Comic value 1 1

[stephenlev]

Nine months ago, I cracked open my childhood comic collection and sent the 20 comics getting the most money on eBay, that were in the best shape, to be pressed, cleaned and graded.

This week they're getting graded. But boy have values for these books (X-Men, Wolverine, Sandman, some Batman) plummeted in the nine months since I sent them away. If they don't come back with a really high grade, they are definitely not going to be worth the money I spent grading them.

My original plan was to keep 1-2 of my favs and sell the rest, but this looks like the worst climate for selling. 

My question is, I've waited 35+ years since I bought these comics at cover price, and am happy to just to hand them down to my kids. But do prices just bob up and down a lot, or was I checking prices in a bubble and totally misleading myself about what these books would ever be worth?

[DougC]

A non-key issue of a modern comic isn't intrinsically valuable outside of a 9.8. Did you base your pricing off of ebay sold listings or just what was listed with BIN? In any case, we would need to know what issues and potential grades to know "value" but I don't see much change on GPA over the last twelve months some of the titles you posted.

[thehumantorch]

On 5/8/2023 at 12:09 PM, stephenlev said:

Nine months ago, I cracked open my childhood comic collection and sent the 20 comics getting the most money on eBay, that were in the best shape, to be pressed, cleaned and graded.

This week they're getting graded. But boy have values for these books (X-Men, Wolverine, Sandman, some Batman) plummeted in the nine months since I sent them away. If they don't come back with a really high grade, they are definitely not going to be worth the money I spent grading them.

My original plan was to keep 1-2 of my favs and sell the rest, but this looks like the worst climate for selling. 

My question is, I've waited 35+ years since I bought these comics at cover price, and am happy to just to hand them down to my kids. But do prices just bob up and down a lot, or was I checking prices in a bubble and totally misleading myself about what these books would ever be worth?

You're not alone.  I have a box of Copper Age or Modern Age books that I summitted that came back in the grades I expected or better but aren't worth the cost of grading now that prices have dropped.  

I just put them aside hoping values will eventually recover.  

In general prices jumped during the Covid peak and have dropped since.  Many of those prices are still higher than pre-covid but seem low compared to the highs of Covid.  There are also books that jump because of  movie or TV show speculation and have dropped because the show wasn't great, has ended, or the speculation was incorrect.  There are a lot of guys hopping on the speculation wagon, buying to flip, and that wagon often crashes into reality.  In general getting books graded that have first appearances of long loved iconic characters - think New Mutants 98 type books - will always be worth owning and go up in value long term.  Books featuring first appearances of hot characters that haven't been popular in the past are less predictable and risky to get graded.

Could you post a list of the books you sent in and perhaps update when you get the grade results?

[stephenlev]

On 5/8/2023 at 2:15 PM, DougC said:

A non-key issue of a modern comic isn't intrinsically valuable outside of a 9.8. Did you base your pricing off of ebay sold listings or just what was listed with BIN? In any case, we would need to know what issues and potential grades to know "value" but I don't see much change on GPA over the last twelve months some of the titles you posted.

I based my "value" off eBay sales. If they got more than $100 as a 9.6, I thought they might be worth sending in.

[stephenlev]

On 5/8/2023 at 2:26 PM, thehumantorch said:

Could you post a list of the books you sent in and perhaps update when you get the grade results?

[zzutak]

On 5/8/2023 at 11:09 AM, stephenlev said:

But boy have values for these books (X-Men, Wolverine, Sandman, some Batman) plummeted in the nine months since I sent them away. But do prices just bob up and down a lot, or was I checking prices in a bubble and totally misleading myself about what these books would ever be worth?

The decline actually began about 12 months ago; so, yeah, you submitted your books at the market top.  Nice timing. 

The collectibles market does not randomly bob up and down.  If you're looking at collectibles as an investment you should always be mindful of the macro-level economy.  What happened to the M2 Money Supply and Fed Funds Rate in early 2020 (at the beginning of the pandemic)?  What happened to the M2 Money Supply and Fed Funds Rate in early 2022 (when the Fed finally realized that inflation was out of control)?    Oh yeah, now I remember: in early 2022, the Fed tapped the brakes on the ridiculous rate of M2 expansion (in place since early 2020) and simultaneously began increasing interest rates from a ridiculously low baseline of 0% (also in place since early 2020).

Think macro! 

[stephenlev]

On 5/8/2023 at 3:11 PM, zzutak said:

Nice timing. 

Whoops!

I guess the good news is that I only paid cover price for them, it's not like I bought them at the top of the market. And a lot of them are classics with nice covers, I won't mind having them around, giving them to my kids.

[zzutak]

Yep, leave them for your kids (and avoid paying taxes on any capital gains).   

[ExNihilo]

So many people enter the hobby and just think "slab this", "slab that".  Let this serve as a warning to any one new who would come across it as evidence that there are real costs associated with slabbing.  Take your time learning about the value of slabbing and when it's worthwhile and when it's folly.

[Cman429]

He didn’t pick bad books to submit. What’s “hot” in the comic “market” is largely tied to movies/tv hype. If marvel announced tomorrow Brad Pitt was playing Darkhawk that book would go from dollar bin flotsam to going for $200+ in any 9+ grade.

Like Sandman definitely shot up for awhile when anticipation for the show peaked. Unfortunately for him it kinda bombed so now he probably won’t get much back on all those books he submitted. In a few years maybe HBO picks up a S2 and this time it is that GOT level hit some hoped then he’s sitting on some value.

