Are the Boomers cashing out? 6 6

[musicmeta]

In 17 days, 11 hours, 22 minutes and 29 seconds all comics will be essentially  worthless. 

When this happens, You will be able to pick up an Amazing Fantasy 15 in 9.4 in the dollar bin. 

....who really knows what's going to happen to comic books in the future. 

[lizards2]

1 hour ago, musicmeta said:

In 17 days, 11 hours, 22 minutes and 29 seconds all comics will be essentially  worthless. 

When this happens, You will be able to pick up an Amazing Fantasy 15 in 9.4 in the dollar bin. 

....who really knows what's going to happen to comic books in the future. 

[Westy Steve]

1 hour ago, musicmeta said:

In 17 days, 11 hours, 22 minutes and 29 seconds all comics will be essentially  worthless. 

When this happens, You will be able to pick up an Amazing Fantasy 15 in 9.4 in the dollar bin. 

....who really knows what's going to happen to comic books in the future. 

Nah, we got at least 13 years.   Know why?  When I collected coins, I was the bottom 25% in age, at age 42 and it took 10 years for prices to retract.  Right now the bottom 25% is about 39 years old.  So I figure they have at least until they are 52, and that assumes that the bottom quartile doesn't continue to drop in age due to new entrants who enter the hobby because of the movies and TV shows.  

[Senormac]

[ComicConnoisseur]

13 hours ago, 1950's war comics said:

I don't get wrapped up in any of my hobbies or collectibles, i love my comics ,,,and my coins and other stuff but they are inanimate objects, thankfully they were also bought with discretionary income

so any return, even 1/5th of what i have into them is just a bonus.... no different than my love for golf which i actually spend more on than comics with zero monetary return.......

Golf rules!

[ComicConnoisseur]

4 hours ago, Westy Steve said:

Nah, we got at least 13 years.   Know why?  When I collected coins, I was the bottom 25% in age, at age 42 and it took 10 years for prices to retract.  Right now the bottom 25% is about 39 years old.  So I figure they have at least until they are 52, and that assumes that the bottom quartile doesn't continue to drop in age due to new entrants who enter the hobby because of the movies and TV shows.  

Coins seem like dying hobby to me worst than comics,videogames or sportscards. Never nothing new happening. Same kind of coins forever. I use to be a coin collector,but how many Lincoln pennies or Jefferson nickels can one collect? At least with comics,video games and sports there is something new happening daily.

Also I think in last 25 years there has been maybe 2 coins that were breakout hits the 1995 W Silver eagle and the Jackie Robinson commemorative coin?

I think the gold spike brought back a little interest,but that has faded as well.

Comics,sportscards and videogames seem to have a better upside going forward.

Coins I am afraid might be headed toward the stamp and Lionel trains collecting category.

[marvelmaniac]

21 hours ago, Senormac said:

you are a collector, others...... so many others are businessmen and its all about profit, which is a good thing too.  we need each other cuz as the boomers unload their zillions of books, its the comic businessmen who are going to land those collections and then be able to supply the collectors.  its a huge cycle in the comic collecting chain of life.  Hug a comic dealer today

 

21 hours ago, marvelmaniac said:

And my Daughter will be looking for you and others like you after I am gone, she see's my comics as $$$.

 

17 hours ago, Fan Boy said:

Who's "she" are you referring to? 

My Daughter.

[Westy Steve]

2 hours ago, ComicConnoisseur said:

Coins seem like dying hobby to me worst than comics,videogames or sportscards. Never nothing new happening. Same kind of coins forever. I use to be a coin collector,but how many Lincoln pennies or Jefferson nickels can one collect? At least with comics,video games and sports there is something new happening daily.

Also I think in last 25 years there has been maybe 2 coins that were breakout hits the 1995 W Silver eagle and the Jackie Robinson commemorative coin?

I think the gold spike brought back a little interest,but that has faded as well.

Comics,sportscards and videogames seem to have a better upside going forward.

Coins I am afraid might be headed toward the stamp and Lionel trains collecting category.

Exactly.  Horrible demographics.  We have demographics that that the coin market would kill for.  Yet, only recently have key coins softened.  We are over-estimating the desire of the die hard collectors looking for those special comics...they'll be trying to outbid each other for years moving forward.

[ComicConnoisseur]

14 minutes ago, Westy Steve said:

Exactly.  Horrible demographics.  We have demographics that that the coin market would kill for.  Yet, only recently have key coins softened.  We are over-estimating the desire of the die hard collectors looking for those special comics...they'll be trying to outbid each other for years moving forward.

