What would you invest in?

[comicmankev]

As we all know, collecting in general is a personal thing, you buy what you like, and if it goes up in pice, then thats great. But if you was a 'comics financial advisor' what would you say to the next people that come to you and have the following to spend on a five year investment:

 

1)$25

2)$100

3)$1000

4)$5000

5)$10000

 

 

Serious answers if you could. I love reading these!

[murph0]

Dependant on the particular book, I'd say anywhere from 200-1000 dollars. The higher you go the fewer buyers you have, despite the high demand.

 

Brian

[joe_collector]

If I were a 'comics financial advisor', I'd be too busy looking in the want ads.

[seank]

In the $1000 and under range, I'd recommend HG Neal Adams Batmans and Detectives, mid to high grade ECs, and HG mid-to-late bronze books.

 

In the $1000 and over range, I'd recommend golden and silver age books with high buyer interest like Marvel Mystery, Planet, and Phantom Lady.

 

Of course, realistically, if anyone told my they want to invest in comic books without any knowledge of the field, I'd tell them to give me half their money and after I stuck it my pocket, I'd say, "There, now leave. I've just saved you five years of waiting to sell your books."

 

Comic books aren't an investment, they're a passion.

[14 of spades]

i generally don't buy any CGCs less than 100 dollars - because of the shipping costs (re: i'm in canada). if i buy a book for 25 bucks for a 40 dollar book, i'm getting a good deal. but if i pay 8 bucks in shipping, i'm now paying 34 for a 40 dollar book which isn't as good a deal. as such - i try to find local toronto dealers (such as Pardise comics) and search their auctions a bit more thoroughly, cause you can usually arrange local pick up for books under 50.

 

in general, once the price of the book is in 3-digits, then i don't mind as much paying 6-8 bucks on shipping (e.g. 160 vs 168 - not a big deal).

 

to answer your question though, books i'd add to MY collection would be (considering investment potential):

 

1)$25 - Some 9.8 ASM in the 200s with a Hobgoblin cover/appearance.

2)$100 - 4 of 9.8 ASMs mentioned above, and combine the shipping!!

3)$1000 - try to get a Sub Mariner 1 CGC 9.8 (but probably wouldn't be enough)

4)$5000 - GA Sensation 1 in the best shape i can find it (restored or not)

5)$10000 - GA Superman 1 in the best shape i can find it (restored or not)

 

 

[comicmankev]

14_of_spades Thats the sort of reply I was looking for! Any more? I just thought this would be a fun thing to ask, I don't need you guys telling me this is sad!

[murph0]

Oh I see..you want one per..ok

 

1)$25 - ASM 174 or 175 CGC 9.4 or an early Hobgoblin app in 9.8 or ASM 243 in highest grade poss.

2)$100 - Any Cap book between 102-108, 113-116 in CGC 9.2 or 9.4

3)$1000 - ASM 18 9.2, ASM 28 9.0/9.2, ASM 31 9.4, Strange Tales 114 9.2, or FF 52 9.6

4)$5000 - ASM 4 9.2, ASM 13 9.4, ASM 15 9.4, Strange Tales 110 9.4, or Avengers 4 9.4

5)$10000 - Avengers 1 9.2, ASM 2 9.2, ASM 3 9.2, FF 5 9.2, or ToS 39 9.2

 

Brian

 

[14 of spades]

>3)$1000 - ASM 31 9.4

 

good choice. i think that book has lots of potential.

[Mushroom]

25 Green Arrow (Raw) #1, #2 & #3

100 GI Joe #21, ASM #136, Watchmen #1

1000 Bat #181 9.2, DD #158 9.6, ASM #194 9.8

10000 B&B #28 9.0, Iron Man #1 9.6, Flash Comics #104 8.5, Detective Comics #233 8.5

 

[COI]

or ToS 39 9.2

 

Murph, I agree TOS 39 9.2 is a good investment, but you're smoking something if you think you'll get it for 10K.

 

A 9.2 sold last summer for just under 18K. It's extremely tough in 9.0+. I'm guessing a 9.4 would hit about 30-35K.

 

 

[MuadDib]

Joe_Collector...Where did you get that dancing spidey! That's priceless!!

[COI]

Iron Man #1 9.6,

 

You could get that for $1000.

 

IMO, Iron Man #1, Cap 100, Subby #1, Iron Man/Subby #1 will not gain much more in pricing. They're abundant on the census all the way to 9.8, and not all that significant. Iron Man may perk up temporarily because of movie hype, but in the long term, forget it. The real investment is TOS 39.

 

If you're serious about long term investing, you have to put money into it inorder to make any sort of worthwhile gains.

 

Safe bet: I would advise starting at $500 minimum on an early Silver Marvel, preferably a key,(although $500 won't go far on most HG keys) pre-65'. Whether you like them or not, early Marvels are a "Golden Age" in their own right, and are very significant to the development of comics. Not to mention the tremendous HG demand.

