Collector or Investor? 1 1

[shadroch]

On 1/12/2022 at 4:31 PM, juniorMC said:

My sister asked me about my books and what would happen to them if something happened to me. My parents getting their hands on them is out of the question.  They would sell them for $100 and think it was great.  I showed my sister what several of them are selling for on ebay and now she knows that my collection is not to be taken lightly.  I told her to put them up for auction and never buy now unless u know the value.  Never sell anything to a comic shop because they need to make money and will have no choice but to lowball you, not that they are trying to rip u off, but they have to turn a profit.  I told her seek out the collectors, that's where you'll get the most for them.

This is something we should all think about and plan for.

So your plan is to have your sister sell your stuff on ebay?  What did she do to you?

[Cat-Man_America]

On 1/12/2022 at 8:29 AM, PDGray said:

So, do you consider yourself a collector or an investor?

 

It seems that many of the topics I have read on this board have to do with people investing or hoping for a return on their investment in comic books.

 

Now, while I understand that to a point, it seems to me that we are losing something in the hobby.  I have been a collector for close to 50 years now.  I have sold a few books here and there, but generally buy what I like and hold on to it.  I was even against grading books because once it was encased, then I would never get to read it again.  The last couple of years have begun to change my mind about that perspective.  I have begun the slow process of getting some of my more valuable books graded or buying books that are already graded.  I want to read them, but I also want to protect them so that when I leave this earth my wife and kids can look at a book and quickly get a market value on it if they need the cash.  I certainly hope they would hold on to them, but I won't have a lot of say in the matter at that point.

In my mind, if a book appreciates in value then great!! If it holds its own value, then great!!  If it loses some value, thats ok too, because I know I will have gotten my enjoyment out of the book which is ultimately what it's all about.  

What do you think you are?  Collector or Investor?

 

PDG

 

 

Give me a dartboard with a picture of Ft. Knox in the center and a blindfold.  If I hit the bullseye, I might be an investor, otherwise, I'm a collector.

[The Black Hand ®]

Collector and lover of comics. I collected when I was a kid in the 50's-early sixties and started up again in 1997. Completed some MLJ runs and then sold out for some dumb reason and only kept a small amount of books that had meaning to me. There's no way I could reclaim the books I had but I had a hell of good time acquiring those books and met some great people through comics. Now I'm more of a voyeur, watching others doing their thing and that's all right. I had my collection, enjoyed it and moved on. 

[lou_fine]

On 1/12/2022 at 3:48 PM, shadroch said:

So your plan is to have your sister sell your stuff on ebay?  What did she do to you?

This is a totally 110% accurate statement on your part here, especially since it sounds as though the sister is not a comic book collector.  

A totally mind boggling and overwhelming burden to pass onto anybody, especially if they don't have any eBay selling experience at all.    

 

[Larryw7]

Collector. I'm definitely not an investor because I sell so many books for less than what I paid!

 

[PDGray]

I like reading the different answers and justifications many of you have posted - thank you for your replies.

I think there is usually some sort of balance.  Most of these books, preserved properly, do offer an investment opportunity.  At the same time would we all still buy these books if they were guaranteed to lose money?  I tend to look at comic books as a pop culture phenomenon.  They tend to reflect our culture and are a product of the time they were created.  They give a small glimpse into that history, whether its Captain America punching the Nazis or Green Lantern being asked, "...and you done considerable for the purple skins! Only there's skins you never bothered with--!  ...the black skins! I want to know...How come?!  Answer me that, Mr. Green Lantern!"  or the rise of the anti-hero when Batman tells Clark, "...I want you to remember Clark...in all the years to come...in your most private moments... I want you to remember...my hand...at your throat...I want you to remember...the one man who beat you..."

These scenes are burned into my memory and have been for years.  Even the ads in non-key issues have an enormous impact on me seeing what was being sold, whether its an ad for toy soldiers, or other comic books.  It's a fascinating window into the past.

