Batman #1 Club 7 7

[Diamonddave]

There's a newly listed 2.0 universal copy on ebay if anyone wants to join the club

 

I don't see anyone parting with $75K for a 2.0 with brittle pages. I'd take a lightly restored copy over a blue label with B pages any day.

[Aman619]

I agree, but it is what it is in the market. If 75k now buys you a 2.0 which many people wouldn't deign to place in their collections, I think the buyers are just being relistic and want to own a complete and unrestored copy that presents like a comic book, in a slab. Meaning a solid actual copy of an historic key book.

 

And while many 2.0s are beaters, you still own a Batman 1 or whatever in your collection.

 

...and it's not people's fault if they weren't around 20 years ago to buy them at the long forgotten nosebleed prices of the time.

 

 

Has the hobby really grown to a point where new buyers have joined us willing and able to pay 75k for the 10k books of yesterday? Or have the existing pool of collectors just gotten older and richer, or are trading in old profits for new trophy items with the dough?

 

Clearly our Hobbies exposure and dominance of popular media over the past 2 decades has swelled the excitement "out there"... But the values and sales prices are pretty staggering to think about ...

 

 

I reread what my typing came out no make some edits to preserve the English language.

 

Edited December 17, 2016 by aman619

[batman_fan]

I agree, but it is what it is in the market. If 75k now buys you a 2.0 which many people wouldn't die place in their collections, I think the buyers are just being alias tic and want to own a comp,tee, and unrestored copy that presents like a comic book, in a slab.

 

Many 2.0s are beaters, but you still own a Batman 1 or whatever in your collection.

 

...and it's not people's fault if they weren't around 20 years ago to buy them at the long forgotten nosebleed prices of the time.

 

 

Has the hobby really grown to a point where new buyers have joined us willing and able to pay 75k for the 10k books of yesterday? Or have the existing pool of collectors just gotten older and richer, or are trading in old profits for new trophy items with the dough?

 

Clearly our Hobbies exposure and dominance of popular media over the past 2 decades has swelled the excitement "out there"... But the values and sales prices are pretty staggering to think about ...

 

well said

[AnkurJ]

I agree, but it is what it is in the market. If 75k now buys you a 2.0 which many people wouldn't die place in their collections, I think the buyers are just being alias tic and want to own a comp,tee, and unrestored copy that presents like a comic book, in a slab.

 

Many 2.0s are beaters, but you still own a Batman 1 or whatever in your collection.

 

...and it's not people's fault if they weren't around 20 years ago to buy them at the long forgotten nosebleed prices of the time.

 

 

Has the hobby really grown to a point where new buyers have joined us willing and able to pay 75k for the 10k books of yesterday? Or have the existing pool of collectors just gotten older and richer, or are trading in old profits for new trophy items with the dough?

 

Clearly our Hobbies exposure and dominance of popular media over the past 2 decades has swelled the excitement "out there"... But the values and sales prices are pretty staggering to think about ...

 

well said

 

Agreed. The question is how long will it continue.

[Aman619]

It's the 100K question isn't it? One one hand it sure feels real, the books we love really are desired and scarcish collectibles with wider and wider public acceptance. But we all know too well that the industry, if not the hobby, gets narrower and narrower each year -- even given the success of the movies.

[Mr. 10%]

It's the 100K question isn't it? One one hand it sure feels real, the books we love really are desired and scarcish collectibles with wider and wider public acceptance. But we all know too well that the industry, if not the hobby, gets narrower and narrower each year -- even given the success of the movies.

 

does not compute:

 

how does 'reaaly desired scrce collectibles with wider and wider public acceptance'

 

translate to

 

'hobby gets narrower and narrower each year' .

 

?

[Aman619]

Because numbers show that new comics sales are diminishing, meaning fewer new readers, leading ultimately to fewer back issue collectors. It's the same discussion we have here all the time.

 

We might be in statis however, meaning that while we arent getting young new readers like most of us started out... But gaining older converts buying trophy collectibles. Hulk 181 etc. beginning collections in their 20s and 30s. So things might not be so dire for quite some time to come.

[Aman619]

Reading it again, I was saying that collecting comics has wider and wider acceptance nowadays, meaning that when you tell people you have a Comics collection, they r interested nod don't roll their eys no run way from the geek like they used to. Not that many people who like comics movies have actually begun collecting them, but more and more think its cool then ever before.

[AnkurJ]

I agree with what your saying, but for most non collectors, their interest seems to extend only to the value and not the historical significance of a book.

[markseifert]

It's the 100K question isn't it? One one hand it sure feels real, the books we love really are desired and scarcish collectibles with wider and wider public acceptance. But we all know too well that the industry, if not the hobby, gets narrower and narrower each year -- even given the success of the movies.

