I opened a vintage pack of hockey cards in 1990s. That pack was from early 1970s. I did that out of both curiously and a friend double dared me. My answer ... thehumantorch and SteppinRazor 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingDonut Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 21 hours ago, newshane said: That's what some people were saying 40 20 years ago. Fixed that for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteppinRazor Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 1 hour ago, Fan Boy said: I once tried one 20+ years old bubble gum stick that I opened a vintage pack of hockey cards in 1990s. That pack was from early 1970s. I did that out of both curiously and a friend double dared me. My answer ... lol. Saves me from having to buy a pack, rip it open and find out. In the name of science of course Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteppinRazor Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 1 hour ago, fastballspecial said: I still enjoy good comics its just they are harder to find. Its so much about the variant covers now in the modern market that a good quality comic anymore is just tough to find. I could care less about the variants give me damn good story and the buyers will come. I bought a couple packs of the Walmart comics people were talking about in the modern forum on a whim. Man, comics suck these days. And I collected in the 90s, I shouldn't have a leg to stand on. Unca Ben 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Readcomix Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 7 minutes ago, SteppinRazor said: I bought a couple packs of the Walmart comics people were talking about in the modern forum on a whim. Man, comics suck these days. And I collected in the 90s, I shouldn't have a leg to stand on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foolkiller Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 Interesting topic Andy. Without giving away any state secrets, my buying this year hasn't slowed, but the network I work in is fairly extensive and I have several good leads for very high value, high end fresh material. This year I bought an OO Golden Age collection (co-owned it, was discussed on the boards a little) and that had some really nice stuff (Tec 31, 33, Marvel 2 etc), an extensive high grade Bronze collection that was deep in multiples of BA keys in very high grade, a SA collection with all major keys (except AF 15). These were all done through historic networks. The collections are out there. Yes, harder to get, but I've felt that leg work has increased slightly, there are still a lot of really nice collections groups of books coming out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsilverjanet Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 It's been a good year for buying but a lot of the same familiar venues don't yield the same results as before. The competition in Chicago is tough, there are more buyers than ever before but I've still gotten lucky. Silver age is next to impossible for me to find, Golden age as well. Jeffro. and greggy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
october Posted June 7, 2017 Author Share Posted June 7, 2017 3 minutes ago, jsilverjanet said: It's been a good year for buying but a lot of the same familiar venues don't yield the same results as before. The competition in Chicago is tough, there are more buyers than ever before but I've still gotten lucky. Silver age is next to impossible for me to find, Golden age as well. It so odd, I have been finding more gold than ever, but silver and bronze are super slow. I bought an OO Atomic Age collection this past month of a few hundred books, but finding ASM 300 or TOD 10 or Batman 227 at margin has become VERY tough in buying venues where it was not nearly so difficult before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsilverjanet Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 Just now, october said: It so odd, I have been finding more gold than ever, but silver and bronze are super slow. I bought an OO Atomic Age collection this past month of a few hundred books, but finding ASM 300 or TOD 10 or Batman 227 at margin has become VERY tough in buying venues where it was not nearly so difficult before. I think the new buyers focus on these types of books. greggy and Jeffro. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foolkiller Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 2 minutes ago, jsilverjanet said: I think the new buyers focus on these types of books. Absolutely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
