What happens to GA collecting when the Boomers die out?

[*paull*]

I expect to be a life-long collector and don't care about the market. I'm not in it to make money. If collectors leave and more books are available, great!

[shrunkenhead]

Gene, you're making the mistake of generalizing GA. I used classic covers and Batman #1 as examples on purpose. Will non-keys have a tough time finding an audience? Absolutely, albeit those in abnormally high grade (which could be a VF+ if it's from the 40s or earlier) will likely continue to peak interest.

[shrunkenhead]

I expect to be a life-long collector and don't care about the market. I'm not in it to make money. If collectors leave and more books are available, great!

 

[FFB]

Wow, glad to see all you younger people going to golden age. I guess you know quality when you see it.

 

Yes, it's good to know that these 6 people are going to keep this genre alive.

 

I'm sure there will always be an interest in GA books, but with the demographic and income trends going the way they are (along with the slow, secular decline of the comic book medium/hobby as a whole), I am sure there will be a net loss of GA collectors going forward and fewer dollars available to support the market. All these "well, I'm xx years old and I just started collecting GA" anecdotes are quaint, but any serious estimation of the trends in terms of net collectors and net dollars has to be troubling to all but the most ardent Pollyannas out there.

 

Got any hard facts Gene?

 

Who are the net collectors and how many net dollars are leaving the GA space? I'd hate to be labeled a Pollyanna, so please set me straight here.

[shrunkenhead]

 

Got any hard facts Gene?

 

Who are the net collectors and how many net dollars are leaving the GA space? I'd hate to be labeled a Pollyanna, so please set me straight here.

 

[Rip]

What, you got somethin' bad to say about Polly!!

[tth2]

I'm 34 and collect GA... didn't start until a few years ago.

 

Ditto for me...word for word.

 

29 yrs old, been buying GA for a number of years, but made my largest purchases within the past 3 three years. I think the belief that GA collectors are all 89 and ready to croak is largely a misnomer. There's new blood.

Valid point, so let me ask a slightly different question: will the new blood be able to support the current valuations for GA? Will the new blood look at the cost of assembling a complete run of Action, Adventure, Batman or Detective at current valuations and just throw up their hands in dispair and go after only small-run fringe GA books?

[Rip]

The think the trend is going to continue to get specialized just as we've seen it.

Driven by rarity, cover, historical factor etc.

Rarity factors combined the later two are going to continue to rule the roost.

[tth2]

So no one will even try for complete runs or non-key issues anymore, everyone will just be chasing after the same iconic issues?

[Rip]

So no one will even try for complete runs or non-key issues anymore, everyone will just be chasing after the same iconic issues?

 

Of cource not, but I do think the big rollers who can afford those runs will continue to determine what books are hard to find within that given title. Hence those books will increase in value accordingly.

[jbud73]

Wow, glad to see all you younger people going to golden age. I guess you know quality when you see it.

 

Yes, it's good to know that these 6 people are going to keep this genre alive.

 

I'm sure there will always be an interest in GA books, but with the demographic and income trends going the way they are (along with the slow, secular decline of the comic book medium/hobby as a whole), I am sure there will be a net loss of GA collectors going forward and fewer dollars available to support the market. All these "well, I'm xx years old and I just started collecting GA" anecdotes are quaint, but any serious estimation of the trends in terms of net collectors and net dollars has to be troubling to all but the most ardent Pollyannas out there.

 

Got any hard facts Gene?

 

Who are the net collectors and how many net dollars are leaving the GA space? I'd hate to be labeled a Pollyanna, so please set me straight here.

 

bad mental images ---

[ft88]

As goes the GA books so goes the comic market as a whole - and vice versa. There are fewer collectors as a whole over time and the market will fall at some point. Every collectible has its cycles.

[drbanner]

As goes the GA books so goes the comic market as a whole - and vice versa.

 

I agree...I don't believe that the ratio of GA to SA or BA collectors will decrease over time, regardless of what the absolute number of collectors is. Of the serious (as in $$) collectors I know in NC, most of them also collect GA, and most of them are 20-30 somethings. IMHO, with the huge price spikes in Silver and Bronze over the last 5 years, GA has become a relative bargain, which has obviously caused many collectors to shift their collecting focus.

 

Prices for all but the highest-grade GA books were not affected much by CGC, and since the majority of the GA market is NOT high grade, prices for GA collectors have not varied much over the last 10 years. From what I collect, it seems that prices for LB Cole books are probably lower than they were 5-10 years ago, while Timely's have slowly been getting more expensive year after year. GA collectors also do not view restoration, or low-mid grade books, as uncollectable, so books in all grades are collected.

[buttock]

Follow the trend in any collectibles market. GA will become a commodity rather than a collectible. High grade keys will trade hands among investors (Wayne Gretzky and the Honus Wagner card, anyone?). Common or non-key books will lose their value and settle out at prices more reasonable than they are now (Mid-run Bat/Supes/Caps are absurd).

 

The 2 driving factors here will be:

1) Net loss of collectors (as alluded to prior by Gene). Another collectible will take away from the influx to comics. This is the "Demand" part of price and demand.