 

Jump on youtube and look for "reaction" videos to developing events in the various WB/DC tv shows (to name one example).

 

Something pretty fascinating is happening... kids who didn't read it in the comics first, are locked in on details of historical continuity (or as it's called these days -- 'canon' ) and even relatively minor characters to an extent that you wouldn't believe. This due to the way current media echoes the original material.

 

[this aside from the notion that the numbers of the past few years have not generally indicated a narrowing industry -- according to comichron, for example, 2015 top 300 sales were +8% vs.2014, +29% vs.2010, +17% vs. 2015, +29% vs. 2000. We could debate what exactly that means all day I'm sure, but it's beside my point here except to say... generally speaking, the world is still producing new comic book fans]

 

In any case, millennials who are absorbing canon via other media ARE generally showing the same sort of interest in how it all fits together as 'we' comic book readers did as kids. One interesting part of that is that they'll often try to find out what happened in the original comic book version so they can speculate on what might happen in the media version.

 

This plays out every day on social media in a variety of ways. Another example is in reactions to cast announcements. When an actor is rumored to have a role in a comic book film, speculation runs wild as to what character that actor might be playing. Vague rumors and descriptions are poured over to see how they might match to the original comic book material.

 

The same goes for -script rumors. Even the release of a single movie still image can have fans speculating like crazy on how it might relate to the original material.

 

It's just as fun for these fans to learn how the history all fits together as it was for us in the day. Frankly, probably moreso, and they have a _lot_ more incentive to do it because of the atmosphere that social media creates.

 

As to how this will translate into the desire to buy old paper far into the future, I couldn't say, but... interest in the history is still very, very strong. It's just manifesting itself in different ways than it used to.

[woowoo]

I agree, but it is what it is in the market. If 75k now buys you a 2.0 which many people wouldn't deign to place in their collections, I think the buyers are just being relistic and want to own a complete and unrestored copy that presents like a comic book, in a slab. Meaning a solid actual copy of an historic key book.

 

And while many 2.0s are beaters, you still own a Batman 1 or whatever in your collection.

 

...and it's not people's fault if they weren't around 20 years ago to buy them at the long forgotten nosebleed prices of the time.

 

 

Has the hobby really grown to a point where new buyers have joined us willing and able to pay 75k for the 10k books of yesterday? Or have the existing pool of collectors just gotten older and richer, or are trading in old profits for new trophy items with the dough?

 

Clearly our Hobbies exposure and dominance of popular media over the past 2 decades has swelled the excitement "out there"... But the values and sales prices are pretty staggering to think about ...

 

 

I reread what my typing came out no make some edits to preserve the English language.

 

Yup yup yup. I could have bought a copy of Batman 1 in 1998 from Vincent before he went to Metro cheap cheap cheap Wonder-con 1998 a vg copy of Tec 35 around 3 grand Good copy of Action 6 600.00 Spiderman 1/FF1 vg copys under 1500 all day. Bob Beerbomb Mod Restored CGC 8.0 he wanted 8 gs could have got it cheaper. I bought a copy CGC 3.5 Fantasy 15 for 2500 just to resell for 3200 when i got home.

[woowoo]

Reading it again, I was saying that collecting comics has wider and wider acceptance nowadays, meaning that when you tell people you have a Comics collection, they r interested nod don't roll their eys no run way from the geek like they used to. Not that many people who like comics movies have actually begun collecting them, but more and more think its cool then ever before.

 

Good old days i bought Hulk 181 of the newsstand just so i could cut the Marvel stamp out and tape it my stamp book that i got from marvel for around 6 bucks and i still have the book full I loved going to the stores to buy my Defenders 1 and 2 copys of 10 looked foreword for the new books every day now you need ipad just not the same

[Batman_90]

Finally have a somewhat complete copy of Bat #1. It has taken me a long time to get this beater copy but it is still a copy!

[thedude]

Awesome!!  

[Chicago Boy]

Awesome x 2

[woowoo]

would love to have it. Great book.

[domuhnator]

I Have been trying to get a bats 1 for some time now. It was/is my ultimate collecting goal to at least own one. I have come close is several auctions but have never managed to take one home. I have only been collecting for a few years now. If I had known what was going to happen to prices, I would have put al my efforts into getting one back when I started in 2012. (as we all would have) But sadly I missed the boat. I didn't spend over $500 on a book up until 2 years ago, let alone the 15K needed for a low grade blue bats 1.

But I don't think this Is the end of the inflated prices. I don't have nearly as much experience as most of you guys, but from what I have seen there are a lot of young people (myself included) who are very willing to spend a lot of money on very big books.

I think there are three things most people are over looking.

