Book collecting seems harder today then it was last year 3 3

[Bluemedgroup]

On 12/21/2021 at 7:10 PM, shadroch said:

You are only priced out of a market if you are inflexible. 

 

 

Or poor would work as well. 

[shadroch]

On 12/21/2021 at 6:42 PM, Bluemedgroup said:

Or poor would work as well. 

Poor people shouldn't be buying expensive books.  Or $300 sneakers.

[Ken Aldred]

On 12/21/2021 at 11:26 PM, DocHoppus182 said:

 You either shift your focus and find something else you might enjoy, like another genre.  Or, pack up and be done.  Move on.

I agree.  And I moved on to simply reading digital comics, which I found I prefer, with no angst, no pining away for the very different comics market of today, no stressing out, no competition.

It’s good enough of an alternative for me at this stage, and provides comfortable, effortless distancing.

Edited December 22, 2021 by Ken Aldred

[Math Teacher]

On 12/21/2021 at 5:54 PM, universal soldier said:

What I really need to do is unload the bottom 1/3 of my collection. Books that I don't care so much about that are just taking space can help fund these somewhat out of reach books I need. 

This is what I did. I said to myself, "Do you really think you will read any of these books again?" When I determined that the answer was no, I began liquidating some (not all) of my collectoin.

[Hamlet]

I buy a lot of dollar books.  I still find stuff that I think is kind of cool in dollar boxes these days.  Not as cool as a few years back, but still more books than I am ever actually going to get around to reading.  

But yeah, there is a lot of stuff these days that is priced to the point where I’m more likely to sell what I have than collect what I’m missing.  

It has me thinking a lot more about what my collecting focus really should be.

Edited December 22, 2021 by Hamlet

[comicginger1789]

Honestly, these last two years I scored some amazing books and more books/collections than ever before. And I do not feel like I overpaid at all for anything I bought (other than foolishly not trusting my gut and thinking ASM 361 had room to grow and it didn’t when I bought a copy for speculation fun). 

[WolverineX]

On 12/21/2021 at 9:51 PM, Ken Aldred said:

I agree.  And I moved on to simply reading digital comics, which I found I prefer, with no angst, no pining away for the very different comics market of today, no stressing out, no competition.

It’s good enough of an alternative for me at this stage, and provides comfortable, effortless distancing.

Digital comics are the best. 

[HuddyBee]

On 12/21/2021 at 11:50 AM, William-James88 said:

depends what you collect, it's not all equal. I finally found a Master Comics 95 at guide price and jumped on it. Was surprised it was still available on ebay.

100% agree, GA Fawcett along with SA DC, are still really affordable. For the past 5 years I haven't wanted to touch a marvel book with a 10 foot pole. But I've had a lot of fun collecting DC and Fawcett. Recently started collecting Fiction House as well, if you know where to look you can find some great deals. Just recently picked up a couple of books ~7.0 range for a great price.

Another note: Because of an uptick in prices, flea markets have honestly been my best place to find good deals. Finding a book that usually hits $50+ for only $1 still feels as good as ever!

[HuddyBee]

Location might also be of note. Here in the mid-west I rarely run into other people looking for comics, at least at flea markets. I've frequented the same locations for the past 3 years or so, and rarely run into any competition. I don't know if there are less collectors in my area or if they just don't know where to look. I'm sure it's a different story out east or west especially in more populated regions.

[William-James88]

On 12/22/2021 at 12:22 AM, HuddyBee said:

Recently started collecting Fiction House as well, if you know where to look you can find some great deals. Just recently picked up a couple of books ~7.0 range for a great price.

 

Some Quality books can be affordable too. Like Plastic Man, Doll Man and the anthology books. 

[Old Fashion PB and J]

On 12/21/2021 at 3:10 PM, comicjack said:

Hi Pat 

Hey Jack! Hope all is well!

[Old Fashion PB and J]

On 12/21/2021 at 1:41 PM, MattTheDuck said:

Exactly.  What would a couple of guys who have become multi-millionaires using precisely that strategy know about it?

Mike Wolfe has a net worth of $7Million, AFTER the show. He makes $500,000 per season to film the show. The show has been on for 11 years. WHERE do you believe he made his millions?

[D84]

On 12/21/2021 at 10:28 AM, comicjack said:

I hate bidding on auctions now because you feel someone is always is pushing your bid up.

I've put in some bids that I thought were ridiculously over what that comic is worth, to see the final hammer price be sometimes twice my bid.

[snitzer]

Just glad I can still afford going to comic-based movies. Spidey was great! But taking a family of four doesn’t come cheap these days 

[shadroch]

On 12/21/2021 at 10:22 PM, HuddyBee said:

100% agree, GA Fawcett along with SA DC, are still really affordable. For the past 5 years I haven't wanted to touch a marvel book with a 10 foot pole. But I've had a lot of fun collecting DC and Fawcett. Recently started collecting Fiction House as well, if you know where to look you can find some great deals. Just recently picked up a couple of books ~7.0 range for a great price.

Another note: Because of an uptick in prices, flea markets have honestly been my best place to find good deals. Finding a book that usually hits $50+ for only $1 still feels as good as ever!

 

 

I'm slowly liquidating my collection and while most of my books have done very nicely, my Capt Marvel/Captain Marvel Jr books have barely gone up in the decade I had them.  I seem to have more luck with Fawcetts war titles than most of their hero books. 

[Robot Man]

On 12/21/2021 at 9:22 PM, HuddyBee said:

100% agree, GA Fawcett along with SA DC, are still really affordable. For the past 5 years I haven't wanted to touch a marvel book with a 10 foot pole. But I've had a lot of fun collecting DC and Fawcett. Recently started collecting Fiction House as well, if you know where to look you can find some great deals. Just recently picked up a couple of books ~7.0 range for a great price.

Another note: Because of an uptick in prices, flea markets have honestly been my best place to find good deals. Finding a book that usually hits $50+ for only $1 still feels as good as ever!

I’ve been buying GA for probably 45 years. I have “acculumlated” a LOT of books.

One day I was filing away a new Fawcett and noticed the boxes were too full. I used to just add a new box but found that my collection storage space was full.

I went through and pulled out half of them I really didn’t care about and sold them off. I then did the same with other publishers like Quality, DC, Fiction House and others. I just couldn’t bring myself to do the EC, Timely and Nedor boxes.

Made a lot of space and didn’t miss them at all. I then took the proceeds and bought some better high dollar books that I couldn’t afford before. Very happy with my decision.

Where did many these books come from? Garage sales, Flea Markets, used book stores and antique stores. Places that are pretty much dried up now. I still go and look but usually come up empty. But it has always been about the “thrill of the hunt” anyway. 

[alexanderjk]

On 12/21/2021 at 6:56 AM, Bluemedgroup said:

Finding good prices seems harder today then it was last year.  Do you feel the same way?  Here is my theory: I think Covid brought in a ton of new collectors / speculators who stay at home and are more tech savvy.  They monitor deals with multiple alerts and as soon as they see a good deal, it's snatched up.  I read a similar story last week about an Bored Ape NFT that got listed for sale at $3k instead of $300k due to "fat fingers".  It immediately got purchased by a "bot" programmed to find deals.  I wouldn't be surprised if there are people out there with bots looking for comic book pricing mistakes as well on eBay or whatever.  

Perhaps that, but also: Disney+ (and to some degree, Netflix) MCU shows. I only collect DD, and prices on keys have skyrocketed since DD (via Kingpin and Echo) was introduced to the MCU. DD’s w/Kingpin and SM crossovers are fetching more than over now. 

True, too, for Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Moon Knight, young Avengers cast, Loki, etc.