• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Is Now the Best Time or the Worst Time to Invest in Comics?
2 2

Started by GreatCaesarsGhost,

304 posts in this topic

  • Popular Post
thehumantorch

thehumantorch

Posted
  • Popular Post
Posted

I invest in the stock market to make money and preserve my 'wealth'.

I buy comics because I enjoy owning them and I appreciate them as an art form.  If I can own them and enjoy them for many years any value or residual value is a bonus when it comes time to sell them.

I've collected comics for 45 years and I've noticed that genres and or comics from different eras get hot or cold.  As GA or Precode or fill in the blank heats up, collectors with limited means - hint, most of us - look for affordable genres to collect.  We've seen GA and SA keys heat up, we've seen wallets have moved to precode and now we're seeing wallets open up for 50's bargain genres like Romance, Crime and War.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Popular Post
N e r V

N e r V

Posted
  • Popular Post
Posted
On 1/18/2020 at 10:17 AM, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

The stock market has been absolutely insane for the last 2 years.  I guess you take away consumer protections, and its like the training wheels have been taken away:  business is just more profitable.

I'm in this hobby for the love of it, as is everyone here.   But I don't want to lose money, and it just seems crazy to sell stock to buy books.

So . . . is now the best time or the worst time to invest in comics?

With both stocks and real estate the best time always is when both markets are on the down side. They cycle up and down and it goes against your human nature but buying when things are bad and selling (if needed) when things are up is usually the strongest business model to follow. That is not to ever say stop buying anything regardless of market conditions if you are convinced what you are investing in is solid. Opportunities always exist at all times.

Comics are a bit different with some general likely blue chip investments and others requiring a bit of business skill in how and where the market is heading. Since I left the business of selling comics behind years ago I’m in the camp of enjoying collecting with their value as an added bonus. 

Most investment advisors will suggest diversifying your assets so just consider your comic collecting as an extension of your investment portfolio in what you own of value.

How I determine if what I’m collecting is a good investment or not seems to be fortified by the large number of collectors that seem to go after what I already own or am trying to get. I rarely acquire anything these days without a fight to own it so I must be doing something right...:p

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Cat-Man_America

Cat-Man_America

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, Mmehdy said:

I disagree. For the last 50 years every collector, or naysayer has said the same thing..over and over again...its the worst time to buy, its never gonna go up...we are at the top of the market..just like the  guy who sold me Cap1 for 1k said years ago.

If you buy quality material in top condition at a current market fair price...you will be ok..the sky is not falling..prices are gonna fluctuate as trends take over from the 70's to today..things go in and out of favor.

My advice on buying is if you have the money for 10 mid grade GA comics or you can buy 1 ultra high grade comic...I would go with the quality not the quantity especially for investment purposes. 

As far as investment is concerned I would avoid any restored comic book above 1k..unless it A1, Bat 1 or something like that.

It also depends on what the word investment means to you...if it buying a book you have always wanted in a high grade or a widget...just like a coin or stamp on anything. If widgets, buy high quality unrestored GA/SA books as these will be the easiest one to dispose of quickly with particular attention to page quality. White page books will and always will be in very high demand for GA/SA material.

 I hope you fall on the collector/investor side of things such that you can enjoy the investment. GOOD LUCK
 

THIS!  (thumbsu

:tink:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jimbo_7071

jimbo_7071

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 1/18/2020 at 5:44 PM, rjpb said:

There's almost always some niche in the market poised to perform well in the near run, but so much has increased, often exponentially, in the last few years, that I don't know that investing in comics promises much return in the next few years. Investing in collectibles is always a little dicey, as they aren't always that liquid at FMV, the costs of selling are often higher than for other investment vehicles, and they risk being damaged or lost while in your possession. On the plus side, if you buy what you like, you can at least enjoy ownership, even if it turns out to be a bad investment. 

 

I tend to agree, but just like there are small niches in the comic book market that might appreciate in value, there are stocks out there that have far more upside than any comic books.

