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Is Now the Best Time or the Worst Time to Invest in Comics?
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Started by GreatCaesarsGhost,

303 posts in this topic

adamstrange

adamstrange

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1 hour ago, Robot Man said:

Were those Flash books the Church copies that turned out to be restored? 

 

No.  You can see them in the Heritage Archive

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adamstrange

adamstrange

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1 hour ago, Robot Man said:

Our economy is essentially strong

It is not.  Those who hold assets or who are in jobs that can be done remotely are doing fine.  These are the folks who had money before the pandemic, and who, now, instead of spending it in the travel & hospitality sector, spend it on comics and other collectibles.

Those outside of this bubble (30% or so of the population) are struggling.

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Robot Man

Robot Man

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19 minutes ago, adamstrange said:

It is not.  Those who hold assets or who are in jobs that can be done remotely are doing fine.  These are the folks who had money before the pandemic, and who, now, instead of spending it in the travel & hospitality sector, spend it on comics and other collectibles.

Those outside of this bubble (30% or so of the population) are struggling.

Sadly very true but I said "essentially". I have worked the food bank for the past 6 months. I have seen first hand the effect this pandamic has had in my area. Lots of un-employment due to shut downs. All through it I have seen opportunities for reasonabile paying jobs from employers like Target, Walmart, delivery companies and grocery stores. Granted these are part time or limited employment but most of these are offering $15. an hour for those willing to accept them.

I am now seeing restaurants in my area packed at night at even limited capacity and they are starting to open for inside dining at a limited capacity. I personally have a friend with a small Mexican restaurant that cannot find people to take the jobs he is offering. I have another friend that does home construction who's business has been booming through this. He is also having a hard time finding employees.

Not saying that people don't want to work but many are getting by on un-employment or other ways. Maybe hoping better opportunities will soon open up.

I believe that the other 70% are just jumping at the chance to go out, attend concerts, sporting events, amusement parks and taking vacations as soon as covid is midigated. This will bring along much of the other 30% when it does.

Unfortunately, the ones who are going to suffer the most are small, independent buisness owners. Many were struggling before this happened. Many ran their business with their heart and passion. They wern't able to adapt and change quick enough. Many had their rents raised. They offered products that could be purchased on line cheaper. Opening brick and mortar stores has always been a tough shoot.

I see the economy coming back fine overall. Might take a while but it will happen. This was such a sudden blow that most of us just never saw this coming.

By the way, a year ago today, I was going through a long box of beautiful pulps I had picked up the day before at the LA Paperback Show. I was looking forward to a show every weekend for the next 3 weekends. On Wednesday, my wife heard on the news ay 5:00 pm that we were were going into shut down the next day. We jumped into the car hit the pet store for our dog's special food, I hit my local guitar store and stocked up on strings and we loaded up our shopping cart at the grocery store. We had no idea what was coming. Seems like forever. But we made it through and life is looking up again...

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fifties

fifties

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2 hours ago, Robot Man said:

Were those Flash books the Church copies that turned out to be restored? 

With very low interest rates, the housing market is booming in SO CA. It is a seller’s market right now. Once the rates rise, and they will, those hoping for a flip will have to wait to make a profit. 

Now is a good time to be a seller of just about everything. Those who buy will able to make a profit if they are patient and can afford to weather the upcoming corrections. 

The housing market isn't just booming in L.A.  I have a rental in the Summerlin district of Las Vegas, where the tenant moved out 3 weeks ago.  I told the broker, who has been the property manager for me, to go ahead and list it for sale. He did on the Saturday evening a few days after it was vacated.  Sunday morning he got a valid offer at 5 grand over asking price.  Should close within 2 weeks, and with the funds I'll be able to pay off my own abode.

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sfcityduck

sfcityduck

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22 hours ago, ChillMan said:

 Do your own research, and use your own eyes.  Don't believe the media when they say the $2.2M Batman #1 is a Top-5 comic....there are dozens of better ones....and some are going to be worth 5X that soon.

First, the only claim I know of is that Batman 1 is a top five comic with Action 1, D27, Superman 1, and MC 1.

