Do you think the value of comics will eventually tank? 1 1

[AwesomeSauce]

I began collecting, mostly Spider-Man issues, when I was just 6, in 1976. I fell in love with collecting comics! I couldn't wait to get my small allowance, so I could run to the corner newsstand and buy the next issue of ASM. When people would bend down to ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I'd always say: "I want to be a comic book collector." In 2018, I sold my childhood collection of raw books, and decided to begin collecting CGC books. In the past two years, I've amassed a collection of about 200 graded comics. I love the hobby, but took it back up, in part, because I saw it as an investment opportunity. Like others, I figured the books would markedly increase in value over the next 10 - 20 years. I decided that then I could pass them on to my 3 boys when they grow up. 

Some, on the boards, are of the opinion that comics are going to tank in value with the new generations succeeding mine. This is a disturbing notion to me, for obvious reasons. These opinions express that the new generations are not into print media, like physical books, comics, and newspapers. I'm curious what others' opinions are on this topic. Do you think comics, both raw and CGC graded, will continue to become more and more valuable with the passing of time? Or are you one who is of the opinion that, with the reliance of new generations on online publications, comics will eventually begin to depreciate?

[1950's war comics]

yes i think they will go the way of stamps , but the question is when... probably not for another 15 yrs or so

[shadroch]

Yes would be the one word answer. 

Very few modern comics will ever be worth what they cost when new, so if you are buying current books as an investment it is a poor way to invest.  If you are buying books to stick in a vault for 50 years to pay for your grandchildren, you can do much better elsewhere. 

If you are taking some of your discretionary funds and buying blue chip comics with established track records, you could do a lot worse.

If it can develop into a hobby you can share with your sons, it is money well sent.

[theCapraAegagrus]

Yes, without question.

[Glassman10]

Once demand drops, the prices follow. Most comics don't sustain interest in the longer run. I mean, look at my Hopalong Cassidy's from 1948. (who?) Poor value and they smell bad. 

Some titles will likely retain value. Early Action Comics, Detective comics, Early Batman , Spiderman and the FF4 will hold on a long time but again, demand rules.  To get some perspective, I had the 950 comics that divided into two groups, Keys and dreck ( or dreck lite). The keys brought me a handsome return on what was really only a love affair but the dreck which was all pre 1970's marvel got me $3.75 each. They cost me .12 each. I was not unhappy at all but if it's a love affair, just do it but don't expect to sail off on the QE2. The guys making money are the slabbers and graders. 

Edited December 21, 2020 by Glassman10

[jimbo_7071]

Any hobby that is connected to pop culture has a shelf life.

I do think that comic books will eventually tank, but it is very difficult to predict when.

I don't think collecting comic books will still be a mainstream hobby fifty years from now, but it might have twenty good years left. I think of the money I put into comics as money spent on a hobby. Some people spend money on hobbies such as travel, horseback riding, hang gliding, etc., without expect to recoup the money that they've spent. I'm single with no kids, so I don't have to worry about what my assets will be worth after I'm gone. (Even if I had a family, I'd consider myself free to put a little money into my hobby, but I'd have to put more of my money into safer investments.)

The comics that will tank first are the Bronze, Copper, and Modern books that are fetching hundreds or even thousands of dollars right now. There are too many raw copies out there. The supply will eventually be much greater than the demand, even for key books like Hulk 181. When I seen books like ASM 252 or ASM 300 selling for hundreds of dollars, I have a good chuckle. Every collector that I knew was hoarding multiple copies of those books when they came out—bagging and boarding them right off the rack. The number of high-grade raw copies out there must be staggering. Most of those copies won't find a market at anything close to current prices.

GA superhero books will survive the longest, but only the ones featuring mainstream superheroes like Batman, Superman, and Captain America.

The auction houses see the writing on the wall. They're already transitioning out of comic books and into video games. The collectible video game market won't last forever, either, but it's much earlier in its life cycle than the collectible comic book market.

Edited December 29, 2020 by jimbo_7071

[EmoJackson]

Of course they will, now that I finally started looking back at what I have in my collection.  Murphy's law for me. 

[FoggyNelson]

I collect for fun an if the value goes up that’s just extra bonus‼️‼️👍👍best to invest in stocks rather than collectibles 

[revat]

I think for the purpose the discussion, probably should define the use of the word "tank".  To me, using that word indicates a sudden significant drop of the entire market, as opposed to 'what will happen to the value of comics in the long run?'

or maybe i've been using 'tank' wrong?  

