Are trades and hardcover reprints "collectible?" 1 1

[Reno McCoy]

I've been buying first edition novels for years, and when trades and hardcover reprints of comics started kicking up more and more often, I started buying them like crazy. But with books, it works differently. The hardcover is the first rendition (usually) of the book, and then it goes into paperback. If a book is a good one with a lower print run, the first print often goes up in value as collectors look for that first print.

 

With comics, there's no telling when or how a book will be reprinted. Sometimes a paperback and then a hardcover. Sometimes an Omnibus. Sometimes a regular size book.

 

So I'm wondering if any of these collections will become "collectible" the way back issues or first edition novels are. If so, will it be the first print that's hot, or just any ol' edition? Just hardcovers, or any version?

 

I know there are a few hard to find, out of print books out there that have gained value, but would that value plummet if a new reprint became available?

 

 

[towards2112]

Killing Joke first print.

I bought the Stan Lee Marvel Universe? TPB thing that reprinted the

first issues of the keys off a Kmart newsstand in '74? when it came

out. Also Bring on the Bad guys which was a favorite. First TPB type

material I ever saw.

[dikran]

If there is value it will usually be temporary until the next printing... Vol 4 of Bendis' Alias comes to mind, it was unfindable and sold at ridiculous prices. Then it was reprinted and you can now buy it anywhere for under 10 bucks. I doubt those 1st prints are really worth anything anymore.

[nocutename]

It's an interesting question, one that I wondered myself. I feel that the general attitude is that trades are disposal. But then there are some OOP batman or Nightwing trades that go for 2 or 3 x over cover price when the single issues can be had for next to nothing. So there is a market for trades but I guess the trick is they must be key story lines.

 

Personally, I feel that Killing Joke falls under this category because it was original a prestige format comic and normal comic collectors purchase them for their collection. The same with Batman Man Who Laughs, which is reprinted in a hardcover but the original was a prestige format.

 

I personally collect certain trades and am attempting to get everything with DC Bronze Age material. I just hunted down a sweet copy of Fireside’s DC romance comics collection from 1979.

 

[mschmidt]

Killing Joke first print.

I bought the Stan Lee Marvel Universe? TPB thing that reprinted the

first issues of the keys off a Kmart newsstand in '74? when it came

out. Also Bring on the Bad guys which was a favorite. First TPB type

material I ever saw.

 

I don't know if Killing Joke is a good example - you can pick up raw 1st prints on ebay for $20-25 pretty easily, and as current prints retail for $18, it's not much of a mark-up to get a 1st print.

 

The Walking Dead Omnibus 1, however, retailed for $100 and now sells for $250-300. The Miracleman TPB's go for multiples of cover - even more so for book 3, "Olympus" (which reprints the popular issue #15). Miracleman HC's are ridiculous rare & expensive.

 

In general, if you're "investing" in tpb's & hardcover's, the way to do it is to focus on limited editions, special editions & books with tiny print runs.

[nocutename]

Killing Joke first print.

I bought the Stan Lee Marvel Universe? TPB thing that reprinted the

first issues of the keys off a Kmart newsstand in '74? when it came

out. Also Bring on the Bad guys which was a favorite. First TPB type

material I ever saw.

 

I don't know if Killing Joke is a good example - you can pick up raw 1st prints on ebay for $20-25 pretty easily, and as current prints retail for $18, it's not much of a mark-up to get a 1st print.

 

The Walking Dead Omnibus 1, however, retailed for $100 and now sells for $250-300. The Miracleman TPB's go for multiples of cover - even more so for book 3, "Olympus" (which reprints the popular issue #15). Miracleman HC's are ridiculous rare & expensive.

 

In general, if you're "investing" in tpb's & hardcover's, the way to do it is to focus on limited editions, special editions & books with tiny print runs.

 

Do you think that when the new Walking Dead book is out the price on the omnibus will go down? They are reprinting a mega book that is just over a 1,000 pages or does the omnibus have a limited print run?

[mschmidt]

Killing Joke first print.

I bought the Stan Lee Marvel Universe? TPB thing that reprinted the

first issues of the keys off a Kmart newsstand in '74? when it came

out. Also Bring on the Bad guys which was a favorite. First TPB type

material I ever saw.

 

I don't know if Killing Joke is a good example - you can pick up raw 1st prints on ebay for $20-25 pretty easily, and as current prints retail for $18, it's not much of a mark-up to get a 1st print.

 

The Walking Dead Omnibus 1, however, retailed for $100 and now sells for $250-300. The Miracleman TPB's go for multiples of cover - even more so for book 3, "Olympus" (which reprints the popular issue #15). Miracleman HC's are ridiculous rare & expensive.

 

In general, if you're "investing" in tpb's & hardcover's, the way to do it is to focus on limited editions, special editions & books with tiny print runs.

 

Do you think that when the new Walking Dead book is out the price on the omnibus will go down? They are reprinting a mega book that is just over a 1,000 pages or does the omnibus have a limited print run?

 

Both Walking Dead Omnibuses have limited print runs (which drops to tiny for the signed & numbered editions), so I don't think the new giant book they're doing will influence that.

[TheWatcher]

Aren't some of the variants of the Masterworks fetching $100+? Seem to remember a thread about that a while back

[nocutename]

Both Walking Dead Omnibuses have limited print runs (which drops to tiny for the signed & numbered editions), so I don't think the new giant book they're doing will influence that.

 

No, that won't then. I only read the first year on that series in HC and that book was heavy. Not sure how readable the new edition will be.

[Reno McCoy]

So essentially, going out of print is key. The other key is if another reprint is forthcoming, the previous book's value drops. I'm sure that's not always true, but fair enough assessments.

