investing right now 7 7

[thehumantorch]

On 3/29/2022 at 7:09 AM, Sigur Ros said:

"Buy what you like" - Wayne Gretzky 

Skate to where the comic is going

[D2]

On 3/29/2022 at 5:14 PM, piper said:

I was thinking if I had any comics from the 90's.  I have a Batman Adventures 12 and a New Mutants 98.  Otherwise, I have nada....

 clearly better investments than what I have been doing.

[DocHoppus182]

You said a few thousand to invest.  To some the phrase “a few thousand” might be 2 or 3.  To others it could mean much more.  So, assuming it’s on the heftier side, Showcase 4 comes to mind.  Considering how much the biggest Marvel keys have jumped over the past couple years, I believe it is still undervalued.

[Robot Man]

On 3/29/2022 at 2:14 PM, piper said:

I was thinking if I had any comics from the 90's.  I have a Batman Adventures 12 and a New Mutants 98.  Otherwise, I have nada....

I have those as well as quite a few more. I either bought them off the stands or very cheap “each” prices in the wild at flea markets and garage sales. There are still tons of those out there just waiting to be discovered.

Will they go up in price? Most probably so as long as movies are being made and people who want to rediscover their youth. I just think the supply will far out weigh the demand as time goes on.

My advice, don’t buy the hype. Buy them cheap and you probably can’t go wrong. 

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 3/29/2022 at 3:41 PM, Black_Adam said:

Buy the highest-graded copy of Green Lantern #7 you can afford. Sinestro!

[Rob]

I'm with others who aren't comfortable buying investment-grade comics with the market as crazy as it is right now.  I don't like buying on the decline.  To answer someone's question above, no I don't think Wolverine or Spiderman are going to become less popular over time, but how much of the current prices are due to crazy pandemic speculative investing?  Buying a comic for $3000 that sold for $4000 last year seems like a steal, but is it on its way to $2000?

To steal a chart I posted a while back, take common date Morgan Dollars in MS65.  People bought them up in 1990 at $4000, as it was a discount of their peak of over $5000.  But within a year, they were below $2000 and haven't exceeded $2000 since.  I think I want to see where things land before I invest my money in them.

 

Edited March 29, 2022 by Rob

[NP_Gresham]

On 3/29/2022 at 5:17 AM, Casey Ryback said:

So just to try and pre empt the usual smart “I buy what I like NOT to invest” replies, let me just say I’ve been collecting comics since the late 80’s and have approx. 10k in my collection. These are for my own enjoyment, and I accept they are mostly worth their weight in scrap paper, that’s not why I own them. I have however bought a number of comics over the years purely for investment and a future pension. I own about 15 comics in this category, AF15, Hulk1 , FF1 etc. Most of these have gone up a lot of the years and have been a very good investment. Ive spent about $40k and they are currently worth about $200k.  I’ve been left with a few non movers like B&B28 and batman 608 retailer, but on the whole I’m happy and none are worth less than I paid. I have a few thousand to invest on a new one now, and with the market experiencing an explosion that’s hard as everything is highly priced right now. I always think when you buy to invest get a solid key main character 1^st appearance and in an ideal world with them on the cover. With that in mind I’m torn between Marvel spotlight 5 and ultimate fallout 4 (maybe the Djordjevic variant). Again, no disrespect but I’m really not Interested the buy what you like comments they are pointless white noise, but what do people think in terms of what each will be worth in a decade? Both have room for scope. I think MS5 is safer but will have less return, UFO much more return potential but risker, that said open to views?

Bitcoin

Gold

or buy what you like because the market is over- inflated.

You are on a fools errand.

[Math Teacher]

On 3/29/2022 at 4:08 PM, Robot Man said:

As an older collector, can I offer you some advice?

Under no circumstances put your money in a bank account as an investment. A couple of percent will get you no where.

Do you have a job with a 401k? If so, put the maximum you can afford in. If not, open an IRA and or, do the same. And put it in stocks. If you know nothing about them, have the plan invest for you.  They will go up and down but if you are young you have time to ride the market. The sooner the better. If you have 15-20 years of work ahead of you, you will be amazed at how much you will have when you are ready to retire.

I retired a few years ago. This and paying off all debt excluding my morgage has put me in a very comfortable position.

Dabbling in comics and other hobbies has just added to extra money when needed or wanted. I bought a classic muscle car and a vintage motorcycle with some of my collection proceeds. Both will hold their value and I have a lot of fun with. I can now travel and enjoy life AND comics. 

