Are Bronze CGC 9.2-9.6 Prices Tanking?

[joe_collector]

I do not want to turn this into a "crash thread' (hence my posting it in Bronze) but I was looking to sell of a chunk of my CGC Bronze collection, so I was doing some research on prices over the past few months.

 

I know the economy sucks, we're all giving to disaster relief, and gas/energy costs are skyrocketing, but yowza, lots of books are dropping off the table. I'm far from heavily invested in CGC books, but I'd rather sell in a strong market than one that is tanking.

 

I'm hoping this is just a temporary blip in the market, or at least it storms back in time for me to blow off the rest of my CGC books.

[FlyingDonut]

Short answer, yes, they've already tanked. Of all people to have missed the boat on Bronze CGC prices crashing...

[joe_collector]

Of all people to have missed the boat on Bronze CGC prices crashing...

 

But you know me, I'm a collector, not a dealer. But all this "Blue Label Apparent" and Ewert the Ripper bullcrap has me looking to either sell or crack them out.

 

Oh well.. now where did I put that screwdriver?

[THE_BEYONDER]

If you're talking about your 9.4 Byrne X-men, shoot me a PM with scans & prices.

[joe_collector]

If you're talking about your 9.4 Byrne X-men, shoot me a PM with scans & prices.

 

Nah, those I'll either keep or break out. I think I have a gene that prevents me from selling any HG 1970's Byrne comic.

[BassGMan]

I think it depends on what BA books you are selling. I think the specialty books (horror and war) are still doing very well. Superhero books found by the dozens? You may have a problem. A softening in prices does not affect all books equally.

[shrunkenhead]

I think even with the horror stuff, the potential for a downturn is large and impending. I mean, we all know that we see the same names bidding up the bronze horror slabs on ebay, vault auctions, etc. How many folks are actively and consistently bidding up these books at their current prices? A dozen? Fifteen? That's hardly enough people to sustain a market. There should be enough product to go around to satisfy a dozen people, and what happens when those folks have finished their runs? (As several have or are near doing). Doesn't bode well, IMO.

[The Less Blob]

the next group of people who didn't want to get involved with those bidding wars step in and pay 10-15% less than the first round of bidders. and then the next group of people.....

 

but as i've said many times, there is no reason for 99.9% of this stuff to be selling for more than guide + slab cost + premium (but not 46 multiples of guide). 7 years ago, pre-cgc, what could the most pristine bronze age book you've ever seen possibly sell for? 2X guide? 2.5X guide? and i don't think it's because oodles of people were just waiting for a "neutral" company to grade the books and they'd then be willing to pay 25X guide.

[shadroch]

About the only BA books I'm buying these days

are the oddball Sterenko covers and I see no

weakening in them at 9.6. or better. I don't pay attention to grades lower than that,so who knows what they do.Since I don't collect them,I don't particularly care.

[BassGMan]

I think even with the horror stuff, the potential for a downturn is large and impending.

 

I understand what you are saying, but I'm talking right now. I think that was Joe's point. Not more speculating about what might happen, but what is tanking RIGHT NOW.

[Deucedriver]

The "common" issues of most runs are dropping, no doubt about it. IMHO this is due to two reasons. First was mentioned by shrunkenhead above, there are only so many buyers pushing prices up to these levels. Added to that the high prices have brought many of these books out of collections - the supply is up and affecting the supply/demand relationship, and therefore prices.

 

I think there is a little of the gimmick factor involved also. Just look at modern slabbed books. Other than a few specific issues, the whole "high grade CGC subcription" thing is becoming a bust. The prices realized won't even cover the slabbing price for a 9.8, there are just too many out there. 9.9 or 10 - maybe.

 

The same holds true for Bronze. Buyer's are becoming more picky, waiting for the 9.8 (which eventually shows up out of the pressing mill of you know who).

 

As with any of the books, over the long term you need to find a very few specific issues that have some renewed or special interest - this may have to do with characters and movies, or even the "top" grade of the census.

 

The market is just finding a new equilibrium.

 

Sean

[The Less Blob]

i seriously doubt pressing of BA books is creating any 9.8s or even 9.6s

[joe_collector]

i seriously doubt pressing of BA books is creating any 9.8s or even 9.6s

 

So how do you explain *certain people* rummaging through major dealer stock, and miraculously *finding* tons of CGC 9.6 to 9.8 candidates?