Comics across the board seem to be rising to higher and higher prices.People are paying "crazy" prices. Who is it? Young collectors who are willing to spend 50k+ on a low grade bats or supes 1? International people who have just as much love for superheros as any American. Or new but already rich "investors" looking for something different then the typical fine art, stocks, and classic cars.

I think its a combination of all these things driving prices up. No doubt current collectors are helping,  but I'm sure its being supplemented by another demographic of collector or investor.

With Batman and Superman being the most popular it would make sense bats 1  and supes 1 are leading the charge. I believe this is the start of the golden age of collection and in 10 years we are all going to look back and wish for 2017 prices. But who knows? I'm just a 24 year old kid who loves comics.

 

PS I'm actively looking for a low grade bats 1 with cash in hand. If you have a 0.5 blue, 1.0 blue, Low grade green, brittle missing pages piece of *spoon. Let me know   I am aware of current prices and know how much I'm going to have to shell out.

Happy collecting guys! and congrats to everyone that owns a bats 1! I hope to join your ranks very soon.

 

- Dom

[lhcomics]

9 hours ago, Batman_90 said:

Finally have a somewhat complete copy of Bat #1. It has taken me a long time to get this beater copy but it is still a copy!

Big congrats to you.    

Those all used to belong to me. I found the FC and BC on eBay Thanksgiving 2013. The auction title was misleading so since the title was not as good as it should have been I was able to win it at a decent price. I bought the incomplete interior last year in a bunch of coverless/incomplete comics.

Sold the FC through comicconnect and interior through clink.

I still have the back cover and it looks real nice. Not for sale at this time as I have similar problem but my Bat 1 has matching FC and interior. You should PM me your info and if I ever decide to sell you would want to own the matching back cover I would think.

I also have photos of the entire Bat 1 interior should you want to see it.

The FC and BC were glued to a notebook binder which I had CCS remove and he did a great job. FC got the worst damage as it was on outside cover of binder exposed to elements.

 

 

[rsouxlja7]

10 hours ago, Batman_90 said:

Finally have a somewhat complete copy of Bat #1. It has taken me a long time to get this beater copy but it is still a copy!

Are you going to leave them like this or get them all in one slab? I think it looks awesome this way. Congrats.

[jabats]

2 hours ago, dom_uh_nator said:

But I don't think this Is the end of the inflated prices. I don't have nearly as much experience as most of you guys, but from what I have seen there are a lot of young people (myself included) who are very willing to spend a lot of money on very big books.

I think there are three things most people are over looking.

Comics across the board seem to be rising to higher and higher prices.People are paying "crazy" prices. Who is it? Young collectors who are willing to spend 50k+ on a low grade bats or supes 1? International people who have just as much love for superheros as any American. Or new but already rich "investors" looking for something different then the typical fine art, stocks, and classic cars.

I think its a combination of all these things driving prices up. No doubt current collectors are helping,  but I'm sure its being supplemented by another demographic of collector or investor.

With Batman and Superman being the most popular it would make sense bats 1  and supes 1 are leading the charge. I believe this is the start of the golden age of collection and in 10 years we are all going to look back and wish for 2017 prices. But who knows? I'm just a 24 year old kid who loves comics.

I agree with this. 

The run up in prices in the past decade reflects far more NEW cash than just the "old guard collectors" getting richer.

Like Dom said it reflects NEW demand from...

1) Young collectors who are beginning to have "Real" disposable income. If you entered the "Golden Age" niche of the hobby in 2013 or later, five figures for an entry level GA key or even a non-key issue with a coveted classic cover, seems normal.

2) International demand. The superhero movie trend of the past decade made big waves overseas too. It doesn't mean all these overseas movie-goers became comic collectors, however even one "hundred millionaire" (or billionaire) who enters the hobby may represent a large influx of cash, newly bidding on mega keys.

3) HNW to VHNW hard asset investors, who may be casual (not diehard) superhero fans, but who think nothing of dropping 500k on a Picasso drawing or vintage Ferrari. To this type of hard asset investor, 200k for a mid-grade Bats 1 probably seems cheap.

Love it or hate it, grading companies DID turn collectible comic books into "commodities" where they weren't previously. This represents a structural change in the hobby, and frankly lowers the barriers to entry for these new "investors". The advantage has shifted some, from those "old guard" collectors who have long-time "insider" knowledge and relationships, to newer "investors" who have more liquid capital.

Along with this influx of cash will come increased price appreciation (which we have seen already) -- and sharp corrections, too (maybe we will see in the coming decade?)

But a pro-longed "crash" would require a long-term decrease in demand for the asset (since the supply of GA books is fixed). From where I sit, for every "collector" who leaves the hobby, there's a new "investor" (or 2) entering it, cash in hand...