Buyers: What is your plan for the current insanity? 3 3

[comicdonna]

On 4/4/2021 at 12:43 PM, Off Panel said:

 

So, what about the rest of you? Are you swimming with the sharks or eating popcorn on the sidelines?

 

I am going to invest in a time machine.  

[innocuous]

1 hour ago, Shrevvy said:

I have 20+ bicycles including a couple team bikes. I contemplated buying an Eddy Merckx Paris-Roubaix bike earlier this year that would have been well north of your friends bike. It would not have been ridden regularly, but I would have had to ride it at least once. Competition can be fierce for the right bike. There is money sloshing around every where.

Comics and bikes. Nothing better. I got a bike last year with Di2 and now can never go back.

[Shrevvy]

11 minutes ago, innocuous said:

Comics and bikes. Nothing better. I got a bike last year with Di2 and now can never go back.

I like all bikes, but my love is 1970s-1980s race bikes. I road my '85 Pinarello Montello tonight. I am still a bit surprised at values in that collectibles category. Outside a handful of big names (Merckx, Lemond, Hinault), values are still very reasonable. I have Davis Phinney's bike from one of his Coors Classic races. It would probably cost more today, but Comics are definitely pricier (as are sports cards, video games, etc). I probably would pay something stupid if I had an opportunity buy a Lemond Tour or Worlds bike. Problem is, I think there would be others that would pay something even more stupid. It is harder to follow values, but prices are definitely up quite a bit for certain bikes. That's why I take what is happening in comics a bit in stride. Nearly all assets are up. I am still a buyer of comics and bikes (and probably a few other things).

[KCOComics]

1 hour ago, Shrevvy said:

I like all bikes, but my love is 1970s-1980s race bikes. I road my '85 Pinarello Montello tonight. I am still a bit surprised at values in that collectibles category. Outside a handful of big names (Merckx, Lemond, Hinault), values are still very reasonable. I have Davis Phinney's bike from one of his Coors Classic races. It would probably cost more today, but Comics are definitely pricier (as are sports cards, video games, etc). I probably would pay something stupid if I had an opportunity buy a Lemond Tour or Worlds bike. Problem is, I think there would be others that would pay something even more stupid. It is harder to follow values, but prices are definitely up quite a bit for certain bikes. That's why I take what is happening in comics a bit in stride. Nearly all assets are up. I am still a buyer of comics and bikes (and probably a few other things).

I had an early 90s LeMond Alpe D'Huez. Steal frame, down tube shifting.  I bought it about 10 years ago when I first got into cycling for not allot of money. 

After two years I modernized, but kept the Lemond. I just sold it earlier this year and listed it for what I bought it for 10 years ago and couldn't believe the frenzy.  It was like I listed a NM Hulk 181 for $500. I had people offering to double and triple my asking price.  

Most collecting markets seem to be red hot and I had underestimated the cyclist community.  I should probably sell my 90s cannondale, but I still ride that a ton. 

[djzombi]

On 4/4/2021 at 9:09 PM, shadroch said:

Daredevil 7 and 16

DD #16 is one of a handful I need to complete DD Vol. 1   

[oldmilwaukee6er]

12 hours ago, the blob said:

Do you know how many Avengers Annuals 10s I picked out of $1-2 boxes over the years? And Rogue was a big character the whole time.

I feel like that was a WELL known warehoused book, even for a casual collector like me. I remember some guy selling dozens upon dozens of CGC 9.2s, 9.0s and 8.5s ... I got one 9.2 for $19, less than the cost to grade. 

At Comicverse show the other weekend it was a $300 wall book for 4 dealers tho. 

[PKJ]

12 hours ago, bluehorseshoe said:

Well then we are...probably related. And when I say “probably” I mean 100% absolutely.

Let me ask you this, how many trout did you catch back in March?

My cousin an I  are outcasts, we do not hunt, fish or own multiple boats.

[the blob]

36 minutes ago, oldmilwaukee6er said:

I feel like that was a WELL known warehoused book, even for a casual collector like me. I remember some guy selling dozens upon dozens of CGC 9.2s, 9.0s and 8.5s ... I got one 9.2 for $19, less than the cost to grade. 

At Comicverse show the other weekend it was a $300 wall book for 4 dealers tho. 

I dunno if "warehoused" is the right word. the legend is that one of the NY dealers made a 10,000 copy spec play on it and was stuck with copies to unload for years

[zosocane]

9 hours ago, KCOComics said:

Most collecting markets seem to be red hot and I had underestimated the cyclist community.  I should probably sell my 90s cannondale, but I still ride that a ton. 

 

There is a big demand now for road bikes with rim brakes.  They're not making those anymore.

[bluehorseshoe]

1 hour ago, PKJ said:

My cousin an I  are outcasts, we do not hunt, fish or own multiple boats.

I have to come clean then. I don’t hunt, I fish once a year, but it’s more like just being outside and drinking with friends while wearing waders than fishing. I own no boat. And I have literally one cousin.

So here we are, a couple of frauds.

[manetteska]

There are other comic areas which have not (or not as drastically) been affected by this recent surge.

Unfortunately, if you were someone after a Hulk 181 and were saving up for a nice copy, being told, "It's OK, the first Silver Age Hawkman is still affordable" doesn't do any good.

[Number 6]

1 hour ago, manetteska said:

There are other comic areas which have not (or not as drastically) been affected by this recent surge.