Comic books are pretty and fun but could be slightly risky especially in this currently violital market. Buy what you like and dabble with your extra money. But don’t count on retiring on them exclusively. 

 

I have to agree with @Robot Man. The first piece of advice that I gave my younger siblings was to start saving immediately, even if it was only $10/month. As a math teacher, I understand the power of compound interest. I started with $25/month, when I was a first-year teacher making under $10,000/year. Just as I was starting my career, you would see stories about elderly people having to eat dog food because their Social Security check wasn't enough. I told my wife, "There is NO way that I will be eating dog food when we retire." We made a conscious decision to get by with less so we could save more for our golden years.

As a public school teacher in Iowa, I am very lucky to have a good pension, the Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System (IPERS). Current public employees contribute 6.29% of their earnings each month into IPERS, while the employer contributes 9.44%. I always likened this to an employer match where an employee contributes to a 401K. When I retired from being a public school teacher, my pension amount was determined by taking 64.5% of the average of my five highest years of earnings. I chose a plan that will decrease my pension, but my wife will continue to get my monthly benefit after I pass away. If my wife passes away before me, my IPERS benefit will go back up to the original amount.

Both my wife and I will receive IPERS benefits for the rest of our lives, and we will both be receiving Social Security benefits for the rest of our lives. Based on current projections, my wife and I will be making approximately the same amount of money retired as we did when we were both full-time employees.

If you decide to start investing in the stock market (we just use a S&P 500 index account), make sure that you have the money taken directly out of your check if possible. If you never see the money that money in your checking/saving accounts, you won't miss it as much. It's much better to do it this way compared to writing a check each month. When you write a check, you will see the money leaving your account, and it will be hard not to say, "Oh, we'll just skip investing this month. Our car needs a new radiator." Before long, you won't be investing anything.

[Beige]

Honestly, I'd be thinking outside the box.

 

The list of books here are mostly fairly obvious, so I'd say the smart money is being quietly placed, and those people aren't throwing that info around like confetti.

 

[dupont2005]

Pretty much all my comics are available for sale right now. I list them for aggressive prices on eBay and within a couple months they sell. And then a couple months after that I realize I sold them cheaper than current prices. Seems like comics are doing good 

[dupont2005]

I think I made like 8 or 9 grand in the past 15 months or so and barely dented my collection. And my collection isn’t anything valuable. No slabs (just sold my only slab today), lots of reader quality grades

[Robot Man]

On 3/29/2022 at 3:36 PM, Math Teacher said:

I have to agree with @Robot Man. The first piece of advice that I gave my younger siblings was to start saving immediately, even if it was only $10/month. As a math teacher, I understand the power of compound interest. I started with $25/month, when I was a first-year teacher making under $10,000/year. Just as I was starting my career, you would see stories about elderly people having to eat dog food because their Social Security check wasn't enough. I told my wife, "There is NO way that I will be eating dog food when we retire." We made a conscious decision to get by with less so we could save more for our golden years.

As a public school teacher in Iowa, I am very lucky to have a good pension, the Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System (IPERS). Current public employees contribute 6.29% of their earnings each month into IPERS, while the employer contributes 9.44%. I always likened this to an employer match where an employee contributes to a 401K. When I retired from being a public school teacher, my pension amount was determined by taking 64.5% of the average of my five highest years of earnings. I chose a plan that will decrease my pension, but my wife will continue to get my monthly benefit after I pass away. If my wife passes away before me, my IPERS benefit will go back up to the original amount.

Both my wife and I will receive IPERS benefits for the rest of our lives, and we will both be receiving Social Security benefits for the rest of our lives. Based on current projections, my wife and I will be making approximately the same amount of money retired as we did when we were both full-time employees.

If you decide to start investing in the stock market (we just use a S&P 500 index account), make sure that you have the money taken directly out of your check if possible. If you never see the money that money in your checking/saving accounts, you won't miss it as much. It's much better to do it this way compared to writing a check each month. When you write a check, you will see the money leaving your account, and it will be hard not to say, "Oh, we'll just skip investing this month. Our car needs a new radiator." Before long, you won't be investing anything.

Smart advice. Like me, you probably won’t see your kids or siblings coming home to live with you. 

