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What is currently the hottest genre?
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94 posts in this topic

I am constantly amazed by auction results of books in genres that were sleepers not-so-long ago, especially GGA. Feldstein ruled the GGA roost way back when the genre was featured in Overstreet 8; now, everything from the Atlas titles to Archie's Suzie seems red hot.

For anyone who would care to speculate, what genre is the hottest right now? PCH? GGA? Still the superhero stuff (although do we see record prices every auction?)? Even romance does well (forget about Baker!). Are westerns at the bottom?? Not if they're Atlas westerns...

So how about it? hm

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16 minutes ago, PopKulture said:

I am constantly amazed by auction results of books in genres that were sleepers not-so-long ago, especially GGA. Feldstein ruled the GGA roost way back when the genre was featured in Overstreet 8; now, everything from the Atlas titles to Archie's Suzie seems red hot.

For anyone who would care to speculate, what genre is the hottest right now? PCH? GGA? Still the superhero stuff (although do we see record prices every auction?)? Even romance does well (forget about Baker!). Are westerns at the bottom?? Not if they're Atlas westerns...

So how about it? hm

Don't know if they're the absolute "hottest" GA books now, but a lot of the Centaur and Fox books can still bring 10, 20, even 50 times guide. Try finding, say, Amazing Man 25 or 26, in ANY condition. Try finding Fantastic 3 (Well they're actually easy to FIND, since all existing copies now belong to one person).

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13 minutes ago, twmjr1 said:

Don't know if they're the absolute "hottest" GA books now, but a lot of the Centaur and Fox books can still bring 10, 20, even 50 times guide. Try finding, say, Amazing Man 25 or 26, in ANY condition. Try finding Fantastic 3 (Well they're actually easy to FIND, since all existing copies now belong to one person).

Interesting. I didn't know they were bringing that sizable of multiples of guide!

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Anything with a great or even decent cover. Most all genres except Classics Illustrated I think. Most of the "big" key cover pch cover books for example, are evident but now people are touting the "second tier" type covers as well. Since the advent of CGC collectors have become increasingly cover aware. 

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Like all markets, the basic forces of supply and demand come into play.  I always believe that markets go out of equilibrium when demand outstrips supply and you see huge price gains like Matt Baker, Black Cat 50, Spider-Man 1 and then demand decreases as prices and supply increase.  

People always say collect what you like, but there are still underpriced, under appreciated genres that could see some big price gains.  Unfortunately many of those areas are in silver and bronze like Marvel Superheroes 13, X-Men 12, Eternals 1, Forever People 1 etc. . . 

If you are asking about golden age only, I do think history is a good starting point looking at books that used to be quite expensive but have not kept pace in recent years.  All Star 3 and 8, Whiz 1 well as Marvel Comics 1 are good examples of recent big risers that were dormant for years as other keys exploded.  

I also believe that spending time looking through the photo-journals and many golden age posts on the boards can highlight some cool overlooked books.  I wish I had a crystal ball so I knew what would be the next Punch 12, Pep 34, or Real Life 3, but I would only be guessing.  But the cool thing is that there is something for every taste which means Duck books may become hot again . . . Or not!

 

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My guess is that the duck books and photo cover westerns will never be of great interest again. Now grab up as many as you can, because they'll probably go thermo soon.

Edited by twmjr1
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43 minutes ago, BakerFanOne said:

Like all markets, the basic forces of supply and demand come into play.  I always believe that markets go out of equilibrium when demand outstrips supply and you see huge price gains like Matt Baker, Black Cat 50, Spider-Man 1 and then demand decreases as prices and supply increase.  

People always say collect what you like, but there are still underpriced, under appreciated genres that could see some big price gains.  Unfortunately many of those areas are in silver and bronze like Marvel Superheroes 13, X-Men 12, Eternals 1, Forever People 1 etc. . . 

If you are asking about golden age only, I do think history is a good starting point looking at books that used to be quite expensive but have not kept pace in recent years.  All Star 3 and 8, Whiz 1 well as Marvel Comics 1 are good examples of recent big risers that were dormant for years as other keys exploded.  

