Yep, most of them were read over and over and tossed. And during WW II, the US had large paper drives which turned most comics of that era to mulch, which is why these specimens are so incredible and cost more than most houses.
Premium Format Wonder Woman Premium Format
- Thread starter Uncanny Web-Slinger
- Start date
Help Support Collector Freaks Forum:
Yep, most of them were read over and over and tossed. And during WW II, the US had large paper drives which turned most comics of that era to mulch, which is why these specimens are so incredible and cost more than most houses.
Bmutha
Super Freak
Don't forget the anti-comic crusade! Wonder how many copies got burned.
(My ASM 14 is. 9.0)
brucecamblzchin
Waitlist 4 lyfe
I mean realistically superhero comics these days will not be worth much in the future right? You've gotta look to smaller stuff like a first printing of TWD #1 to make money today havent you?
Josh-A-Tron
Super Freak
Well a comics price does come down to a few things, First is the contents of the book. Most comics these days don't have anything earth shattering enough in them to make them a historical book like say Detective #27. Second is the rarity of the book, golden age books like my two friends here said went through a time of paper pulping during WWII and The Anti-Comics Era started by Fredric Wertham. Most of the books today are kept in air controlled houses away from anything that might destroy it, so there's plenty in circulation. Then there's grade, which can be crazy depending upon the collector, pedigree, some comics come from famous collections and other stuff like rare errors, blah blah blah you get the idea.
Believe it or not, in comics there's not much considered "rare" that was published after 1964, despite the fact that the word is misused every time an old comic comes up for sale. But there are a lot of post-1964 books that have tremendous demand, despite not being rare. TWD would qualify as one of those books. The demand is there which drives up the price, but they can always be had if you're willing to pay the going rate, so that puts a cap on how high they could actually get.
brucecamblzchin
Waitlist 4 lyfe
But if I hold onto some New 52 OMG Jim Lee is teh awesome number 1 Batman issue for 50 years is it gonna go up in value? Surely the way they started printing things beginning with Death of Superman has stripped mainstay superhero comics of their $$$.
brucecamblzchin
Waitlist 4 lyfe
Thats what I'm talking about, yeah, not much is actually 'rare' unless its a new property that blows up later like TWD for example.
Josh-A-Tron
Super Freak
Well like COI said, it can go up, it's just not going to be worth what some of these books are. I mean I collect mainly Silver Age/Bronze Age books. We're talking books that are 30-50 years old, and I can still good condition copies of some of those for $20-$40, it's not like we're talking about shelling out thousands of dollars unless it's marque book, like what Bmutha is looking for.
Comics today are actually printed in far fewer numbers than they were in the Death of Superman era (early 1990s). But even still, I wouldn't bet on many modern comics going up in value. They'll actually decrease in value most likely, given inflation.
Like any other paper medium, comics are dying a slow death. If I had to bet, I'd say that the only comics anyone is going to care about collecting 50 years from now are the historically important ones, like first appearances of lasting characters. The rest will probably fade into obscurity.
brucecamblzchin
Waitlist 4 lyfe
I see, with books like that in that price range with a particularly significant story or cover could develop some value.
brucecamblzchin
Waitlist 4 lyfe
Yeah I would've thought so.
Josh-A-Tron
Super Freak
It's either that or as print becomes an obsolete medium and anything found in print will immediately garner attention because it's no longer used. Kinda like old video games systems right now. They're completely obsolete but on the collectors market people are paying premium prices.
Josh-A-Tron
Super Freak
The most recent surprise I got was my copy of Batman #227(one of my al time favorite covers) just shot up in price because people realized there just aren't that many left on the open market. So it went from being a $200 to a $600 almost overnight.
brucecamblzchin
Waitlist 4 lyfe
I got this trade on the weekend, original rrp 12.95 I paid...10 lol. I want the single issues now though the covers look great and I dig John Byrne FOR REEEEEEEEEEAL
brucecamblzchin
Waitlist 4 lyfe
Yeah I see, I'm beginning to understand how a regular bloke could make a bit of money snapping up books like that.
Josh-A-Tron
Super Freak
You could, unfortunately for my bank account it's a Batman book, therefore it never gets sold
brucecamblzchin
Waitlist 4 lyfe
True dat!
Yeah, it's funny when that happens. Had a couple of books like that too; a Detective 395 CGC 9.4 that I bought for $350 back in 2004-ish I sold for $1500 a couple of years later. Another was a JIM 109 CGC 9.2 I paid $650 for in 2002; sold it in 2005 for $1800. Books get on people's radars and all of a sudden explode.
Batman 227 is an odd one. It has gotten crazy in the last couple of years, and all based on the cover.
Bmutha
Super Freak
I've got a Daredevil 131 in cgc 9.8...that is a damn rare comic, I tell you! Spent some time tracking that bad boy down.
You need market knowledge and a bank roll that allows you to sit on books for a while if necessary. I've seen some people take a bath trying to make a few bucks. I was never into these hobbies to make money, but for every book I made profit on, there are 3 or 4 that I either lost money on, or just barely broke even. Especially now. The gettings were good back in the early 2000s when CGC first hit, but there are too many players now and the opportunities are drying up.
