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The Great Collectibles Bubble: Waiting To Pop?
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343 posts in this topic

2 hours ago, Randall Ries said:

Well said. My wife and I spoke of that this morning. Well, I spoke. She half listened. She suggested selling some books to pay down debt and I wasn't even into THAT idea. Now, I'm out the book and the debt is still there albeit somewhat lower. If it were food or mortgage money then yes. What choice is there? But card debt and things like that? I'll sell blood and sperm first.

If I wanted a Bat 227 in 9.6 (I do) then how many books do I sell that I love just to get at that issue/grade? I have offered to trade an All-Star 7 7.0 for that book but no one bit. 5-10 years ago that offer would have been snapped up quickly. Goes to show that a significant book like the AS7 has to run harder to keep up with the nutsy prices of bronze age books now. Even though I believe the AS7 has the wind for the long haul. Which I don't thing most bronze, copper and moderns do. Not all but most.

I hope you are joking. You mention selling a Batman book in 9.4 and now you want to buy the same book but you can only afford an 8.0. 

Then you mention your wife wants to sell some books to lower your credit card debt and you act like she is nuts. That is just sad. I strongly suggest you re-examine your priorities.   

What choice is there? Indeed.

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I plan on paying college for my girls with my keys collection at this rate.   Pickup up a GSXM 1 on ebay last april, 9.4 that wasnt pressed.  paid 3800    Sent it in for claremont earlier this year and pressed it.  came back a 9.6.  According to ebay

i can cover 1st year tuition just one that book alone.   KEEP RISING BUBBLE!!!!!!

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5 minutes ago, Darkowl said:

If it's bored, rich people, I'm genuinely curious as to how they made their way over here. But like you said, could have been as simple as some small talk over a coffee and bagel.

 News travels pretty fast, I guess.

Yes sir. I remember when the housing market popped. Someone was freaking out on CSPAN and he panicked and said "What are we supposed to do NOW? COLLECT VINTAGE COMIC BOOKS???" LOL!

At some point, someone must have stored that panic attack in the backs of their mind.

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1 minute ago, god503 said:

I plan on paying college for my girls with my keys collection at this rate.   Pickup up a GSXM 1 on ebay last april, 9.4 that wasnt pressed.  paid 3800    Sent it in for claremont earlier this year and pressed it.  came back a 9.6.  According to ebay

i can cover 1st year tuition just one that book alone.   KEEP RISING BUBBLE!!!!!!

I wonder what's rising in price faster, college or comics? lol

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People are Buying anything, and I mean ANYTHING!
I had someone buy all my over priced Star Wars 8's...
When I bought them, I thought that someone might make a run at these because of the cute first app...
But they cleaned me OUT of none-the-less JAXXON the green rabbit!
I feel like this is a Twilight Zone episode where Spawn 1's will command 10k in 9.8.

O.o

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Just now, Randall Ries said:

Yes sir. I remember when the housing market popped. Someone was freaking out on CSPAN and he panicked and said "What are we supposed to do NOW? COLLECT VINTAGE COMIC BOOKS???" LOL!

At some point, someone must have stored that panic attack in the backs of their mind.

Or in long boxes and slabs

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Just now, Wally's Comics said:

People are Buying anything, and I mean ANYTHING!
I had someone buy all my over priced Star Wars 8's...
When I bought them, I thought that someone might make a run at these because of the cute first app...
But they cleaned me OUT of none-the-less JAXXON the green rabbit!
I feel like this is a Twilight Zone episode where Spawn 1's will command 10k in 9.8.

O.o

I hope so... I have my spawn 1 signed by todd AND George Perez!!!

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4 minutes ago, Darkowl said:

I wonder what's rising in price faster, college or comics? lol

Hell yes. I respect the love you have for your girls but man. College these days seems like a scam as well. Student debt. Dumbing down curriculum. Man. I don't think I would be able to sell my books that I felt may not have a return. College is dicey now.

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24 minutes ago, Darkowl said:

If it's bored, rich people, I'm genuinely curious as to how they made their way over here. But like you said, could have been as simple as some small talk over a coffee and bagel.

 News travels pretty fast, I guess.

"Did you hear Nic Cage might not be as crazy as we thought?"

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17 minutes ago, Randall Ries said:

Hell yes. I respect the love you have for your girls but man. College these days seems like a scam as well. Student debt. Dumbing down curriculum. Man. I don't think I would be able to sell my books that I felt may not have a return. College is dicey now.

I was talking to my dad the other day. He attended college back in the late 60's, and said that he was able to pay for his college upfront. He was a busboy. He paid for college upfront with his busboy money. Unreal.

It's pretty mind-blowing how expensive college is these days. You either have to go into massive amounts of debt, get a scholarship, or be lucky enough to have parents who are willing to pay for it in order to attend.

Not to mention that MOST college degrees are completely worthless. You either go to college, because you really want to study something (regardless of pay), or you go into I.T. or the healthcare field if you want "good" money and stability. Otherwise, you'll be stuck with an overpriced college bill that will take 20 years to pay off, and a career that brings in 40K a year, which you'll then have to get a second job at Starbucks just so that you can make ends meet. 

Trade schools and accelerated colleges have become really popular lately due to the uprise in standard college tuition. My brother only spent 3K on welding school that only took him a year to complete, and he already has a steady, good paying job. 

Things are most definitely changing.

 

 

Edited by Darkowl
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14 minutes ago, shadroch said:

I hope you are joking. You mention selling a Batman book in 9.4 and now you want to buy the same book but you can only afford an 8.0. 

Then you mention your wife wants to sell some books to lower your credit card debt and you act like she is nuts. That is just sad. I strongly suggest you re-examine your priorities.   

