Interesting article in my local paper regarding comics as $$$

[comicartfan]

I happen to buy my local Sunday paper last week and saw this article that was in the business section with quotes from Blazing Bob, Vinnie and Josh.....read on and offer any input:

 

INVESTING IN COLLECTIBEL COMIC BOOKS GETS SERIOUS

by William Kates

Associated Press

 

Syracuse , NY - At 42, Bob Storms takes his comic books seriously- and why not ? They have made him serious money.

Storms is among a growing number of investors who have tired of taking their bumps on Wall Street's roller coater like stock market and have fond vintage comics top be a safe haven

"It;s not for everybody. you shouldn't use your mortage money so you can buy collecitble comics books. said Storms , of Yonkers an office manager with Verizion who has 25 % of his finanical portfolio tied up in comics.

"It requires alot of homework. " Storms said. "You have to knowledgable about what you're doing. But there are many more selling options than in years past"

 

Last year, Storms sold an Amazing Fantasy 15 from 1962 - the first apperance of Spider-man - for $32,500. He purchased the book in 1998 for $20,000. It's been his biggest investment and his biggest return.

 

That's not going to happen everytime, but it has exploded." Storms said.

 

Vincent Zurzolo, co-owner of Metropolis Comics , which proclaims it's Manhattan gallery as the world's largest dealer of pre-1970 comic books, said investing vintage comics had clearly increased in popularity over the past two years.

"Now is a great time to get into comic books because collecting is still in it's infancy."

 

For the past seven years, Josh Nathason has run an Internet- style stock exchange for comic books called ComicLink.com. He said each year more and more investors have barterted over his web site and sought advice about investments. "People with no interest in comic books are laying out their money on them as pure investments. " Nathanson said.

Between 1992 and 2002 , the value fo Batman's debut in Detective 27 went from $80,000 to $300,000 said Stephen Fishler , Metropolis co-owner.

In 1998, Zurzolo spent $5,500.00 to but Human Torch # 8 from the 1940's in which the Human Torch and Sub Mariner do battle for the first time. He recently had it appraised for $25,000.00 . "If I made a few phone calls, tehn I could probably get $30,000.00 for it" said Zurzolo.

[THE_BEYONDER]

The beginning of the end........... but it is officially "TOO LATE"

[Mushroom]

Bet any money you like that the Market Crash guys have a field day with this.

 

The one irritating ting about this article is that they fail to point out that these guys are collectors as well. They also fail to mention that the books they use as examples are bluechippers.

 

 

[sckao]

 

Hi,

 

It appears that you actually typed in the whole article. Thanks for that.

 

In the future though, you can usually find the articles already on the net via Google News or some other News service. This should save you some time...

 

Newsday link to the same article

 

 

[COI]

Bet any money you like that the Market Crash guys have a field day with this

 

Well, it has been 12 hours since the last debate.

 

So guys, do you think comics are a good investment?

[THE_BEYONDER]

Bet any money you like that the Market Crash guys have a field day with this

 

Well, it has been 12 hours since the last debate.

 

So guys, do you think comics are a good investment?

 

Not anymore......

[deathlok]

Just a fad, it'll pass like many other fads. Never catch on with the kids.

[supapimp]

great, here comes the specs again, can you say it's 1990 all over again?

[justiceleaguer]

great, here comes the specs again, can you say it's 1990 all over again?

 

 

Ya, but what the hell are we gonna do with a million issues of Wolverine:Snikt?

[deathlok]

great, here comes the specs again, can you say it's 1990 all over again?

 

 

Ya, but what the hell are we gonna do with a million issues of Wolverine:Snikt?

 

Home Insulation.

[justiceleaguer]

great, here comes the specs again, can you say it's 1990 all over again?

 

 

Ya, but what the hell are we gonna do with a million issues of Wolverine:Snikt?

 

Home Insulation.

