Do you find many Action Comics' values are stagnant 0

[fishbone]

I love my Actions, there is no doubt. I wouldn't part with them for anything. But I do enjoy watching values go up, it's just fun. Maybe I've been spoiled with many other books and runs over the last 10 to 15 years doing so well....

But my #20 - #100 Action run run is dying a slow death  $$value-wise  over time.

Just a phase ?  or will this continue as other characters grab the spotlight and everyone forgets about the first real superhero ?  

[Yorick]

Everything with its ebbs and flows.

Maybe you should be going after the issues before that set...  Yet, 23 seems to be as hot as ever?

[Stingrayiii]

I would say most of DC is stagnant. Marvel is just more popular right now. But I look at it like this DC is undervalued now, so if you can grab them now.

[MrBedrock]

Now is a GREAT time to be buying Actions in particular and DCs in general. 

[Robot Man]

Never a bad thing to be sitting on a pile of GA Actions. I always preferred Superman’s though because they were mostly all Supe stories. 

I agree with Ritchie. There are bargains to be had now. I have been hoping for years the market would drop on More Fun but It’s yet to happen. I rarely see them for sale, especially lower grade affordable copies. 

Superman & Batman will always be blue chip. 

[AJD]

There are only a couple of Actions I keep an eye on for my war bonds cover collection - #s 58 and 59 - and they don't seem to be stagnant. Maybe I should have a look around for a 59 now?

[thedude]

the market is becoming ever more "key" issue focused, which in the first 100 issues of Action, there aren't a whole lot of key issues. 

so unless it's #1 thru #19, #23, or any of the war cover issues, or super high grade, then prices are stagnate and growth is slow. 

 

[fishbone]

17 hours ago, thedude said:

the market is becoming ever more "key" issue focused, which in the first 100 issues of Action, there aren't a whole lot of key issues. 

so unless it's #1 thru #19, #23, or any of the war cover issues, or super high grade, then prices are stagnate and growth is slow. 

 

Yes, exactly. The Dude abides. 

[Readcomix]

@Hudson 

[Hudson]

Since you say you have no interest in selling your Actions, I would say not to worry about where the prices are and where they are going.  
 

I think the prices of things have gone up so much in the past 10 or so years that the average person no longer believes they can collect an entire run (or even a significant run as you did with 20 - 100). Thus most people will just collect a few in the run (a key, a cool cover, a favorite artist, etc).  This leaves the “demand” for “lesser” books a little wanting.  
 

Should you worry about this?   I don’t know.   Maybe if you plan to sell them or you want a better inheritance for your heirs than you should concern yourself with such things.  
 

As for me (and I own all those books as well), I don’t worry about it at all.  I have no desire to sell my books; so someone else’s opinion of their worth is irrelevant.
 

In fact, I keep hoping for the prices on the earlier Actions ( 1 - 10 ), to fall.   Although I own most of these as well, I would love to pick up additional copies.  Falling prices could really help me achieve this.  
 

So, are non-key, early Actions a bit stagnant?   Perhaps.   Is this a bad thing?  I suppose that all depends on which side of the fence you are looking at it from.  
 

Congrats on your accomplishment of collecting 20 - 100.  This is not an easy or inexpensive feat.  Enjoy your accomplishment and don’t worry about “value”.  Money is a cheap commodity; easy to come by and worthless when it comes to making someone truly happy.  
 

Just my 2 cents.  

[Mmehdy]

On 12/20/2019 at 4:26 PM, MrBedrock said:

Now is a GREAT time to be buying Actions in particular and DCs in general. 

I will second that..

[SuperBird]

Overall the GA DC hero books (Batman aside)seem cheap to me compared to the rest of the market right now. I assume at some point the pendulum will swing back. 

[ThothAmon]

On 12/20/2019 at 3:09 PM, fishbone said:

I love my Actions, there is no doubt. I wouldn't part with them for anything. But I do enjoy watching values go up, it's just fun. Maybe I've been spoiled with many other books and runs over the last 10 to 15 years doing so well....

But my #20 - #100 Action run run is dying a slow death  $$value-wise  over time.

Just a phase ?  or will this continue as other characters grab the spotlight and everyone forgets about the first real superhero ?  

Can’t help feeling that the stagnation has something to do with the character Superman himself. The popular culture buzz of the last 20 years is much more focused on Batman, Wonder Woman and Marvel characters. Superman has been a bit of a dud frankly. Collector demand across all ages of comics bears this out imho. 