What choice is there? Indeed.

Oh no. To put perspective on it: The 9.4 I traded 3 or 4 years ago. Always regretted doing it because it was such a pretty book. No one knew what would be happening right NOW, you know? So, I bought an 8.0 JUST before that $30k sale of the Pennyworth thing. And JUST before this whole comics market went wonky.

And we aren't dead broke. Not selling my books to pay off cc debt. Nope. I would file bankruptcy first. I WOULD sell them to buy food or magic beans, however. Look: We haven't even BEGUN to see the fallout from COVID. A LOT of people are going to default on loans and cc debt. That is just a fact. I can't keep up with mine so I send what I can. Do they LIKE that? NO! However, as I say, EVERYONE and EVERYTHING is going to be impacted by COVID. INCLUDING banks and corporations who feel they can just do business as usual with people who have just been decimated by a disease they had no hand in creating. That is not realistic and they are going to find that out. Just like WE found out when 85% of our clients bid us "adieu" over a weekend. ONE WEEKEND. 16 years up in POOF.

So what we are seeing HERE is a bunch of people who either HAD a lot of money to begin with or weren't affected all that much by COVID. They could work from home or telecommute or whatever it is that they did. Their income wasn't affected. NOT the case with us or restaurants or bars or anywhere that one would go out to so they could blow their cash, etc. Like concerts. Small venues shuttered. Musicians doing webcasts instead.

Really, my credit score can kiss my saggy behind now. Not going to be held hostage by it. Not by them. Not by my sense of "honor" or "dignity". This is the dawn of a whole new game. People just don't fully realize it yet.

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3 minutes ago, Darkowl said:

I was talking to my dad the other day. He attended college back in the late 60's, and said that he was able to pay for his college upfront. He was a busboy. He paid for college upfront with his busboy money. Unreal.

It's pretty mind-blowing how expensive college is these days. You either have to go into massive amounts of debt, get a scholarship, or be lucky enough to have parents who are willing to pay for it in order to attend.

Not to mention that MOST college degrees are completely worthless. You either go to college, because you really want to study something (regardless of pay), or you go into I.T. or the healthcare field if you want "good" money and stability. Otherwise, you'll be stuck with an overpriced college bill that will take 20 years to pay off, and a career that brings in 40K a year, which you'll then have to get a second job at Starbucks just so that you can make ends meet. 

Trade schools and accelerated colleges have become really popular lately due to the uprise in standard college tuition. My brother only spent 3K on welding school that only took him a year to complete, and he already has a steady, good paying job. 

Things are most definitely changing.

 

 

That's right. Want perspective? Talk to your parents or grandparents. I laugh at people who try to tell me "Things were ALWAYS this way!" No. That is incorrect. When I went to college, UVM was $10k per year. That's peanuts compared to what it is now. Families supported themselves on ONE INCOME. So Mom was home watching over us and Dad had to go out and bust his aggies. But it was common. Then someone decided one day that wasn't good enough and WOMEN should be able to go out and compete. And so they did. Never stopping to wonder if it was going to be worth the sacrifice. IMO, it WASN'T. And here we are. Need 3 incomes to live in the same manner as we did in the 1960's and 1970's. People worn out. No Mom or Dad at home for guidance. We got sold a bill of goods over egos and defiance.

And yes. I can make as much as a college educated person learning plumbing. Welding. Auto body repair. Carpentry. Know who makes a damned good living? Handymen. Self employed handymen. A guy around here calls his business "Husband For A Day". Makes a killing. ALWAYS overbooked. LOL! THERE'S you college degree. Become self employed, young man. Make your own calls. Set the pay bar. Just make sure it's an all weather business.

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1 hour ago, Randall Ries said:

I don't take spend on a vacation. Not that they are bad, but there's no return on the money I would spend. Just gone. I can hike in the woods around here and look for my archaeological sites for free. I really have to think about what I'm doing with money. We buy ourselves a present once in awhile but it has to be something with value. Like I might buy a comic book. Some book that I love but is also worth the money I spend on it.

I don't think this would all be going down if not for COVID.

Yeah, we don’t really spend either...just enough for fuel so that we can travel around to obscure places, then camp out.  We’re pretty self contained.  Unfortunately, if we travel out of state, my wife has to spend two weeks in self quarantine...company requirements.  So weekend trips only for now, and we camp.  Doesn’t happen during the winter, of course.  We’re getting too old for that nonsense. :roflmao:

Edited by Galen130
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This is not like the 90s. Two important factors why

1. Back in the 90s, there were hardly any superhero movies. Today not only we have blockbuster movies, but we also have weekly Disney+ superhero shows, plus some other b-class shows like Arrow-verse, Batwoman, etc. Superhero is mainstream now. It's not just reserved to the niche geeky market like in the 70s-90s

2. Internet/Online marketplace, let say your 'hypothetical bubble' burst, who wouldn't jump on IH181 CGC 9+ at 5K??? ....lots of people will. With internet the marketplace is open-wide. Unless there's another Great Depression where even the upper-class need to have access to some cash, no one is dumping these semi-luxury items in hordes

 

Edited by IronMan_Cave
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1 hour ago, Randall Ries said:

Hell yes. I respect the love you have for your girls but man. College these days seems like a scam as well. Student debt. Dumbing down curriculum. Man. I don't think I would be able to sell my books that I felt may not have a return. College is dicey now.

When they are done with college is when I officially stop working and retire.  I have a home on and island in greece and a home in pune India.  I plan on splitting up my time between those 2 places and where my girls are so I need to be mobile.  My comics will serve a purpose but in the end u can't take them with you...  got to enjoy life. 

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