Are the Boomers cashing out? 6 6

[MisterX]

So I read one of those clickbait articles the other day about which collectibles are losing value. Along with the ususal suspects (Beanie Babies, Cabbage Patch Dolls, Stamps) they listed comic books. They gave a number of reasons, but the one that really jumped out at me was the assertion that the Boomers were cashing out, thereby flooding the market with tons of low to mid grade Silver and Bronze non-keys, causing the value of books to plummet.

Anyone see any evidence of this?

And if it were true, do you think demand is strong enough to absorb the coming inventory wave? 

P.S. -- This discussion is just for snarfs and giggles. We all know to collect what we love, and love what we collect. 

[comicjack]

Well the market has been able to take it with all the books coming to market which is amazing .Sometimes you have to sell some so you can buy more such is the circle of life,but the circle keeps going for now 

Edited August 25, 2017 by comicjack

[BlowUpTheMoon]

30 minutes ago, MisterX said:

So I read one of those clickbait articles the other day about ...

Thanks for the link!

[HighRadArt]

No.  I need to sell my collection first...

[alexgross.com]

pure nonsense. you deserve what u get when u click bait-

[Artboy99]

If there is any truth to the information it is that collectors are thinning their collections and more and more collectors/ buyers are choosing to buy quality over quantity.

Keys keys keys instead of runs.

So truth: some comics are losing value: those mid run very common books of no importance.

 

Edited August 25, 2017 by Artboy99

[Lazyboy]

35 minutes ago, MisterX said:

So I read one of those clickbait articles the other day about which collectibles are losing value. Along with the ususal suspects (Beanie Babies, Cabbage Patch Dolls, Stamps) they listed comic books. They gave a number of reasons, but the one that really jumped out at me was the assertion that the Boomers were cashing out, thereby flooding the market with tons of low to mid grade Silver and Bronze non-keys, causing the value of books to plummet.

Anyone see any evidence of this?

Not really. They are only just beginning to do so.

When the majority are cashing out, you'll know.

35 minutes ago, MisterX said:

And if it were true, do you think demand is strong enough to absorb the coming inventory wave?

Absolutely not. There is no way the market will be able to cope with both the removal of their demand and the increase from their supply. Prices have increased too much over the years for that to happen.

It's not the (mostly) low value low/mid-grade non-keys that will be impacted the most. The largest impact will be on the higher value stuff, especially that which has dramatically increased in price in the recent past.

[Buzzetta]

I believe that we are in the process of a market saturation as everyone is trying to hoard yet cash in on books with the movie craze.  There seems to be a demand.

However... I will most likely start to sell most everything off when I retire in 4,603 days. 

[Aweandlorder]

14 minutes ago, Buzzetta said:

I believe that we are in the process of a market saturation as everyone is trying to hoard yet cash in on books with the movie craze.  There seems to be a demand.

However... I will most likely start to sell most everything off when I retire in 4,603 days. 

I started selling 5 years ago for my retirement in 9125 days from now

[Aweandlorder]

1 hour ago, MisterX said:

So I read one of those clickbait articles the other day about which collectibles are losing value. Along with the ususal suspects (Beanie Babies, Cabbage Patch Dolls, Stamps) they listed comic books. They gave a number of reasons, but the one that really jumped out at me was the assertion that the Boomers were cashing out, thereby flooding the market with tons of low to mid grade Silver and Bronze non-keys, causing the value of books to plummet.

Anyone see any evidence of this?

And if it were true, do you think demand is strong enough to absorb the coming inventory wave? 

P.S. -- This discussion is just for snarfs and giggles. We all know to collect what we love, and love what we collect. 

Boomers are selling S&GA books so they could get shiny 1:100 worthless variants

[Robot Man]

Depends on what books you are talking about. I'm a GA guy. If anything, I am seeing prices still going up and steady. Look at the recent Berk auction as an example. Nearly every book had steady bidding at very stiff prices. Even restored and conserved copies.

GA as a whole in nearly all genres are VERY strong. Hard to find any sleepers any more. I haven't seen such a strong market for this stuff ever. Many books are very hard to find and as they are discovered, there is spirited bidding and many record prices in all grades.

SA,BA and Moderns maybe not so much. A lot more of it and much easier to obtain.

[Gatsby77]

22 minutes ago, Lazyboy said:

Not really. They are only just beginning to do so.

When the majority are cashing out, you'll know.

Absolutely not. There is no way the market will be able to cope with both the removal of their demand and the increase from their supply. Prices have increased too much over the years for that to happen.

It's not the (mostly) low value low/mid-grade non-keys that will be impacted the most. The largest impact will be on the higher value stuff, especially that which has dramatically increased in price in the recent past.

This.

I think this will happen 8-10 years from now.