 

 

[supapimp]

what that article failed to mention is that USM is one out of how many titles that did sell for a tidy profit. that's what happened in 1990 with X-Force, X-Men, & later down the line valiant. now this begs the question, how many comic shops lost their shirts back then? it's very scary just like B&W's wiped out some distrubitors in the 80's.

[delekkerste]

Bet any money you like that the Market Crash guys have a field day with this.

 

The mainstream media is always late to the party. I don't recall seeing any articles in 1998 saying "buy with both hands, prices are going to explode in a couple of years once all these Marvel movies get on track and third-party grading is introduced into the hobby". It's only after prices went parabolic that we got the media talking about funny books as "investments". That's not pessimism, doom-and-gloom, or even opinion - that's just axiomatic fact.

 

Gene

[delekkerste]

"Now is a great time to get into comic books because collecting is still in it's infancy."

 

Did Vincent Z. really say this with a straight face??? That's just downright embarrassing.

 

Gene

[aardvark88]

Anybody want to buy my collection of pogs or calling cards? I was advised by a Senior Ostreet advisor a few years ago in San Diego to "invest" in ones issued by public utilities. That paper collectible was in its infancy & sure to SKYrocket.

[ninanina]

Vincent Zurzolo, co-owner of Metropolis Comics

"Now is a great time to get into comic books because collecting is still in it's infancy."

 

 

So.....what about the last 30 - 40 years?

[CGCMINT]

Vince will say anything just to have people buy his books.

 

John

 

[comicartfan]

Hi,

 

It appears that you actually typed in the whole article. Thanks for that.

 

In the future though, you can usually find the articles already on the net via Google News or some other News service. This should save you some time...

 

Newsday link to the same article

 

 

 

thanks for pointing that out. I knew there had to be a way to link it.....

[garthgantu]

As an overpaid public relations flak for the past 18 years, permit me to raise a few points:

1) Associated Press rarely is at the forefront of a story like this. Enron, sure, they'll be all over that the day the sh*t hits the fan. But a long-term trend like comic books? The only reason they wrote this story at all, I would bet, is because of San Diego Con. (And even then, chances are a PR flak pitched him the story, while ensuring the the flak's client - Metropolis? San Diego Con itself? - was prominently mentioned in the article.) The writer of the article is general assignment reporter, from what I can gather on Google; he covers everything from the smoking ban in NY to a "sex slave" case in Syracuse.

 

2) When A.P. - or any other "news wire service" like UPI or Cox or Newhouse or Bloomberg - distributes an article to its subscribers (which are other media outlets), those subscribers have the option of printing less than the entire article. That's why you'll sometimes see an A.P. article in the SF Chronicle that's half the length of the 'same' article printed in the NY Daily News, with the same byline, same headline, etc. So it's quite possible that the original article was much longer than what's appeared in the two publications cited on this thread so far.

 

3) A.P. writes for the masses... so they really dumb stuff down in an effort to get as many subscribing publications as possible to run a given story.

 

I don't see this article have any noticeable impact on the back issue market.

 

 

[garthgantu]

Bet any money you like that the Market Crash guys have a field day with this.

 

The mainstream media is always late to the party. I don't recall seeing any articles in 1998 saying "buy with both hands, prices are going to explode in a couple of years once all these Marvel movies get on track and third-party grading is introduced into the hobby". It's only after prices went parabolic that we got the media talking about funny books as "investments". That's not pessimism, doom-and-gloom, or even opinion - that's just axiomatic fact.

 

Gene

 

Couldn't agree more. Now if A.P. were to run an article tomorrow - or next week, or next month - to the effect of "the back issue comic book market is crashing!" I'd be truly amazed. They'll make all sorts of predictions about stocks and bonds, because they think they know those markets - they pay 'experts' to tell them what's shakin' in those sectors. But they'll always err on the side of total conservatism when it comes to things like comic books. Besides, it makes for more entertaining reading when you dumb it down to "hey, kids - comics!" and leave it at that