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Are Comic books dead or dying?
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339 posts in this topic

5 hours ago, the blob said:

The comic companies seem to be claiming they are selling more new issues than in years. Back issue collecting is wayyyy up. This is an odd time to be asking if comics are dead or dying. Maybe next year if the new blood is bored with comics.

I was in a shop the other day and a guy came in asking for Brsrker 1. The shop was actually sold out. I guess they did not go the 1000 copies route to get variants, although they have 2 locations, so they might have been able to.

My LCS repeatedly says things are going well. Often the response is "really well."

If comics are dying, they've taken a trip to Vegas to live it up before the big heavy comes.

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Look at coin collecting.  U.S. coins.  If you consider comics to be an "unhealthy" collecting environment, then coins should have been buried long ago.  Yet, other than stratification and a flight to quality, they still keep going.  Just like with coins, most of the guys in this forum will buy comics until they die.  So you have at least that long to even start to worry about it.

Regarding selling your comics to diversify.  Imagine if a financial planner told Bill Gates in the 1980s that most of his fortune was tied to one stock, so he needed to sell off most of them to buy some mutual funds.  Diversifying is how you play it safe.  Focusing is how you get rich (or go broke).  Choose a path.

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18 minutes ago, Westy Steve said:

Look at coin collecting.  U.S. coins.  If you consider comics to be an "unhealthy" collecting environment, then coins should have been buried long ago.  Yet, other than stratification and a flight to quality, they still keep going.  Just like with coins, most of the guys in this forum will buy comics until they die.  So you have at least that long to even start to worry about it.

Regarding selling your comics to diversify.  Imagine if a financial planner told Bill Gates in the 1980s that most of his fortune was tied to one stock, so he needed to sell off most of them to buy some mutual funds.  Diversifying is how you play it safe.  Focusing is how you get rich (or go broke).  Choose a path.

I agree! I also do stocks, precious metals (I would look at palladium)! I also just have money sitting in the bank but as it turns out my comic book Collection is one that is worth more then my stock (only about $30k~ since 2014, like Tesla, apple, google, space x and etc). And I did not even plan it to have a Collection worth that much! 

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7 hours ago, Jasonmorris1000000 said:

When new comics stopped coming out in April 2020 due to COVID-19, I overreacted and thought that would be the final nail in the coffin for printed comics.  I believed that when/if new comic stories returned that they would be digital only.  I’m so glad I was wrong.  I’ll continue to buy new comics until either I die or the art form does.  I’m like you and have been saving all my comics since I was 6.  I’m currently 47 and enjoy reading and collecting as much as I did 41 years ago.  I have a suspicion that you’ll never outgrow it either.  I’ve enjoyed reading your posts and you seem very intelligent.  I have a feeling by the time you’re my age you’ll be rich in addition to having a spectacular comic book collection.

Thank you and I sincerely deeply appreciate it! Am glad to see people like you in the hobby and thank you for leaving a comment!

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2 hours ago, Wolverinex said:

Space X doesn't have stock.

I know it's a private company but you can buy stocks that Space X uses which basically means its space x. Example you can buy stock in the company where they get their electronical hardware, where they get the metals, what type of metals so am investing into space X because every time they do a test flight or try something new or even talk about it those things from those companies. IE. Like Raytheon a military contractor who specializes in computer systems. Which happens to be the same used by space x.

Edited by Matthew Kyle Brasile
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Screenshot_20210401-102832.thumb.png.5e34025a26d9fad19e5923a782824554.png

1 hour ago, oakman29 said:

I have 60K wrapped up  in 1 book. Do you think I'm worried? Dont be worried and just enjoy your time on this earth. Collecting comic books are supposed to be fun first and foremost, the value of them is just a byproduct. 