 

Are we to believe that all these dealers are total and just let raw 9.8 Bronze material sit raw?

[ArAich]

Are we to believe that all these dealers are total and just let raw 9.8 Bronze material sit raw?

 

 

You'd be surprised....

[joe_collector]

Are we to believe that all these dealers are total and just let raw 9.8 Bronze material sit raw?

 

You'd be surprised....

 

I sincerely doubt that CGC 9.4-9.8 copies of Bronze keys (like ASM 129 - a comic sold quite a bit by some sellers) are all sitting in a dealer's longbox, nicely stacked, just waiting to be picked up.

 

More like lots of 8.0-9.0 *improvable* copies.

[ArAich]

You never specified the uber key issues....I've seen plenty of HG dealer stock (and purchased a bunch) that are definate 9.4 or better candidates...in fact just today I bought some nice BA stuff @ 4 for $1.00 ...and I just sold a 9.6 SSM #27 that I purchased for $1.00 ...

Some dealers just don't want to grade books for several reasons such as...:

"I've sent some books in to CGC and they were real tough on them so I'll never do that again..." or "I don't believe in encasing them in plastic forever...they're meant to be read..."...or that they are just oblivious to the trend...

 

In any case...not all dealers agree with CGC unless it's a Hulk 181 or as you say ASM 129...

[delekkerste]

I do not want to turn this into a "crash thread' (hence my posting it in Bronze) but I was looking to sell of a chunk of my CGC Bronze collection, so I was doing some research on prices over the past few months.

 

I know the economy sucks, we're all giving to disaster relief, and gas/energy costs are skyrocketing, but yowza, lots of books are dropping off the table. I'm far from heavily invested in CGC books, but I'd rather sell in a strong market than one that is tanking.

 

I'm hoping this is just a temporary blip in the market, or at least it storms back in time for me to blow off the rest of my CGC books.

 

I recently shipped off my last batch of Bronze ASM and X-Men to Pedigree Comics and, before I did so, I looked up the recent prices on GPAnalysis to figure out how much I should charge for them. The results were pretty shocking. There were, of course, some issues that had held up well and were selling near peak levels, but a large portion of books had simply fallen off a cliff. A lot of this is because HG BA books are indeed as common as you and I know they are and the constantly increasing supply of new slabs has reflected that, but I have to believe that the above factors you cited (and other macro variables) are simply crimping demand/spending power.

 

Of course, "Jason Dupcak"'s shenanigans certainly aren't helping matters any - a good proportion of his books (most?) were BA, not SA, and even if they all didn't get treated by the scissors and shears, I have heard from multiple sources that the prevalence of pressing was/is nearly universal among his books, contrary to published denials and reports. I think it's pretty obvious that a large proportion of HG BA books being slabbed these days by Ewert & others are pancaked specials - comics aren't even that sharp/flat coming straight off the printing press, let alone after passing through various collections over the years. If I were to ever start collecting HG slabs again, I think I'd actually be looking for slabs with the old CGC labels housing books with slight imperfections that show me that they probably weren't subjected to the "psi" treatment that so many others clearly have.

[The Less Blob]

yes, i totally believe that, particularly with not so key keys, there is unslabbed dealer stock out there in the 9.6 to 9.8 range as well as lots of books in collections. i own about 15,000 books and have never sent one to CGC. people are pressing books that guide for $10-$20? last show I went to I picked up about 40-50 mid-70s dollar bin books that look just as good as the cgc 9.8 i own.

[icefires]

Yes I think the "peak" is over.

 

I highly doubt that I will EVER be able to recoup what I have paid for slabbed DC 100 pagers over the last three years.

 

And yet, I am still buying them...

 

I guess that's because I LIKE them, and I don't plan to sell EVER.

 

I hope the price goes down more so I can buy them for less.

[BassGMan]

Yes I think the "peak" is over.

 

I highly doubt that I will EVER be able to recoup what I have paid for slabbed DC 100 pagers over the last three years.

 

And yet, I am still buying them...

 

I guess that's because I LIKE them, and I don't plan to sell EVER.

 

I hope the price goes down more so I can buy them for less.

 

Cool for you Ice. You are buying what you like and plan to keep. For your sake hopefully BA books you need will plummet in price. However, there are others that plan on selling down the road. For those guys things may not be looking so pretty.