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The value of the trade paperback...

19 posts in this topic

We rubber-banded baseball cards and put them in our bicycle spokes...and wish we hadn't.

We dinged up our lunchboxes and lost the original thermos, then sold it in a garage sale.

We read all our comics and threw them in a box...and we wish we'd been more careful.

 

We all buy then bag/board/slab our comic books...but really enjoy those TPBs.

 

So everyone's got one "well-read" copy of the TPB...and a dozen of the comics in MINT.

 

If we're expecting a "future collectibles market" to reward us,

what makes us so sure that we're protecting the right books?

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I have a Watchmen Hardcover from Graphitti. Not really a TPB, but I haven't read it. I read the issues themselves and then bought the book.

 

I should sell it, since it's taking up room on the shelf.

 

Otherwise I don't have any TPBs, except a Ronin one I got for free many years ago. Oh! Wait! I just bought a TPB of Eclipse's The Hobbit for my son. I expect it will be destroyed, but that's ok.

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That's an interesting question. I suppose there could eventually be a small market in the future for HG TPB's. But, it would be a small core of collectors. People like the original. TPB's are 2nd printings, and will (probably) never compare in "value" to their comic counterparts.

 

Chris

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TPB's are 2nd printings, and will (probably) never compare in "value" to their comic counterparts.

 

It's becoming pretty standard to print TPBs really soon after a story arc...

which doesn't make them as "old" as some reprint books printed years later.

They're also "fairly expensive" compared to comics or other "new" collectibles,

and not printed in super-sized quantities because of the price.

 

In the future, I'd say there will probably be a market for collectors of both

the original comics and the TPBs...and given the "ease of reading" with the TPBs,

people may actually want both a "reader copy" of the TPB

and a "mint copy" of the TPB.

 

We know the "general public" is more accepting of TPB/GraphicNovels lately,

given the recent surge in displays at regular book stores...

but we also know the "general public" doesn't care about condition.

 

How hard will it be to find that mint TPB in the future?

Especially when no one (not even the comic collector) is really taking

any special care to protect/preserve them today.

(Or is it all just a fad like Pogs, never to see any real "secondary" value?)

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TPB's are 2nd printings

 

That's the key right there. But, many of the first printings of the "Marvel Masterworks" (hard cover reprints of old comics) go for much more then subsequent printings. Some of the Masterworks sell for more then a run of the original comics would cost in Good condition! Who knows, some TPB's could be worth something some day.

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That's the key right there. But, many of the first printings of the "Marvel Masterworks" (hard cover reprints of old comics) go for much more then subsequent printings.

 

So...if "Wolverine: Origin" is reprinted 20 times over then next 40 years in TPB form...

how much will the first printing of the TPB be worth? (And won't condition be a key question?)

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That's the key right there. But, many of the first printings of the "Marvel Masterworks" (hard cover reprints of old comics) go for much more then subsequent printings.

 

So...if "Wolverine: Origin" is reprinted 20 times over then next 40 years in TPB form...

how much will the first printing of the TPB be worth? (And won't condition be a key question?)

 

Wolverine Origin will never be worth anything in any printing or condition. makepoint.gif

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Especially when no one (not even the comic collector) is really taking any special care to protect/preserve them today.

 

A little presumptious aren't you (sorry, I'm not trying to argue w/ you). I bag all my trades (or at leat the ones that fit) and store them in longboxes just like w/ my comics. They're great for "fillers" for boxes that aren't full enough.

 

Chris

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Trades could be worth something. Like the valiant trades which came in very limited edition. However, i'd say for most comic tpbs they won't really appreciate in value like the original comic. There are some exceptions to this rule of course. For instance old elfquest graphic novels published by starblaze command a premium even though they reprint the elfquest comic line. People prefer the graphic novel of those books because they are in color. So, in my opinion unless the TPB has an extraordinarly low print run or some other additions that weren't available in the original series then it will never be worth much.

 

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How hard will it be to find that mint TPB in the future?Especially when no one (not even the comic collector) is really taking

any special care to protect/preserve them today.

Especially when no one (not even the comic collector) is really taking

any special care to protect/preserve them today.

