Anyone a Comic Book collector? (Need insight)

Comics in general had the same problems as sports cards did in the mid/late 80s through the 90s. Everything was wildly popular and massively printed and people actually kept their stuff in good condition for the most part so everything is mostly worthless from that time. The one area that does have some value is highly graded books. Like 9.2+ graded books can be worth some money, but honestly I feel like that's a bubble that can burst at any time really, since there could easily be a huge quantity of a lot of these books that just haven't actually been graded yet.

I guess the moral of the story is you can't really look at comics as an investment, unless you're talking Silver/Golden Age stuff or graded stuff and that stuff is quite risky. If you enjoy comics and want it as something to have in common with the kids go for it. But if you think it's going to pay for your grandkid's college then you're doing it wrong.

Some of the posters in theComic Book threadare pretty hardcore. Could ask for tips there.

Break the cycle and teach about compound interest instead. Comics, like sports memorabilia are not an investment/savings tool.

Unfortunately you'll make better money at the bank.

Comic books aren't going to be worth much more than you bought them for ever -- but if it's something that you enjoy doing with your kid and he enjoys doing then why the hell not.

Nester_sl said:

Break the cycle and teach about compound interest instead. Comics, like sports memorabilia are not an investment/savings tool.

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This. Not to be offensive, but did you not learn your lesson on the sports cards?

You're looking at a lot of money for the silver/golden age stuff -- and look at why they're valuable. You have retirees that are flush who read these things as children and are willing to pay ludicrous sums to recapture that.

Comic books just aren't a thing anymore. If you're looking for something like that, think about electronics instead. Try to find old in original packaging gameboys and sega handhelds. Stuff like that. If you could find some old Atari-2600 cartridges in their mint boxes... in 20 years, that's going to be the sort of thing old men with too much money are going to be looking to buy for enjoyment and neighborhood status.

Sports memorbillia holds its value better than comics do.

I think you should look at this a different way. Collect things that you and your kids enjoy, not things you want to make money on. Do they like action figures? There's a huge action figure market and you could take them to stuff like comic-con and check out all the people that dress up. Magic Cards? Play with them! Sports stuff? Might be worthless, but who cares?

If you actively participate in what you and your kids can enjoy together rather than just going for comic books for money, I think you'll have a better time and your kids will think you're the coolest dad ever.

FWIW, my dad used to collect Batman toys with us in the 80's/90's when Batman was huge. I still have one of the action figures from the original Michael Keaton movie in the box that he bought me when I was a kid.

Muligan_sl said:

This is why i'm needing some advice. I want to go in educated to my part of the collecting.

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Alright.

You have fond memories collecting sports memorabilia with your father and want to do something similar with your own kids? That's great. That's A+ parent stuff right there. It's your language that worries me. Your Dad always thought it was better to invest in something you enjoy collecting than throwing it in a bank and boringly collecting interest. The sports memorabilia you've accrued is worthless and you are looking to liquidate and reinvest. You are going to take a decent hit on your sports collectibles.

The simple truth is that you are not going to make any money at this and you need to scrub the entire idea that you'll have something of value down the road from your mind. You will not. All the work you put in to this, the money and the time, are going to end up in a tote at your rummage sale for pennies on the dollar. I'll walk up and start a conversation with your wife about it and we'll both have a chuckle over how foolish you were and all the money you spent. Unless she's almost giving it away (which she may be) I'll probably still not get involved. There's just no money in that crap.

But Arbitrary! There are incredibly valuable comics out there! Have you seen what a graded 9.6 first edition print of The Walking Dead #1 goes for? That's only ten years old!

Sure. There are contemporary comics with genuine value but value comes from scarcity. When everyone was setting aside factory sealed boxes of baseball cards because they are going to be worth a zillion dollars some day than none of it is ever going to have any value. Comics aren't any different and you hopping into comics now because of the popularity of the films is you entering in to a market at a terrible time. You are doing the same thing with your kids that a whole bunch of other fathers are doing with their kids. I want to specifically quote this -

Essentially, the money invested in our Sports collectibles is nothing compared to their value today.Mainly due to, at the time, cards not being graded and value of older cards being tied to their grade.

