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Alternate investment strategy - sell your collection for just a few high dollar comics
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66 posts in this topic

19 hours ago, Getoutandstayout said:

Jay Parrino of Heritage Auctions once suggested to coin collectors to sell off their collections of mostly lower to medium-priced coins and with that money, buy a half-dozen really valuable coins in high demand. Of course, if you just like reading your comics, this isn't for you. But if you like to see your comics appreciate in value, it does sound like a strategy worth investigating. I have lots of low to medium priced Silver and Bronze Age comics - I paid anywhere from $100 - $700 apiece for the good stuff, with one at $1400 (I'm rebuilding a lost collection). But if I liquidated the bulk of my collection, I could probably buy three for four thousand-dollar books (or two $2K books - you get the picture).

I don't really care anymore about completing entire runs, nor am I actually reading all those Sub-Mariners that I bought. I'm thinking how nice it would be to display, say, a $2K copy  of Marvel Mystery Comics with a WWII German war cover - or maybe a mid-grade Fantastic Four #4 with the first SA appearance of the Sub-Mariner. I guess the question would be whether a few high-dollar books will appreciate in value more than a lot of medium to low-dollar books in lesser demand.

I'm bound to get someone telling me to just collect what I like. But this thread isn't about that; it's about an investment strategy. Are there better investments out there? Probably. But I love investing in what I know and love - old comics.

This seems like a good strategy on 2 fronts

One it reduces the bulk of your collection and two the value of the high comics are most likely to increase in value to the medium low ones

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6 hours ago, Getoutandstayout said:

Of course, the question facing me now is - if I squeeze $4K out of my collection to spend, do I get a high grade tier 2 book like, say, Silver Surfer #1 or #4? Or a 3.0 - 4.0 tier 1 book like, oh, Strange Tales #110 or Fantastic Four #4? What's the buying market like? People going after a good book in high grade, or a blue-chip book in a lower grade? The average Joe buyer will never be able to afford the first appearance of a major character unless it's at the low end, so I think those 3.0 copies will sell pretty well, IMHO. But those high-grade comics are sure easy on the eyes.

Not sure about the SA market since books are relatively common in most grades, as long as you are willing to open up your wallet.

In the GA market though, this pricing phenomenon has definitely been taking place for quite a few years now.  Even to the point whereby old slow conservative Bob is showing much larger percentage increases for the lower grade copies of certain GA keys or HTF rarer books, as compared to lower percentage increases for the higher grade copies of these same books.  No doubt also highly influenced by the fact that HG copies of these kinds of books simply don't tend to show up in the marketplace, except only after several years if lucky or not even at all.

Ironically, it seems to work the same way in terms of throwing out the guide for uber HG copies of key SA or BA books which tend to sell at huge multiples to top of guide.  With GA books like 'Tec 31 or Action 13, you can throw out the guide as entry level copies of these books also sell for ridiculous multiples to bottom of guide.  I guess that's why Overstreet don't have price valuations for condition levels above NM- 9.2 or below Good 2.0 as prices are often times way too volatile in these grades.  hm  (thumbsu  

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18 hours ago, Getoutandstayout said:

Of course, the question facing me now is - if I squeeze $4K out of my collection to spend, do I get a high grade tier 2 book like, say, Silver Surfer #1 or #4? Or a 3.0 - 4.0 tier 1 book like, oh, Strange Tales #110 or Fantastic Four #4? What's the buying market like? People going after a good book in high grade, or a blue-chip book in a lower grade? The average Joe buyer will never be able to afford the first appearance of a major character unless it's at the low end, so I think those 3.0 copies will sell pretty well, IMHO. But those high-grade comics are sure easy on the eyes.

One of the biggest trends being reported in places such as Overstreet over the last five years or so, is the "movement" of more folks looking to invest in reader-grade copies of SA books.  So its driving up the value of books in 2.0-6.0 condition.  Not sure if it's just me, but it does seem like this has leveled off a bit this year.

But you're asking a somewhat personally-directed question.  This whole thread makes me sad, because I love thumbing through long runs of popular titles (one of my recently completed personal goals was to have every issue of the Fantastic Four published in my lifetime -- that count has recently started increasing by one again each month...).

But unless it's purely a search for the book that you think: a) has the potential to increase the most over the next X years and B) you can afford by consolidating the rest of your collection, then what you like is still going to play a factor.  Otherwise, approach it as you would investing in stocks, where you use the resources available to maximize your profit over time.

