Wyatt the Odd  | 10 Apr 2016 12:52 p.m. PST |
I spent the better part of the past two months going through my comic book collection. I was more of an active collector in the 1980s and 1990s. I never really chased the "cape" titles like X-men, Superman, etc. There was a little bit of OCD involved, I suppose. If I can't have the entire set, I'm wasn't going to get it. Which explains why I have the full run of GI Joe, 'Nam, 'Mazing Man (well, Alxbates has that now) and other, second-tier titles. Green Arrow was a good series. I bought to read, rather than invest, so I never got into the holographic foil specialty cover variant fad. And looking at the values today, they're all the same. I'd say that most of my books have increased in value over the decades. Some have done very well. The original Star Wars #1 that I bought at 30 cents is worth $190 USD? That's a good return on value, but nothing to get excited about. Some random adult titles are worth $650 USD? Impressive. New Mutants #87 from March 1990 with the first appearance of Cable is worth $600 USD? That's got my attention – the rest of the issues average around cover price. And then I entered the data for issue 98, published in February of 1991… almost done with logging all the issues in this title… damn, that's a lot of digits… Why is this one worth north of $1,000 USD? WHAT MAKES THIS SPECIAL?!! Oh. First appearance of Deadpool. link He doesn't say much in this issue. Wyatt |
| 15mm and 28mm Fanatik | 10 Apr 2016 1:20 p.m. PST |
Nerds got too much $$$ to spend, I'd say. |
| Redroom | 10 Apr 2016 1:44 p.m. PST |
That is pretty awesome Wyatt. My baseball collection has done well, not because of the star cards I have, but because the older "scrubs" are in demand due to people getting rid of them back in the day. |
| Cardinal Ximenez | 10 Apr 2016 1:53 p.m. PST |
older "scrubs" Which ones? |
| jpattern2 | 10 Apr 2016 1:58 p.m. PST |
I have a huge collection of comics, going back to the early '60s. I cut way back on my buying in the late '00s; Walking Dead is the only one I'm currently buying regularly, but I'll still pick up other issues here and there.
I use ComicBase to keep up with things. |
 javelin98  | 10 Apr 2016 2:52 p.m. PST |
Obviously a natural outcome of the immutable natural law that the 98th version of anything is the pinnacle of perfection. Obviously. |
| haywire | 10 Apr 2016 3:28 p.m. PST |
Yep. Sold mine on Ebay for $140 USD last year and its not in fine shape or whatever. |
| Wyatt the Odd | 10 Apr 2016 3:51 p.m. PST |
Jpattern - I'm using ComicBase as well. The funny thing is that I had to re-enter my inventory again since my previous version managed to not survive an upgrade and my collection doubled in value over the past five years. This particular issue is rated at a 9.2 which moved it up $400 USD for just "Near Mint". Of course, I am aware that they're only worth what someone will pay, but damn! I expected to purge about half my collection, but it's somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 that are up for sale. These days, it's only the new Star Wars titles, Munchkin and Winter World, but I'm likely to drop that last one. It's just not moving anywhere. Wyatt |
| Rich Bliss | 10 Apr 2016 4:59 p.m. PST |
This is how I keep track of the general economy. When there are enough people with disposable income to drive a '90s comic up to $1,000 USD, things must be going pretty well. |
| Delta314 | 11 Apr 2016 5:08 a.m. PST |
I've got one in mint condition but am holding onto it. I got out voted by my kids they want to hold onto to it. I did get $78 USD for new mutants 87 first appearance of cable and it wasn't in mint condition. Plus we've got another copy were going to hold onto for a bit. its amazing how much some of our comics our worth. If I could sell them all for what their worth I could retire. |
| Dynaman8789 | 11 Apr 2016 6:51 a.m. PST |
Man, that is some mighty expensive toilet paper! Nothing against comics in particular but against the very idea that some mass produced item can ever be collectible is nuts – so what if a reproduction is not first printing since ALL of them are nothing but copies anyway. |
| Tommy20 | 11 Apr 2016 9:32 a.m. PST |
I have boxes and boxes of comics from that era that I had assumed were all but impossible to sell since the great devaluation. I should catalog them sometime… |
| jpattern2 | 11 Apr 2016 11:12 a.m. PST |
. . . against the very idea that some mass produced item can ever be collectible is nuts – so what if a reproduction is not first printing since ALL of them are nothing but copies anyway. Same goes for pretty much anything that has a value placed on it by anyone, including our little lead dudes, our houses, heads of lettuce, even money itself. Ultimately, nothing has any value in-and-of-itself, only what two or more individuals have agreed that it's worth. As for my comics, I've unbagged and read (and re-read, sometimes many times) every issue I own; none of my issues were bought for their collectibility or resale value; I never got into the speculation mania of the mid-'80s to the mid-'90s; and at some point I'll probably donate my entire collection to a local university. |
| jpattern2 | 11 Apr 2016 11:18 a.m. PST |
I have boxes and boxes of comics from that era that I had assumed were all but impossible to sell since the great devaluation. I should catalog them sometime… You might only get pennies on the dollar at a local comic shop, but if you have boxes and boxes of them, it can add up. And you might have some rareties in there that you're not even aware of. Ebay can generally give you a good idea of current prices, if you don't want to invest in something like ComicBase. Every comic book shop that I've dealt with is run by great guys, none of whom would cheat a naive seller. Partly because they're great guys, and partly because they know that word would get around on social media. |
| Redroom | 11 Apr 2016 3:48 p.m. PST |
Don Manser – early to mid '50s Topps Reds players |
| Narratio | 11 Apr 2016 8:07 p.m. PST |
I gave my complete comic collection to my niece, she sold it off to pay for her first year college fees. Those old issues can certainly accrue value to the right collector. |
| Fergal | 12 Apr 2016 5:42 a.m. PST |
I also don't understand the value in old comics, I do understand it's a thing. I really enjoy reading comics and loved reading them as a kid, I was a collector in the 80's at it's greatest hype. My mom had an uncle who ran a news stand in Chicago, so she grew up reading Thor and many other titles without the cover. It was great to have a parent who 'understood'. :) That being said, I enjoy reading them, not collecting them. I'm just as happy reading a scan of a comic on my iPad as I am reading a physical copy. So sell me cheap scans and I'll be extremely happy, ask me to pay $1,000 USD and I'll just laugh and find something else to read. I do have two tubs of my old comics in the basement, but they are sentimental because they were mine, so maybe I'm still a little conflicted? While writing this I dredged up the memory of acquiring GI Joe #2 in the mid 80's, it was valued at $52 USD at the time. I read it with surgical gloves on to keep my skin oils from marking it up. Good times… |
