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Is now a good time to be buying?
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30 posts in this topic

Just curious if you think now is a good time to be buying modern books you want or if you think prices will continue to drop?  I’m trying to not buy in when prices are still up on books.  I do know we are in a recession but do you think the comics will dive in value more or stay where they are at now?

 

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On 12/21/2022 at 1:36 AM, rckstr1253 said:

Just curious if you think now is a good time to be buying modern books you want or if you think prices will continue to drop?  I’m trying to not buy in when prices are still up on books.  I do know we are in a recession but do you think the comics will dive in value more or stay where they are at now?

 

I think that modern ones are in a massive bubble unless you can identify the rare few that are completely under the radar that will become sought after in the future.

Back in the 40s and 50s, virtually all comic books were purchased in order to be read, which is why those books are scarce and collectible.

Even in the 80s you had quite a few people buying comic books to read. Over the last 30 years, though, the vast majority of comic books sold were immediately bagged and boarded as collectibles. Long term, the demand is not going to be there for those books. The only thing driving prices up on modern books is speculation. That bubble will eventually pop.

There aren't many comic books published in the last 30 that I would pay more a dollar or two for raw. (Most I just wouldn't buy, period.)

Edited by jimbo_7071
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On 12/22/2022 at 6:43 AM, jimbo_7071 said:

I think that modern ones are in a massive bubble unless you can identify the rare few that are completely under than radar that will become sought after in the future.

Back in the 40s and 50s, virtually all comic books were purchased in order to be read, which is why those books are scarce and collectible.

Even in the 80s you had quite a few people buying comic books to read. Over the last 30 years, though, the vast majority of comic books sold were immediately bagged and boarded as collectibles. Long term, the demand is not going to be there for those books. The only thing driving prices up on modern books is speculation. That bubble will eventually pop.

There aren't many comic books published in the last 30 that I would pay more a dollar or two for raw. (Most I just wouldn't buy, period.)

The difference is even with all of that the print runs of many are 5-15k vs 500k 30 years ago. So when a book does pop, while they are almost all high grade, there are not many of them. Many moderns likely exist in smaller numbers than some 60s books. FF 48s are so common I have owned at least 8 of them and I had never even bought one on its own. They had typically been tossed in with a purchase of a stack of books to sweeten the deal they were so common

Edited by the blob
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On 12/22/2022 at 12:59 AM, World Devourer said:

We are currently in a bear market, so sales are slow.

IF you can afford to buy a gem and then WAIT, it will pay off. Note that I'm taking about high-end items, not low-end bric-a-brac that might jump slightly.

I am curious how do we know its a bear market? This month was the best sales Ive had in 6 months by far. I am just interested for how we determine that? I am not necessarily saying you are wrong btw. 

Edited by fastballspecial
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On 12/22/2022 at 12:07 PM, the blob said:

The difference is even with all of that the print runs of many are 5-15k vs 500k 30 years ago. So when a book does pop, while they are almost all high grade, there are not many of them. Many moderns likely exist in smaller numbers than some 60s books. FF 48s are so common I have owned at least 8 of them and I had never even bought one on its own. They had typically been tossed in with a purchase of a stack of books to sweeten the deal they were so common

You are also assuming though that there are just as many buyers as there were back then. 

 

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On 12/22/2022 at 2:27 PM, fastballspecial said:

You are also assuming though that there are just as many buyers as there were back then. 

 

No, if there are 25% as many buyers the print runs are still much lower proportionally. I honestly do not know how many folks who got into comics in 2016-2021 are now out or if with inflation eating into fun money folks are just tight right now, but Covid and Covid savings/checks were just an added push to a market that had been really strong for several years. I know there were a couple of early 30s guys in my office early in the summer who had gotten into comics big over the prior 2 years, but yeah, neither had grown up reading them so I have to wonder if it stuck. Crypto collapsing has probably not helped that crowd who thought it was a long term investment vehicle. I’m just getting back in. Things were still cooking when I took my hiatus in 2021. I am not a modern investor by any means, but there are some books I have liked and don’t view 2010 books like 1992 books. Whole different landscape. For example, I paid realish money for the early goon books in slabs. I like the character and those had pretty small print runs. Unfortunately Powell has not moved it forward for a show or a movie, which it would be great for

Edited by the blob
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Comics are still a pretty good hobby for the millennial crowd who isn’t that into “stuff” as you can house a pretty nice collection in 3 or 4 short boxes.m. I don’t think it will be down as long as you folks think although yeah, it may be a while before random boxes of books have so many $10-20 books in them. 

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On 12/23/2022 at 6:25 AM, fastballspecial said:

I am curious how do we know its a bear market? This month was the best sales Ive had in 6 months by far. I am just interested for how we determine that? I am not necessarily saying you are wrong btw. 

OK. When you say "best month", is that for the high-end variants I was referring to?

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