This week Chris and Walt talk about how tough it is getting comics added to your collection in this crazy hot market. It’s like you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. You don’t want to pay the prices realized today but you’re afraid if you don’t grab that book you want it will be worth double a few short months from now. What to do?
As always please let us know what you thought of the showdown in the comments field and as always please keep it civil.
How are you fairing in your collecting these days? Staying away waiting for a correction? Buying now while things are “cheap”? Let us know.
A millenium ago, I used to buy comics from dealer’s lists that came in the mail. I recall one reputable dealer who was selling a good copy of All-Flash 2 with a double cover for $20. USD. Not being a Flash collector and just getting into golden age, I took a pass. D-UHHHH!
another good show guys ! I am still buying some high end graded Marvel books for strictly investment purposes . I finished my Marvel collection back in the early 80’s , all books are still raw .
your other comments half way thru the show about DC’s first appearances have the ring of truth to me . I have almost all of them already , but , like you said , SA DC’s are way under priced compared to their Marvel counterparts , and in higher grade they are DEFINITELY harder to track down .
I believe some of the DC’s people should track down are true first appearances . such as Adventure comics 210 , first Krypto , 247 , first legion , Suerboy 68 , first Bizzarro and some of the Showcase issues such as the first appearances of Adam Strange and Rip Kirby , Time Master .
they won’t ever be as valuable as the Marvel’s , IMHO , but , I do think they are worth tracking down . they are still going up in value every year , just not as fast as SA Marvel’s .
also , I don’t think the comics market ever really goes downward for very long . I’ve been buying since the mid 70’s , and they only keep going up and up . every time they has been a recession , or , in this case , the pandemic , look what’s going on !!!! up arrows all the time .
Klaus! D’oh! There is certainly a market for those double covers! Very rare. Always difficult to differentiate between what is a good buy a the time for investment and what to buy because of nostalgia or love of a title or character.
Chris E.! I do agree with you (and begrudgingly, Walt) There is so little play on the SA DC stuff that it is very affordable for some great key books. Krypto, Bizzarro, Adam Strange, etc. All great key books to look for. Good idea! Thanks! … now who has my wallet?…
I’ve seen individual books go down temporarily, ASM 129 comes to mind. But those in it for the long haul will do well.
Value builds when demand builds.
Unfortunately, for those old DCs, there isn’t as much demand as there is with Marvels. It’s the Dell Western dilemma all over again. As the old western stars passed away, no new stories were written about them . No new stories means no new fans. No new fans means less and less demand over the years.
While Marvel characters keep popping up, they’re propping up sales of the older issues. Characters such as Krypto, Bizarro, Mr. Mxyzptlk, etc.. have faded into oblivion. Most new fans have never heard of these charscters and, unfortunately, aren’t actively searching them out.
Adam Strange, Rip Kirby, and yes, Walt, even Sea Devils, have a chance as they are straight superhero-science fiction characters,, and stand on their own merit. The offshoot Superman Family characters are the DC versions of the Dell westerns, I’m afraid.
This was a fantastic episode, the singing!!! Brilliant!!! One of my favorites…
Whilst the price inflation is certainly alarming it should be noted that it’s happening to mainly Marvel, first appearances (as per the podcast) but certain titles only…therefore as collectors we still have 97% of the books available without these massive leaps…good reading can be had though out the hobby whilst avoiding these heated books.
Personally, I just received a box of books from the States as I was listening to the soothing tones of Walt & Chris, over 100 books, value will be thousands (lot’s of Byrne era X-Men) and the one I’m reading first: Daredevil #209 the sequel to the absolutely brilliant #208 by Harlan Ellison, amazing, available for $3. Cost does not have to be correlated to enjoyment in this hobby.
Good night and good reading
Chris! They like our singing!!
Spider great point on the 97%, there is so much more to the hobby to enjoy and even to spec on.
I myself am still going after the books I want and if I am out priced… well, those are books I won’t get! I have had to settle for the fact there are books I will never get for a long time so its nothing new. Selling on the other hand…! I think waiting to move a book like ASM 129, which I have a very fine copy of is prudent! I actually plan on it being one of my CGC candidates! Luckily I mostly collect in that 97% category having collected all but the priciest Marvels already. When I was putting together my early Antman run, I got mostly everything except TTA 27 and the issue the Wasp first appears, and after the movie appearance… had to give up on that one as well!
On a side note, after hearing Walt and Chris elucidate so eloquently after having a quaff of Proper 12, I went out and found some for myself and its amazing! I swear after a couple shots most of my comics appear to have at LEAST increased half a grade! Brilliant!
Now, I’m not going to say that we are going to sing on more shows, but ya never know when the moment will strike.
Spider, I also agree. So much to read or even just enjoy the covers. I find myself going back and looking at older ’90s covers and although I still think some are really bad, they give me a sense of nostalgia.
Gerald, I think you’ll find that the more Proper 12 you have, the better our shows become.
Gerald, have two more swigs and Chris and I will actually sound like we know what we are taking about.