Looking for Comic Investment Advisor 0

[William-James88]

On 12/27/2021 at 8:34 AM, SOTIcollector said:

I agree this is one possible path to investment success with comics.  At the same time, this is a strategy that I’d recommend only for a collector who is seasoned enough to be able to detect any sort of restoration, even when it’s minor.  Missed resto on one book can easily turn a potential profit to a significant loss, so this strategy would not be wise for a newbie.
 

 

 

 

You also have the issue of married pages and missing pages. 

And it's still a gamble regardless since the GA books worth good money slabbed are not cheap when bought raw. If money can be made before it's sold to you, it will be made. 

And if they aren't slabbed yet when bought from a dealer, there's a reason. I had bought a gorgeous looking raw Marvel Family book from Harley. Looked like a 9.4 or higher but it had some rust on the staples, so he sold it at an 8.0 price, which I thought was very very low. I sent to CGC to see what they would think, came back 8.0, which is not a price worth slabbing.

[shadroch]

I don't really understand many of these posts. There is money to be made in comics, and in most collectibles right now.  I don't see anything wrong with a newcomer seeking an experianced advisor and I certainly don't think you should assume a person acting as an advisor is going to rip off his clients. I'm pretty sure Metropolis offers such a service and guys like Gary Dolgoff have long offered customized portfolios.  Will an advisor get 100% of his picks right? I doubt it but I'd bet he could produce some very solid results.  

[Kevin76]

On 12/27/2021 at 12:49 PM, shadroch said:

I don't really understand many of these posts. There is money to be made in comics, and in most collectibles right now.  I don't see anything wrong with a newcomer seeking an experianced advisor and I certainly don't think you should assume a person acting as an advisor is going to rip off his clients. I'm pretty sure Metropolis offers such a service and guys like Gary Dolgoff have long offered customized portfolios.  Will an advisor get 100% of his picks right? I doubt it but I'd bet he could produce some very solid results.  

A lot of these guys on here don't like the money aspect of comics, they'd rather just buy and read and try and frustrate new collectors when they ask about comics as alternative investments to get them to think like they do.  

[shadroch]

Thats okay. The hobby is a big tent. There is room for everyone. 

Well, Almost everyone.  

What I get a kick out of is the people who claim they aren't concerned about the money but have their books pressed, trying to squeeze an extra two tenths of a grade. 

Edited December 27, 2021 by shadroch

[Kevin76]

On 12/27/2021 at 2:28 PM, shadroch said:

Thats okay. The hobby is a big tent. There is room for everyone. 

Well, Almost everyone.  

What I get a kick out of is the people who claim they aren't concerned about the money but have their books pressed, trying to squeeze an extra two tenths of a grade. 

They also want top of market yet they say they don't care about value. 

[spreads]

There is a gazillion threads on comic investing on this forum, check some of those out - I think you'll get enough knowledge to make good decisions on your own.  Can comics go up and be valuable long-term? Absolutely.  But be careful of comics that have exploded in the last few years....I see a big correction coming with a number of keys, so as long as you plan to hold for the long term you'll be fine.  And make sure you're not putting all your money into these comics - nothing worst than hearing stories of guys living in their parents basement spending all their money on comics. 

 

[shadroch]

On 12/27/2021 at 2:26 PM, spreads said:

There is a gazillion threads on comic investing on this forum, check some of those out - I think you'll get enough knowledge to make good decisions on your own.  Can comics go up and be valuable long-term? Absolutely.  But be careful of comics that have exploded in the last few years....I see a big correction coming with a number of keys, so as long as you plan to hold for the long term you'll be fine.  And make sure you're not putting all your money into these comics - nothing worst than hearing stories of guys living in their parents basement spending all their money on comics. 

 

This is another thing I don't understand, and it is not just on comic boards. How in the world is it better for a young person to pay rent to a stranger than to stay home and invest in the future?

[Kevin76]

On 12/27/2021 at 4:26 PM, spreads said:

There is a gazillion threads on comic investing on this forum, check some of those out - I think you'll get enough knowledge to make good decisions on your own.  Can comics go up and be valuable long-term? Absolutely.  But be careful of comics that have exploded in the last few years....I see a big correction coming with a number of keys, so as long as you plan to hold for the long term you'll be fine.  And make sure you're not putting all your money into these comics - nothing worst than hearing stories of guys living in their parents basement spending all their money on comics. 

