GA COMIC BOOK Collecting in the Financial crisis of 2020 3 3

[tpetty]

I am not a "high roller" when it comes to comics.  Don't think I've ever spent over $1500 or so on a single issue - so my experience likely doesn't hold true for those that are spending 5-6 figures on a book.

I'm a surgeon - and all elective surgery is effectively banned.  I won't earn a paycheck until I can operate again (although I still have overhead costs, nurse, etc to pay), and that is going to be AT LEAST a month without income, and probably more.  I run my own 401k/savings (I know - physicians are notoriously poor at finance) and when my cumulative stock accounts declined by a million dollars a couple weeks ago, coupled with no money coming in, my comic purchases will be basically nothing for now.

[Paul © ® ⚽️💙™]

9 minutes ago, tpetty said:

I am not a "high roller" when it comes to comics.  Don't think I've ever spent over $1500 or so on a single issue - so my experience likely doesn't hold true for those that are spending 5-6 figures on a book.

I'm a surgeon - and all elective surgery is effectively banned.  I won't earn a paycheck until I can operate again (although I still have overhead costs, nurse, etc to pay), and that is going to be AT LEAST a month without income, and probably more.  I run my own 401k/savings (I know - physicians are notoriously poor at finance) and when my cumulative stock accounts declined by a million dollars a couple weeks ago, coupled with no money coming in, my comic purchases will be basically nothing for now.

I am a high roller. I have been known to spend as much as $25 on a single book. However in the current crisis I have decided to diversify into buying toilet roll and other decadent luxuries like bread and milk. I'm struggling to acquire the bread and milk however I can always recycle the comics I own into much needed bathroom products.  

[Mmehdy]

19 minutes ago, tpetty said:

I am not a "high roller" when it comes to comics.  Don't think I've ever spent over $1500 or so on a single issue - so my experience likely doesn't hold true for those that are spending 5-6 figures on a book.

I'm a surgeon - and all elective surgery is effectively banned.  I won't earn a paycheck until I can operate again (although I still have overhead costs, nurse, etc to pay), and that is going to be AT LEAST a month without income, and probably more.  I run my own 401k/savings (I know - physicians are notoriously poor at finance) and when my cumulative stock accounts declined by a million dollars a couple weeks ago, coupled with no money coming in, my comic purchases will be basically nothing for now.

Here is a true GA comic book collector...and this is gonna be true for everybody at some point unless the price is a bargain.. A number of GA Collectors will just stop dead in  the GA comic collector's tracks. That is why if you have material which you can afford to hold a minimum of 12 months, you might want to reconsider selling that material during this crisis. The law of supply and demand must be in balance in order to have a healthy GA comic book market. I see demand slowing for both GA/SA.

 Tpetty good luck, stay healthy and please come back to the GA market when it is safe and sound for you family.

[Mmehdy]

58 minutes ago, G G ® said:

I am a high roller. I have been known to spend as much as $25 on a single book. However in the current crisis I have decided to diversify into buying toilet roll and other decadent luxuries like bread and milk. I'm struggling to acquire the bread and milk however I can always recycle the comics I own into much needed bathroom products.  

This crisis causes fear and frustration, regardless if you lose 250 dollars and your minimum wage job, or 1 million and you cannot perform surgery...and whose is to say what is "elective ". I might be emotionally reacting to your supposed funny post...but we have a  friend  from Italy that found a lump in her breast and she has been told  that her surgery is "elective" at this time.. I do not find bathroom humor funny at this time. We have the right as GA collectors to sympathize no matter what income,nationality and political views are expressed here.

 I wish to remind you that this virus kills and creates economic ruin no matter what neighborhood you live in or how much money you have in the bank and if you are a high school dropout or a medical doctor.

If you get a chance, and the video clip was posted I think in comics general, of the movie Margin Call....I highly recommend all board members watch this.....when the chairman the company   John Tuld  (Jeremy Irons) is talking to Sam Rodgers  (Kevin Spacey) about his company coming going down...check it out on you Tube "Margin Call" 2011 Senior Partners emergency meeting

to paraphrase :  Sam:"you know what we are selling is worthless

                           John: We are selling to willing buyers at the current fair market price

                              and This is it..THIS IS IT

 Folks be careful  how  you navigate your GA/SA comic book both buying and selling because it is a "This is It" moment in our GA collecting history.