I also believe that spending time looking through the photo-journals and many golden age posts on the boards can highlight some cool overlooked books.  I wish I had a crystal ball so I knew what would be the next Punch 12, Pep 34, or Real Life 3, but I would only be guessing.  But the cool thing is that there is something for every taste which means Duck books may become hot again . . . Or not!

 

Go Ducks!!!

PCH is the current hottest genre in Golden Age- at this moment IMO. I think anything with a hot girl on the cover is right behind.

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Classic covers of any type sell and always will along oddball rare books,been tracking some crazy prices.The harder to find book is fueling the challenge of any collector along with the prices one must pay to pry a book out of hiding .

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4 hours ago, Robot Man said:

Since the advent of CGC collectors have become increasingly cover aware. 

I think that's true. And with the advent of slabbing, couldn't we expect just that? Since you can only see the cover, all shiny and nice (nevermind the newton rings). The downside is that fewer people will come to care about what's inside....

2 hours ago, Mr. Lady Luck said:

Currently, the hottest genre is Millie. :foryou:

Where would Nellie and Tessie rank respectively? What about Hedy, Patsy, Sherry and Pearl?  :whistle:

2 hours ago, BakerFanOne said:

  But the cool thing is that there is something for every taste which means Duck books may become hot again . . . Or not!

I hope not: I still need some of the Duck biggies. I hope that ship doesn't sail without me, too!

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35 minutes ago, Grantley Goddard said:

1. PCH

2. PLANET

Planet has always been a great title, and is definitely hot currently, but it seems other titles, especially Fight, have gotten a boost with all the interest in GGA and bondage covers.  2c

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2 hours ago, twmjr1 said:

My guess is that the duck books and photo cover westerns will never be of great interest again. Now grad up as many as you can, because they'll probably go thermo soon.

I see your point about the westerns, as the people that grew up with Gene Autry and Roy Rogers are part of a thinning herd. However, I still buy those, even though I wasn't there for the heyday. I appreciate their place in the pop culture hierarchy and their historical importance, much the same as the Yellow Kid, the Katzenjammer Kids or even Tarzan. Heck, how many people in the hobby are buying Centaurs to fill a hole in their collection because it's one they missed off the stands? And more generally speaking, no one shelling out the big bucks for Action 1 is revisiting their childhood: they're visiting their parents' or even grandparents' childhood.  :shy:

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that, into each generation, there will be kids who look rearward at our cultural history, and eventually embrace and pursue it. Whether there will be enough of them to make Hoppy relevant and sustain peak prices I'm not sure. Tell your nieces and nephews to PUT DOWN THEIR CELLPHONES and let's see what happens!  :foryou:

Edited by PopKulture
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7 minutes ago, PopKulture said:

Planet has always been a great title, and is definitely hot currently, but it seems other titles, especially Fight, have gotten a boost with all the interest in GGA and bondage covers.  2c

There's plenty of PCH which includes GGA and bondage covers, likewise PLANET, so it's hard to draw definite lines between the genres.

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3 hours ago, Ricksneatstuff said:

Go Ducks!!!

PCH is the current hottest genre in Golden Age- at this moment IMO. I think anything with a hot girl on the cover is right behind.

No one knows and appreciates hot girl covers like Rick!  :foryou:

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2 hours ago, PopKulture said:

Planet has always been a great title, and is definitely hot currently, but it seems other titles, especially Fight, have gotten a boost with all the interest in GGA and bondage covers.  2c

I have to admit that I have ignored Fiction House and Ace for far too long.  What a mistake as some of the Rangers, Fight, Planet, Prize and Super-Mystery covers are among the best out there.  Fortunately through Rick and some of the other great sellers on the boards, I have been able to pick up a few good ones.

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2 hours ago, Grantley Goddard said:

There's plenty of PCH which includes GGA and bondage covers, likewise PLANET, so it's hard to draw definite lines between the genres.

Hi Grantley!  You obviously have a great eye for PCH and the ability to blend GGA, bondage/torture with PCH has created some amazing classics like Mr. Mystery 4, 6, 7, and Dark Mysteries 19.

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