When I fully retired, my wife and I filed for SS at full benefit. I was lucky because in addition to my 401k, I had an IRA that I put my previous job’s 401k into. In my last job I also had a small pension that my employer rolled into my 401k. The first thing SS wanted to know is did I have a pension which would have lowered my SS benefit. I could say no.

My brother who was a teacher, got hammered because he had a pension.

So we are getting 85% of what we were making working. I had some blue chip stock that more than makes up in dividends. Unless, things go crazy, I have yet to even touch my 401k or IRA.

All of this is because I listened to wise people and paid off all my debt except my house which I probably couldn’t rent a 2 bedroom apt on my monthly payment.

My comic and other collection is just gravy. I recently sold off a few short boxes and some nice vintage toys. Will be using the money to take my family to Hawaii. And I picked this up last year at not even “Promise Collection” prices. Much more fun than a bunch of crappy GA Fawcetts. Only problem is I might have to sell some more books to pay for gas…

[Robot Man]

On 3/29/2022 at 4:40 PM, dupont2005 said:

Pretty much all my comics are available for sale right now. I list them for aggressive prices on eBay and within a couple months they sell. And then a couple months after that I realize I sold them cheaper than current prices. Seems like comics are doing good 

Indeed! Problem is, you just can’t replace what you sold or any more inventory.

My problem is I figured that out and I love my collection. I have learned only to sell the stuff I can live without and only for a good reason…

[Casey Ryback]

On 3/29/2022 at 10:08 PM, Robot Man said:

As an older collector, can I offer you some advice?

Under no circumstances put your money in a bank account as an investment. A couple of percent will get you no where.

Do you have a job with a 401k? If so, put the maximum you can afford in. If not, open an IRA and or, do the same. And put it in stocks. If you know nothing about them, have the plan invest for you.  They will go up and down but if you are young you have time to ride the market. The sooner the better. If you have 15-20 years of work ahead of you, you will be amazed at how much you will have when you are ready to retire.

I retired a few years ago. This and paying off all debt excluding my morgage has put me in a very comfortable position.

Dabbling in comics and other hobbies has just added to extra money when needed or wanted. I bought a classic muscle car and a vintage motorcycle with some of my collection proceeds. Both will hold their value and I have a lot of fun with. I can now travel and enjoy life AND comics. 

Comic books are pretty and fun but could be slightly risky especially in this currently violital market. Buy what you like and dabble with your extra money. But don’t count on retiring on them exclusively. 

 

Relying on them would be silly. Like most people (hopefully) I have the usual pension plans, equity in house and some savings. Maybe it’s a male thing but having some savings in an object and one you love is simply pleasing and sexy. The 200k pension was never an objective, just a happy accident. I don’t have room for cars, Pokémon cards confuse me, watches is something I don’t understand enough and there are problems with every other collectible. It’s not like I want to gamble my entire net worth on a roulette wheel, just a tiny bit on something that’s fun and if you get it right usually profitable 

[Robot Man]

On 3/29/2022 at 4:56 PM, Casey Ryback said:

Relying on them would be silly. Like most people (hopefully) I have the usual pension plans, equity in house and some savings. Maybe it’s a male thing but having some savings in an object and one you love is simply pleasing and sexy. The 200k pension was never an objective, just a happy accident. I don’t have room for cars, Pokémon cards confuse me, watches is something I don’t understand enough and there are problems with every other collectible. It’s not like I want to gamble my entire net worth on a roulette wheel, just a tiny bit on something that’s fun and if you get it right usually profitable 

Here is a pleasing and sexy object that ain’t going no where. Sure beats the junk below it..,

[Black_Adam]

On 3/29/2022 at 2:46 PM, THE_BEYONDER said:

Buy Low - Sell High 

[fastballspecial]

On 3/29/2022 at 5:36 PM, Math Teacher said:

I have to agree with @Robot Man. The first piece of advice that I gave my younger siblings was to start saving immediately, even if it was only $10/month. As a math teacher, I understand the power of compound interest. I started with $25/month, when I was a first-year teacher making under $10,000/year. Just as I was starting my career, you would see stories about elderly people having to eat dog food because their Social Security check wasn't enough. I told my wife, "There is NO way that I will be eating dog food when we retire." We made a conscious decision to get by with less so we could save more for our golden years.

