Ken Aldred Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 Recognising fatigue in your approach to collecting or reading can be positive, in my experience. I wished I’d understood that I was just going through the motions in a programmed, zombie-like routine and not continued to invest so much time, effort and everything in one strategy or another that had lost too much of its edge and excitement, and changed to a more appropriate alternative years sooner. Certainly, in my case because of health issue limitations, I should’ve stopped flogging certain dead horses, sorry to say, the weekly LCS visit or occasional convention, and been far more attuned and responsive to that. Easier said than done, to accept that and make transitions with a lifelong interest (that’s rarely going to be easy or comfortable, and understandably quite saddening) and for me not practicable until the ascendancy of the digital comics age, which still allows me to continue with my reading without any of the associated traditional pressures. Yes, recognising and responding to fatigue, burnout, the ennui of routine and moving on, can lead to constructive results. MAR1979 and Larryw7 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Telegan Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 On 6/19/2023 at 8:50 AM, MAR1979 said: Actually from what you have wrote you did have modern collecting fatigue and smartly moved to other segments of the hobby, I think that supports my premise. Many though I feel do not migrate as you did they are now simply leaving the hobby. Especially the younger they are and have only picked up comics thinking they will make easy money like they may have in 2020-early 2022, now they are learning loss on ROI is just as likely as gain. Oh, in that regard, I guess I did have "fatigue" with modern comics, but I was only collecting modern comics for speculation when I got back into the hobby. So, not a collecting fatigue, just a speculation fatigue. I continued collecting comics when I went back to older eras that had unique stuff without a myriad of variants or reboots. So as a collector, still no fatigue - there's still lots of stuff out there that I'm looking to collect. As a matter of fact, I'm spending more money now than I have ever spent on comics before. The stuff I buy from the GA/SA/BA are more because I just like the comic rather than speculation. I guess this is what I meant by no "collector fatigue". I'm still collecting. MAR1979 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAR1979 Posted June 20, 2023 Author Share Posted June 20, 2023 (edited) ^ after what you and others have mentioned, I've renamed this topic to Collector (or Speculator) Fatigue Edited June 20, 2023 by MAR1979 Sillydiabetic 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Furious Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 I think that speculation substituted for other forms of entertainment/enjoyment in 2020-2021. I certainly bought and sold way more books than ever before during that time period. I did a pretty big sell off of speculative books in the first 7 months of 2022 and have returned to pure collecting. My spending is probably down 90%. It's much easier to justify spending money on books you intend to sell than on books you intend to keep. You figure that the worst that can happen is you lose a little bit of your investment, but you get to enjoy the process of buying and owning the books in the meantime. Now I probably buy 20 raw books for every one slab. And most of my purchases are $5-$50 with only a rare triple digit purchase and no 4 digit purchases in the last 12 months. It's very rare that I make a purchase now with intentions of re-selling in the foreseeable future. Certainly fatigue is a reasonable description, but it's also just other parts of life returning to normal after 2021. There was a time in 2020-2021 where speculating on comic books was a major and important source of fulfillment in life. bobpfef and SkOw 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumrunner71 Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Don't get me wrong, I read every ish of Wizard in the 90s. But Jesus Christ, it was basically Maxim for comic books. By their forecasts back then, the safest comic investments were anything bordering on softcore p*rn. How much hype does Lady Death really need? D2, Gonzimodo and Ken Aldred 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Aldred Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 On 6/20/2023 at 4:47 AM, rumrunner71 said: Don't get me wrong, I read every ish of Wizard in the 90s. But Jesus Christ, it was basically Maxim for comic books. By their forecasts back then, the safest comic investments were anything bordering on softcore p*rn. How much hype does Lady Death really need? The time of the Bad Girl Craze. Garbage being churned out in gigantic quantities. An era sadly missed. SpidersComics, D2, rumrunner71 and 1 other 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browns81 Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 I don’t know how anyone can stomach modern pricing. $5 a book is robbery, even for an A-list title like Batman. You’re getting a 10 minute read and nothing truly earth shattering is likely to happen. Just hard to justify. That is also who I stopped buying boxes/packs of sports cards. No big deal back when they were .25, but $3 for a standard pack is just insanity. waaaghboss 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexanderjk Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 On 6/20/2023 at 5:26 AM, Browns81 said: I don’t know how anyone can stomach modern pricing. $5 a book is robbery, even for an A-list title like Batman. You’re getting a 10 minute read and nothing truly earth shattering is likely to happen. Just hard to justify. That is also who I stopped buying boxes/packs of sports cards. No big deal back when they were .25, but $3 for a standard pack is just insanity. My son gave up collecting in his late teens because of the cost of single issues. And he would have given up sooner had it not been for Spawn’s $2 releases. Just too many other things — especially digitally and movies — competing for kids’ money. (How can comics even compete with movies for kids’ attention and money?) I teach high school and probably have just one kid out of 150+ each year who buys physical comics (or reads them at all). Seems the industry is staying afloat on nostalgia alone — 50-year old fathers like me who are way more interested in collecting comics than our kids, and their kids, are. MAR1979, SkOw and Browns81 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post theCapraAegagrus Posted June 20, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted June 20, 2023 (edited) On 6/20/2023 at 10:49 AM, alexanderjk said: Seems the industry is staying afloat on nostalgia alone — 50-year old fathers like me who are way more interested in collecting comics than our kids, and their kids, are. It's why I predict the market will crash when most boomers exit the hobby. The "keys" will still have a large-enough pool of collectors for the short supply to still be worth big $$$$$, but everything else will be excessive supply in a shrinking market. I suspect that those who rebuke this prediction have a lot of skin in the game, and this