 

"Don't wait for a market correction" - Peter Lynch  

This is where buying quality comes in, if "Spending all your money on comics" and now someone has to live in their parent's basement cause their comic portfolio didn't pan out, then said investor bought a bunch of junk he speculated on. This is where educating yourself comes in. Same with buying stocks.  Do you invest in Apple/Amazon stock or do you buy shares of Gamestop?  What would be better 20 years from now?  Translate it to comics, do you buy an AF 15 or Daredevil V2 #9 ?  Most people would be like "Well I'll go with the DD 9 cause it's cheap and her netflix show is coming, rather than doing everything they can to get an AF 15 which, while expensive now, will seem cheap in 20 years while people who bet the farm on DD 9, will be left holding the bag...but hey, waste your money on    Buy what you like right?   

Edited December 27, 2021 by Kevin76

[KCOComics]

On 12/27/2021 at 6:50 PM, Kevin76 said:

"Don't wait for a market correction" - Peter Lynch  

This is where buying quality comes in, if "Spending all your money on comics" and now someone has to live in their parent's basement cause their comic portfolio didn't pan out, then said investor bought a bunch of junk he speculated on. This is where educating yourself comes in. Same with buying stocks.  Do you invest in Apple/Amazon stock or do you buy shares of Gamestop?  What would be better 20 years from now?  Translate it to comics, do you buy an AF 15 or Daredevil V2 #9 ?  Most people would be like "Well I'll go with the DD 9 cause it's cheap and her netflix show is coming, rather than doing everything they can to get an AF 15 which, while expensive now, will seem cheap in 20 years while people who bet the farm on DD 9, will be left holding the bag...but hey, waste your money on    Buy what you like right?   

 

I agree - don't wait for a market correction. 

 

Look, the last two years have been highly unusual. The sky rocketing prices across the board on funny books have been insane. So I can understand why people look at collectibles and think we are in a bubble. It looks very bubbly on the surface. 

And prices will likely move. We've seen non-key prices come back to earth a bit. But I have a tough time betting against big keys.

That's why, my investment advice, even during these historically expensive times, would be too "buy the blue chip stocks". Hulk 1 and AF15 have had crazy run ups lately. I wouldn't be shocked to see a 20% or 30% correction.... But in the long run, I have allot of confidence those books will continue to get more costly. 

The problem with my philosophy is, it's expensive to buy and hold those books these days. So if you want to get into the market for $500 or even $5k you can't really start with the blue chips. That's where I could see an advisor playing a role. 

[shadroch]

On 12/28/2021 at 6:36 AM, KCOComics said:

 

I agree - don't wait for a market correction. 

 

Look, the last two years have been highly unusual. The sky rocketing prices across the board on funny books have been insane. So I can understand why people look at collectibles and think we are in a bubble. It looks very bubbly on the surface. 

And prices will likely move. We've seen non-key prices come back to earth a bit. But I have a tough time betting against big keys.

That's why, my investment advice, even during these historically expensive times, would be too "buy the blue chip stocks". Hulk 1 and AF15 have had crazy run ups lately. I wouldn't be shocked to see a 20% or 30% correction.... But in the long run, I have allot of confidence those books will continue to get more costly. 

The problem with my philosophy is, it's expensive to buy and hold those books these days. So if you want to get into the market for $500 or even $5k you can't really start with the blue chips. That's where I could see an advisor playing a role. 

It seems like you just made the case for fractional ownership.

[Roger66]

This Buffett quote sums it up well  - so far as investing in comics right now - prices are very high today - that is the optimism noted below

“The most common cause of low prices is pessimism—some times pervasive, some times specific to a company or industry. We want to do business in such an environment, not because we like pessimism but because we like the prices it produces. It’s optimism that is the enemy of the rational buyer.” wb

 

[MattTheDuck]

On 12/28/2021 at 7:35 AM, shadroch said:

It seems like you just made the case for fractional ownership.

Not to begin a rehash of this subject, which has been  in other threads, but this seems the only logical (if not that available) approach for a new comic investor with relatively low dollars to spend and no interest in reading/owning these books.  Even owning the top 10 Silver Age keys is millions in very high grades.  If, as I think we've seen over the last couple of years, you're coming at this with big money from another investment source, then yeah, pick out as many of these books as you can afford and go to town.

