the blob Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 2 minutes ago, justafan said: I used to see legit craigslist ads for SA, BA, and CA runs for ASM, Thor, Iron Man, SS, XMEN, FF, etc. Now all I see are dealer ads. The 2 LCS near me used to see regular SA- BA collections walk through the door or phoned in from around the state at least once a month. It's been a year since they've pulled in a new collection. I think it's a combination of both. There are fewer collections coming to market than before and the ones that are have more market aware owners who are either pricing out the smaller dealers or going directly to the top auction houses for the convenience. Not sure if the scarcity has anything to do with there actually being less hidden collections or that people are quietly holding onto them. My main shop gets a steady flow of GA, SA, and BA, but then again, in a city of 9-11 million (if you include people commuting in) this should not be a shocker. generally not high grade, not the big keys, but every month there is new stuff, beat up 40s batmans, captain marvels, whatever, a lot of stuff in the $30-$150 range. piper 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercury Man Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 Everything is cyclical. You will see more stuff come out when the older collectors start to estate plan or pass away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sacentaur Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 A LCS can be a good indicator - the one shop I visit has had some nice SA collections walk in, but the past year new vintage material has virtually dried up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastballspecial Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 2 hours ago, Quicksilver Signs said: I don't think collections are drying up, just being held onto. There's more awareness with all the movie hype. I'm pretty sure in about 10+ years time there will be a glut of collections popping up for sale, I'm 50 and plan to sell around retirement time, and there are a ton of guys my age with sweet collections. You can't take it to your grave! It's possible now might be the best time to sell, movies will dry up along with the hype, comics may well be as popular as pulps 20 years from now. I try to talk older collectors into selling their collections now. Its at the peak currently for SA/BA stuff. When Groot was at his high I would try to go the SA thread and tell them to sell those TTAs with his 1st appearance. Get your money and get out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sacentaur Posted June 5, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted June 5, 2017 20 minutes ago, fastballspecial said: I try to talk older collectors into selling their collections now. Its at the peak currently for SA/BA stuff. When Groot was at his high I would try to go the SA thread and tell them to sell those TTAs with his 1st appearance. Get your money and get out. If it were just about money, I'd agree with you. But for those of us who are passionate about the hobby and really enjoy collecting, the decision to sell can be an agonizing one. Larryw7, LOC Collectibles, Fan Boy and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Man Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 1 hour ago, sacentaur said: The online experience appears to be similar to the convention circuit today, at least for the type of books (mostly Golden Age) I'm looking for. Previously, the only limitation for purchases was how much money did I want to spend - nowadays, I can't find enough quality material. There is something to be said about collectors getting older, retiring, or passing away but how many of those collections will end up at one of the auction houses? Me too. The only way to get the stuff I want is to go the big auction house route and pay through the nose until it hurts. The "thrill of discovery" is pretty much over. I just find near zero satisfaction in bidding in the big auctions any more. Older collectors dumping their collections is really starting to happen now (Jon Berk for example). There will be many more, even my own someday. When a collection like Jon's comes out is sucks nearly all the money in the market place for some time. There are still OO collections out there waiting to surface. Not as many, but there are more than a few just sitting awaiting discovery. I have a lot of fun finding them in estate sales, flea markets, antique stores when I least expect it. Trouble is, there are LOTS of other people looking for comics than ever before. I just gotta work a little harder for that thrill than I used to have to... F For Fake, sacentaur and Moondog 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastballspecial Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 Just now, sacentaur said: 23 minutes ago, fastballspecial said: I try to talk older collectors into selling their collections now. Its at the peak currently for SA/BA stuff. When Groot was at his high I would try to go the SA thread and tell them to sell those TTAs with his 1st appearance. Get your money and get out. If it were just about money, I'd agree with you. But for those of us who are passionate about the hobby and really enjoy collecting, the decision to sell can be an agonizing one. 5 minutes ago, sacentaur said: 28 minutes ago, fastballspecial said: I try to talk older collectors into selling their collections now. Its at the peak currently for SA/BA stuff. When Groot was at his high I would try to go the SA thread and tell them to sell those TTAs with his 1st appearance. Get your money and get out. If it were just about money, I'd agree with you. But for those of us who are passionate about the hobby and really enjoy collecting, the decision to sell can be an agonizing one. You make it sound like