As a public school teacher in Iowa, I am very lucky to have a good pension, the Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System (IPERS). Current public employees contribute 6.29% of their earnings each month into IPERS, while the employer contributes 9.44%. I always likened this to an employer match where an employee contributes to a 401K. When I retired from being a public school teacher, my pension amount was determined by taking 64.5% of the average of my five highest years of earnings. I chose a plan that will decrease my pension, but my wife will continue to get my monthly benefit after I pass away. If my wife passes away before me, my IPERS benefit will go back up to the original amount.

Both my wife and I will receive IPERS benefits for the rest of our lives, and we will both be receiving Social Security benefits for the rest of our lives. Based on current projections, my wife and I will be making approximately the same amount of money retired as we did when we were both full-time employees.

If you decide to start investing in the stock market (we just use a S&P 500 index account), make sure that you have the money taken directly out of your check if possible. If you never see the money that money in your checking/saving accounts, you won't miss it as much. It's much better to do it this way compared to writing a check each month. When you write a check, you will see the money leaving your account, and it will be hard not to say, "Oh, we'll just skip investing this month. Our car needs a new radiator." Before long, you won't be investing anything.

This is great I love reading about other comic book hobbyists that have invested well. 
Comics are for fun. Trying to base your retirement of them is a disaster for 95% of people. 
They are great partial as part of a much larger portfolio. I have used them over the years
to finance my kids college funds, braces, and car repairs for kids.

And on a side not you are really lucky as a teacher to have that type of retirement plan.
I left teaching because of the lack of retirement. KY had a state pension plan and sky rocketing
health insurance every year. Thats a great retirement plan. 

I started my children in high school on the 401k/IRA benefits. My daughter graduates in May and 
the same as my son I will walk her thru my 401k so she can understand what investments can do
over 30 years. As soon as they get a 1 year in with an employer I am pushing them to put money 
in their 401ks at those companies. Even if the 401k suck they can transfer the money later. 

I do this with new employees too when I train them. I show them a 401k spreadsheet over 30 years
with them investing their money over time and increasing their 401k % yearly. I have no idea how 
many pay attention, but my manager really liked it when he walked by one day and asked me about it.
I feel better knowing I am at least trying to get them understand this as many are 20 to 30 as new employees
and have time.
 

[Gregd]

Have you thought about high grade magazines like Vampirella? I think Vampirella 1 will be in the stratosphere in the future. Also, any Frazetta covers are probably a great bet (and still undervalued and many with less high graded issues than you think). The covers are beautiful, too. 
 

Walk into a comic shop and Vamp/Frazetta stuff is likely to be displayed somewhere.

[Gregd]

By the way, I am with you. I love comics, but I also love the idea that I may make some money from the books someday.

 

Don’t have the big keys you have but have a bunch of nice books from PCH to Silver to bronze keys. Happy to own them. 

[FFB]

On 3/29/2022 at 7:54 AM, Casey Ryback said:

I cant remember the exact time I bought BB28, but it was around the time of the 1st Snyder Superman going in to production. I bought it at CGC 8. It climbed steadily, went up a good amount when Justice was announced then the price bombed when the film turned out to be lemon. Its gone back up a little since but against my Marvels its been quite poor. I know Im meant to hang my head in shame if I mention I buy the odd one every few years when I have savings to make money on in my older years, but obviously its these things you need to look at if youre brave enough to put your head over the trenches and risk taking the bullets of the "purists"  . Think youre right, Im 49 so by the time I plan to cash these in around 15 years from now they will hopefully have risen quite a bit

The thing about B&B 28 is that it's so much harder to find a VF or better copy of those late 1950s DCs than it is to find the Marvel keys, it fools you into thinking that it's a smart buy.  The problem is that the amount of demand for the early DC keys (Showcase #4 notwithstanding) is such that they will almost always be outperformed by the Marvel keys, even though those came out later and are much more plentiful.  If you look on the GoCollect.com market overview, they track the books that have sold in the highest numbers (irrespective of price - just total units sold).  In the top 40 Silver Age books by sales volume over the past 365 days, there are ONLY two DCs - Detective 359 and Batman 181 - that make the cut.    

If it were my book, I would sell the B&B 28 and move the money into a high grade Hulk 181.  There aren't many books that are a lock to increase in value year in and year out, but Hulk 181 is definitely one of them and there are enough of them out there that you can still find a really nice NM 9.4 copy for the ~$20k you'd get for the B&B 28.  If your time horizon is 15 years, I would bet pretty much everything I have that Hulk 181 will outperform B&B 28 over that timeframe.