So in summation, he better hope there’s a Beta Ray Bill vs Devil Dinosaur movie on the horizon.

[thehumantorch]

On 5/8/2023 at 1:05 PM, stephenlev said:

Most of these books I'd consider 'good' books and books that have had appeal for many years.  Hopefully you got  good grades on these.  I'd put them away and appreciate that they are the personal copies that you purchased many years ago and wait for the values to increase

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 5/8/2023 at 2:09 PM, stephenlev said:

...was I checking prices in a bubble and totally misleading myself about what these books would ever be worth?

Probably this.

[stephenlev]

On 5/8/2023 at 7:50 PM, Cman429 said:

he better hope there’s a Beta Ray Bill

And that Thor is a Newsstand/Mark Jeweler copy! 

But I feel like my next big disappointment is the grade. They looked great to my untrained eye, but in the nine months since I submitted, I've learned a lot. But I did post on this forum beforehand, and I was warned not to submit all these books, so I have nobody to blame but myself. Again, since I paid cover price, it's not THAT much money down the drain. I might just sell my two long boxes, and some slabbed books to my local store, and keep a few covers I love for posterity, and I'd probably come out somewhat ahead.

[marvelmaniac]

I keep track of the FMV of my top 100 books every 6 month's using eBay "Sold Auctions" for the same book in the same condition, paying attention to the bidders, (how many, price war, etc.)

From what I have been able to see is that during the pandemic and with the MCU releasing another 100 movies/tv shows prices increased, now that things are getting back to normal it seems the market is starting to stabilize (or, going back to pre-pandemic prices/demand).

My top 100 books lost $6000.00 in value from June 2022 to December 2022. (All books are raw)

IE: Amazing Spider-Man 2 PR 0.5 lost $310.00, ASM 14 VG/FN 5.0 lost $500.00, IH 181 FN/VF 7.0 lost $500.00, ST 110 GD 2.0 lost $750.00, X-Men 4 GD+ 2.5 lost $300.00. These were the largest drops in FMV, the others that dropped were anywhere from $50.00 - $200.00 dollars.

A couple of books did increase in FMV, only by a few dollars (< $100.00), ASM 100, ASM 194, F.F. 12, ST 107 (which I found odd since F.F. 4 went down), why?, it all depends on what is popular and in demand at the time, if the FMV has dropped for the books you planned on selling your best bet is to hold on to them and see what the market does in the future, or you can sell them on consignment with MCS, AFAIK, you get to name the price you want for the book.

https://www.mycomicshop.com/?gclid=CLS_6I_Q8cUCFYYUHwodbhUAag

Since your books will be graded you can use "Go Collect" to keep track of the sales/prices for those books.

https://gocollect.com/

[FantasticDan]

Is the nine month turnaround time due to the "cleaning" phase of the restorations? 

[lou_fine]

On 5/8/2023 at 11:54 AM, stephenlev said:

I based my "value" off eBay sales. If they got more than $100 as a 9.6, I thought they might be worth sending in.

I would think that if you are submitting books valued at only $100 in CGC 9.6, you've basically left yourself with no meat on the bones, especially in light of the fact that CGC's acceptable margin of error for grading could easily put you in the red by the time the slabbed book gets back to you after paying for pressing, grading, shipping, and packaging fees.  

[jcjames]

On 5/8/2023 at 11:09 AM, stephenlev said:

Nine months ago, I cracked open my childhood comic collection and sent the 20 comics getting the most money on eBay, that were in the best shape, to be pressed, cleaned and graded.

This week they're getting graded. But boy have values for these books (X-Men, Wolverine, Sandman, some Batman) plummeted in the nine months since I sent them away. If they don't come back with a really high grade, they are definitely not going to be worth the money I spent grading them.

My original plan was to keep 1-2 of my favs and sell the rest, but this looks like the worst climate for selling. 

My question is, I've waited 35+ years since I bought these comics at cover price, and am happy to just to hand them down to my kids. But do prices just bob up and down a lot, or was I checking prices in a bubble and totally misleading myself about what these books would ever be worth?

Welcome to the world of high-volatility in the collectibles market! Timing was not on your side, sorry to say. 

Your list has a good deal of decent "no-brainer" slab-contenders as long as they're fairly upper-grade, though some need to be very high-grade (9.6+) to see immediate value gained. 

Hold them when you get them and for most the market will rise to them eventually. In the meantime while you wait for the market to rise, enjoy them! 

 

[stephenlev]

On 5/9/2023 at 1:21 PM, FantasticDan said:

s the nine month turnaround time due to the "cleaning" phase of the restorations? 

It's due to backlog. And they don't restore, just clean and press.

[stephenlev]

On 5/9/2023 at 1:50 PM, lou_fine said:

you've basically left yourself with no meat on the bones,

Yeah, as in investment, this might have been a bum deal. On the other hand, there was value in cracking open my 35 year old collection for the first time, looking things up on eBay, revising my childhood books, posting on these boards, getting excited as the comics moved through the process, etc. It's been a hobby, and a fun one. I haven't bought any new books, and I'm not going to slab anymore after this. Hopefully these'll look nice on my shelf.

[LowGradeBronze]

You've got the right perspective on it: it's a hobby, that means you're doing it because it's fun. And let's be honest, its the most fun you can have with your clothes on.

I don't plan on spending very much money on books from this point on. I have enough books to keep me entertained.

Edited May 9, 2023 by LowGradeBronze