I'm going to assume though that you want to end up with a comic you like in the end, so if it was ME, I would use the funds available to buy the highest grade SA Fantastic Four or Spider-man key I could,,,,say in 8.5 to 9.4 condition. 

For $4K, you get get an FF #12 slabbed in 6.5 condition, and a FF #25 in 8.5 condition.  Both look awesome in those grades, and are almost sure to appreciate in value over the years.

 

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16 hours ago, MustEatBrains said:

I’m in the process of attempting to employ this strategy but honestly the biggest issue I have is maintaining the discipline to do so.  Too many knee jerk buys still happening.

This is my problem. In the past year I really have made an effort to slim the collection down. I've gotten rid of at least 20 short boxes of stuff. However, all it takes is a 50 cent sale at the LCS and all of sudden I've got two more boxes of new junk. Ugh. Stop me before I kill again!

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1 hour ago, F For Fake said:

This is my problem. In the past year I really have made an effort to slim the collection down. I've gotten rid of at least 20 short boxes of stuff. However, all it takes is a 50 cent sale at the LCS and all of sudden I've got two more boxes of new junk. Ugh. Stop me before I kill again!

See I have the opposite problem. I've trained myself to be so deliberate about buys that I miss out on most due to my own hemming and hawing while someone else with less selfcontrol swoops in!

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15 minutes ago, miraclemet said:

See I have the opposite problem. I've trained myself to be so deliberate about buys that I miss out on most due to my own hemming and hawing while someone else with less selfcontrol swoops in!

Looks like we've formed a perfect symbiotic relationship that benefits neither of us!

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My issue with this is that I've been collecting for so long that unless it was an insanely good deal, I wouldn't spend the money on books that the books are demanding.  Just last night I was talking about how I just never added a Thor 337 to my collection as I couldn't justify paying $7 for this book.  Now commanding thousands of dollars when  graded, it just is insane to me.  

That said, I'm THIS close to selling off a few books that I've had for decades to get myself an early 2000s 911C4 (convertible if possible).

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2 minutes ago, davidpg said:

My issue with this is that I've been collecting for so long that unless it was an insanely good deal, I wouldn't spend the money on books that the books are demanding.  Just last night I was talking about how I just never added a Thor 337 to my collection as I couldn't justify paying $7 for this book.  Now commanding thousands of dollars when  graded, it just is insane to me.  

That said, I'm THIS close to selling off a few books that I've had for decades to get myself an early 2000s 911C4 (convertible if possible).

hm.. might have to save some cash and might look forward to your sale thread if you are THIS close to selling lol 

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Alternate investment strategy:
Become Hollywood producer.  Buy a bunch of multiple copies of drek with woodgod, 3D Man etc then create movies featuring those characters.  Sell and use proceeds to fund next movie with hellcat, Youngblood etc.

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20 hours ago, Hollywood1892 said:

This seems like a good strategy on 2 fronts

One it reduces the bulk of your collection and two the value of the high comics are most likely to increase in value to the medium low ones

Not necessarily.  In fact, you are less diversified in this scenario.  If you have 500 books, you're probably more protected against market fluctuations than if you have 5 books.  

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1 minute ago, buttock said:

Not necessarily.  In fact, you are less diversified in this scenario.  If you have 500 books, you're probably more protected against market fluctuations than if you have 5 books.  

I just think

If you sold a 9.8 ASM 129

For a 5.0 ASM 1 your chances are that ASM 1 would go up in value quicker.

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16 minutes ago, buttock said:

Not necessarily.  In fact, you are less diversified in this scenario.  If you have 500 books, you're probably more protected against market fluctuations than if you have 5 books.  

I didn't think of it like this I guess it depends on the keys or few books you narrow down to. I mean if you narrow down to the mega keys/grails I cant see you have to worry as much about market fluctuations and bottoming out but yeah your are susceptible to market fluctuations specially how a lot of stuff goes up and down based on Speculators, movies, TV, actors, etc... 

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6 hours ago, miraclemet said:

This is an approach that almost everyone comes to at some point... 

It's why you always see people looking to trade their collection (or a chunk of it) for one key.

It must be a good move, cause I've NEVER seen someone try to do the opposite

(at best I've seen someone want to downgrade a key to free up some funds for another book or a non-comic expense, but never so they can go dollar bin diving for 5000 odd issues of drek)

???

What kind of person has a $$$$ key but doesn't already have and can't afford lots of cheaper books they want in their collection?

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