 

2) Prices - With demand diminishing, prices will be seen as to high (as many already do - come on $503 for All Star #2 in GD? $35000 for All Winners #1?) and will meet resistance.

 

I've been doing the opposite of Dr Banner and selling off GA and putting the $$ into HG BA books (raw) that will accumulate value and in 10 years or so will have a 20:1 ratio of equivalent value to GA, which I can then buy more of.

 

Just my opinion.

[drbanner]

...putting the $$ into HG BA books (raw) that will accumulate value and in 10 years or so will have a 20:1 ratio of equivalent value to GA.

 

If I only knew!!

 

Actually, I should clarify my statement above to read "and over the last 5 years have sold just about every non-Hulk Marvel bronze age comic I had in order to build my GA collection." For me, late silver/early bronze DC's, GA, and select 9.2 slabbed SA books are still reasonable.

 

(You'll have to let us know how that Nikkat purchase works out, there's been mixed results with his auctions...)

[skybolt]

I'm 34 and collect GA... didn't start until a few years ago.

 

Ditto for me...word for word.

 

29 yrs old, been buying GA for a number of years, but made my largest purchases within the past 3 three years. I think the belief that GA collectors are all 89 and ready to croak is largely a misnomer. There's new blood.

Valid point, so let me ask a slightly different question: will the new blood be able to support the current valuations for GA? Will the new blood look at the cost of assembling a complete run of Action, Adventure, Batman or Detective at current valuations and just throw up their hands in dispair and go after only small-run fringe GA books?

 

One of the main reasons why I started collecting GA books was because I wanted a smorgess borge (sp.) type of collection. That's the appeal for me vs. completing a given SA or BA run. For instance, I purchased X-men #1, 2, 3, 6, 7 and a few more and stopped (same thing with ASM). However, collecting GA gave me the opportunity to collect multiple titles, different cover artists, etc. to satisfy my need for variety. I'm probably in the minority when it comes not being a completionist, but I'm sure there are others out there. For instance, the 450 slabbed books I own are probably comprised of 150 titles from 25-30 different publishers.

[Point Five]

I expect to be a life-long collector and don't care about the market. I'm not in it to make money. If collectors leave and more books are available, great!

 

Well said, Paul!

 

I can't help chiming in here... Great to see some other young GA collectors here!, though I certainly have an appreciation for the older folks as well. I'm 32, and a fellow GA junkie (albeit one on a budget!). I started collecting ECs and LB Cole covers in the mid/late 90s, then moved on to Schomburg covers, and have been hitting early DC & Fox books pretty hard in the last 3-4 years. I'm right with you Paul...for me it's a hobby and a passion, not a way to make money, so for my collecting purposes a (gradual) lowering of prices would be a good thing.

 

Dr Banner, that Mask #1 is unreal! Been on my want list since the beginning of time.

[The Black Hand ®]

I started collecting again in 1997 after about a 27 year absence. I had always regretted getting rid of my collection. I had truly loved reading comic books. Especially the one that reached higher, like anything that Carl Barks did, where every panel was a little masterpiece. I really loved the period from about 1956 to 1964 for DC, Archie and Marvel.

I picked up the habit again after walking into a local comicbook store and finding a very nice copy of Archie's Christmas Stocking #1, about a fine or better for around 40 bucks.I later managed to find a Pep 32 I had owned as a kid. I recognised writing on the cover. I was hooked and started buying up very early Archie and MLJ superhoro stuff. It was fun! I would also pick up GA DC and Air Fighters stuff. I collect what I enjoy, not as an investment, but because I love comics and enjoy reading them and looking at the great WWII covers. I'm fascinated with WWII.

It will never make me rich, but I can always make my money back if I needed to, so the hobby pays for itself.

There's alot of the hobby that turns me off lately, the greed, the trickery and deciet, market manipulation, arrogant dealers along with alot of other things. But these things have always occured in collectibles, so I just try to shut it out and do what I enjoy, reading comics.

[precodekeith]

I'm wondering if the hobby dies when my generations dies out.What do you guys think?

 

I've thought about this myself many times. I don't think the hobby as a whole will die out, but I think it obviously remains to be seen how exactly the GA sector of the hobby will be effected. Too early to call. I'm one of those "young" guys ( 34 ), and have been collecting GA for 12 years, so I think some demand will be there for GA.

 

SUPPLY is where I have my questions. If there turn out to be lots of "old" guys sitting on decent collections of GA, either waiting to cash them in for retirement or just lovingly holding onto them until they croak, then I guess we will be looking at an increase of available supply. An increase in GA supply ought to be good for us younger guys who are completionists or readers, because logically it should effectively lower prices. Increased supply + lowered demand = lower prices, right?

 

However, if it turns out that there really aren't a whole heck of a lot of "old" GA collectors sitting on books, I don't see prices dropping much or at all.

 

Is this making sense to anyone, or am I just babbling.....

[action1kid]

the same thing will happen as with the babe ruth collectors when they died out.