                            

Edited March 27, 2020 by Mmehdy

[batman_fan]

1 hour ago, tpetty said:

I am not a "high roller" when it comes to comics.  Don't think I've ever spent over $1500 or so on a single issue - so my experience likely doesn't hold true for those that are spending 5-6 figures on a book.

I'm a surgeon - and all elective surgery is effectively banned.  I won't earn a paycheck until I can operate again (although I still have overhead costs, nurse, etc to pay), and that is going to be AT LEAST a month without income, and probably more.  I run my own 401k/savings (I know - physicians are notoriously poor at finance) and when my cumulative stock accounts declined by a million dollars a couple weeks ago, coupled with no money coming in, my comic purchases will be basically nothing for now.

I hope things get back to "normal" for you quick.  This definitely hurts folks in lots of ways.

[Paul © ® ⚽️💙™]

1 hour ago, Mmehdy said:

This crisis causes fear and frustration, regardless if you lose 250 dollars and your minimum wage job, or 1 million and you cannot perform surgery...and whose is to say what is "elective ". I might be emotionally reacting to your supposed funny post...but we have a  friend  from Italy that found a lump in her breast and she has been told  that her surgery is "elective" at this time.. I do not find bathroom humor funny at this time. We have the right as GA collectors to sympathize no matter what income,nationality and political views are expressed here.

 I wish to remind you that this virus kills and creates economic ruin no matter what neighborhood you live in or how much money you have in the bank and if you are a high school dropout or a medical doctor.

If you get a chance, and the video clip was posted I think in comics general, of the movie Margin Call....I highly recommend all board members watch this.....when the chairman the company   John Tuld  (Jeremy Irons) is talking to Sam Rodgers  (Kevin Spacey) about his company coming going down...check it out on you Tube "Margin Call" 2011 Senior Partners emergency meeting

to paraphrase :  Sam:"you know what we are selling is worthless

                           John: We are selling to willing buyers at the current fair market price

                              and This is it..THIS IS IT

 Folks be careful  how  you navigate your GA/SA comic book both buying and selling because it is a "This is It" moment in our GA collecting history.

                            

I certainly was not trying to make light of the situation, and my post was not meant to be funny. It was a statement on my current situation. I find musings on how much people spend on comic books at this time to be irrelevant and totally inconsequential.

We all have problems to deal with on top of the current situation. We all have to deal with whatever is thrown at us in our own way.

I wish everyone here safe passage thru' this,you can be assured of that.

[bluechip]

3 hours ago, Mmehdy said:

This crisis causes fear and frustration, regardless if you lose 250 dollars and your minimum wage job, or 1 million and you cannot perform surgery...and whose is to say what is "elective ". I might be emotionally reacting to your supposed funny post...but we have a  friend  from Italy that found a lump in her breast and she has been told  that her surgery is "elective" at this time.. I do not find bathroom humor funny at this time. We have the right as GA collectors to sympathize no matter what income,nationality and political views are expressed here.

 I wish to remind you that this virus kills and creates economic ruin no matter what neighborhood you live in or how much money you have in the bank and if you are a high school dropout or a medical doctor.

If you get a chance, and the video clip was posted I think in comics general, of the movie Margin Call....I highly recommend all board members watch this.....when the chairman the company   John Tuld  (Jeremy Irons) is talking to Sam Rodgers  (Kevin Spacey) about his company coming going down...check it out on you Tube "Margin Call" 2011 Senior Partners emergency meeting

to paraphrase :  Sam:"you know what we are selling is worthless

                           John: We are selling to willing buyers at the current fair market price

                              and This is it..THIS IS IT

 Folks be careful  how  you navigate your GA/SA comic book both buying and selling because it is a "This is It" moment in our GA collecting history.

                            

I remember that film well but in that scene they are talking about financial instruments, loans for homes that were already "underwater" and worth less than the loans.   

Now you could say that all collectibles have no intrinsic value, in that you cannot live in them or drive them or eat them (well, you could but they wouldn't sustain you).   What the best of them do have, however, is emotional value and genuine scarcity.  You can't manufacture them the way you can homes in overvalued locations, for example.  

The order of things on your list of what will maintain value is no different from the list you've always put forth, at any and every turn (or imagined turn) in the market, and it now, as always, mirrors your personal preferences in collecting.   Virtually everybody does that, of course, but, just think it's worth saying this was not carefully and uniquely constructed with respect to the current unique market conditions.  

But like you I have faith in the "best" and rarest, even if we don't always define it exactly the same way.   And like you I feel that some perspective is order.   This is not a world war.  The people who imply that we must let people die so the economy doesn't "die" are either unthinking, or dishonest, caring only about their financial positions and equating a temporary downturn with "death".   