 

I think this is where your argument falls down. What makes you think that readers of TPB's are trashing them? I am sure they are being taken care of as well as comic books are, for the most part. Comic collectors especially have the 'read, bag, board' mentality firmly entrenched in their thinking and TPB's are part of that. Add that to the fact that TPB's are printed on higher quality, more durable paper/card stock, and I don't think we will be seeing a lack of HG examples in the future.

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I think I agree with you guys...

TPBs are "reprints" even if they're the same age as the comics.

 

I'm just trying to figure out "what we're missing"...because there's definitely

some aspect of our generation that is being overlooked as a future important collectible.

 

We saw it in the 1930's & 1940's (and even in the 1960's) with comic books,

we saw it with baseball cards, lunchboxes, Star Wars toys, records, Barbies,

and a ton of other "common, worthless stuff" that is now highly collectible.

 

So what's the "common, worthless stuff" that available to all of us now,

that somehow we're all overlooking for the future?

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As I've said many times before, I prefer TPBs and hardcover collections because they are more accessible for re-reading material than singles. While I don't wear gloves I try to take care of them just like I do all of my books (comics or other).

 

Some TPBs are highly collectible because they are out of print. Miracleman TPBs are definitely capturing a premium. Many Marvel TPBs from the last 15 years have not been reprinted and are becoming harder to get. Plus they used a better printing process on those books and the colors look richer than they do on the slicker versions they print now. They were also printed to order and are often tough to find.

 

A real coup for me was to get a copy of the Jim Starlin/Ron Lim Silver Surfer TPB that reintroduced Thanos and preceded the Thanos Quest/Infinity Gauntlet. I didn't even know such a book even existed until I came across it at a con in Montreal last March.

 

Kev

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Just a quick note about the Masterworks... i think that once those volumes are all available I think the back market for those books will plummet. The reason why the Miracleman books are worth so much is that there's no future in sight for new reprints. The Masterworks may soon become like the first printing archives, which now that are available in multiple reprints and always available will lose their value. Especially since you'll even be able to buy the first print covers!

 

kevthemev: That trade is one of my favorite collections... I though the Starlin/Lim surfer story was fantastic. Although I've run accross that trade a whole bunch of times in the past few years. But it is out of print, and I don't know when they'll ever reprint it again. The Lim surfer was the one I grew up on... loved that stuff.

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Start stockpiling all those AOL disks. With todays parents being of the "My mom threw out my cards,comics,Menudo,Masters of the universe" generation, these little silver disks,prewrapped in their own storage bags are quite likely to be the only thing of their kids they dont save.And they stack quite nicely.

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Actually...the only thing I can think of from "pop culture" that is "savable"

but we all regularly "enjoy and then throw away" is soft drinks.

 

What are the chances we'll be looking for an unopened Dr. Pepper can circa 1984?

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Did someone say AOL diskettes?? I actually started throwing them in an office drawer years ago whenever I got one thinking down th eroad they would be of some "historic" value, especially since they were considered totally worthless and plentiful in the extreme. Sound like some other collectibles that years later proved to have value?

 

I dont think I have all that many, and not the earliest ones, which will probably be the only ones to have (if any are...)

 

back to trade paperbacks....Sure they will be collectible...First printings that is. Look at the old worthless Fireside books from the Seventies. As for Masterworks, I think the early first printings will maintain their value no matter how many new editions come out with whatever cover they use. Are we talking $1000s ??? No, but we are collectors, and enough are completists and these qualify. Like Digests, and Treasuries...

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A lot of Hardcovers have held their value and even increased...

Most have a limited print run, never make it to the shops and are not reprinted.

 

European collectors have been going nuts over hardcovers (which command a hefty premium) for decades and I see this thread slowly but surely crossing the Atlantic.

 

The Masterworks will be an interesting yardstick...About 8 of these have been very expensive to buy on eBay the last few years, now that they are getting reprinted with a very small percentage of the run (about 700 books) having the same enhanced cover that the original Masterworks had,I really wonder if some of the original Masterworks will still sell for $200+

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No... I don't think those Masterworks will hold their value at all... at least not for more than $60... you can buy an enhanced reproduction for that with the original cover, why would you pay more...

 

I love the Masterworks, and hope they expand on them.

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