Second, I have seen no evidence anyone will pay $11M for a comic book.  The pool of people willing to pay $1M is very small. So these kind of comments come across to me as merely wishful thinking which is not going to move the needle for buyers in that bracket.

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Tri-Color Brian

Tri-Color Brian

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On 3/14/2021 at 12:39 PM, fifties said:

The housing market isn't just booming in L.A.  I have a rental in the Summerlin district of Las Vegas, where the tenant moved out 3 weeks ago.  I told the broker, who has been the property manager for me, to go ahead and list it for sale. He did on the Saturday evening a few days after it was vacated.  Sunday morning he got a valid offer at 5 grand over asking price.  Should close within 2 weeks, and with the funds I'll be able to pay off my own abode.

And you should know from past experience, that when people start bidding prices above the asking price a crash is just around the corner.  I've seen it happen twice in my lifetime, in the early 90s and in 2007-2008.  The absolute worst time to buy real estate is when the bidding is going on.  I don't care how low the interest rates are.  I will be surprised if it doesn't happen this time...

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sfcityduck

sfcityduck

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2 hours ago, buttock said:

Not even for the Mile High More Fun 73?  

I do agree the MH MF 73 cgc 9.4 is a cool book.  He paid $57.5K in 2006 for it (I assume).  14 years later he would make a decent return.  Highest price paid for a copy was $104K in 2016 for a cgc 8.0 (3rd highest).  Is it a $1M book?  I don't think so (AS 8 isn't).  But, I think he easily could get five to ten multiples for what he paid (and maybe more).  Too bad it, like AS 8, does not have the debuting characters on the cover:

 

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Math Teacher

Math Teacher

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On 3/14/2021 at 2:09 PM, Robot Man said:

Not saying that people don't want to work but many are getting by on un-employment or other ways. Maybe hoping better opportunities will soon open up.

I don't know if that applies to the people you were talking about. At the end of March, schools in Iowa closed and remained close until the end of the school year. I was very concerned, as I earn about $2,000/month, during the school year, by subbing. This is in addition to the $4,000/month that I receive from my IPERS pension. The superintendent of a school district I sub for contacted all the subs and told us to apply for unemployment benefits. He also said that they would not dispute anyone's claim.

So, I got my first unemployment check on the first Friday in April. This was when the $600 in extra benefits was going on. My state unemployment paid $350/week, plus $600/week due to the first stimulus package. So, I was grossing $3,800/month in unemployment benefits until the end of the school year. The maximum that I could have earned as a sub was $3,000/month, and that would only happen if I subbed every day of the week, which I don't.

I initially felt bad about this, but one of my doctors said this, "You've been paying taxes for 44+ years. If you are entitled to this money, you have no reason to feel guilty."

Unfortunately, I did not use the money in the way the stimulus was expecting. I mostly paid down debt or invested it. In retrospect, I wish I had invested all of it. I did use some of the money to buy a Hulk #1 CGC 1.5.

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GreatCaesarsGhost

GreatCaesarsGhost

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2 hours ago, Silver said:

Why was the laugh emoji banned?

There's a whole thread on that very subject.  I stopped reading after awhile, but it seems the laugh emoji was banned when someone laughed at someone else's tragedy.  It's a pretty dark thread, including Mod intervention/comments.  

 

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GreatCaesarsGhost

GreatCaesarsGhost

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The books I follow in the current Heritage auction are giving off a mixed message. With still 7 days to go, the 5.0 Bat 1 is at $240k and the 3.0 is at $120k. Perhaps most stunning of all is the FF 1 9.0 at $220k.  
 

The books brought aggressive bids the first week, and then just seemed to hit a lull. I can feel the bidders eyeing each other, fingers poised over the bid button. Although there are occasional test bids floated here and there, activity seems to have been brought to a standstill as the finish line nears. I sense there will be even more pent up aggression that will come in the final moments 

 

The answer to the query in this topic has changed. I never contemplated the level of competition we are seeing on these books. All books, really.

This may not be the best time to Invest In Comics. Not because the hobby is about to fall off the cliff. But because the prices are crazytown at the moment.

wish I had a crystal ball

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