Just my .02

 

 

PDG

[EastEnd1]

I'm somewhat of a completist and have always enjoyed the hobby quite a bit... still at it since 1972, so I'd definitely consider myself a collector.  Having said that, since I learned that some comics had value around 1978 (when I walked into my first comic book shop), I have purchased them with the expectation that they would appreciate in value someday.  That's why I started to read them more carefully and bag and (eventually) board them.  Wouldn't call myself an investor, but it sure has turned out to be a good AND FUN investment! 

[Robot Man]

I collected pre Overstreet Guide. Back issue comics could be purchased at cover price or in many cases, less.

Now this took a lot of work hitting used book stores, garage sales, swap meets and just word of mouth. Once in a while I might have to pay a little more for older or special issues.

Then the Guide came out. My first was #2. All of a sudden old comics had value! I can remember sitting on the floor trading with my friends and using the Guide.

It became a yearly ritual looking up our books when the new Guide came out. So excited to see how much our “investments” had gone up in value.

So, the money part has always been there. But what was always most important were the books themselves. The thrill of crossing off your want list or getting that special issue.

Comics going up in value was always a good thing. Validating, the money spent and bragging to my parents about how smart I was.  

But a bit of a curse as well because I had to pay more for my 4 color passion.

We always figured the bottom would drop out. But it didn’t. If you had told me comics would be worth what they are today, I would have called you crazy.

So, here I am today, 50 years later, crazily paying insane money for them. So I guess I’m either crazy or a life long collector…

[davidtere]

I am a reader of comic books first and foremost. These days I spend more of my 'entertainment' money on reprint books (Marvel and DC omnibus hardcovers, Ducks, Horror Comics...the list goes on...my reading / collecting interests are all over the place). I am happy that there are so many reprints of golden age, silver and some bronze available now. I still love GA and SA comics and have a decent collection that I treasure and I do pick up a few here and there that I want to add to my personal collection. I don't see myself selling any of my personal collection in any near future but I do like to trade for something I don't have and want more than something I do have. I am part way down the deep rabbit hole of buying and collecting OA but man, has that gotten to be crazy. I buy that stuff because I like it but am glad that I got the stuff I did before it became more popular. 

Chalk me up to being a reader (first) and a collector second. I guess there is a good side to the books that i have purchased appreciating in value, but that has meant that those books I want to add to my collection have appreciated in value and are harder to get. 

[10centcomics]

The cartoonist Seth talked about collecting in a June 2004 interview and a lot of it resonated with me.

"Collectors are interesting because they seek out things that no one cares about and find out the vital information regarding those items. They catalogue and interview related creators, manufacturers etc. They preserve important cultural items. Later, when these things are considered interesting or important -- the academics come along and benefit from the work of these outsider collectors. But people don’t like collectors because they can be a strange lot -- greedy, secretive, rude, socially awkward, etc. I have met more than my share of collectors who I found personally hateful. I don’t really care for collectors myself. Though clearly I am one of them.

People seem to collect for a variety of reasons. Some are accumulators (they just need lots of things), some are trying to get back their past (specifically childhood), some strongly need to possess things, etc. etc. I have all of these tendencies… but mostly I collect as a way of exploring the past. By buying the cultural items (especially books, movies and records) of the past you begin to get a deeper understanding of the times. There are so many surprises to be found. It’s a constant process -- there are so many layers of the past to dig through. But it is such a pleasurable experience. I just love the objects of the past and looking for them (and possessing them) brings me the most happiness in life. I like nothing better than looking through some dusty pile of magazines in an out of the way store… with the hope that something great is at the bottom of that unpromising pile.

Like other collectors I am also trying to recapture the feelings of childhood. A lot of my life of drawing and making things is simply an attempt to recreate the feeling of being a child and doing those same things. I don’t collect a lot of things from the era of my childhood -- but occasionally I will seek out some item (or totem) from my childhood. Recently I tracked down a wrist-radio on eBay that I owned as a child. Holding it in my hands again was a beautiful moment."

