Will Silver age follow Golden age?

[sfilosa]

Here's my predictions.

 

Based on comic conventions and local comic books shops, I see almost no demand (or at least not enough to justify expenses) for Mid Silver-Age and up books in less than 9.0. I bet if you ask almost any dealer, almost all their profits come from selling HIGH GRADE books (slabbed or unslabbed).

 

While this has been the case for years, there probably was some financial justification to owning non-high grade books. Either they sold low grade, high demand books, or could sell enough books in the $1-$25 range that they bought for 20% of the sale price. But now with eBay and such, most mid grade collectors realize that they can get these books for 50% of guide or less, so why buy from a dealer for 80-100% of guide.

 

I talked to a dealer yesterday who was at Heroes Con in Charlotte last week. He does not carry CGC books, but has a decent amount of low grade keys (AF #15, DD #1, TOS #1, etc.) plus lots of other 8.0-9.0 Silver and Bronze books. He said almost every year the day before the show, he would sell enough books to dealers to pay for the convention. This year, HE SOLD NOTHING. He said, no one was even looking.

 

So eventually, is it even going to be worth dealers (and LCS) time and money to stock non-CGC books (i.e. mid and low grade books)? It seems that the only things selling at conventions are CGC books and BARGAIN BIN books.

 

Just my thoughts.

[valiantman]

Actually, there hasn't been a "next age" of collectors since the late-80's.

Maybe the "next age" just isn't collecting Marvel or DC.

[joe_collector]

Based on comic conventions and local comic books shops, I see almost no demand (or at least not enough to justify expenses) for Mid Silver-Age and up books in less than 9.0. I bet if you ask almost any dealer, almost all their profits come from selling HIGH GRADE books (slabbed or unslabbed).

 

I remember reading in Overstreet (before and after the 80's and 90's crashes) where Bob Overstreet would go down the list of factors inherent in a speculative bubble.

 

Buyers are holding out for "NM Only"

The price gap between NM and VF grows.

Low and mid-grade books have low-to-zero demand

 

It seems pretty obvious we're in one again.

[justiceleaguer]

Some very good points. I'll be happy to take all those midgraders off their hands, and since im such a nice guy, i'll pay for their disposal.

[joe_collector]

Maybe the "next age" just isn't collecting Marvel or DC.

 

Nope, and if you're referring to Valiants, the vast majority of "young collectors" were reading and buying comics in 1989-90 before the trio of Spider-man #1, X-Men #1 and X-Force #1 turned the market, literally overnight, into a "no new kids allowed" deal.

 

After that, any "new blood" coming into comics has been drowned by those leaving the hobby.

[justiceleaguer]

Oh joe....ever the optimist arent we.

[joe_collector]

There's a *lot* of people on these boards even who seem to have a similar story: quit collecting in the early nineties, came back in the early 2000's...

 

Yep, and a crash will do that.

 

Seriously, the hardcore, true collectors will all be gabbing about these greenhorns who "quit speculating in 20XX and came back in 20XX)

[PovertyRow]

Ok, thinking about it, Golden age books are now becoming too expensive and the people that collect them are slowly leaving the hobby.

 

Will Silver age books follow? Just think about it this way, Silver age is seeing a massive boost in prices not just due to speculating but also because the collectors are getting into money. But when these collectors die or the books become to expensive will Silver age books just fall out of popularity?

 

A subset of this question manifested itself with the rise in "atom age" prices. As GA Superhero books began to get pricier and pricier, the pre-code horror, followed by crime and romance, started increasing. Why? Because as GA prices on SH increased, collectors started casting about for other than the superhero genre and found some pretty interesting things.

 

I feel the BA is the next real bastion (no surprise there) but also feel other SA beyond FF, ASM, X-Men etc. will continue and increase in popularity. Comic book collectors are real collectors, and as such, many may well do what happend with the GA and start to explore other genres or characters not in the current mainstream.

 

I AM curious about your observationj about GA collectors leaving the hobby. From where does that observation derive?

 

I guess another aspect of your question is time-frame. I am one of the older people here and still have a good 25-35 years left in me and will probably continue collecting. So what of the folks here in their 20's and 30's with 50 or more years left in them?

 

It IS an interesting question.