 

 

[RedSkull]

Murph: Tos 39 in CGC 9.0 sell for $9000 when you can find them. Comic Link found one for a guy at that price last year and hasn't seen another 9.0 since. I own an CGC 8.5 TOS 39 with white pages and that cost me $4700. I agree a 9.2 CGC copy can be had for $18000 and they are available.

[murph0]

Yeah, I noticed afterwards the one I had looked at was an 8.0 not a 9.0. Anyways, maybe a 9.0 then

 

Brian

[bronze]

With any amount of money,I'd recommend that people look at books from all ages,especially the ones that can still be had at relatively inexpensive prices.

All which makes me wish that I had paid attention to the following:

 

Batman #44-In the '89 Overstreet,this book was about 210 in NM.10 years later it went up to little more than a thousand.*But*,in the 2002 Overstreet,it went clear up to 1600+!! It is a very handy investment and,no doubt, a very enjoyable book.

 

Speaking of books,pick up "Investing In Comics" by DW Howard.It has an appendix in the back on which books are still very investible,but I wouldn't go by that alone.

Part of that should be your gut and part of that should be some of the amazing opportunities that come everyones way once (or twice) in a great while.Garage sales are rife with these as are lazy dealers with a "25 cent" box filled with all sorts of neat stuff.And,even if they aren't in the box,there are plenty of dealers with stuff in general traffic that they've been trying to dump lo these many years to make room for more desirable items.To wit,after a show was over,a dealer offered me 100 copies of Batman #497 in NM for only $5.00!!! He just didn't want to haul them out the door,"one more time" so,I paid him and hauled 'em out myself!!!

Even if I was to sell these for only $5.00 apiece,I still clear $495 off my initial 5.00

investment.Not bad at all,in anyones book.

But if you're really serious about investment comics I would:

 

1.Get subscriptions to "Comic Book Marketplace" and "Comics Buyers Guide".

You need to keep up with market trends and whatnot and these two publications

are the best way I know of doing it. I mean a stockbroker has a sub to "The Wall Street Journal" right? You shouldn't be any different in your line,as well.

2.Get the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide on a yearly basis.This is more than just a "price guide" it's an indicator of future trends as well.

3.When you go to Comic Conventions and such,save a large amount of money for the *last* day of the show.Why? Because some of the best deals you will ever see occur in the waning hours of a Con,that's why and you want to be prepared.

4.Keep your eyes peeled for notices in the paper about auctions and garage sales.Your local paper should also have an "antiques/collectibles" section as well.

Just for kicks,try picking up the Sunday edition of an "out of towner",such as The NY Times or LA Times or something like that and look over their classifieds as well.

5. Visit your local direct shop at least once a week,even if you don't stay long!

Get there right when they open,just in case they got something good in the night before.That way,you will be the first to get in on it,instead of dead last!

 

Dang,wrote another paper!

 

[hammer-migration]

Try to diversify by investing in at least a few things that other investors AREN'T. A few mid to long shots that YOU think have a chance to come to prominance. There's nothing as bad as every bettor at the track putting their money on the favorite. That's a sure way of spinning your wheels. If he wins, you'll return $2.05 for every $2.00 bet and STILL have the slight risk that the jockey may STIFF the owner, hold the horse back, and cause you to LOSE BIG, with so little to earn if you guess right along with everybody else! Race tracks get RICH on bologna like that and in many ways, so do auction houses. Victims usually wind up paying the freight!

[Arty]

How about buying Golden Age cgc-VF and better books with slight restoration (color touch only).

Sometimes unrestored VG costs same as VF with restoration.

[blowout]

Try to diversify by investing in at least a few things that other investors AREN'T. A few mid to long shots that YOU think have a chance to come to prominance.

 

Great advice hammer. Going for the obvious high grade keys (like every other 'comic investor') is a sure way to pay top dollar for your books.

 

To truly have some investment succes you need to arm yourself with as much information as you can and atempt to read what the market will do in the future. And of course take the odd risk or two.

[shadroch]

If I was in for 5 years I would stay away from CGC books and find the best dealer that hasn't jumped on the bandwagon. For $1000 you should be able to get a nice portfolio of books such as Avengers 5-20,a couple of Surfers and some Adams Batman. For ten grand you can get a real nice group. Id include Green Lantern 40, Avengers 4, the Dc 100 pagers and the marvel 25 cent giants. I would concentrate the rest of the portfolio on Artist-Kirby,Adams,Steranko and Wrightson. If the CGC market crashes you'd be covered and if not,all you are out is the difference in the price of slabbing over 5 years. It boggles my mind to see a slabbed book selling for many multiples of its raw counterpart. Today it is still possible to buy nice raw books,but if the trend continues,it wont be for long.It is almost as if there are two diverging market out there. When slabbed NM books get priced out of reach,nice VF books will disappear.

[BachelorOfComix]

I would not go out of my way to invest in comics. I would suggest investing in bars of gold.

 

Cheers,

 

Bachelor of Comics