[Glassman10]

Age does not imply value. If you go back to the golden age, most comics have some value if in average condition, but not that much. Extremely fine condition does do well  partially because the number of them in that condition is tiny. Even so, most comics in mid range will not pass $3-400 dollars easily.  Some indeed defy that as they do in the silver age It just depends on who has the cash and the interest to buy them. Nick Cage was a good example of having them and then needing to sell them. In the 2008 recession, the $8,000 dollar Rolex was dead in the water while the $250,000 thousand one was two years back ordered. People buy those things to flash in front of the plebs. 

I knew a gallery owner in Santa Fe who said "Everyone has a unit value. It may be five dollars and it may be $20,000 dollars. It was the amount one could spend in the family without incurring a conversation.." Conversations are deal breakers."   He went on to say "I only want people in my gallery that have $20,000 unit values."

So all in all, it's pretty weird to think about when the average person in Africa owns the clothes on their back. Tribal African weapons and shields bring good money. So does Ivory. 

[comicginger1789]

A question I have...

Do shop owners have a lot of young teens buying comics? Have they for the past couple decades? Kids really aren't buying comics but if generations of young teens are consistently jumping into the hobby when they hit 16-19 or whatever (and have their first jobs and some cash to burn) then I can see this hobby sustaining itself for a long time. That being said, "old and cool" to these kids it stuff from the 90s, like first Venom or Carnage. Going further back does not peak the interest of them as much, for the most part.

Now, there are a LOT of 90s kids like me with money and comics were still a big thing back then and part of our childhood. I fear that the group of people in the next gen who grew up in the 2000s will not find as much of a childhood connection to comics, meaning it could really drop off once us 90s kids get old and stop or pass away. There might become a point in 2070 where there are a whackload of collectors trying to sell stuff (like me) and the demand/interest may not be there for those books, outside of keys and characters they connect with most. 

[comicginger1789]

The market is so wild right now because, and I mean this with no disrespect, but a lot of the "younger" collectors are not the brightest. Same for older collectors who stopped in the 90s but within the last decade have gotten back into comics. They see a movie announcement of some kind, bam, they buy that book. Little thought, just the hope for more money in terms of a sale down the road. These are the people who paid $35-50 for the first time Cap lifted Thor's hammer in Thor whatever issue it was when it happened in the movie. Those books you see alerted to you on whatever app or feature you use as having gone from dollar bin stuff to $15-20 books is ridiculous. I fear that too much of that could hurt the hobby when you have people who, 8 months later try to make a profit of such a book that is no longer worth that at all. Instead, this overpricing drives collectors towards other things and can serve as a deterrent for new collectors. A new collector or future collector upon reminiscing about the movie could be like "hey, that moment in the movie was cool, I want the comic" and find people trying to sell it for a crazy amount which only deters them from buying or getting into the hobby. 

Edited December 30, 2020 by comicginger1789

[The Lions Den]

Scenario #1: The comics market will eventually dwindle into a hard core group of diehard collectors. These collectors will defy all the odds and single-handedly keep the hobby afloat. However, as I hear has happened in the coin hobby, the same items will keep circulating around until they either wind up in permanent collections or wither away to dust. This scenario actually bums me out, so I'm moving on to greener pastures...

Scenario #2: The comics market will be flooded with modern comics that will eventually become what Golden and Silver Age comics are now. The Golden/Silver Age books will become too pricey and too hard to find and new discoveries within that era will become virtually non-existent. In addition, many of the Golden/Silver Age collectors will pass away (sorry) and eventually there'll only be a couple of guys that own all the older books. But it won't really matter, because the modern collectors don't care about those books anyway. Not a perfect scenario, but slightly more optimistic than the first one...

Scenario #3 (my personal favorite): The comics market will thrive like never before. More mega-movies will be released to universal acclaim and videogames will explode with a host of new and inventive comic related games, driving the market to previously unknown heights. New comic books will command insane prices and the older books will be even more revered and sought after. Older collectors will realize incredible gains when they sell their prized comics to a new and hungry generation of avid fans. CGC and CCS will subsequently become heavyweight titans of the corporate world, larger and more powerful than ever before. And since comics are such a wholesome hobby, all of the enthusiasts in our hobby will live incredibly long lives, produce virile offspring and keep the hobby alive for generations to come...   

[shadroch]

I would like a hit of whatever you imbibed for the third scenario.