[Silver Surfer]

Ok, thinking about it, Golden age books are now becoming too expensive and the people that collect them are slowly leaving the hobby.

 

Will Silver age books follow? Just think about it this way, Silver age is seeing a massive boost in prices not just due to speculating but also because the collectors are getting into money. But when these collectors die or the books become to expensive will Silver age books just fall out of popularity?

 

Golden Age characters don't have the same connection or selection that Silver Age does and continues to enjoy. Just look at Marvel, there is Cap and Subby that are still around today and what else? Silver Age is pushing 50 years with a whole host of characters that are still strong today. Expensive, yes, but I just think that more money will be directed to the 6.0-8.5 comics as they are still in pretty solid condition and at much less than your standard 9.4. Besides you have to think that the fan base for SA collectors is 10X's (if not more) that of GA collectors just because that's what most of us grew up on. Also, it is much harder to find copies of GA stuff relative to SA books. I just picked up my first GA book off of Heritage (Sub-Mariner) and the main reason I am doing this is because of the connection that character as to modern day (and SA) work.

[ultimatevenom]

Ok, thinking about it, Golden age books are now becoming too expensive and the people that collect them are slowly leaving the hobby.

 

Will Silver age books follow? Just think about it this way, Silver age is seeing a massive boost in prices not just due to speculating but also because the collectors are getting into money. But when these collectors die or the books become to expensive will Silver age books just fall out of popularity?

 

Besides you have to think that the fan base for SA collectors is 10X's (if not more) that of GA collectors just because that's what most of us grew up on.

 

It was the same with Golden age, but now they are getting too old. How long can that fanbase for Silver books survive?

[Silver Surfer]

Sfilosa,

 

Love those low to mid grade keys. I will eventually buy a decent low-to-mid grade copy of AF#15 just because I think it will always hold its value. There are only so many of these available in HG and most of them are out of reach and have been for many years. Funny because I thought the low to mid grade keys have been scooped up pretty quickly on Comic Link and EBay the past 6 months? TOS#39, AF#15, JIM #83 have all disappeared fairly quickly. Hope these issues stay under the radar for a few years while I snatch up the copies I want.

[blowout]

Based on comic conventions and local comic books shops, I see almost no demand (or at least not enough to justify expenses) for Mid Silver-Age and up books in less than 9.0. I bet if you ask almost any dealer, almost all their profits come from selling HIGH GRADE books (slabbed or unslabbed).

 

Is this a long term prediction? I think you will find that these type of books are exactly what most collectors ARE looking for. Maybe right now they are just biding their time for something?

[namisgr]

In my household, there are two different SA "markets". While I collect high-grade, my 12-year old loves Marvels and DCs from the '60s and early '70s in beat-but-complete shape. Mid-grade SA may be caught in between, but I suspect collecting demand will not only stay strong for high grade, but there will always be a place for relatively inexpensive low grade readers as well. Don't know if there is enough demand for the latter to move prices significantly upward (I suspect not), but these books will continue to be sought-after in the future, in my opinion.

[CompleteRunComics]

Based on comic conventions and local comic books shops, I see almost no demand (or at least not enough to justify expenses) for Mid Silver-Age and up books in less than 9.0. I bet if you ask almost any dealer, almost all their profits come from selling HIGH GRADE books (slabbed or unslabbed).

 

Is this a long term prediction? I think you will find that these type of books are exactly what most collectors ARE looking for. Maybe right now they are just biding their time for something?

 

In my household, there are two different SA "markets". While I collect high-grade, my 12-year old loves Marvels and DCs from the '60s and early '70s in beat-but-complete shape. Mid-grade SA may be caught in between, but I suspect collecting demand will not only stay strong for high grade, but there will always be a place for relatively inexpensive low grade readers as well. Don't know if there is enough demand for the latter to move prices significantly upward (I suspect not), but these books will continue to be sought-after in the future, in my opinion.

 

Recently I was looking into stocking some mid-grade silver issues. What I found was that if they weren't VF and up or keys, they may as well be reader copies. It seemed that if collectors don't go high-grade why spend the money on a Fine when they could grab a VG copy for small change. The speculators aren't going to make the return on average mid-grade issues so who does that leave? So between the mid-grade pricing and then throw in grading (peoples varying perceptions of what is NM is bad enough now try nailing down what a 6.0 really is) I just can't risk trying to make money in that area. Our goal now is to try and scoop up Fine or better looking silver/bronze cheap and sell them at GD/VG prices as reader copies.