Rare "GA" will retain value over time and likely increase in numerical value (if not comparative value) due to inflationary effects of the stimulus and resultant deficits, etc. 

If it doesn't and the floor drops to where they are virtually worthless, that will mean much bigger things are going on with the economy, and the value of your comics will be far from the thing that concerns you most because you'll be living in a whole different world.  One where the money you made or didn't make cashing in your comics, or your stocks, or your real estate, may also be meaningless.   It always amuses me in apocalyptic movies when they depict humanity collapsing to the point where clearly only a small percentage of people are going to survive, and you see some billionaire buying a seat on an escape vehicle with money -- not even a stockpile of useful goods he'd previously bought with cash but simply bags of actual cash -- as if money mean anything at all at that point.  I would find it more believable to see him buy a seat with a bag of GA books.   A key comic might be appreciated by somebody as a relic of civilization vanishing before their eyes.  At least, more so than a duffle bag full of Benjamins.    

 

[bluechip]

One more thing...

We're seeing lots of cities on minimal activity, but that in itself is not apocalyptic. 

Many businesses and industries shut down for several weeks over the Christmas-New Years holidays.   Some virtually shut down between Thanksgiving and mid-January.  

Used to be, if you traveled in Europe during August, you could have all of Paris or Rome to yourself, because nobody was there.   And the people who were there weren't doing much,

In Russia, try getting business done between mid-December, when the "New Year" holiday starts, and the beginning of February, when it finally starts to wind down. 

Much of the time China was on lockdown was already a virtual dead zone for any business not directly connected to their New Year celebration, which, like the Russians', goes on for about a month.

Not so long ago, New York was like that (check out the "Seven Year Itch" or "Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" and you'll see how people would just shut the doors for several weeks or even several months because, well, it was "hot" and AC was a rarity.

 

 

[Cat-Man_America]

7 hours ago, G G ® said:

I am a high roller. I have been known to spend as much as $25 on a single book. However in the current crisis I have decided to diversify into buying toilet roll and other decadent luxuries like bread and milk. I'm struggling to acquire the bread and milk however I can always recycle the comics I own into much needed bathroom products.  

I think I've figured out your problem, ...you need to lower the roll to within reach when you're sitting on the throne.

[Dark Knight]

20 hours ago, manofsteel said:

Right. They said their auction will go from the end of April till mid May. 

If anyone has any GA Superman books for sale, and they want to sell before the sky falls, please PM me. I'll give 60% of the value. 

Superman books should always go up up and away 

[Changer]

From my business studies and experience, the main stay theory of fundamental analysis is that; stocks are a portion of a company, its value is tied to future cash flow and its assets, as its future revenues are threatened from competitors or macro events, its values drop. So wealth is created when there is more economic activity and productivity, destroyed when consumers and business have no confidence and holding back. If the shock is too high companies can fold or be crippled permanently.

The stock market IMO had a very optimistic view of growth partly by shaped its own growth (speculation),  low interest rates and corporate tax cuts which added an artificial sugar high to them. Market which most likely would have been reset normally (correct) now with the enormity of  job losses, wealth drop and future uncertainty have shattered all growth models and increased investment risk. I imagine the market is reset for a long time as well as the general appetite for consumption of all assets, as cash will be tight.

To what scale and timing of the recover of Macro/world economics, will depend on the many variables of how the transition of this virus crisis to future commerce shapes out (infected rates, speed of vaccine, access to testing, effectiveness of govt programs, the virus curve, resumption of supply chains and trade, recurrence of covid-19).

In this environment of uncertainty cash is king. While collectibles are not tied to future earnings, they are affected by perception and consumer wealth, if one sees a specific collectable as safe and liquid storage of wealth that will increase its demand, if one perceives them as inflated or not liquid then that will accelerate its drop. As far as market choose carefully if buying individual stocks as future behavior of consumers will be altered and affect companies quite differently.

Edited March 28, 2020 by Changer

[fishbone]

My collection is priceless to me, so I don't see a huge affect on me and GA collecting. I'm not selling, and I'm not going to be a shark looking for "insane" deals  (but I'll still peruse around just in case there is something I just can't say No to). All this will pass eventually and most collectors will  just "resume" their passions and interests when the World resumes normal living. Financial corrections will probably be long-lasting overall, but history shows constant ebbs and flows, GA market no different. Try to stay positive friends as much as you can 

Edited March 27, 2020 by fishbone

[Tri-Color Brian]

Found another screaming deal on ebay.  A book listed for $100 was on sale for only $99.  I grabbed it.  What a sucker that seller was...