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So what you are going to do is have everything that you think is important graded. You learned your lesson. Grading, that's the ticket! But there is a problem. Gradingisthe hot thing and its only getting hotter. Board and bag? You might as well burn it. Just like those factored sealed boxes of yore so goes graded comics.

And I'm not trying to be mean here. I buy and sell everything and anything from high end antiques to Martha Stewart cookie cutters. It's what I do for a living. I just don't like it when I see people get hornswaggled by beanie babies or trading cards or any of that stuff because they believe it to be something that it is not. I hope you and your kids have all kinds of crazy fun collecting comic books and going to conventions and going to the movies and everything. I'm just trying to splash a little cold water on you and your plans for the future.

Muligan_sl said:

First, let me provide some background. My father and I have travelled the eastern United States going to card shows and collecting sports cards and memorabilia. We were and are sports nuts and my Dad always felt that it was better to invest in something you enjoy collecting that throwing in a bank while it boringly accrued a small amount of interest.

Anyway, I have two sons now and sports memorabilia is essentially worthless. We have some things that are dear to us but we are essentially looking to liquidate and reinvest. We are looking at investing into comics. We love that as well and my kids love it plus its big to them right now with all the movies and TV shows going. I was essentially looking to do the same with my kids as my Dad with me but while I know a lot about the characters and storylines, I know very little about collecting comic books.

I was curious if there was a few brains I could pick here on the boards?

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As someone whose collected since the 70's, don't do it. The market has cratered. I have more longboxes than most, and a lot of the issues are no longer worth the time to take to sell. A lot of the cost in these issues was the cost to search, and the Internet has obliterated that.

Sterling_sl said:

Comics in general had the same problems as sports cards did in the mid/late 80s through the 90s. Everything was wildly popular and massively printed and people actually kept their stuff in good condition for the most part so everything is mostly worthless from that time. The one area that does have some value is highly graded books. Like 9.2+ graded books can be worth some money, but honestly I feel like that's a bubble that can burst at any time really, since there could easily be a huge quantity of a lot of these books that just haven't actually been graded yet.

I guess the moral of the story is you can't really look at comics as an investment, unless you're talking Silver/Golden Age stuff or graded stuff and that stuff is quite risky. If you enjoy comics and want it as something to have in common with the kids go for it. But if you think it's going to pay for your grandkid's college then you're doing it wrong.

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This man knows his shit.

Honestly I think you are looking at this all wrong. You are trying to recreate for your son an experience you shared with your father - which is great. But you need to step back and look at the larger scene. You're focused on collectables because that's what you did with your father, but everything you are saying is telling me you really just want an activity/culture the 3 of you can share together. Whether that's collecting comics, cards, racing RC cars or planes, or joining the SCA or becoming a Renny, or getting involved with the Boy Scouts, or any of many different activities that enjoy an active subculture. Perhaps you should consider this along with what interests your son has /shrug

That's all fine, I just think people are hung up on you calling this stuff an investment. It can be a fun shared activiity but it's not something that is likely to make you any money. If your kid just loves Spiderman and you can get him a truckload of backissues for 50 cents or a buck apiece that's cool, but realize there's a reason they're 50 cents and 20 years from now they'll still be worthless. If you go and get him an Amazing Fantasy 15 thats CGC graded 9.8, well that's going to be worth something I suppose, but that's an exception not how the industry works in general. As someone mentioned earlier about death of Superman, and any other number of comics that used to be worth a lot of money, people realized eventually that there's a million copies out there and most of them are in very good condition since everyone takes care of their shit now. Back in the 60s nobody cared so most of that stuff is ragged now, so finding a EXNM copy of prime Silver Age comics is a pretty big deal, while there's literally infinity NM copies of New Mutants 98 or Uncanny Xmen 266.