Unfortunately, if you were someone after a Hulk 181 and were saving up for a nice copy, being told, "It's OK, the first Silver Age Hawkman is still affordable" doesn't do any good.

Yeah, I get what others are saying about how there’s a lot of stuff that hasn’t been affected...or hasn’t been affected as much. 
 

But to me, there’s a line between collecting and hoarding. I’m not going buy stuff just for the sake of buying stuff and filling up comic boxes.
 

Yes, there’s a ton of cool stuff out there, but for a number of us, a good collection is one that’s limited and focused. And I’m not talking about one that’s just full of nothing but keys either. 

Edited April 6, 2021 by Number 6

[LDarkseid1]

On 4/4/2021 at 9:43 AM, Off Panel said:

I'm of two minds when looking at the staggering run-up in prices over the past few months. On the one hand, I own some top keys (Bronze Age, anyway) and I'm thrilled to see them climbing to brain-bending heights right now. On the other hand, I have a lot more books to purchase before I'm done and the doubling and trebling of prices across the board seems like nothing less than mass insanity.

I have built up a war chest that would make me feel flush in any other year, and normally I would be working on buying a big book right about now. However, after thinking about it over the past month. I'm putting myself on the sidelines. Even though I could still afford some of these big books at the going rate, I frankly don't want to do anything to "normalize" these prices. So, I'm going to climb out of the pool and do my small part to reduce the Demand side of the equation by at least one.

Could I end up regretting it? Sure. If that Hulk 180 I was looking at goes from $10,000 in 2020 to $30,000 in 2121 to $60,000 in 2022, then I will have missed the boat. However, at that point, this will likely be a hobby I can no longer afford anyway, at least not the way I have enjoyed it in the past.

So, what about the rest of you? Are you swimming with the sharks or eating popcorn on the sidelines?

 

Consider me priced the fu** out!

[F For Fake]

31 minutes ago, manetteska said:

There are other comic areas which have not (or not as drastically) been affected by this recent surge.

Unfortunately, if you were someone after a Hulk 181 and were saving up for a nice copy, being told, "It's OK, the first Silver Age Hawkman is still affordable" doesn't do any good.

But...he's Hawkman. He flies. That's pretty cool, right?

Who cares about some sawed off Canadian alcoholic with a body hair problem?

[piper]

34 minutes ago, F For Fake said:

But...he's Hawkman. He flies. That's pretty cool, right?

Who cares about some sawed off Canadian alcoholic with a body hair problem?

The only book I care about in that run is Hawkman 4, and unfortunately Z is not on the cover.

[F For Fake]

1 minute ago, piper said:

The only book I care about in that run is Hawkman 4, and unfortunately Z is not on the cover.

All joking a salad, I actually do like Hawkman, but then again I do like cheesy old SA DC's.

Yes, #4 suffers the same fate as Strange Tales 110, with the major first appearance not being on the cover. Still a cool book, though!

[Number 6]

Usually when these run-ups happen I’m fairly unconcerned as I’m not chasing all the big keys/highest graded copies that everyone is after and are usually the books most affected by this sort of thing. 
 

But outside of keys, there’s the common run fillers on the opposite end with the “nice” books in between. 
 

It seems this time the “nice” books - desirable books because artist or story content without necessarily being “big keys” are also getting a significant bump up as well.  Based on comments here, some of that is probably due to long-time collectors getting priced out on the keys and all having the same “bright idea”, but I get the impression some of this new money may be involved as well. 
 

And even with the “cheap” run filler, some of that is getting increasingly pricey.  $20 isn’t a ton of money in of itself, but it’s kind of sobering what $20 will get you now as opposed to just a couple of years ago. 
 

So for me....I don’t see myself completely checking out of the hobby, but I think I will be relegated to the sidelines for awhile. 
 

I still have my want-lists current, I still check my saved searches on eBay, but I’m not going to buy anything unless I’m comfortable with the price and I’m going to be very particular about presentation at these prices. I’ll still check Clink and HA but I think auctions are probably going to be out for now.  I can only think of a couple of books I might be willing to get competitive on, but even then I doubt I’d win.  
 

So while I don’t see myself completely checking out of the hobby, I think the practical reality may be that I am effectively done for now. 
 

There’s another hobby I pursue that I haven’t done a lot with in the last year or two, I see myself spending more of my money there for the foreseeable future. 
 

While there’s several books I wish I had in my collection before I take a break, at these prices I think I’ll be able to make my peace with it. 

[davidpg]

I'm really happy with my collection and I have been for years.  I haven't had a book I've actively been after since my X-Men 1 that I finally got back in the very early 90s (and I still have, thank goodness!).  

I'm still on the lookout for good deals on books (bins, used book stores, etc) though I wouldn't actually actively pay any of these prices .  Hells no.  I couldn't imagine spending $1000 on an ASM 361.  Or any amount of money over a dollar for an Eternals 1

[Sweet Lou 14]

2 hours ago, manetteska said:

There are other comic areas which have not (or not as drastically) been affected by this recent surge.

Unfortunately, if you were someone after a Hulk 181 and were saving up for a nice copy, being told, "It's OK, the first Silver Age Hawkman is still affordable" doesn't do any good.

Question for the admins.  How can I "like" a post 50 times?

[blazingbob]

The next new service I'm launching will be the "Shilly max extension" to sell to the auction houses.  The extension will work so that no matter what you bid you will continue to get outbid.