[Tri-Color Brian]

[Mmehdy]

2 hours ago, fishbone said:

My collection is priceless to me, so I don't see a huge affect on me and GA collecting. I'm not selling, and I'm not going to be a shark looking for "insane" deals  (but I'll still peruse around just in case there is something I just can't say No to). All this will pass eventually and most collectors will  just "resume" their passions and interests when the World resumes normal living. Financial corrections will probably be long-lasting overall, but history shows constant ebbs and flows, GA market no different. Try to stay positive friends as much as you can 

I am in agreement with you 100% our collections are priceless. It is however not looking just for insane deals...but also access to rare GA that never comes on the market and  also rare in terms of the GA book condition wise.. I think is especially great time to focus on "white page" GA/SA quality books or pedigree books where the multiples of guide will not be overwhelming in terms of price. The price is one factor, but serious GA collectors might have the ability to fill in those holes on material which is just never available or affordable.

Edited March 27, 2020 by Mmehdy

[jimbo_7071]

There's more slabbed GA material on eBay than usual. I always search "CGC" and then filter the results to the Golden Age category. For as long as I can remember, there have consistently been nine-thousand-some-odd total items available. This week, the total has consistently been over ten thousand. I haven't seen anything great, though. Most of the extra offerings seem to be low-grade and mid-grade copies of not-particularly-sought-after issues.

[batman_fan]

1 hour ago, jimbo_7071 said:

There's more slabbed GA material on eBay than usual. I always search "CGC" and then filter the results to the Golden Age category. For as long as I can remember, there have consistently been nine-thousand-some-odd total items available. This week, the total has consistently been over ten thousand. I haven't seen anything great, though. Most of the extra offerings seem to be low-grade and mid-grade copies of not-particularly-sought-after issues.

Could be more people with time to post stuff.

[KCOComics]

2 hours ago, jimbo_7071 said:

There's more slabbed GA material on eBay than usual. I always search "CGC" and then filter the results to the Golden Age category. For as long as I can remember, there have consistently been nine-thousand-some-odd total items available. This week, the total has consistently been over ten thousand. I haven't seen anything great, though. Most of the extra offerings seem to be low-grade and mid-grade copies of not-particularly-sought-after issues.

I think it's comic shops temporarly being locked down and looking for ways to make some sales. 

I know the shop I go to has been listing books all day. I'm considering buying a pretty big book to help them out,  even though I know I could get it cheaper elsewhere. 

[Mmehdy]

45 minutes ago, KCOComics said:

I think it's comic shops temporarly being locked down and looking for ways to make some sales. 

I know the shop I go to has been listing books all day. I'm considering buying a pretty big book to help them out,  even though I know I could get it cheaper elsewhere. 

Sometimes paying a bit more to make sure your comic book shop stays open is worth it in the long run both for the store owner and yourself. I hope you pull the trigger on that purchase. If this is a big book, sometime the store could be flexible and give you a payment plan without interest charges.

I think a other way to obtain GA/SA material is think outside of the box. You could place local ads in newspapers/craig's list etc saying you are "paying cash for comics"  as the times get more difficult. I know that approach is a "shot in the dark" but it could pay off big time for a lucky board member if somebody has held on to the material and remembers they have in in the garage in storage.

 There still is a lot of undiscovered collections especially SA...waiting to be found.

Edited March 28, 2020 by Mmehdy

[KCOComics]

46 minutes ago, Mmehdy said:

Sometimes paying a bit more to make sure your comic book shop stays open is worth it in the long run both for the store owner and yourself. I hope you pull the trigger on that purchase. If this is a big book, sometime the store could be flexible and give you a payment plan without interest charges.

I think a other way to obtain GA/SA material is think outside of the box. You could place local ads in newspapers/craig's list etc saying you are "paying cash for comics"  as the times get more difficult. I know that approach is a "shot in the dark" but it could pay off big time for a lucky board member if somebody has held on to the material and remembers they have in in the garage in storage.

 There still is a lot of undiscovered collections especially SA...waiting to be found.

Yeah, I'm going to purchase it. They've been good to me over the years and these are unique times. 

I figure I'll pull the trigger and then bring them some books to have slabbed which I know helps them out with CGC. 

The book is incredible hulk 2 by the way.