the YOU TUBE comic book videos thread 8 8

[adamstrange]

On 11/3/2023 at 2:23 AM, Telegan said:

Ack!  Too long to watch right now, but after watching just the first few minutes, I know I need to watch it in the future, so ... saved.  That channel has a lot of good interviews with some comic legends.  Thanks for posting this one.

Ditko stayed in touch with his family throughout his life, so this vastly increases the background we had on Ditko, though some mysteries will likely never be solved.

[adamstrange]

I really enjoyed this series by art instructors looking at the various inking styles of Syndicated and GA artists.

 

[Cat-Man_America]

Axanar Confidential celebrity comic expert interview...

 

[sagii]

Posted in the Pulp Forum as well. Posting here for those who may not venture there

 

[N e r V]

I subscribe to this channel already but this was a fun one to watch due to friends no longer with us or much, much younger than today. Great for my memories. I was going full throttle then continuing to build my golden age collection as a dealer and trying to explain to other dealers who Matt Baker was and what books of his I was looking for. San Diego Comic Con was so relaxed looking back then compared to todays chaos. Really a great period to be in the hobby.

 

 

[adamstrange]

 

[Telegan]

@rtsunlimited is also mentioned in this video, I believe.  My first eBay purchase (happened this year) was from them (Gerber Journals).

 

 

[adamstrange]

Ray and Al look at original art for EC in a conversation guided by Jerry Weist.

 

[Tbone911t]

My favorite. Memory Lane Comics - Toronto 

 

[Telegan]

General investing/collecting advice from Shawn Surmick of Reserved Investments.  He advises and does this stuff for a living, and I love the no-hype, "here's what I think" approach to his channel.  And like I said, he works in collectibles for a living.  He has some interesting takes on comic books, hype-fueled pricing, the future of comic books and pricing.  I always found it funny when people start talking about investment returns on comic books vs something like the S&P 500 over a period of decades, and he gets into that, as well.  He talks about a guy that asked for his help in trying to deal with long boxes of silver age/bronze age keys in reference to people telling him "these comics aren't getting made anymore, so their scarcity is set".  He said his jaw dropped when he saw that collection full of probably 9.x keys.  Some of his takes are common sense, but others could make you think a little or see the other side of the coin.  It's an hour long but probably worth a watch.

 

 

Edited December 2, 2023 by Telegan

[Telegan]

 

[atomised]

On 12/2/2023 at 3:52 PM, Telegan said:

General investing/collecting advice from Shawn Surmick of Reserved Investments.  He advises and does this stuff for a living, and I love the no-hype, "here's what I think" approach to his channel.  And like I said, he works in collectibles for a living.  He has some interesting takes on comic books, hype-fueled pricing, the future of comic books and pricing.  I always found it funny when people start talking about investment returns on comic books vs something like the S&P 500 over a period of decades, and he gets into that, as well.  He talks about a guy that asked for his help in trying to deal with long boxes of silver age/bronze age keys in reference to people telling him "these comics aren't getting made anymore, so their scarcity is set".  He said his jaw dropped when he saw that collection full of probably 9.x keys.  Some of his takes are common sense, but others could make you think a little or see the other side of the coin.  It's an hour long but probably worth a watch.

 

 

It's a decent video and I watch his channel.  That said, long term I think fundamentally he does not believe in comics as a valid collectible vehicle and he's made that point on several occasions fairly clearly.  He's just too pessimistic for my liking as a comic collector.  I don't need hype but I also don't need sober talk after sober talk about why it's actually better to put your money into an Index Fund, which he repeatedly drops as a great investment vehicle.  If I was interested in stock and bonds, I wouldn't be on these boards or collecting.  

[AJD]

On 12/5/2023 at 6:30 PM, atomised said:

It's a decent video and I watch his channel.  That said, long term I think fundamentally he does not believe in comics as a valid collectible vehicle and he's made that point on several occasions fairly clearly.  He's just too pessimistic for my liking as a comic collector.  I don't need hype but I also don't need sober talk after sober talk about why it's actually better to put your money into an Index Fund, which he repeatedly drops as a great investment vehicle.  If I was interested in stock and bonds, I wouldn't be on these boards or collecting.  

Sure, we all collect because we love the medium. But I think it's also worth understanding the opportunity cost (or benefit) of being in the comics market relative to other uses of the money we spend.

[Telegan]

On 12/5/2023 at 1:30 AM, atomised said:

It's a decent video and I watch his channel.  That said, long term I think fundamentally he does not believe in comics as a valid collectible vehicle and he's made that point on several occasions fairly clearly.  He's just too pessimistic for my liking as a comic collector.  I don't need hype but I also don't need sober talk after sober talk about why it's actually better to put your money into an Index Fund, which he repeatedly drops as a great investment vehicle.  If I was interested in stock and bonds, I wouldn't be on these boards or collecting.  