I think video games might be the big hobby in the end. Played by millions currently. A lot of the collectors started in the 1980s and 1990s,so they are coming of money age. One thing video games got going for them is they are still being played by the millions,while most other hobbies are losing their collector fanbases. 

I would try to get all the Nintendo keys from the 1980s and 1990s in top condition right now before videogame collecting really starts to take off. Yeah,it has taken off,but I see the history of it still has not become legitimized yet like coins,cards and comics. It will when their historians start to write the books.

[Shadow Images]

1 hour ago, ComicConnoisseur said:

I think video games might be the big hobby in the end. Played by millions currently. A lot of the collectors started in the 1980s and 1990s,so they are coming of money age. One thing video games got going for them is they are still being played by the millions,while most other hobbies are losing their collector fanbases. 

I would try to get all the Nintendo keys from the 1980s and 1990s in top condition right now before videogame collecting really starts to take off. Yeah,it has taken off,but I see the history of it still has not become legitimized yet like coins,cards and comics. It will when their historians start to write the books.

You've already missed the boat. You have to understand that community. They will not be writing books. They started making multiple independent video documentaries and online shows over the last few years. The harder to find game are already through the roof.

[ComicConnoisseur]

1 hour ago, Shadow Images said:

You've already missed the boat. You have to understand that community. They will not be writing books. They started making multiple independent video documentaries and online shows over the last few years. The harder to find game are already through the roof.

I am not talking about the ultra rare games I am talking about those Zelda,Metroid and Mega Man Nintendo games. Those will look cheap now compared to the future. Think AF#15 prices 20 years ago compared today. I always look for in demand IPs over rarity in the long run. I know a lot of people go by rarity. I go by demand.

Zelda and Metroid are the Spider-Man and Iron Man of Nintendo.  

We are just in the beginning of video games collecting,expect certain Playstation 1 and X-Box games to take off as well.

[FineCollector]

Video games have their cycles... Atari, NES, SNES... their peaks have come and gone.  Prices are strong on some, but on the whole, slightly down from what they were a couple of years ago.  N64 is still riding its high, and definitely dependent on the age of the gamers who grew up with them.

[01TheDude]

you think that is tough to gauge-- try selling Intellivision games on ebay. Some games are crazy scarce (Imagic Dracula - good $$) while others are totally unwanted. I got rid of all of mine though with some persistence. Still have an old c system in the origianl box I need to list to close out my experience with the system we had growing up in the late seventies early 80s

[ComicConnoisseur]

Just now, FineCollector said:

Video games have their cycles... Atari, NES, SNES... their peaks have come and gone.  Prices are strong on some, but on the whole, slightly down from what they were a couple of years ago.  N64 is still riding its high, and definitely dependent on the age of the gamers who grew up with them.

I am going by the characters though and not systems. The characters from Zelda,Metroid,Mega Man.Street Fighter,Master Chief and Mortal Kombat have potential to be huge in decades ahead just like Thor,Iron Man and Deadpool became this decade.

That is what was wrong with Atari in that they had no flagship holy grail character like Mario or Sonic to maintain interest. No Superman,Batman or Spider-Man. Nintendo, Capcom, and Microsoft have those generational type characters.

[Martin Sinescu]

Not to get too far off course, but really what's more wrong with Atari as a collectible is that most of us that grew up with Atari (late 70's) latched onto action figures, comics, baseball cards and the like as collectibles in our later years, but video games were a pretty obscure niche until maybe the last 10 years. Even when I'd heard sealed video game collecting had become a thing, I really couldn't wrap my brain around collecting a cartridge in a box.  It just seemed more of a means to an end since you still need a system and TV to make them actually function as opposed to a toy or comic which are a stand-alone final product.

The VG hobby seemed to hit home more with the next generation in line that grew up with NES and SNES instead (mid-to-late 80's) and perhaps were a little less connected with toys for their primary entertainment. Also not sure how "key" or "1st appearance" (to apply our comic mentality) character games will fare in the long run as a lot of stuff like the original NES Final Fantasy, Metal Gear and Legend of Zelda are a) more common and, therefore, affordable than you might think and b) not generally regarded as the "best" or even "good" representations of these franchises. Not that they're not desirable, but they're no Kid Icarus (obscure but rare) or Final Fantasy VII (wildly popular installment of this series).

[Moondog]

On 8/26/2017 at 8:38 PM, namisgr said:

Something's behind the steadily falling prices for low to mid grade Silver Age that isn't considered key.  Reduced demand and increased supply are both probably responsible.

Absolutely correct in this assumption.  What else could it be?

