ComicLink auction starts tonight ...

[Junkdrawer]

What a guy, up at 8 am on Sunday TCB.

[Vision75]

Does anyone know what the More Fun 54 8.5 went for?

[Sqeggs]

Does anyone know what the More Fun 54 8.5 went for?

 

$22,100

[jimjum12]

What a guy, up at 8 am on Sunday TCB.

 

Josh is 'da bomb...... a couple of times when I've called, I've been redirected to him for basic customer service..... that man is on the job. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[Hudson]

 

I don't know why people, who have heard of stories of young readers taking to older material like this time and again, keep putting forth the idea that nobody in the future will ever like something, or buy vintage copies of, something that published before they were old enough to buy it fresh off the stands.

 

This is true. I can assure you, I am not nearly as old as the books in my sig line.

 

I am not forecasting the future of the hobby, but I do think at least some collectors are always going to want the early stuff (not just what they grew up with).

 

My 2 cents (1 cent after taxes).

[Bronty]

I don't think the idea is that there won't be any guys like you, naturally there will be some. The question is how many, willing to spend how much?

 

[gino2paulus2]

I don't think the idea is that there won't be any guys like you, naturally there will be some. The question is how many, willing to spend how much?

 

I'm hoping not many and not much so I can pick up some neat books on the cheap on the opposite side of the coin I know quite a few people who have accumulated I nice little collection that was pretty expensive and I for one wouldn't like to see them take huge losses on their investments because these are good people that keep this hobby strong but like we say buy what you love and can can afford to lose I guess

[Bronty]

i don't think sharply falling prices are good for anyone. Fear sets in, people stop buying. Why would you spend 10k at the next heritage auction if the same books would be 9 at the next one. Why would you spend 9 at that one when it will be 8 at the one after. The. You think maybe I don't need to spend 8 at all, and you end up hanging onto your money . The hobby stagnates and you eventually lose interest

[BarristerBaker]

Mid-30s Golden Age collector here. Might be more of us out there than some think.

 

In my mind, the key to maintaining the trend is less about folk like me and more about getting other markets (China, for instance) better plugged into the hobby. The major players should be focusing on that. Need more "Impossible Collections" to tour the world and get new people excited. Given then number of copies of some books, it doesn't take many new players to make a serious impact.

[Bronty]

When was the last time you read a Chinese comic book?

[The-Collector]

I don't think the idea is that there won't be any guys like you, naturally there will be some. The question is how many, willing to spend how much?

 

This. I am younger than anyone who has replied so far (I think) and am the one who raised the doubts. It would be stupid to argue that no one will be converted from reading modern funny books to buying GA books published before their birth. And I am haven't actually seen anyone make that argument. The real question is will the conversion rate for millennials and later generations be high enough to clear the market at current prices. I am skeptical that it will be.

 

p.s. I have stolen this argument from Gene, except instead of it being re OA I have applied it to floppies.

[BarristerBaker]

When was the last time you read a Chinese comic book?

 

I believe the hobby can have relevance outside of English-speaking countries.

[comickid84]

Trying to guess who will collect what and when is really just impossible. I started collecting silver comics when I was about 12 (I'm 32 now) and by 15-16 started buying any Golden books I could afford. I think most younger collectors are simply priced out of the current GA market, but as they age and perhaps begin to consolidate resources and revenue, we will see new collectors enter the GA market. Just an observation from someone who has always appreciated the GA.

[atomised]

mid 40's (age not decade of birth) GA collector here, started buying in earnest about three years ago. Concentrated on superheroes that were still active in the DC universe that started in the GA and candidly, favored some of the superheroes I recalled from the JLA cartoons. I dabbled a bit in SA for about a year mostly putting together a NM run of X-Men. I pivoted to GA and started to focus on DC Superheroes that were underserved in the DC Universe but still relevant. I paid mind to heroes they rebooted in their contemporary modern comics. The Blue Beetle and Plastic Man were the dudes that checked every box I was looking for in terms of collecting.

[Bronty]

When was the last time you read a Chinese comic book?

 

I believe the hobby can have relevance outside of English-speaking countries.

 

You didn't answer the question

 

Heck forget China... let's talk Japan. They have a rich history of manga that engages with all kinds of cultural properties that are popular inside and outside of japan. When's the last time you felt a need to go rush to go out and buy vintage/expensive japanese manga?

 

Lone Wolf and Cub is one of my favorite comics/manga , but I'm not searching out japanese original printings. Are you?

[skybolt]

 

Some of these prices are nuts. When all the 40-60 year old collectors start retiring and sell off their copies there is no way that the market is able to clear at these prices.