Edited December 22, 2019 by ThothAmon

[lou_fine]

5 hours ago, SuperBird said:

Overall the GA DC hero books (Batman aside)seem cheap to me compared to the rest of the market right now. I assume at some point the pendulum will swing back. 

I would say that from viewing auction results here and there over the past few years, this is sadly a pretty accurate observation in most cases.  

Except for certain covers or semi-key issues, many of the DC titles such as Adventure, Superboy, World's Finest, etc. are able to sell at only discounts to condition guide.  I believe this most likely have a lot to do with the nature of their cover images which shall we say certainly leaves a lot to be desired.  

[lou_fine]

21 hours ago, Hudson said:

In fact, I keep hoping for the prices on the earlier Actions ( 1 - 10 ), to fall.   Although I own most of these as well, I would love to pick up additional copies.  Falling prices could really help me achieve this.  

 

On 12/20/2019 at 5:49 PM, thedude said:

so unless it's #1 thru #19, #23, or any of the war cover issues, or super high grade, then prices are stagnate and growth is slow. 

Try telling this to the consignor who just tried to sell their CGC 9.2 highest graded copy of Action 13 in a recent auction and managed to fetch something like only $166K for the book, or at a rather sizable discount to current top of guide valuation at $190K.  

Absolutely shocking from my point of view as I was expecting this book to go for something in the neighborhood of a quarter million dollars or thereabouts.  Especially surprising since Action 13 is a book that has ALWAYS ALWAYS historically sold for not only big premiums, but also at multiples to condition guide in the past before, as clearly evident by the fact that a raw Poor condition copy was able to fetch almost $15K a few years ago.  Even more so when you consider that the CGC 9.2 graded Atlantic City Copy was able to fetch $185K in a CC Auction back in 2011 when top of guide for this book was set at only a piddly $30K.  

From watching the timing of the auction bids, it was clear the the winner should be ecstatic with their win as they clearly had a higher bid in on the book before the end of the auction.  So much for the opt-repeated conspiracy theory of possible shill bidding in auctions, at least in this particular case.  Especially since the lack of additional bidders willing to up the bid in this particular go round this time is what kept the price down so low.  That plus the fact that it's also probably not a good idea to bring such a high profile book like this one here back into the marketplace so soon after just a year and hope to make any money on it.    

I guess this is where we can also cue in @tth2 latest version of his tagline, that is:  "sometimes he really DOES love this hobby".  

Edited December 22, 2019 by lou_fine

[rjpb]

The non-key, non-villain cover DC books seem to have seen no real price movement in a years, and even some slippage. Exceptions might be Batman titles in general, WW2 cover Actions, Spectre covers, and a few other "cool" cover books. 

They aren't alone. Few people collect Superhero runs any more, and while collectors may be willing to move beyond the consensus "classic covers" when looking for non-keys, they still want something in the cover or content that stands out when they are laying out money for what will essentially be a sampling of a given title, whether it's punching nazis, some nice GGA art, interesting compositions or a memorably oddball story. Non-pedigree random issues that lack any of these qualities end up selling mostly to completists, dealers, or those who feel priced out of more desirable books in the run. Shorter runs and perennial favorites like Cap or Batman may be less effected, though even there the prices for the more desirable books as compared to the run-of-the-mill issues show larger gaps than they have in the past. 

 

[Yorick]

I know the thread was meant to address #20-100, but I've been seeing more interest lately in the atomic era Actions.  Perhaps the Superman collectors have what they want of the first 100 issues and focus is shifting to the next series of issues.  I've always felt that nice copies of 20-100 were more plentiful than nice copies of 1950's issues (just my own perception).

Additionally, would a NEW collector want to jump into this series knowing that it'll probably be a cold day in hell before they're able to FINISH the set with issues 1-19?

[SuperBird]

On 12/20/2019 at 7:52 PM, AJD said:

There are only a couple of Actions I keep an eye on for my war bonds cover collection - #s 58 and 59 - and they don't seem to be stagnant. Maybe I should have a look around for a 59 now?

59 is one of the tougher books to find. It was actually the last one I needed for my run. 

[bpc3qh]

I posted something similar in a SA thread in a slightly different context, but I feel like a lot of GA/SA DC books are undervalued at the moment. This definitely includes the non-key Actions encompassed by this discussion.

[circumstances]

I'm a big fan of some Actions from 20 to 70 or so and I want to buy them alllllll