[KCOComics]

On 12/28/2021 at 10:35 AM, shadroch said:

It seems like you just made the case for fractional ownership.

It does sound like that, but I don't agree with fractional ownership. When it comes to comics, I want to hold and enjoy them.  If I'm going to invest $$ into something I won't get to enjoy, I'll put it into an index fund 

The strategy for me would be, what key can you pick up for your price point? How can you leverage the future value of that key to upgrade to a bigger key. For $500 I might buy an Avengers 57 (as an example). For $5k maybe an FF48. And maybe in a few years you could sell them and get a bigger key. 

 

 

 

[KCOComics]

On 12/28/2021 at 11:31 AM, Roger66 said:

This Buffett quote sums it up well  - so far as investing in comics right now - prices are very high today - that is the optimism noted below

“The most common cause of low prices is pessimism—some times pervasive, some times specific to a company or industry. We want to do business in such an environment, not because we like pessimism but because we like the prices it produces. It’s optimism that is the enemy of the rational buyer.” wb

 

Buffet is a wise man. I hope people get very pessimistic soon because it's getting harder to buy allot of the books I want. 

Every big book you go after becomes a painful endeavor filled with difficult decisions. Savings? Time payments? What books to sell? What are the tax implications of selling those books?  It use to be allot easier to collect funny books 

[Roger66]

On 12/28/2021 at 1:36 PM, KCOComics said:

Buffet is a wise man. I hope people get very pessimistic soon because it's getting harder to buy allot of the books I want. 

Every big book you go after becomes a painful endeavor filled with difficult decisions. Savings? Time payments? What books to sell? What are the tax implications of selling those books?  It use to be allot easier to collect funny books 

Indeed this is nothing like we have ever experienced before- in the past there was simply the gradual rise of prices.. the ability to sit, wait and speculate and also not feel the pressure of "I must buy now or pay more later."  In the end today's mob is just soooo huge surrounding these key books with many individuals seeking and in fact receiving online posting bragging rights over for example paying say 12K for an incomplete Hulk #1, which looks like your dog chewed on for a year.  The echo-chamber along with the infusion of new blood, which has no real perspective point or historical understanding of the hobby - is a perfect storm of prices rising more and then plateauing but likely never ever cratering (but for the stupid variants and incredibly common moderns, which I personally value at 10 cents on the dollar at best ) My 2-cents 

[Kevin76]

You don't have to drain your account to get a mega key. Plenty of key books that are still affordable that have a lot of growth potential like FF48-50, Single digit  ASM, FFs and X-Men. Even Daredevil I'd say is a sleeper title with a lot of future growth, 1-50 is a good bet. JIM 84-95, ToS 38-52. Bronze/Copper ASM under 350.  Early Ghost Rider appearances MS 6-11 also very good in 9.4+  Don't sleep on 2nd or 3rd appearances of major characters since their 1st appearances will be out of reach for most collectors will reach for these other early appearances. DC side of things if Marvel isn't your cup of investing tea...Stick to Batman keys.  

[KPR Comics]

Best thing to do is post asking for advice, get advice, and then not give so much as let alone a thank you.

Edited December 29, 2021 by KPR Comics

[Vixom]

OP never returned but any future investors would be best to find something else. Comics used to be a good investment. Flipping is still a solid option. But investing there are plenty of better options. For a smart buyer comics are a hobby that makes you a profit. If you want max profit or get rich look elsewhere. 

[Kevin76]

On 12/28/2021 at 11:02 PM, Thisisrequired said:

OP never returned but any future investors would be best to find something else. Comics used to be a good investment. Flipping is still a solid option. But investing there are plenty of better options. For a smart buyer comics are a hobby that makes you a profit. If you want max profit or get rich look elsewhere. 

I wish my stock portfolio had the same ROI as my AF 15 or my OA  

[shadroch]

On 12/28/2021 at 9:02 PM, Thisisrequired said:

OP never returned but any future investors would be best to find something else. Comics used to be a good investment. Flipping is still a solid option. But investing there are plenty of better options. For a smart buyer comics are a hobby that makes you a profit. If you want max profit or get rich look elsewhere. 

Stocks are at an all-time high, real estate is way up in many areas.  In the last few years, my best real estate investment was an REIT that owned a bunch of cell towers, but my advisor said they changed the laws and that particular investment won't be so great going forward.  I'm always looking for good investments but they are getting harder to find.