So how many comic collectors are there?

[divad]

I would say 100,000 is the minimum number.

 

I agree. If a book like All Star Batman & Robin sells 300,000 copies, that's pretty indicative of the size of the new comic buyers. I realize that some people may have bought more than one, or dealers might be hoarding copies, but you also have to take into account the regular new comic readers who didn't buy it (like me). I would put the number of monthly or bi-monthly new comic readers at least 200,000, with a top number of 400,000.

 

Back issue collectors are harder to estimate, because there are quite a lot of them who may not be active in the new comic market, may not buy on eBay, and may not attend conventions. I would think they are close to the same number of back issue collectors as new issue buyers though. There are so many websites, eBay sales, and conventions; a few thousand people can't be propping up that market.

 

I would estimate the total of new and old comic collectors to be around 500,000. That includes people who are in and out of the hooby though.

 

I agree, but this is still probably a conservative estimate . . .

[october]

I would say 100,000 is the minimum number.

 

I agree. If a book like All Star Batman & Robin sells 300,000 copies, that's pretty indicative of the size of the new comic buyers. I realize that some people may have bought more than one, or dealers might be hoarding copies, but you also have to take into account the regular new comic readers who didn't buy it (like me). I would put the number of monthly or bi-monthly new comic readers at least 200,000, with a top number of 400,000.

 

Back issue collectors are harder to estimate, because there are quite a lot of them who may not be active in the new comic market, may not buy on eBay, and may not attend conventions. I would think they are close to the same number of back issue collectors as new issue buyers though. There are so many websites, eBay sales, and conventions; a few thousand people can't be propping up that market.

 

I would estimate the total of new and old comic collectors to be around 500,000. That includes people who are in and out of the hooby though.

 

I agree, but this is still probably a conservative estimate . . .

 

You think so? I was expecting people to say it was liberal. In any case, there are far too many dealers, events, publications, and online sales for there to be any less than several hundered thousand to half a million collectors.

[the blob]

just think about how many shops, and presumably customers, there were 1992. i think i've heard 5,000 as a figure. yes, lots of people have dropped out and/or become dormant, but you'd need several hundreds of thousands, if not a million, people to support that many shops.

[Silver]

But is every person who reads a comic a comic collector? I would think that a person needs to be more involved in the hobby somehow to go from a comic reader to a comic collector.

[tilleycs]

It's probably impossible to estimate with any kind of accuracy. It seems like a lot of people have gotten back into the hobby over the past couple of years, and I'm sure many people have gotten out. And there are so many different kinds of collectors & collecting. Thanks to the internet, there are so many more options for collectors these days.

 

Think about how many different ways there are to get comics - subscription services, websites, comic shops, bookstores like B&N, used bookstores, conventions, ebay. And how do you know who's really collecting and who's just speculating and hoarding? There's really no way to get an accurate estimate of the active/legitimate collectors.

[the blob]

everyone who regularly reads comics is at least a potential collector!!

 

if they don't throw them out afterward, isn't that collecting?

[backtomarvel]

I'd be curious at the number of people who check out eBay collectibles --> comics in a month. I think that would be an excellent starting point for back issue collectors. Marvel and DC -- indeed many ad agencies -- could likely provide numbers and demographics for new comic readers.

 

My guess? 500,000 people who have bought a comic *period* in the last month ...

I think there are at least 125,000 per *time zone.*

[PedigreeMan]

"How many ACTIVE comic book collectors are there?"

 

Dirk Deppey made a very convincing argument back in 2003 that the "established comic market" consists of 330,000 readers. (Gawd, I miss Journalista.)