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Why do so many of you think the hobby is 'dying'???

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58 posts in this topic

PovertyRow

PovertyRow

Posted
Posted

I think the HOBBY is pretty strong. Last convention I went to was Wondercon and it was quite crowded, with a lot of folks just buying from those "nothing special" long boxes.

 

I didn't read comics much as a kid. In fact, I remember a couple of Superboys and I remember reading what had to be FF1. But comic books never excited me. It was only when I was about 30 years old that I actually got interested in them, so you don't need to start as a kid to become a collector.

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mr_highgrade

mr_highgrade

Posted
Posted

Right on Chris!

I am sure we all have a lot of comics that aren't worth much, so why not give some away to the neighborhood kids.

I am always giving out comics, cards & action figures to my friends kids.

Besides, after a while it does take up to much space. wink.gif

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towards2112

towards2112

Posted
Posted

I think the hobby might just be dying on the vine, however, the business of

buying and selling collectables appears to be quite lively. A separation of

definitions seems to be in order. My hobby, ie: something I do for shere

enjoyment is stamp collecting. Specifically US issues. No First Day Covers,

No Sheets, No Plate Blocks, just USED issues that I can put in an

album, just as I did as a kid. When my dad's uncle, My great-uncle Lou

died, he left me 2 army duffle bags. One contained postage stamps. Not

sorted, not neat, not organized, just stamps. My grandfather told me that

his brother always ment to do some serious stamp collecting one day.

Since I was the only child in the family mildly interested, the horde of

stamps came to me. Duffle bag # 2 contained comic books. All-Flash,

Whiz, Superman, Batman, seems that there were 500-600 comics in that

duffle bag. Those I've sold over the years, and managed to turn that bag

into a college tuition payer for the kids. It's still a passion. I love comic books,

[ spoiler proviso: nuttin in the last 15 years ], that end is the collecting

business. The hobby I still love, must have 6 or 8 albums filled now that

ebay is around. The business of collecting survives at a currently quite

lively level. Whether or not it stays there only time in my humble opinion

will tell. Maybe some new fad will befall the comic book world. Possibly.

We do revel in one of the oldest media of entertainment.

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jediknight

jediknight

Posted
Posted

In my opinion the naysayers who keep sayin' that the hobby is dyin' are those sorry sons of [#@$%!!!] who deeply regret that they hadn't bought up these books 10, 20, and 30 years ago when they were a buck. Think of how many people regret no buying up the Ultimate Spiderman 1s that came out only recenlty. Right when they came out they were going for 5 and 10 bucks. Now regretters are downin' the hobby because their sorry [#@$%!!!] judgment cost them bookoo dollars! What a bunch of frikken' scrubbs these louses are!

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shrunkenhead

shrunkenhead

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While the future of any popular collecting craze is totally uncertain, I don't think that comics are on their last legs. Far from it. Yes, we are in a bit of a downward spiral, but I don't think that's so horrible. It just means that prices are descending from ludicrous status to FMV status. That doesn't herald a death knell. And as many others have pointed out, the economy is in a heckuva lot of trouble right now, thanks to Bush and co., and that's something that we (unfortunately wink.gif) can't pin on CGC. Yes, comics are about to encounter a period of tougher sales, but can we blame Steve Borock for that when jobs are being cut and government assistance programs are being slashed? Disposable income is about to become a thing of the past for many thousands of families.

 

Furthermore, the stability of the market largely DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU'RE BUYING. All comics are not created equal. You buy some highgrade gold, nobody's going to turn around and tell you "oh, that crashed last week." It doesn't work that way. But if you're paying stupid money for a 9.8 copy of the first appearance of Moon Knight, for god's sake, screwy.gif, well, then ya just deserve what's coming to you.

 

Ok, kids these days don't collect comics like we did. And so? That doesn't decrease from a comic's collectability. Didn't somebody buy an All-Star #3 awhile back for over 100k? (I could be wrong about this, but I seem to remember hearing this on the forums awhile back). That was probably not purchased by a 70+ year old man who read All-Star #3 as a wee tyke right off the stands. The collectability of the book has endured beyond its immediate readership.

 

Comics may very well go bust, but I think that such a thing will happen in the next couple of generations. In other words, long after we're gone. Our great great grandkids may scratch their heads and laugh at our passion for funnybooks, but fortunately we won't be around to see it!

 

Speaking of collectable markets that went bust, here's two books ya'll might find to be enjoyable reads:

 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/det...=glance&s=books

 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/det...=glance&s=books

 

That tulip book is a personal favorite. thumbsup2.gif

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jimm94

jimm94

Posted
Posted
In my opinion the naysayers who keep sayin' that the hobby is dyin' are those sorry sons of [#@$%!!!] who deeply regret that they hadn't bought up these books 10, 20, and 30 years ago when they were a buck. Think of how many people regret no buying up the Ultimate Spiderman 1s that came out only recenlty. Right when they came out they were going for 5 and 10 bucks. Now regretters are downin' the hobby because their sorry [#@$%!!!] judgment cost them bookoo dollars! What a bunch of frikken' scrubbs these louses are!

 

Nice. yeahok.gif How many copies of USM # 1 did you buy? I didn't buy any because I wasn't collecting moderns at the time. sumo.gif

 

There are many, many books I regret not buying or regret selling over the years, but I personally am NOT a naysayer who predicts a crash. I only HOPE for a crash so that I have chance at picking up some comics I would love to own!

 

However, I recognize that a wide-sweeping crash would be bad for the hobby overall. What's bad for the hobby is bad for all collectors long term - even if it means being able to pick up books "cheap" again.

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