Since the original post had a Silver Age tag, I have to say that SA material is likely poised for a big fall. Even the early SA keys (AF 15, Showcase 4, FF 1,  Action 252, etc.) are overvalued and have turned out to be far more common than many of us would have guessed.

If you know comic books well and don't know the stock market, you'll probably lose less money in GA comics than you would in the stock market. :flamed:

Edited by jimbo_7071
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Robot Man

Robot Man

Posted
Posted
16 hours ago, Mmehdy said:

I disagree. For the last 50 years every collector, or naysayer has said the same thing..over and over again...its the worst time to buy, its never gonna go up...we are at the top of the market..just like the  guy who sold me Cap1 for 1k said years ago.

If you buy quality material in top condition at a current market fair price...you will be ok..the sky is not falling..prices are gonna fluctuate as trends take over from the 70's to today..things go in and out of favor.

My advice on buying is if you have the money for 10 mid grade GA comics or you can buy 1 ultra high grade comic...I would go with the quality not the quantity especially for investment purposes. 

As far as investment is concerned I would avoid any restored comic book above 1k..unless it A1, Bat 1 or something like that.

It also depends on what the word investment means to you...if it buying a book you have always wanted in a high grade or a widget...just like a coin or stamp on anything. If widgets, buy high quality unrestored GA/SA books as these will be the easiest one to dispose of quickly with particular attention to page quality. White page books will and always will be in very high demand for GA/SA material.

 I hope you fall on the collector/investor side of things such that you can enjoy the investment. GOOD LUCK
 

I agree in principle. For strictly investment purposes buying one key book is smarter. The problem is the higher the grade and price severely limits the possibility for maybe much future growth in your investment. You are gambling that the “market” is going to keep steadily growing at current rates. 

You have a lot smaller a pool of buyers at the top. For every top end buyer, there are 10 buyers that are priced out and have to settle for a lower grade copy. Often, lower grade copies do better at auction. The profit margin can be better. 

Just my observations in 50 years in the hobby...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jimbo_7071

jimbo_7071

Posted
Posted (edited)
50 minutes ago, SuperBird said:

I mean, if you told me 5 years ago that romance and Archie comics would suddenly become hot, I'd have laughed. o.O

 

Archie comics were already hot five years ago. (Time flies.) :baiting:

I don't know much how potential other genres have. I see younger collectors moving away from comic books (and baseball cards, and coins, and stamps) and into video games and tennis shoes. If you had told be 10 years ago that people would be collecting tennis shoes, I would have asked you where you got the drugs.

Edited by jimbo_7071
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Robot Man

Robot Man

Posted
Posted

I am still of the belief that some humor and funny animal books could have legs. Same reason as westerns. 

I have seen a lot of upward movement in crime and war books of late. Used to be you couldn’t give them away. Russ Heath seems to be the new Matt Baker in the war genre.

About the only books I just won’t buy are Classics Illustrated. Just a dead market. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
sconnie_comics

sconnie_comics

Posted
Posted (edited)

I will say that I have never met a video game or comic collector that also collects shoes.  Based on that and a few friends I have that collect shoes, I think they appeal to different people for the most part honestly.  I don't know how many collectors that market could potentially take away from comics though.

 

That said, I think superhero movies have made a decent impact on many young people. I think the movies have could spark a interest in my generation and younger ones to get into collecting comic books years from now when they are older and more of them have greater disposable income, especially key/iconic books if they didn't grow up as readers.  Besides competition from video games, MTG, and other similar hobbies, I think the big question is how the disposable income of my generation and younger will compare to those who are leaving the hobby.  So many younger people have so much debt that it's hard to see their spending in comics comparing with the current comic buyers, but who knows.  If there's anything I've learned first-hand, a bunch of rich and nerdy programmers can support a collectible market pretty well like MTG ;) That market continues to defy my expectations haha.  Overall, even if I can totally see the market going down over the coming years, I think it's totally possible that it comes back around years from now in the future.

Edited by NEED MO DAKKA
Update
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
2 2
Go to topic listing