Do you expect prices to keep rising or stay at their increased values for a while? To buy now or not to buy? 1 1

[comicginger1789]

To answer the second question in the thread  title about whether or not to buy...always buy.

Just don’t be silly and buy stuff people are overpaying for. You’d be surprised the deals you can find still if you are willing to spend a little time looking. The problem I see is a lot of collectors (maybe they are newer maybe they are not) just click and buy. No patience. They see book for $60 they buy, they get it. When in reality a smidge of patience could find you the book for $30-40.

If there is one thing I have learned it is patience when buying. If you want to buy keys related to a show or movie, do it well before the movie or show starts. Other keys or books not in the spotlight can still be found very reasonably priced. You just gotta hunt man!

[silverseeker]

2 hours ago, KCOComics said:

I tend to think along these lines as well. 

This run up is actually a continuation of a pattern we've seen many times before. What's different is how fast books are climbing and I imagine that acceleration is driven by a number of factors...  Covid, sports cards collectors, stimulus and all the other junk we've been discussing. 

It will be interesting to see how the next few months play out. Is that plateau longer because this market ran up so much? Is the correction more severe? 

Or are there going to be so many collectors who are currently standing on the side lines, feeling like they missed out on big keys and waiting for prices to come down, that the correction never really takes place? 

It's going to be an interesting few months. 

I totally agree, and in my 20+ years of collecting I can't remember seeing the type of run up that X-Men #1 has experienced since late January (it's very possible that my memory is spotty on this though... ).

X-Men #1 in around 6.0 has been on my want list since I got back into collecting Silver Age books, and last October I remember telling a friend of mine that I should probably move on one soon because 6.0s were selling for around $12,500 at that time...I unfortunately didn't move on one then, but started to look in January and wanted to share some data points as I went through this process.

On January 29th I was looking at a 6.0 where the asking price was $17,500, but passed on it because one of the staples had some rust on it...in retrospect I should have moved on this book because it presented very nicely and could have been used to upgrade to a rust-free or higher-grade copy in the future.

On March 1st a 5.0 copy was offered here on the boards for $15,000, and it sold while I was asking the seller a few questions about it...at that time 6.0s were probably selling for $20,000 or more.

Here we are on April 9th, and 6.0s are now selling for $30,000 or more.

I know prices for many books have blown up in a short period of time because of movie hype or for some other reason, but it's been crazy to see X-Men #1 in 6.0 jump from $17,500 in late January to $30,000+ in early April.

Even if there's a correction, I think the floor for X-Men #1 in 6.0 will be around $25,000...this is assuming we've reached the height of X-Men #1 prices, which may not yet be the case.

The lesson learned? Sometimes you need to lock in a book if your gut tells you you're at the start of something special. 

Edited April 9, 2021 by silverseeker
Minor tweak.

[KCOComics]

42 minutes ago, silverseeker said:

I totally agree, and in my 20+ years of collecting I can't remember seeing the type of run up that X-Men #1 has experienced since late January (it's very possible that my memory is spotty on this though... ).

X-Men #1 in around 6.0 has been on my want list since I got back into collecting Silver Age books, and last October I remember telling a friend of mine that I should probably move on one soon because 6.0s were selling for around $12,500 at that time...I unfortunately didn't move on one then, but started to look in January and wanted to share some data points as I went through this process.

On January 29th I was looking at a 6.0 where the asking price was $17,500, but passed on it because one of the staples had some rust on it...in retrospect I should have moved on this book because it presented very nicely and could have been used to upgrade to a rust-free or higher-grade copy in the future.

On March 1st a 5.0 copy was offered here on the boards for $15,000, and it sold while I was asking the seller a few questions about it...at that time 6.0s were probably selling for $20,000 or more.

Here we are on April 9th, and 6.0s are now selling for $30,000 or more.

I know prices for many books have blown up in a short period of time because of movie hype or for some other reason, but it's been crazy to see X-Men #1 in 6.0 jump from $17,500 in late January to $30,000+ in early April.

Even if there's a correction, I think the floor for X-Men #1 in 6.0 will be around $25,000...this is assuming we've reached the height of X-Men #1 prices, which may not yet be the case.

The lesson learned? Sometimes you need to lock in a book if your gut tells you you're at the start of something special. 

It seems crazy to think 6.0s were "only" $12k just 6 months ago. 

[1950's war comics]

[comicginger1789]

The big books I worry about possibly never getting now. Really, ASM 1 is the main one I personally would want (AF 15 is a mere pipe dream) but I’m too unfocused with my buying as I buy what I like when I see it for a  good price. For example, I’ve spent probably $2000 in the last month in stuff...some lovely stuff but if I was able to refine myself a bit I could maybe knock off some more ASM books.

But alas I like collecting variety....I am a quality quantity kinda guy I guess

[comicdonna]

On 4/8/2021 at 8:50 PM, THE_BEYONDER said:

I think those that are convinced that these prices are the new normal & will continue to rise forever....are in for a rude awakening in the not-so-distant future.   It’s like being on a hot streak at the casino, and thinking that you will continue winning as long as you keep playing. 

+1  Watching books regularly climb 20% to 100%  every  few weeks  is surely very bad.  it will drive people away from the hobby and prevent others from joining it.   I know I will not be purchasing any books in this "new" market.   I wonder who will be buying them in the future when people that purchase them now are ready to sell?  Does everyone's income climb 20% to 100% every few weeks?  A much slower, steady climb in prices is good.  Where things are right now isn't.