Collections drying up? 4 4

[Foolkiller]

10 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.

You mentioned Chicago -- and I don't know that market particularly well -- but I will say I wandered into Chicago Comics when I was last there about a month or so ago, and they had a very nice Tec 359 on the wall that I was shocked to see since the run up had started.  

[jsilverjanet]

Like all shops, you find deals here and there. Sometimes there stuff is over priced (they have had a batman adventures 12 for over a year around $600) but I've found a few good books there

[Jayman]

12 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

Actually was the case with the Church books, with Edgar alive and in the hospital as his family was trying to sell the books.  And, of course, the first group of Crippens was stolen and sold by a contractor working on the house.

Interesting, any links to the Crippen story?

[Kevin76]

3 hours ago, fastballspecial said:

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.

 

Anything after 1970 on the baseball card market is pretty much junk, the much older stuff that's graded is right up there with a slabbed copy of AF 15's and Hulk 1's.  NM/MT cards from the 50's are crazy money.

I don't see the market cooling down anytime soon on the comics front. It's only gotten more expensive as time passes. 

[Fan Boy]

2 hours ago, SteppinRazor said:

lol.  Saves me from having to buy a pack, rip it open and find out.  In the name of science myth busters of course

You're welcome, and fixed that for you 

[TheFifthHorseman]

I wish I knew about a year ago what I know now. My first forray into the comics world was mostly modern variants in high grade. I've made some money, lost some money. Probably broke about even when all said and done (so far hehe).

That being said, the one thing that I missed out on during that time was the OPPORTUNITY to buy in on Gold and Silver keys. Books that are crazy hot now were - relatively - dumb cheap this time last year. I know because I saw them, and passed on them.

I've sold most of the moderns I acquired over the last year. I am now a hoarder of whatever GA I can get my hands on when it fits my taste and budget. I shall be buried with it.

But man oh man, I coulda got so much more value for my dollar had I been playing the long game from the beginning. Impulsivity is a heck of a drug.

[1Cool]

9 hours ago, TheFifthHorseman said:

I wish I knew about a year ago what I know now. My first forray into the comics world was mostly modern variants in high grade. I've made some money, lost some money. Probably broke about even when all said and done (so far hehe).

That being said, the one thing that I missed out on during that time was the OPPORTUNITY to buy in on Gold and Silver keys. Books that are crazy hot now were - relatively - dumb cheap this time last year. I know because I saw them, and passed on them.

I've sold most of the moderns I acquired over the last year. I am now a hoarder of whatever GA I can get my hands on when it fits my taste and budget. I shall be buried with it.

But man oh man, I coulda got so much more value for my dollar had I been playing the long game from the beginning. Impulsivity is a heck of a drug.

So your long game was last year?  Things really have exploded if people are lamenting not buying books at last year prices.

[entalmighty1]

11 hours ago, jsilverjanet said:

I think the new buyers focus on these types of books. 

The new friends I mentioned earlier are all under 35, and have literally no clue about anything earlier than 1970.  They know enough to pay attention to the cover price, but mega horror/sci-fi keys would easily slip through their grip.  I highly doubt they'd know that Famous Funnies 209-216 are way more valuable than the issues directly before or after, and I wouldn't even expect them to know who Frank Frazetta is.  Conversely, they know every single detail about the variant market, and bronze/copper books.

[1Cool]

41 minutes ago, entalmighty1 said:

The new friends I mentioned earlier are all under 35, and have literally no clue about anything earlier than 1970.  They know enough to pay attention to the cover price, but mega horror/sci-fi keys would easily slip through their grip.  I highly doubt they'd know that Famous Funnies 209-216 are way more valuable than the issues directly before or after, and I wouldn't even expect them to know who Frank Frazetta is.  Conversely, they know every single detail about the variant market, and bronze/copper books.

It's not just new people either.  My dealer friend (who has been selling for years) passed up on a FN copy of House of Secrets 61 which was priced at $45 but was bragging about a beater first two-face (Batman 234) that he had grabbed for $50 from the guy.  The tunnel vision of everyone has got people looking for a few select books which makes it really tough to find those select books but the lesser known books get passed over.

[Logan510]

58 minutes ago, entalmighty1 said:

The new friends I mentioned earlier are all under 35, and have literally no clue about anything earlier than 1970.  They know enough to pay attention to the cover price, but mega horror/sci-fi keys would easily slip through their grip.  I highly doubt they'd know that Famous Funnies 209-216 are way more valuable than the issues directly before or after, and I wouldn't even expect them to know who Frank Frazetta is.  Conversely, they know every single detail about the variant market, and bronze/copper books.

I'm always amazed at the amount of detail these folks know without ever having read the books.

[F For Fake]

19 hours ago, entalmighty1 said:

Provided it's just the hobby that takes a hit, and not the entire economy, I'll be one of the people doubling down on my collection.

Same, looking forward to the crash!

[ADAMANTIUM]

5 minutes ago, F For Fake said:

Same, looking forward to the crash!

+1

provided it goes back up   in a healthy way, but personally I think that if the market crashes it'll be the modern variant market that'll be most affected and key's will remain keys; probably it'll cause more key's to be liquidated due to panic...

[LOC Collectibles]

I personally have found the opposite to be true. The last 12 months have been amazing as far as buying collections. I've found two collections in that time period that consisted mainly of silver and golden age books. The one collection the owner thought silver age was the only group of books that held any type of value. He literally gave me 3 long boxes full of premium golden age that he referred to as 'the junk.' He based all of his prices off eBay so 95% of the golden age he couldn't even find on there so he thought it was worthless. They are definitely still out there..