narrative hurts 'em. Edited June 20, 2023 by theCapraAegagrus MAR1979, alexanderjk, Gonzimodo and 3 others 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumrunner71 Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 On 6/20/2023 at 11:00 AM, theCapraAegagrus said: It's why I predict the market will crash when most boomers exit the hobby. The "keys" will still have a large-enough pool of collectors for the short supply to still be worth big $$$$$, but everything else will be excessive supply in a shrinking market. I suspect that those who rebuke this prediction have a lot of skin in the game, and this narrative hurts 'em. Yep, and all that will be left is investors in big dollar books. Not people collecting because they love it or people trying to complete a run. Sad, but I have to agree with you, as much as I hate to say it. MAR1979 and alexanderjk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D2 Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 On 6/20/2023 at 11:00 AM, theCapraAegagrus said: It's why I predict the market will crash when most boomers exit the hobby. The "keys" will still have a large-enough pool of collectors for the short supply to still be worth big $$$$$, but everything else will be excessive supply in a shrinking market. I suspect that those who rebuke this prediction have a lot of skin in the game, and this narrative hurts 'em. I completely and wholeheartedly agree with this narrative, and have said it to collectors in the past. The result is exactly as you described, met with anger and aggression. Token keys will always be in demand, but their values will diminish. The bulk of what people collect will have no market at all. Ken Aldred, MAR1979, alexanderjk and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAR1979 Posted June 20, 2023 Author Share Posted June 20, 2023 On 6/20/2023 at 12:06 PM, D2 said: I completely and wholeheartedly agree with this narrative, and have said it to collectors in the past. The result is exactly as you described, met with anger and aggression. Token keys will always be in demand, but their values will diminish. The bulk of what people collect will have no market at all. its happened to stamps, it can happen to anything D2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D2 Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 (edited) On 6/20/2023 at 12:14 PM, MAR1979 said: its happened to stamps, it can happen to anything 100% I went to a garage sale this weekend. There was a large neighborhood that coordinated the effort together, quite impressive. Long story short, there was 1 house in particular, that took the opportunity to sell his Corvette collectibles. He made a separate painted sign and all… He had tin signs, originally packaged models, posters… t-shirts. You name it. We parked close to their house, so when we made the loop back, I got a chance to look again at how successful he came out. From what I saw… untouched. No interest in this poor man’s elaborate and extensive 50s/60s Corvette obsession. It was a good market too, probably 40-50 houses all participating and a flood of cars all morning long. Edited June 20, 2023 by D2 MAR1979 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAR1979 Posted June 20, 2023 Author Share Posted June 20, 2023 On 6/20/2023 at 12:24 PM, D2 said: 100% I went to a garage sale this weekend. There was a large neighborhood that coordinated the effort together, quite impressive. Long story short, there was 1 house in particular, that took the opportunity to sell his Corvette collectibles. He made a separate painted sign and all… He had tin signs, originally packaged models, posters… t-shirts. You name it. We parked close to their house, so when we made the loop back, I got a chance to look again at how successful he came out. From what I saw… untouched. No interest in this poor man’s elaborate and extensive 50s/60s Corvette obsession. It was a good market too, probably 40-50 houses all participating and a flood of cars all morning long. Yep! Nothing lasts forever. its plausible that the panemic bubble was the last harrah for comic book bubbles. Please note in a bubble most comics in most segments of the hobby are warm or hot at same time. D2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
october Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Comics, stamps, video games...they all follow the same trajectory. The top 0.00001% will continue to increase, the top 0.01% will hold value and maybe slowly appreciate, the remaining 99.99% will decline/remain relatively worthless. These numbers are probably conservative. It takes only a small handful of (rich) interested people to prop up the value of old, well-known rarities like a 1914 Cracker Jack Cobb, Daring Mystery 1 or Tarzan All Story. It takes a TON of interested people to prop up the value on more modern higher value/higher demand/higher supply collectibles like ASM 300, a 1986 Fleer Jordan or CIB Super Mario World. Even clearing the market, again and again, on something like an ASM 1 takes a lot of people. Bookery, SkOw and MAR1979 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
october Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 On 6/20/2023 at 11:44 AM, MAR1979 said: its plausible that the panemic bubble was the last harrah for comic book bubbles. I wouldn't bet on that. Our entire economic system is seemingly set up to repeatedly inflate bubble after bubble. sergex23, SkOw and Nick Furious 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingDonut Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 On 6/20/2023 at 11:00 AM, theCapraAegagrus said: It's why I predict the market will crash when most boomers exit the hobby. The "keys" will still have a large-enough pool of collectors for the short supply to still be worth big $$$$$, but everything else will be excessive supply in a shrinking market. I suspect that those who rebuke this prediction have a lot of skin in the game, and this narrative hurts 'em. ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT! Its been a while, but we have a GREAT CRASH THREAD! SkOw, october, theCapraAegagrus and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post october Posted June 20, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted June 20, 2023 On 6/20/2023 at 12:25 PM, FlyingDonut said: ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT! Its been a while, but we have a GREAT CRASH THREAD! Great crash of 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 is right around the corner!!! bc, FlyingDonut, toro and 5 others 6 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theCapraAegagrus Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 On 6/20/2023 at 1:32 PM, october said: Great crash of 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 is right around the corner!!! I'd give it about dozen more years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAR1979 Posted June 20, 2023 Author Share Posted June 20, 2023 On 6/20/2023 at 1:34 PM, theCapraAegagrus said: I'd give it about dozen more years. just a matter of aging out like with stamps. Stamps for most of 20th century was regarded as the largest hobby in not just USA but the entire world. Effects will be slow but eventually only keys or key of keys will be liquid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