 

 

CRC

[sfilosa]

Based on comic conventions and local comic books shops, I see almost no demand (or at least not enough to justify expenses) for Mid Silver-Age and up books in less than 9.0. I bet if you ask almost any dealer, almost all their profits come from selling HIGH GRADE books (slabbed or unslabbed).

 

Is this a long term prediction? I think you will find that these type of books are exactly what most collectors ARE looking for. Maybe right now they are just biding their time for something?

 

I shouldn't really say there is no demand. BUT IS THERE ANY PROFIT IN IT?

 

Like I said before, I see either people looking for High-Grade or they are looking for BARGAIN BIN BOOKS. So are dealers really going to lug around boxes and boxes of low to mid-grade books to conventions, just to sell three or four issues for $5-10 dollars.

[joe_collector]

Is this a long term prediction? I think you will find that these type of books are exactly what most collectors ARE looking for.

 

Exactly. Do the math.

[fantastic_four]

It was the same with Golden age, but now they are getting too old. How long can that fanbase for Silver books survive?

 

For Silver books with viable modern properties, they can survive indefinitely, and I would strongly argue there are more titles which began in the Silver Age with highly popular modern properties than there are in the Bronze age. I was a kid in the 80s, and since the major Marvel titles were X-Men, Daredevil, FF, and Spidey, I was drawn straight back to the 70s (X-Men) and 60s (all the rest) when I began collecting back issues, although I wasn't able to afford the Silver Age stuff until recently. Most of the major original characters and titles which began in the 70s are no longer in print today, with a few notable exceptions like X-Men, the Adams-inspired Green Lantern, Punisher, etc. I'm not saying that the Bronze age didn't have great material, but there are few links from 1980-onwards to inspire new readers to go back and collect the major original Bronze content. Even Golden Age has more of a draw than Bronze since so many major modern (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc) heroes began there.

 

For Silver books without viable modern properties (Sgt. Fury, Ant-Man in Tales to Astonish, etc), I see their yearly increases beginning to drop off significantly over the next two decades.

[delekkerste]

Even Golden Age has more of a draw than Bronze since so many major modern (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc) heroes began there.

 

I think that's just comic book logic - as in, "if it's still popular, go back to the 1st appearance". I don't think the current generation raised on videogames like Grand Theft Auto and movies like XXX, not to mention edgy or relevant superhero properties like "Smallville", "Daredevil" (complete with blaring soundtrack from Evanescence) and "X2" is going to feel at all compelled to spend big $$$ on books featuring simplistic art and goofy dialogue of the "Golly Gee, Batman!" or "Great Scott, Lois!" variety. Not to say that they'll gravitate so much to Bronze books, either, but I think that's a far more logical starting point given both the creative content (more realistic and contemporary) and price point (more affordable).

[fantastic_four]

"Smallville", "Daredevil" (complete with blaring soundtrack from Evanescence) and "X2" is going to feel at all compelled to spend big $$$ on books featuring simplistic art and goofy dialogue of the "Golly Gee, Batman!" or "Great Scott, Lois!" variety.

 

Who pays hundreds or thousands of bucks just for great stories? You can get reprints for a few bucks if you want to read. People pay for Gold and Silver comics to own the characters, cover art, and rarity more than the stories. Collecting doesn't always exist separately from reading, but it very often does. Run collecting is common, and not EVERY issue of ANY run is worth buying, yet lots of people do it anyway just for the sake of run completionism as a hobby. Many people like the hunt aspect of collecting; I would argue that most people here do, with a few notable exceptions such as yourself.

 

I'm heavily into Smallville, and it's gotten me thinking about going for a Superman or Superboy run once I'm done with my Marvels.

[sfilosa]

Many people like the hunt aspect of collecting; I would argue that most people here do, with a few notable exceptions such as yourself.

 

I totally agree.

 

That's one reason I (and I believe you) don't collect mid-grade Silver-Age. I mine as well collect something that I can buy at Walmart.

 

I'm not saying there is anything wrong with low or mid-grade books, but there would be NO hunt, therefore NO thrill.