 

I just find it interesting how a novel's first edition is what's sought after, but with comic collections, it's not that way. Or doesn't seem to be.

[Jeffro.]

Some of the Fireside trades have definite value.

 

I can't imagine many of the reprint trades being produced today having much value down the road. However, there are many examples of things not having value and then becoming valuable later on. So who knows, anything is possible.

Edited April 2, 2009 by Jeffro

[joe_collector]

I can't imagine many of the reprint trades being produced today having much value down the road.

 

Of course not, as their main audience is not children and pre-teens. When adults are the primary market, you can be absolutely sure that "it" will never be a collectible in the future.

[MisterX]

This is an interesting question.

 

From what (little) I've seen, an HC/TP reprint collection may go up a bit if it's out of print, but not every title all across the board.

 

I guess I'm thinking of the Alias Omnibus, and the first volume of Dark Horse's Classic Star Wars reprints of the 70s Marvel material (called Doomworld, I think), both of which used to sell for high prices (haven't checked lately, though).

 

I don't know about first prints of original material in GN form. Didn't Arkham Horror drop in price after the recent reprinting?

 

First Printings may be important for somebody like Neil Gaiman, who has cross-over appeal with the book-collecting crowd. Maybe Alan Moore's Watchmen? Frank Miller's Dark Knight? Maus? Acme Novelty Library?

 

JC is right, the stuff for grown-ups will probably never go up in value, but I sometimes wonder if some kid years from now will want a first printing of, say Scott Pilgrim, Fruits Basket or Naruto.

 

 

[Reno McCoy]

I can't imagine many of the reprint trades being produced today having much value down the road.

 

Of course not, as their main audience is not children and pre-teens. When adults are the primary market, you can be absolutely sure that "it" will never be a collectible in the future.

 

I'm not sure I understand this one. Are you suggesting that kids read a book, enjoy it, and years later want to get a first edition to remind them of the good times? I guess I can see that, but it's completely untrue for novels. I guess that's part of the overall question of this thread.

 

Personally, I try to find a first edition of anything I buy, but I'm sure I'm in the minority when considering comic collections.

 

 

[Scrooge]

From what (little) I've seen, an HC/TP reprint collection may go up a bit if it's out of print, but not every title all across the board.

 

That's my understanding too. Another example is the Conan Essentials from Marvel. Once they lost the license to Dark Horse, they stopped printing and reprinting it so it is the scarcest Essentials and has maintained value for those who desire a complete set of Marvel Essentials. The stories themselves have been reprinted in the color collections by Dark Horse.

 

[mschmidt]

This is an interesting question.

 

From what (little) I've seen, an HC/TP reprint collection may go up a bit if it's out of print, but not every title all across the board.

 

I guess I'm thinking of the Alias Omnibus, and the first volume of Dark Horse's Classic Star Wars reprints of the 70s Marvel material (called Doomworld, I think), both of which used to sell for high prices (haven't checked lately, though).

 

I don't know about first prints of original material in GN form. Didn't Arkham Horror drop in price after the recent reprinting?

 

First Printings may be important for somebody like Neil Gaiman, who has cross-over appeal with the book-collecting crowd. Maybe Alan Moore's Watchmen? Frank Miller's Dark Knight? Maus? Acme Novelty Library?

 

JC is right, the stuff for grown-ups will probably never go up in value, but I sometimes wonder if some kid years from now will want a first printing of, say Scott Pilgrim, Fruits Basket or Naruto.

 

 

There's also the matter of later reprints having a different design than the first prints. The Sandman HC's and TPB's are a good example of this - I personally think that the first editions (where the covers weren't uniform, and McKean was just allowed to do whatever he wanted) look so much nicer than the later printings, and I'm willing to pay a premium because of this.

 

Here's a first print of the Doll's House:

 

Second print:

 

Current print:

[MisterX]

Hey, Scrooge, thanks for bringing up Conan, that jogged my memory a bit.

 

Some of the Marvel Conan GN from the late 80s/early 90s have not been reprinted by Dark Horse yet, and sometimes go for higher prices.

 

Also, all of the Marvel/Epic Moebius GN titles have been going up in price because they haven't (as far as I know) been reprinted in English for nearly twenty+ years. (Again, I haven't checked on prices lately, and I have seen resistance on some higher prices over the years, specifically on eBay.) These are awesome reads, especially the Blueberry stuff, or if you have fond memories of Heavy Metal.

 

If and when the Moebius stuff is reprinted, prices will probably go down.

 

As graphic novels with original material become more exposed/praised in the mainstream media (I'm thinking Fun House, Blankets, Drinky Crow, etc.) these first printings may go up in price as well, and be bought/sold by comic and book collectors alike.

 

Then again, it'll all be digital soon...

 

 

 

 

[chromium]

Aren't some of the variants of the Masterworks fetching $100+? Seem to remember a thread about that a while back

 

Some of them are very collectible as about 7 - 10 issues have indeed the lowest print run ever for a Marvel title, less than 450 copies were printed of some of the marble variants of the reMasterworks.

 

About 8 years ago when there was only the first 27 Masterworks and only the first 10 or so were reprinted, the first prints of the remaining 17 titles would go for crazy prices, I remember over $300 for some of the Fantastic Four books.

 

Things have cooled down a bit once the remaining issues got reprinted (after almost a decade of being OOP) but like I said the very low print run of some of the reprints have made them valuable in their own right.

[Mio]

If you are worried about making money on your TPBs & HC reprints, the safe thing to do is stay away. If you want to read them, then buy to your own desire.

[Reno McCoy]

If you are worried about making money on your TPBs & HC reprints, the safe thing to do is stay away. If you want to read them, then buy to your own desire.

 

Not worried in the slightest. Just interested in the topic.