I try to separate hobbies from reality, but at the same time hold a grasp on reality and not let hobbies overrun my life.  Something about not seeing the forest for the trees or something.  There has to be a happy medium in that relationship, or at least some restraint - for me, at least.  Just because I want things doesn't mean I drop several g's on it.  I can get all the hype I want in comic collecting by going to conventions, YouTube, looking at pricing services, etc., but every now and then after you hear all that hype, you want to hear the other side or the 180-degree opinion that lets you know there are other ways to think about this.  Maybe that opinion is wrong or maybe it's necessary to balance your thoughts out, but it's always good to have 2 sides.  I feel I can come on forums like this to learn about the industry, history, and goings-on in comics whether we have a sober opinion or have lost our minds buying comic books.  I personally think he's right in most of the stuff he said, but as with everything else in life - we all have our opinions.

[Aman619]

he makes many of the same points about the future of comics collecting that we used to do every night here 20 years ago:  current prices are crazy!, kids dont care about "things" like we used to, print is dead/dying, supply is ridiculously huge post "196x" and millions more will come to market of all the keys,   and -- of course -- "the big gains are over from here on out."  

IMO only the last one is different from the rest which we have been hearing constantly for decades.  The growth curve of the mega key books reaching up into the multi millions in HG will slow down as an investment % point of view (maybe double, but no more 10x todays levels).   but, lets face it, when the economy comes around, and cash is flowing again, and inflation has raised all prices (maybe except comics), we could get right back on the crazy train to numbers that are unthinkable today.  So its easy to be BOTH pessimistic/realistic, and optimistic at the same time... Just place your bets!

Edited December 6, 2023 by Aman619

[atomised]

On 12/5/2023 at 5:23 PM, Aman619 said:

he makes many of the same points about the future of comics collecting that we used to do every night here 20 years ago:  current prices are crazy!, kids dont care about "things" like we used to, print is dead/dying, supply is ridiculously huge post "196x" and millions more will come to market of all the keys,   and -- of course -- "the big gains are over from here on out."  

IMO only the last one is different from the rest which we have been hearing constantly for decades.  The growth curve of the mega key books reaching up into the multi millions in HG will slow down as an investment % point of view (maybe double, but no more 10x todays levels).   but, lets face it, when the economy comes around, and cash is flowing again, and inflation has raised all prices (maybe except comics), we could get right back on the crazy train to numbers that are unthinkable today.  So its easy to be BOTH pessimistic/realistic, and optimistic at the same time... Just place your bets!

Agree.  I personally think I've outgrown his channel but several years ago, I got a lot out of it.

[adamstrange]

On 12/5/2023 at 8:23 PM, Aman619 said:

he makes many of the same points about the future of comics collecting that we used to do every night here 20 years ago:  current prices are crazy!, kids dont care about "things" like we used to, print is dead/dying, supply is ridiculously huge post "196x" and millions more will come to market of all the keys,   and -- of course -- "the big gains are over from here on out."  

IMO only the last one is different from the rest which we have been hearing constantly for decades.  The growth curve of the mega key books reaching up into the multi millions in HG will slow down as an investment % point of view (maybe double, but no more 10x todays levels).   but, lets face it, when the economy comes around, and cash is flowing again, and inflation has raised all prices (maybe except comics), we could get right back on the crazy train to numbers that are unthinkable today.  So its easy to be BOTH pessimistic/realistic, and optimistic at the same time... Just place your bets!

A lot of SA and BA keys inflated wildly during the Pandemic and then fell dramatically.  That's where there is big volume and big dollars of the comic market, so his general caution looks justified.

GA never had the big run-up or the big fall-off, but I doubt was he thinking about it when summarizing his thoughts.

[Aman619]

The market has tended to be cyclical over the decades.  Superheroes blast off then stall.  And in the interim, esoteric genres mainly GA get some long needed love.  Still,  having said that, these GA and Atom books have experienced a huge upswing in values recently, so are at potential risk once superhero keys start heating up.. many of them are at “crazy” prices now too!

[Cat-Man_America]

Came across this fascinating YouTube video on the Black Terror; it's around 15 minutes long, but surprisingly informative (definitely worth watching, IMO)... 

 

 

[adamstrange]

Ignore the thumbnail.  It's a lovely interview with Alex Schomburg's granddaughters who were babysat by Alex growing up.

Edited December 22, 2023 by adamstrange