[namisgr]

On 8/27/2017 at 11:12 AM, marvelmaniac said:

I have already seen and read the threads on "why you should sell your collection when you age and not burden your family with having to get rid of your books after you are gone" and to me that is "stupid".

Why should I stop enjoying my comics that I spent so much time and effort over the last 38 years to accumulate just because I am getting older and will one day "cash out"?

You really shouldn't take your own personal approach to the hobby and extrapolate it to everyone else.

What if you had a large percentage of your retirement money tied up in comics?  You'd consider selling to support the type of retirement you want when you want it.

What if you have so much money tied up in comics that having them in your house is a security concern?  You'd consider selling to obtain security for you and your family.

What if, in addition to high grade old books, you have cheap reader copies and books you bought off the rack as an inexpensive way to stay engaged with the hobby?  You'd consider liquidating the high grade old books.

What if leaving a bunch of stuff to your child who's just starting a family and considering moving to where they want to settle down is truly a burden on them that you're too selfish to alleviate by keeping all of your comics until you pass away?  You'd consider liquidating to do them a huge favor, and give them an inheritance that doesn't take up an entire room and really helps them launch an independent life.

What if you didn't call others who don't fit your circumstances and long-term goals 'stupid'? You'd be someone with a bit more respect for others.

Edited August 28, 2017 by namisgr

[Moondog]

On 8/25/2017 at 1:19 PM, MisterX said:

So I read one of those clickbait articles the other day about which collectibles are losing value. Along with the ususal suspects (Beanie Babies, Cabbage Patch Dolls, Stamps) they listed comic books. They gave a number of reasons, but the one that really jumped out at me was the assertion that the Boomers were cashing out, thereby flooding the market with tons of low to mid grade Silver and Bronze non-keys, causing the value of books to plummet.

Anyone see any evidence of this?

And if it were true, do you think demand is strong enough to absorb the coming inventory wave? 

P.S. -- This discussion is just for snarfs and giggles. We all know to collect what we love, and love what we collect. 

I have been stating this for the last year now.  I have purchased more collections of SA and BA books during the past 24 months than at any other time in my 40+ year comics career.  But the reasons Baby Boomers are selling almost always start with, "I'm downsizing and I can't bring my collection to my new home - there's just not room."  This is not the same as saying, "I've invested wisely in my collection and now I'm selling to reap the profits."  Many of these collectors don't want to sell, but they're forced to due to space limitations (perceived or real).

And prices for average-condition copies of non-key SA and BA books continue to fall.  It's difficult getting $5 for a book that lists in Overstreet for $15/$25. 

Since comic book collecting began, there has always been a market for reading copies.  That market too has dried up with all the reprint compendiums and online access to the stories.

Keys, classic covers and high grade books are hotter than ever.  As others have stated GA is doing well.  I don't expect these trends to end any time soon.  But I echo the opinions of many who state that there will never be enough new collectors coming into the hobby to absorb all this average material so prices on these books can rise.

[ComicConnoisseur]

1 hour ago, Martin Sinescu said:

Not to get too far off course, but really what's more wrong with Atari as a collectible is that most of us that grew up with Atari (late 70's) latched onto action figures, comics, baseball cards and the like as collectibles in our later years, but video games were a pretty obscure niche until maybe the last 10 years. Even when I'd heard sealed video game collecting had become a thing, I really couldn't wrap my brain around collecting a cartridge in a box.  It just seemed more of a means to an end since you still need a system and TV to make them actually function as opposed to a toy or comic which are a stand-alone final product.

The VG hobby seemed to hit home more with the next generation in line that grew up with NES and SNES instead (mid-to-late 80's) and perhaps were a little less connected with toys for their primary entertainment. Also not sure how "key" or "1st appearance" (to apply our comic mentality) character games will fare in the long run as a lot of stuff like the original NES Final Fantasy, Metal Gear and Legend of Zelda are a) more common and, therefore, affordable than you might think and b) not generally regarded as the "best" or even "good" representations of these franchises. Not that they're not desirable, but they're no Kid Icarus (obscure but rare) or Final Fantasy VII (wildly popular installment of this series).

It consistently goes for over $1,000 top grade certified. I consider it to have AF#15 potential. It is a holy grail to some.

Not now,but I could see it getting up there in price a decade from now.

Edited August 28, 2017 by ComicConnoisseur

[Aweandlorder]

On 8/27/2017 at 4:06 PM, Aweandlorder said:

I love this place. I swear to you, theres nothing more entertaining than this message board.

2 months ago, everything was drying up. This month everyones unloading