New physical comic sales will continue to decline, Hollywood will be largely done with comic book movies that have led to a huge boom over the last 10 years, and the core Silver Age collectors (currently in their late 40s/early 50s) will begin to retire.

That's when the supply glut will happen, along with a huge downward price adjustment.

[Mr. Zipper]

35 minutes ago, Artboy99 said:

If there is any truth to the information it is that collectors are thinning their collections and more and more collectors/ buyers are choosing to buy quality over quantity.

Keys keys keys instead of runs.

So truth: some comics are losing value: those mid run very common books of no importance.

 

So true.

The days of the "completist" collector are gone. That is how boomers and Gen X started collecting. There used to be great accomplishment in building a solid run of a popular title. That has been replaced by a focus on classic covers and uber high grade slabs.

I would argue that we are well into the sell off of non-key SA books.

Edited August 25, 2017 by Mr. Zipper
typo

[HighRadArt]

3 minutes ago, Mr. Zipper said:

So true.

The days of the "completist" collector are gone. That is how boomers and Gen X started collecting. There used to be great accomplishment in building a solid run of a popular title. That has been replaced by a focus on classic covers and uber high grade slabs.

I would argue that we are well into the sell off on non-key SA books.

You're still around? 

[Mr. Zipper]

1 minute ago, HighRadArt said:

You're still around? 

Just got paroled. 

[Artboy99]

18 minutes ago, Mr. Zipper said:

So true.

The days of the "completist" collector are gone. That is how boomers and Gen X started collecting. There used to be great accomplishment in building a solid run of a popular title. That has been replaced by a focus on classic covers and uber high grade slabs.

I would argue that we are well into the sell off of non-key SA books.

Agreed

[Hekla]

26 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

Depends on what books you are talking about. I'm a GA guy. If anything, I am seeing prices still going up and steady. Look at the recent Berk auction as an example. Nearly every book had steady bidding at very stiff prices. Even restored and conserved copies.

GA as a whole in nearly all genres are VERY strong. Hard to find any sleepers any more. I haven't seen such a strong market for this stuff ever. Many books are very hard to find and as they are discovered, there is spirited bidding and many record prices in all grades.

SA,BA and Moderns maybe not so much. A lot more of it and much easier to obtain.

I think the best of the best (all comics, not just GA) will at least hold value and likely continue increasing. The lower tier of the best or best of the mediocre will only slightly rise or at worst stagnate. Maybe in some cases go down (insert example of a desirable-yet-common book in 5.0 or lower). Everything else? That's where you're gambling.

 

That's my opinion

[Beardown]

If the boomers were the ones reading and then collecting there childhood superhero's, which I think they were, wouldn't the kids of today growing up watching all of these fantastic movies keep the ball rolling so to speak. 

That is, I'm not sure there is much difference in when or how you fell in love with the characters.  You're still going to look for where they came from, and it's not going to be a collection of dvd's I'm guessing, but rather the books that they were created from.     I think the typical "kid" who learned of these characters through movies will be drawn to the comic books they came from just the same as if you grew up reading the books themselves.   

Just my experience so far with my 13 year old son.  He hasn't read a lot of the older books but he is absolutely drawn to the silver age Thor, Ironman (Avengers) and such WAY more than anything new.  Looking through a long box of Tales of Suspense low grade books is what he really gets excited about -vs- anything new on a wall at the LCS.

[ComicConnoisseur]

1 hour ago, Gatsby77 said:

This.

I think this will happen 8-10 years from now.

New physical comic sales will continue to decline, Hollywood will be largely done with comic book movies that have led to a huge boom over the last 10 years, and the core Silver Age collectors (currently in their late 40s/early 50s) will begin to retire.

That's when the supply glut will happen, along with a huge downward price adjustment.

Than might an alternative strategy be to speculate in Walking Dead,Todd McFarlane and Deadpool keys, as their fanbases are younger, and will be be hitting the beginning of their buying power peaks in your suggested 8-10 year time frame when the baby boomers cash out?  

Edited August 25, 2017 by ComicConnoisseur

[Hekla]

6 minutes ago, ComicConnoisseur said:

Than might an alternative strategy be to speculate in Walking Dead,Todd McFarlane and Deadpool keys, as their fanbases are young, and will be be hitting the beginning of their buying power peaks in your suggested 8-10 year time frame when the baby boomers cash out?  

re: Walking Dead - my oldest son (in college now) didn't care at all about comics growing up, but he loves the Walking Dead TV show. When he was a tween, I wouldn't let him read my WD comics due to the graphic nature of the books, but I just found out recently that when I dropped him off at the mall on weekends, he would go to the bookstore and read the WD trades. I could see him one day wanting to collect a set of WD books but not being interested in superhero books.