many of us aren't passionate. I've collected for over 30 years and didn't start selling any comics until about 15 years ago. I love to collect, but you cant take it with you. Do what I do sell a book for a profit and buy some more books. I've financed my kids college education thru comics on and off thru the years and I have had some outstanding books in my hands over the years. Its amazing hobby I love, but you cant take it with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aweandlorder Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 Depending on what is your poison, calling it just "comics" is too broad of a term. Comics have changed immensely in the past 5-10 years I dont think people yet realized There are soooo many new trends, not just books, that are sought after. Copper is the new Bronze, not just with books, but also artists that defined that era; AAdams, Sienkiewicz, Bolland are slowly catching up with Hughes/McFarlane with kids nowadays. Other popular trends are 2nd & later printings. Its no longer a variant thing. If its a 2nd print that means it HAS to be rare by todays standards. Watch all those overprinted Spiderman 1 & spawn 1 becoming hot commodities. The kids are going crazy. And last, of course, theres still the heavyweight champion of all trends - the movie/TV option trend. I have to be honest, I follow the trends, I study them through eBay. eBay is a collectible institution to me. I look at all my saved searches (100s of them) daily. Sometimes twice a day. Toggle between sold and new listings, auction vs BINS, low vs high... So to answer your question. No, sellers are not holding on to collections. But maybe theyre holding onto what you are after for now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tv horror Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 I was quite happy for a vast amount of my life just reading comics and never though of collecting anything, then in 1976 I caught the bug for horror movie magazines 5000 odd issues later I wish I had collected comics instead. Yes I loved them but my true love was always for comics, yes I had the grails from the sixties and such but one read and I gave them away for others to enjoy. Now to tell the truth in the late 90's I started buying Amazing Spider-man mainly because I had grown up reading the British reprints and strangely enough my nephew asked me to buy them for him as I knew a dealer. Presently I'm 4 issues short of a full run of Spidey and a full run of Tomb of Dracula and have most of the Russ Cochran EC library editions (love EC), as far as comics go I just have a few I like. I'm 58 and as a poster above says when it's hard to lift a short box move on, I was unfortunate ( I pity younger sufferers) to find out at 35 that I had Osteo-arthritis and as the years have progressed even using my hands is a chore, but I don't let it beat me I love comics and its art and artists (if I have to use a straw to turn pages so be it). Maybe there are collections to be had as we get older however everybody is an expert now so the prices won't be high for what we have as they are all out for that big score. What someone should do is open a museum quality building that we could donate our wares so that it is available for generations to come, that's my dream. thirdgreenham and 1950's war comics 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sacentaur Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 (edited) 11 minutes ago, fastballspecial said: You make it sound like many of us aren't passionate. Do what I do sell a book for a profit and buy some more books. No, I wasn't implying that at all. If someone is ready to sell, then they're ready to sell - Jon Berk is the most passionate collector I know, and yet his collection is currently sitting on the auction block. The point you're missing is that quality material is really tough to get hold of today, much more difficult than in years past, which is what the OP and others are saying. Sure, books could be sold now for a nice profit, but then replacing them with similar quality items probably means paying through the nose (if you can find them at all or via auction). I'm happy your buy-sell model works out for you, but for others it's less-than-ideal (especially in today's market). To each his own. Edited June 5, 2017 by sacentaur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadroch Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 Most "comic shops" aren't set up to buy a major SA/ BA collection. Their business practice isn't geared towards it. thirdgreenham 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumantorch Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 2 hours ago, sagii said: I don't think there will be another 'Billy Wright' find ( 'undiscovered 'golden age Orginal owner collection with numerous key issues and rarities There will be other 'Dentists, Jon Berks (though on a 'smaller ' scale) of acquired books through years of collecting. People are holding on to their collections for the most part. Especially with golden age where used to be under the radar stuff is being appreciated and now coveted more. A lot of folks are still in the process of building new found interests and want to hang on to and enjoy them for a bit . There's 1 we know of. porcupine48 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteppinRazor Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 32 minutes ago, sacentaur said: The point you're missing is that quality material is really tough to get hold of today, much more difficult than in years past, which is what the OP and others are saying. Sure, books could be sold now for a nice profit, but then replacing them with similar quality items probably means paying through the nose (if you can find them at all or via auction). Well, that's kind of inevitable. There's