Although I stopped buying comic books over three years
ago-primarily for the lack of funds, I still keep up with current trends.
And what I see bothers me.
Just like in the early 1990s when comic books took a
sudden upswing in popularity all the signs point to an imminent crash.
And here’s why.
There are too many comics for too few collectors. Comic book print runs continue to dwindle and
prices continue to rise.
There are only so many diehard comic book
collectors. Comic books, like other pop
culture items, tend to sell to non-collectors when tied in with other events,
such as movies, TV shows, etc.
After the initial thrill is gone, print numbers start to
decline. Case in point: for several years
The Walking Dead comic books flew off store shelves-until it reached a saturation
plateau. As the TV show audience shrank
and the show’s popularity waned, the comic book also has taken a hit.
That holds true with any comic book associated with a
particular TV show, movie, toy line, etc.
‘Special’ comic books are all the rage. Back in the 1990s special ‘enhanced’ covers
sold comic books with promises of escalating prices.
The same thing is happening now with alternate covers by
specific artists. Like the 1990s the
market for such books is about to burst.
Comic book covers ‘do not’ make a comic book valuable-it’s the story,
event in the story and the rarity of a comic book as a whole-not just the
cover.
As long as collectors are willing to plop down big money
for ‘variant’ covers prices will continue to escalate, plateau and crash. A variant comic book worth $100 today will sell
for less than a tenth of that in just a few years or even months.
Like the crash of the 1990s speculators are driving the
market (collectors or not). As soon as
they try to sell their ‘variants’ or supposedly ‘rare’ comic books such as the
first appearance of Cable, Deadpool or Venom, and discover that there is an overabundance
of said issues (check out E-bay if you don’t believe me) the market will
suffer.
As to slabbed comic books: in my opinion it hardly seems
worth the time, effort or money to slab (certify) a recently printed comic book
(unless it is truly rare).
Oftentimes the cost to certify such books cost more than
the books will be ultimately be worth.
I suggest certifying books that are truly rare or
old. It makes sense to certify a book
listed in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars-for conservation, if nothing
else.
As to the sudden price spike of old comic books, it is getting
ridiculous. How is that comic books
worth in the hundreds of dollars as little as five years ago are suddenly worth
thousands of dollars? Who determines
that price hike? Store owners?
Collectors?
Not really-it’s the certification companies. How else do
you think they make their money? The higher the
value of a comic book the more money they make grading it.
See how much luck you have selling a comic book worth thousands
of dollars to the average collector or comic book shop. Chances are you will get only a fraction of
the market value.
It amazes me that a comic book can be slabbed and
suddenly its worth triples its value. And yet that same book unslabbed is worth
less! What’s really worth the money? The comic book or the sealed certified
container it comes in?
I’ve been reading and collecting comic books for a long
time. All the warning signs are there for
a crash but few people are paying attention until it comes too late.
I’ve seen it happen with sports memorabilia, trading cards,
toys, etc. Anyone remember the Beanie Baby
crash?
My advice is to buy the comic books you are going to
read-regardless of cover variations, etc.
If it goes up in value and you can make a few bucks-good for you. Just remember, very few modern comic books
retain their value. Check the dollar box
and you’ll see what I mean.
As much as I love comic books I’ll stick with the older
issues. I’m not saying that there aren’t any new comic books that are good
reads-there are.
But, the older comic books, I’m talking about the 1940’s
to the mid 1980s, were unique in that they offered true escapism. Very few had to compete against blockbuster movies,
a plethora of pop culture collectibles and the like. Comic books mostly stood
on their own and were not part of a merchandise machine.
That’s my opinion and I hope you take away a few tidbits
of advice. Regardless, if you do or
not-enjoy comic books, read comic books and don’t worry about their worth. After all, didn’t you get your money’s worth by
reading the story and enjoying the art?