 

 

Thats a fact!

 

I'm not so sure about that. When I started putting tens of thousands of dollars in GA books back in 2003 (at the age of 31), I had absolutely no clue anything existed before the Silver Age (other than Batman and Superman). I would say that anyone who loves collecting comics books in general (even moderns like myself prior to 2003), they have a good chance at gravitating towards GA books at some point in their collecting lives.

You assembled a set of very lovely books

 

Too bad they're mostly gone now.

You released them back into the wild for others to appreciate.

 

Yup, hard to justify my fascination with GGA books to my wife after getting married.

 

Hey Ed;

 

You should have told your wife that you were keeping the books for investment purposes and not for the hot girls on the cover.

 

Anyways, I still got the Church copy of Witches Tales #12 which you was so kind to sell to me back about 5 years ago. Absolutely loved the green cover which is really a poor man's version of L.B. Coles classic spider cover.

 

It's a definite keeper from my point of view, as it's going to be in my collection for a long long time.

 

Glad to hear you still have the book.

I have actually used the excuse of investment for some of my favorite covers, but unfortunately the agreement reached was that I keep them in a safe deposit box at the bank.

[skybolt]

 

Yup, hard to justify my fascination with GGA books to my wife after getting married.

 

Wise desicion.

 

30s here, and I got my start in GA from skybolt and am forever grateful. I'd also like to add that there is nothing wrong with hiding GGA and spicy pulps from the wife as it adds to the thrill of collecting

 

That's awesome to hear.

 

I still remember regretting buying a copy of Blue Beetle #49 for $800 back in 2003, instead of the typical superhero books. However, when I received the book in the mail, it completely changed my collecting habits. From that point forward I only collected GGA.

[byosti]

Trying to guess who will collect what and when is really just impossible. I started collecting silver comics when I was about 12 (I'm 32 now) and by 15-16 started buying any Golden books I could afford. I think most younger collectors are simply priced out of the current GA market, but as they age and perhaps begin to consolidate resources and revenue, we will see new collectors enter the GA market. Just an observation from someone who has always appreciated the GA.

 

I think that's true where as more, younger collectors get to their late 20s/30s and have more disposable income and after they've collected whatever cheaper SA/Bronze books they wanted when they were younger, then they'd seek other books to collect. Chances are it's not going to be cheaper Moderns. I'm pretty young too compared to most on here and after buying primarily moderns and back issues from local shops when i was a kid with some cheaper SA's and Bronze's, I gradually expanded and consolidated onto more SA keys and now some GA's over past few years with an eye to what I feel is undervalued.

[Aman619]

When was the last time you read a Chinese comic book?

 

I believe the hobby can have relevance outside of English-speaking countries.

 

You didn't answer the question

 

Heck forget China... let's talk Japan. They have a rich history of manga that engages with all kinds of cultural properties that are popular inside and outside of japan. When's the last time you felt a need to go rush to go out and buy vintage/expensive japanese manga?

 

Lone Wolf and Cub is one of my favorite comics/manga , but I'm not searching out japanese original printings. Are you?

 

Yes. I have tried! but Japanese formats aren't like ours. and their collecttibles market never really took off like ours did. Partly I think due to their formats, which have been large anthologies (inches thick) with countless stories within. And also because there have been so many reprinting of everything over the years.

 

Ive asked Japanese manga fans (as in in Japan) to point me to the "Forbidden Planet" or even "Bedrock City!" of Tokyo, or Kyoto or Osaka, but they say there isn't one.

 

But Yes! Id love to find the first printed appearances of Astro Boy, Lone Wolf and Cub etc. Not many more though actually.

 

I have a few Lone Wolf issues in "Action Comics" (I think) but they're buried within 100s of pages of other stuff.

[Zolnerowich]

When was the last time you read a Chinese comic book?

 

I believe the hobby can have relevance outside of English-speaking countries.

 

You didn't answer the question

 

Heck forget China... let's talk Japan. They have a rich history of manga that engages with all kinds of cultural properties that are popular inside and outside of japan. When's the last time you felt a need to go rush to go out and buy vintage/expensive japanese manga?

 

Lone Wolf and Cub is one of my favorite comics/manga , but I'm not searching out japanese original printings. Are you?

 

Funny you should mention Japanese original prints!

 

I was in Japan not too long ago, and bought this awesome original print by an artist named Yooshi, from 1890, which beats Action #1 by 48 years. The little goblin in the lower left is an "oni" i.e., demon. As you can see, the comic book-like spirit of the fantastical and grotesque were alive and well in 19th century Japan. (Sorry for the quality of the photo, which was taken from a book; the actual print is hanging in my office.)