a finite amount of old books, and they're never going to get better in condition, only worse. Better stuff is already getting slabbed, and the rest is just deteriorating. I feel the focus on keys turning large swaths of collections into recycling material deters a lot of people from shopping their old comics around. Especially since so many of those people grew up in the Copper/Modern glut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoMan Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 42 minutes ago, tv horror said: I was quite happy for a vast amount of my life just reading comics and never though of collecting anything, then in 1976 I caught the bug for horror movie magazines 5000 odd issues later I wish I had collected comics instead. Yes I loved them but my true love was always for comics, yes I had the grails from the sixties and such but one read and I gave them away for others to enjoy. Now to tell the truth in the late 90's I started buying Amazing Spider-man mainly because I had grown up reading the British reprints and strangely enough my nephew asked me to buy them for him as I knew a dealer. Presently I'm 4 issues short of a full run of Spidey and a full run of Tomb of Dracula and have most of the Russ Cochran EC library editions (love EC), as far as comics go I just have a few I like. I'm 58 and as a poster above says when it's hard to lift a short box move on, I was unfortunate ( I pity younger sufferers) to find out at 35 that I had Osteo-arthritis and as the years have progressed even using my hands is a chore, but I don't let it beat me I love comics and its art and artists (if I have to use a straw to turn pages so be it). Maybe there are collections to be had as we get older however everybody is an expert now so the prices won't be high for what we have as they are all out for that big score. What someone should do is open a museum quality building that we could donate our wares so that it is available for generations to come, that's my dream. I'm curious what horror movie magazines were around in 1976? I know there was Famous Monsters but Fangoria and Starlog weren't around yet. Not my area of expertise but were there that many horror movie mags around in the mid 70s? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tv horror Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 Thanks for the reply, yes it was Famous monsters that started my interest, I made the mistake of looking at their back issue page and I was HOOKED! There I was minding my own business suddenly there was Monster World, Screen thrills, Creepy and Eerie, as I got other mail order lists then came Castle of Frankenstein Mad monsters Horror monsters the list grew and grew. To think that I was dealing with these U.S dealers were Amazing fantasy was listed for $15 (I'm depressed now) and I was only interested in horror movie magazines. If you hear a loud bang in the States it is only me taking my own life lol. Larryw7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aweandlorder Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 3 minutes ago, tv horror said: Thanks for the reply, yes it was Famous monsters that started my interest, I made the mistake of looking at their back issue page and I was HOOKED! There I was minding my own business suddenly there was Monster World, Screen thrills, Creepy and Eerie, as I got other mail order lists then came Castle of Frankenstein Mad monsters Horror monsters the list grew and grew. To think that I was dealing with these U.S dealers were Amazing fantasy was listed for $15 (I'm depressed now) and I was only interested in horror movie magazines. If you hear a loud bang in the States it is only me taking my own life lol. Something tells me that by the time it got to Walking Dead you prolly lost interest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tv horror Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 Negan did that for me as I stopped watching the show then, as for the comics I hate the art (oops should I say that online). I've even written for Famous monsters and other magazines so no I've not lose interest in horror (love the Universal and Hammer films) I went back to my love of comics as a child too little too late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sqeggs Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 27 minutes ago, thehumantorch said: 2 hours ago, sagii said: I don't think there will be another 'Billy Wright' find ( 'undiscovered 'golden age Orginal owner collection with numerous key issues and rarities There will be other 'Dentists, Jon Berks (though on a 'smaller ' scale) of acquired books through years of collecting. People are holding on to their collections for the most part. Especially with golden age where used to be under the radar stuff is being appreciated and now coveted more. A lot of folks are still in the process of building new found interests and want to hang on to and enjoy them for a bit . There's 1 we know of. You know of an undiscovered collection? thirdgreenham 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumantorch Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 (edited) 12 minutes ago, Sqeggs said: You know of an undiscovered collection? Owner is in his mid 90s and the collection is priceless to him. I'd expect it will come to market when he passes. Not as big as the Mile High but should easily get a pedigree designation. It's high grade, early, and high quality. I'd guess it's the best GA collection that's undiscovered but certainly they haven't all been found. Edited June 6, 2017 by thehumantorch sagii and piper 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan. Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 12 minutes ago, Sqeggs said: You know of an undiscovered collection? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