True and

 

I know it's a private company but you can buy stocks that Space X uses which basically means its space x. Example you can buy stock in the company where they get their electronical hardware, where they get the metals, what type of metals so am investing into space X because every time they do a test flight or try something new or even talk about it those things from those companies. IE. Like Raytheon a military contractor who specializes in computer systems. Which happens to be the same used by space x. It's like you can not buy stock from Koenigsegg directly (car company) but you can buy where he gets his materials from and when they release a new car it goes up in price. Here's an example

 

Edited by Matthew Kyle Brasile
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My favorite LCS closed in early 2018, but it was not due to the business not being strong. He was able to employ two guys full time, in addition to the owner being there 3-4 days a week, and another part time guy, and this was with NYC minimum wage of, then, $14 I think, maybe $15. I forget the details, but I think the landlord tried to jack up his rent $3,000 or something like that, so the business was no longer feasible, as the rent was already $5000. That $3000 (which was probably the cash he put in his pocket and did not pay taxes on) a month was what likely it made it viable for him to come in 3-4 days a week to run the place (he had other stuff going on). The store, to this date, has sat empty since they left, no tenant was interested in paying $8K for 300 square feet of store or whatever it was.

 

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15 minutes ago, Matthew Kyle Brasile said:

Screenshot_20210401-102832.thumb.png.5e34025a26d9fad19e5923a782824554.png

True and

 

I know it's a private company but you can buy stocks that Space X uses which basically means its space x. Example you can buy stock in the company where they get their electronical hardware, where they get the metals, what type of metals so am investing into space X because every time they do a test flight or try something new or even talk about it those things from those companies. IE. Like Raytheon a military contractor who specializes in computer systems. Which happens to be the same used by space x. It's like you can not buy stock from Koenigsegg directly (car company) but you can buy where he gets his materials from and when they release a new car it goes up in price. Here's an example

 

they may benefit from spaceX, but it is a pretty indirect way of investing in the company. and if spacex decides to use a different supplier? and the materials supplier is never going to have the crazy P/E valuations a tech company would have if public. if spaceX is considered a tech company. who knows?

 

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4 minutes ago, oakman29 said:

You are obviously a young man,  and new around here.😊

I just turned 22 last October! And I may have different views from my peers that doesn't mean I don't suffer from the last generations issues. Millennials made sure that everyone (Gen Z) now has 15 feet of soft cushions for everything. I thought by going to college I would experience real life to get ready for it but at every turn I have to be worried about what I say so I don't get expelled and black listed. It's hard to experience the real world when everywhere I go basically has training wheels on it and after high school I realized this is wildly_fanciful_statement 😂 am just venting now anyway and yes I only joined last month 😂

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Just now, the blob said:

they may benefit from spaceX, but it is a pretty indirect way of investing in the company. and if spacex decides to use a different supplier? and the materials supplier is never going to have the crazy P/E valuations a tech company would have if public. if spaceX is considered a tech company. who knows?

 

I agree but it's pretty indirect but it's the best solution to a popular problem and so far it's been paying off really well! 😂 When there's a will there's way! I would assume space x will fall under the same guide lines as a military contractor due to them using some of NASAs technology and members for engineering and development! I would be lying if I said I knew exactly but that's best everyone could come up with on reddit!

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1 minute ago, the blob said:

I am beginning to wonder where a 22 year old got all this investment money. Were you a herbalife salesperson in high school?

No.😂I worked my off for 13+ years and now that I actually work work I take 5% out of my pay check for things I enjoy like my guitars or comics! my grandparents gave me $100 for my birthday EACH! That's $400. Plus I would rack leaves, shovel snow, cut grass basically all year long and I would do it over and over and over again for $40 bucks and for 13 years it adds up. I would do as many houses a week that would want me! I would take home about $160-$320 a day and I would go further and further out making new clients. And during the summer I would cut grass and do yard work! Open pools! Etc so it adds up! Also my dad sold some of his collectables to help fund me Early on in my hobby and supported me! And I would not spend money on things I did not need like drinking, drugs or anything else a 22 year old would spend money on. I have some friends who spend hundreds a week on just drinking and partying. 

 

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11 minutes ago, Matthew Kyle Brasile said:

I agree but it's pretty indirect but it's the best solution to a popular problem and so far it's been paying off really well! 😂 When there's a will there's way! I would assume space x will fall under the same guide lines as a military contractor due to them using some of NASAs technology and members for engineering and development! I would be lying if I said I knew exactly but that's best everyone could come up with on reddit!

most 22 year olds are still spending 5 hours a day screaming at Call of Duty, so you're ahead of the game. At 22 I was in law school and building a decent collection... mainly because my student loans gave me about $2000 a year extra for "personal expenses"... probably not the wisest way to spend the money, but I didn't do much partying or bar hopping in law school and lived at home, so I was saving a lot of money.

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