[Glassman10]

Intrinsic to success in collecting anything is that you are collecting something everyone thinks is worthless from the get go and will remain that way. I think they call it Ephemera. . That's the fundamental problem with the late arriving collector. It's like collecting Lincoln cents once the federal reserve building was on the back of the coin. I remember going through rolls of coins in a bank parking lot in Ohio and never finding anything newer than steel pennies from 1943. I found a 1909 s VDB with mint luster on it at one point. I sold it to my brother and bought a 1937 three legged Buffalo Nickle.  Paying .12 cents  for a comic at the news stand gave many of us a gift we never recognized at the time.  To make it worse, we failed to try to keep the bulk of them in decent condition. I remember my Challengers of the Unknown with an Orange Crush on the beach and feeling that hot sand surround me. The memories are wonderful. 

Then you make it your job to collect and spoil everything. 

 

Edited December 31, 2020 by Glassman10

[Buzzetta]

Honestly... it depends on media. 

When, "A Night at the Museum" debuted, there was an increase in attendance to the Museum of Natural History where they even host sleepover private parties these days... well, not this year... 

Media support and tie ins cross pollinate product.   

A constant deluge of Transformers Cartoons have helped support the toy line since 1984.  In fact the years that the line dwindled and was almost permanently cancelled in America was when there was no media support.  As an example, I basically got into comic books because I wanted to read about the adventures of my GI Joe toys when I was a kid.  

Now this scenario is putting aside the digital vs paper hardcopy debate.  However, as long as the characters are marketed, and there are cartoons, movies, TV shows and the like, comic characters are not going to die.  They will remain in the public consciousness.  As long as that happens, there will be an interest in the comic book itself.  It may not be the primary attraction of a character, but the kid that is enchanted by the PS5 Miles Morales video game, is going to want a Miles Morales shirt.  They may then seek out a trade paperback of collected stories.  If they like the character that much and have some disposable income then they will seek out the characters' first appearance.

That's how it works.   We are no longer in an age where one area of the industry can survive without cross platforming to other avenues. 

So, in short, so long as the video games and movies and t shirts are being printed of these characters, these characters will be viable and their exploits will be sought out in the comic book form. 

 

 

 

[HuddyBee]

I feel like tank is the wrong word. To compare comics to stamps, stamp collecting clearly isn't what it once was but it's still a large hobby, and I doubt it will ever go away. Plenty of stamps hold decent value. I definitely don't think comics will continue to rise in value like they are now. But I think plenty of books will still see some gains over a long period of time. I don't think many modern & bronze books will, but I think silver and gold are fairly safe.

Superheroes have been a HUGE part of our culture for close to 100 years now, and I doubt that will change. They're kind of like America's version of Greek Mythology. I doubt comic collecting will reach similar heights again, but as long as superheroes are popular (which I think will be a loooong time) I don't foresee comic collecting tanking.

[Prince Namor]

Still plenty of 30, 40 and 50 year old guys who enjoy going to a small show and finding things they're interested in or picking up things on eBay or in auctions. You probably have another 20 years of that. 

By that time though... the generation following up... and the comics they may buy today... looks bleak to me. 

[RickSp]

As other posts have mentioned the values of certain comics will likely live and die by their related media attention but hopefully the good old golden/silver age stuff will forever be popular as a part of publishing history. No doubt many modern comics will eventually fall into this category too based on their cultural impact with new readers.

Can you imagine though that if the worst was to happen and for whatever reason the interest really did drop off in 20 years, if you were still a comics fan as many of us will always be, suddenly you could afford anything you wanted..... And this wouldn't be because you think its going to make you rich but because you simply love comics and would enjoy and appreciate them.

[YusakeYojimbo]

One thing going for comics is that there will always be a nostalgia for the time before our world became digital and each individuals attention was split up into 10,000 tiny pieces, 1000's of tv channels, 10s of thousands of "social media celebrities" and millions of website. Cultural elements that  come from before that tend to hold their value, as they held a greater % of the mindshare of our population as a whole. 

As an example look at the incredible staying power of musicians, actors, celebrities who were at their peak during the years of 2000-2005, the years when the world went digital. They are disproportionately still global phenomenons. Why is that? The manner in which these individuals were able to hold our attention completely for 10+ years because there were only 25 channels available to us on TV, is not something that can be duplicated by tends of thousands of social media influencers all filling those same spots. People nowadays can have one of their videos go viral with 25+Million views and not even become famous. Within seconds something else has caught our attention. That is why those "super heroes of pre 90s" have so much staying power and aren't replaced anytime soon. Argument can be made that comics will increase in value for this reason, they are remnants of a cherished time. 

 

Edited January 11, 2021 by YusakeYojimbo