[MrBedrock]

On 1/21/2022 at 3:07 PM, 10centcomics said:

The cartoonist Seth ...

"... people don’t like collectors because they can be a strange lot -- greedy, secretive, rude, socially awkward, etc. I have met more than my share of collectors who I found personally hateful. I don’t really care for collectors myself. Though clearly I am one of them."

Exactly how I feel about all of you!

[Pantodude]

I knew I was a collector (aka longer-term investor! ) when I prioritized finding a Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck over an Action Comics #1.  That says it all right there!  That's a joke, but I do have an OO.   

I would also point to my completionist tendencies, which I've had since forever.  First with coins (filling up those Whitman coin folders!), then stamps, then currency and comics.  They all lend to completing sets or runs.  Luckily, from a financial perspective, there are many keys in SA, BA, and CA Spidey, so I ended with good investment books along the way just by being my usual completionist self w/o consciously looking for keys. Those were the good old days.  

I also know I'm just a collector because for decades I never followed the values of any of my collectibles, and mostly still don't except for comics.  But there's a caveat there. That did not happen until I joined these boards in 2019.  Then GPA happened to me last year.  I like numbers/data so it was hard to resist checking it often (most of my books are SA, so there's more opportunity than with GA books), especially if I am pleasantly surprised at the valuation of so many of my books.  But while I appreciate my PC as an asset more nowadays, I'm still just a collector b/c I won't worry about ROI until it's time to sell, likely way down the road.  It still never occurs to me to let go of a book that has cooled or even slumped, just like I never consider selling any of my other collectibles, which I'm assuming are underperforming mightily relative to comic values!  For now, it's cool having all of it, but I know I need to pare it down eventually, and of course ROI is the goal there.  I'll likely be checking values less often until that time comes.     

While for practical purposes I'm just a longer-term investor, I do consider myself a (almost) pure as the driven snow collector despite my affinity for data. 

Edited March 16, 2022 by Pantodude

[Tri-Color Brian]

Although I enjoy having a collection that appreciates in value, I did not buy it for that reason.  I've been collecting as long as Robot Man, and when we started it was a cheap hobby.  Sure, I knew that most of my comics would go up in value, but I bought them because I wanted them...not to flip someday.  I have sold a few over the years, and it felt good to make a profit, but I'm actually just a Collector that buys what he likes.  Unfortunately, a lot of what I like has escalated in value beyond my expectations...and now I can't afford to buy much of it. 

Edited January 22, 2022 by Tri-ColorBrian

[thedude]

both, I buy some things I know will go up in value so that when I sell, I can fund stuff I like to buy as a collector, that's what makes the hobby tick.

just wish I hadn't sold the 3 copies of AF15 I've had so darn soon. 

Edited January 22, 2022 by thedude

[AJD]

Collector. If the market lost 75% of its value tomorrow I'd be delighted, despite sitting on a solid collection.

[Get Marwood & I]

Collector!

Mostly of things that others don't  

[jimbo_7071]

On 1/22/2022 at 4:19 AM, AJD said:

Collector. If the market lost 75% of its value tomorrow I'd be delighted, despite sitting on a solid collection.

I agree; then I'd be able to buy more books. I tend to collect off-beat titles that actually could lose most of their value at some point (unlike books featuring the Timely and DC mainstays, which are probably safe bets).

If I'm an investor, I must be investing for my next-of-kin. I occasionally sell books that I decide I don't like for whatever reason, but most of my books will stay in my collection till I give up the ghost.

[Ryan.]

Who would you buy books from if all the sellers stopped selling? 

[Tri-Color Brian]

On 1/22/2022 at 4:04 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

Collector!

Mostly of things that others don't  

You know, I told you to sell your toothpick collection when it was "Hot"...but no, you didn't listen...

[jimbo_7071]

Will this one get snagged by an investor or a collector? What do people think?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/304325774196?hash=item46db3acb74:g:wLwAAOSwMm1hZKqR