[thehumantorch]

Bought 8 longs out of a collection last night.  Mostly 50s and 60s books.  Nothing spectacular but happy to get it.

[MB1952]

On ‎6‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 1:38 PM, Quicksilver Signs said:

I don't think collections are drying up, just being held onto. There's more awareness with all the movie hype.

I'm pretty sure in about 10+ years time there will be a glut of collections popping up for sale, I'm 50 and plan to sell around retirement time, and there are a ton of guys my age with sweet collections. You can't take it to your grave! It's possible now might be the best time to sell, movies will dry up along with the hype, comics may well be as popular as pulps 20 years from now.

Totally agree with you.

[TheFifthHorseman]

6 hours ago, 1Cool said:

So your long game was last year?  Things really have exploded if people are lamenting not buying books at last year prices.

Yes, because my start in comic collecting was last year.

Had I not been sidetracked by modern variants I'd be in a much better position right now.

[Aweandlorder]

I take it, from the replies to this thread and the boards in general, that everyone here is a seller (Notice, I didnt use the D word)

Well, the good news is that its a sellers market. 

All this talk about a bubble/doomsday is just that. Talk

The market is very healthy bcs of 2 reasons: CGC & eBay. Nothing else.

Movies arent what's driving the prices up, they werent around before the 90s crash and the market was almost as good then (some will argue better, surely it was with newly printed books, probably not so w the secondary market. Probably not). Its the perceived value that has changed. There is more awareness today and more information

Those that tell you that movies and comics are a fluke and tomorrow the party will be over only chose to see the half glass empty.

I call it progress.

We wouldnt be here if it wasnt for the fans, readers, collectors, cosplayers, dreamers of dreams, the art. Ohhhhhhh the art.......... Even the dealers. We wouldnt be here without them either. They all pushed us forward to where we are today.

Fkuc the movies. This market is strong without them. Always was.

So does that mean we wont have a correction? sure we will.. There are always hiccups. some big some small. But the new generation is gonna carry the torch fwd. As much as I hate those punks who dont know any better. They respect the artform in their own way and they will do as good a job as any of us did growing with the funny papers.

Who in here, didnt take a break from comics? and for how long? guess what... while you were gone the world didnt stop telling heroic tales of men and women in capes. Yes I did say THE WORLD. Just as much as Id like to think that comics is an American brand, there are just as many fans abroad. Comiket brings a half a million fans to their convention annually. (cash me ousside) how bout that??? 

You think its just the movies? just the variants? the PnD? the speculators that made this market as big as it is today? How about its non of them?

Times are good my friends. Great. We live in world that allows practically anyone with an internet connection and a stamp to make a living out of his/her passion. Sure, that doesnt mean that youd make as much as someone who hussles and networks. But youre still making a living out of something youre passionate about, and you continue to collect. I bought a collection last Monday for 1k and flipped it on Thursday for 5k. Did I plan on it to happen? no. But the opportunity was there and grabbed it.

Till the next one comes along

Mic drop

 

 

[ADAMANTIUM]

I agree with your post.... I'm not a seller  but I agree with your post.

Hiccups will come, but I'm not dismayed by it. 

40 minutes ago, Aweandlorder said:

I take it, from the replies to this thread and the boards in general, that everyone here is a seller (Notice, I didnt use the D word)

Well, the good news is that its a sellers market. 

All this talk about a bubble/doomsday is just that. Talk

The market is very healthy bcs of 2 reasons: CGC & eBay. Nothing else.

Movies arent what's driving the prices up, they werent around before the 90s crash and the market was almost as good then (some will argue better, surely it was with newly printed books, probably not so w the secondary market. Probably not). Its the perceived value that has changed. There is more awareness today and more information

Those that tell you that movies and comics are a fluke and tomorrow the party will be over only chose to see the half glass empty.

I call it progress.

We wouldnt be here if it wasnt for the fans, readers, collectors, cosplayers, dreamers of dreams, the art. Ohhhhhhh the art.......... Even the dealers. We wouldnt be here without them either. They all pushed us forward to where we are today.

Fkuc the movies. This market is strong without them. Always was.

So does that mean we wont have a correction? sure we will.. There are always hiccups. some big some small. But the new generation is gonna carry the torch fwd. As much as I hate those punks who dont know any better. They respect the artform in their own way and they will do as good a job as any of us did growing with the funny papers.

Who in here, didnt take a break from comics? and for how long? guess what... while you were gone the world didnt stop telling heroic tales of men and women in capes. Yes I did say THE WORLD. Just as much as Id like to think that comics is an American brand, there are just as many fans abroad. Comiket brings a half a million fans to their convention annually. (cash me ousside) how bout that??? 

You think its just the movies? just the variants? the PnD? the speculators that made this market as big as it is today? How about its non of them?

Times are good my friends. Great. We live in world that allows practically anyone with an internet connection and a stamp to make a living out of his/her passion. Sure, that doesnt mean that youd make as much as someone who hussles and networks. But youre still making a living out of something youre passionate about, and you continue to collect. I bought a collection last Monday for 1k and flipped it on Thursday for 5k. Did I plan on it to happen? no. But the opportunity was there and grabbed it.

Till the next one comes along

Mic drop

 

 

 

[kimik]

6 hours ago, thehumantorch said:

Bought 8 longs out of a collection last night.  Mostly 50s and 60s books.  Nothing spectacular but happy to get it.

You should have snagged the other 88 longs as well. 

[thehumantorch]

Just now, kimik said:

You should have snagged the other 88 longs as well. 

Yuck