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Are Comic books dead or dying?
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Started by BlackTerror98,

339 posts in this topic

Hollywood1892

Hollywood1892

Posted
Posted
19 hours ago, Matty B said:

(Disclaimer: I have other investments like stocks, gold so my money is not all tied up with just comics)

 

As the direct market comes to a different place then it was years ago with lower sells and lower issues being printed. I find myself thinking that having $45k worth of books for enjoyment and investment for my future is not going to age well. I work at my local comic book store and I see people between the ages of 20-60 and those in the 40-60 age branch say that collecting for investment is a poor idea due to no one really caring about comics anymore. This media will go away like vinyls and cds and they recommended I sell off my Collection or consider collecting something more sustainable like Tesla stocks or Bitcoin. I buy books for the purr enjoyment of finding it and holding a book in my hands that has traveled for 20-80 years to get where it is now. How many people saw it and held it and read it or where it started life. The investment side only came to my realization when I graduated high school and found out my collection is worth now $45k (selling the books a fair price) if were to sell them on the high end I could MAYBE MAYBE get $58k-$60k as my math adds up (13 years of non stop collecting and books given to me by old collectors for screaming deals since they can not take them to their graves). I have a little over 120~ Golden age books mainly Action Comics, Superman, Timely, Nedor and classic WWII covers.  Some are worth $150-$600 but mainly of them are worth in the thousands like Action Comics #44, Superman #23, #26 #32 or Marvel Mystery #48, #51 and #55 or Wonder Comics #3, #4, #6 or Batman or Zip comics or Americans best etc.. I also have around 1400~ Silver age, Bronze age books and some keys include ASM #129, Marvel spotlight #5, and Marvel special edition #15 and Avengers #4 etc. I have been collecting since I was 9 and my local comic store always hooked me up with the deals since he saw my eye light up like a Christmas tree. Now that am getting older just curious if any of you think the second hand market will fail or be killed off due to no new collectors.

To the LCS "that's why I say 'Hey man, nice shot!'"

To the circumventing seller/investor 

200w-1.gif

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dupont2005

dupont2005

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Posted
6 minutes ago, Hollywood1892 said:

Oh yeah

Trades are in

Millwrights make up to $40 per hour

The pay difference on PW jobs is crazy. My regular rate is $35, my PW rate is $79.80. So weeks on PW jobs are a lot different than weeks with no PW. It’s pretty much the goal to get stuck on one of those long term school or hospital jobs or whatever from the beginning. I know guys who have been working on the construction of a jail since like 2015. That’s kind of a life changing gig. I usually get a day or two of PW per week

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Beige

Beige

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, dupont2005 said:

The pay difference on PW jobs is crazy. My regular rate is $35, my PW rate is $79.80. So weeks on PW jobs are a lot different than weeks with no PW. It’s pretty much the goal to get stuck on one of those long term school or hospital jobs or whatever from the beginning. I know guys who have been working on the construction of a jail since like 2015. That’s kind of a life changing gig. I usually get a day or two of PW per week

I hear you!

My Lawn guy earns pretty much the same per hour as I do in Anaesthetics!

Of course its a 6 months of the year gig for him, and there are 2 of them, but even so - if you aren't afraid of hard work, then Trade Work is the way to go.

Never ever met a hard working Electrician, Plasterer or Carpenter who earned peanuts.

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MetalPSI

MetalPSI

Posted
Posted

Mechanic in a union job who has a pension in 22 years. 

I spent 25 working hard, sweaty, heavy, dangerous physical labor.

Went into the trades, got a certificate that enables me to work anywhere in Canada, is the equivalent of a certificate in at least 20 countries, and I am so fat and lazy now, do half the work I used to and basically just show up for a pay cheque.

Here's to 22 years...

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oldmilwaukee6er

oldmilwaukee6er

Posted
Posted (edited)

Harry Rinker, the antiques writer who's done 'Rinker on Collectibes' for 25 years, outlines the following 10 signs that a collectible is endangered

1.       The average collector is over 60 years. Value for any collectible reaches its peak when the first generation is 45-60.

2.       The number of collectors is less than 50. Vitality is in knowing the players.

3.       Collector clubs disappear.

4.       Objects are no longer available or no longer found.

5.       eBay sell-through is less than 20%, supply equals demand, price exceeds buyers.

6.       Nothing checks a steady decline in value at the high end.

7.       Objects disappear or are sold in lots at auction.

8.       No new price guide or reference on the topic. 5yrs = endangered; 15yrs = extinct. Information fuels interest.

9.       Trade publications offer little or no coverage.

10.     Category disappears, is grouped, or ignored. Information fuels interest; when information disappears, a category is endangered.

 

Edited by oldmilwaukee6er
Post edited by Wertham
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Buzzetta

Buzzetta

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9 minutes ago, dupont2005 said:

Sounds like comics are still safe for a while then, although the average age of high grade Gold and Silver key collectors might be in that range

I think that Golden Age is safe depending on the character.  I have no interest in bidding on the first Buck Rogers but Golden Age Superman War books will always interest me.  Superman is a classic character that supersedes the hobby.  I don't care if someone "likes" or "dislikes" Superman, the hobby is identified through him in the same way that cartoons are identified through Mickey Mouse.  As long as Superman remains a published character in some form of media be it online or in paper form, cartoon or live action movie, Superman remains in the public eye and firmly established in American pop culture.  

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Beige

Beige

Posted
Posted
11 minutes ago, dupont2005 said:

Sounds like comics are still safe for a while then, although the average age of high grade Gold and Silver key collectors might be in that range

I'd be amazed if the average age of SA / GA collectors is 60+

People I'm buying those books off here are in the 40 - 45 age range. My competition at auction is 35 - 50 age range I'd say with the odd smattering of 20 somethings.

The last big purchase in the wild (see Garage sales thread in CG) inc ASM #1, CSS #22 etc was from a 19 yr old.

He collected them, and was paying down his Uni debt.

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Buzzetta

Buzzetta

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2 minutes ago, Beige said:

I'd be amazed if the average age of SA / GA collectors is 60+

People I'm buying those books off here are in the 40 - 45 age range. My competition at auction is 35 - 50 age range I'd say with the odd smattering of 20 somethings.

The last big purchase in the wild (see Garage sales thread in CG) inc ASM #1, CSS #22 etc was from a 19 yr old.

He collected them, and was paying down his Uni debt.

Yup.  I started buying Golden Age Supermans and Batmans around ten years ago when I was in my 30's. 

Now, before @kav comes on here and says that he was buying Golden Age books at an even younger age than the rest of us, it is not because he was making smarter collecting choices, it is because the old man had the luxury of only paying 10 cents for each of them off the rack as they were initially being published. 

 

Boy-reading-Superman_Getty.jpg

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kav

kav

Posted
Posted
9 minutes ago, Buzzetta said:

Yup.  I started buying Golden Age Supermans and Batmans around ten years ago when I was in my 30's. 

Now, before @kav comes on here and says that he was buying Golden Age books at an even younger age than the rest of us, it is not because he was making smarter collecting choices, it is because the old man had the luxury of only paying 10 cents for each of them off the rack as they were initially being published. 

 

Boy-reading-Superman_Getty.jpg

I am not a GA collector.  I started buying books in the SA ya old GA coot. :makepoint:

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