The conclusion to be drawn is based upon one's finances, but if you have money to spend - spend it. Now is a perfect time to add to your collection or investment if you can afford to do so. That advice does not mean using a shotgun approach in buying. Investors and collectors must be much more precise. During trying times, buyers must be smart. Here are some buying tips that may help collectors and investors improve their hauls.
1. Have we hit bottom?
Data Observation
Review your own comic book assets and targets and review the prices. Many books keep falling in value. The issue is that the bottom of the drop is unknown. Talk with a few economists and financial planners and they express hope but with reservations. Inflation is a problem, but what economists say could be worse is stagflation. The three components of stagflation are high inflation, slow growth, and high unemployment.
Right now, the only thing that is preventing us from hitting all three is high unemployment. Higher cost of borrowing and slow growth could cause us to hit stagflation like in the late 70s or early 80s. The price of borrowing though now costs people more than only a few months ago. One area that sees an impact of the higher cost of borrowing is alternative investments. Comic books are seeing it now.
Advice
If you read any article that says comic books are immune from inflation, please run from them. The same holds true for people who say we have hit the bottom of the market. People are trying to be positive, but investor collectors should be smart. Every time readers assess the comic book market they should do so by reviewing books in their price range to see how that segment is performing. They should not stop there. It is very important to review books that are well beyond most people's price limits to see the full picture of how the economy is going for collectibles. I regularly review many high-grade keys or others that come to market frequently for my articles.
Superman #1 is beyond the reach of most collectors and investors. On February 24, 2022, a CGC 3.0 copy sold through Goldin for $720k. That very same book sold for $420k on October 30 2022, again at a Goldin auction. That is a loss of $300,000 eight months later! That shows me that a person, or group, with large sums of disposable income had to get out of a book and were willing to take a substantial hit on it. This loss of disposable income is being felt by all segments of the comic book market.
Avoid
FOMO is still running in the community. Donald Glover is a great actor, but that does not mean that Hypno-Hustler's first appearance is a great book to add because of his film announcement. FOMO has caused people to buy it for multiple times what it was selling for the year before. People are running from Superman #1 but not this book? Buy low but avoid FOMO and the blood red sea that most investors and collectors are currently located.
2. Buy the best you can afford
Data Observation
A common observation is that comic book prices are down. Amazing Spider-Man #129 is a major key and yet all prices are down across the board. A 9.6 is down over $2,000 from the one-year to 30-day average while a 9.4 is down over $1,200 at the time I am writing this for the same period. These prices will not stay this low forever.
Advice
Buying the best means has two components. The first one is buying the best key comics you can afford. Everyone's budgets may differ, but the advice is still the same. Some readers may be able to afford the Punisher's first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #129 while others may look to his first solo series with The Punisher #1.
Avoid
Comics to avoid are later series and one-shots. Marvel Comics found people liked the character and then over-saturated the market with his appearances. Collectors can focus on these books but think, "bargain!" Remember to also try to buy as low as possible. Do not overspend on a book that can be purchased at another auction for a cheaper price. GoCollect provides listings of books for sale...use it to your advantage.
3. Bronze Age is gold
Data Observation
The Golden Age of comics has been the most resilient in regard to holding value. Silver Age keys have taken hits but not to the levels of other ages. People still strongly believe in these books. Where the possible affordable hidden gems are, though, is in the Bronze Age. These books are old and have a proven track history and yet still are priced cheap.
Advice
Get the most bang for your buck. A 9.6 CGC copy of Star Wars #1 will cost less than $1000 at the time I am writing this article. This book is a Disney movie franchise tie-in with the first appearance of many key characters in a first issue. This book is hot most of the time because of all these factors and yet the price still has dropped. Now might be a good time to buy if the advice in the previous sections holds true.
Avoid
The Bronze Age is when comic collecting really started to become in-vogue. Price guides, bags, boards, and boxes dedicated only to comics started to become common tools even among the most novice hobbyist. This means that there are higher-grade copies of most books available in this age. Stay away from books graded 5.0 and below. THE EXCEPTION TO THIS RULE IS IF THE BOOK IS A MEGA OR MAJOR KEY!
Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8 is a key book that is always in demand but look at the sales numbers around 5.0 and below. Even sales for key Bronze Age books like this, the sales tend to dry up when people realize they can obtain a higher-grade book for roughly a slight increase in price. These books may return a good return on investment, but the time one waits for a sale may be long because of a smaller pool of buyers.
4. Be Independent
Data Observation
The last few reviews of the GoCollect Market Overview have had very few independent comic books listed. In fact, unless there was a movie or television announcement, these books rarely make any major waves in the sales data. Dig deeper and you will find there is a very robust market for these books. Sale prices are holding well and people buy these books when they come to market.
Advice
Think of major properties with a well-established ancillary market when going independent. Dragon Ball Z #1 is a good book to use as an example. 9.8-9.0 CGC copies have an FMV range of $1000-$500 at the time this article was researched. The sampling of 200 total books graded is large enough to reveal that sales still occur and books still are being offered up for sale. Anime fans are younger but have disposable income and a book like this may be a nice one they would want to add to their holdings.
Older fans added such tie-ins as He-Man, GI Joe, Thundercats, and other cartoon properties so it is a good bet that a few fans raised on anime may look to add higher-priced collectibles of their favorite characters when they can afford it in the future. The time to buy then might be now.
Avoid
Many independent comic properties may be optioned for a television or film treatment. That is a common occurrence in the media market. If you can get in early, consider these books penny stocks that you could be able to buy cheaply but may turn out to be wasted purchases. Every once in a while one might pay off, but for the most part, they will not. Most collectors and investors overspend because of significant media use.
Do not fall for internet sites that hype these option announcements. Remember the scene in The Wolf of Wall Street where DiCaprio hyped penny stocks that he had very little knowledge of but could reap a sizable profit from the sale. Your money was better off in his pockets. Do not make that mistake now.
Conclusion
Trying financial times are great times for some. Many a fortune has been made by savvy individuals who weaved when others dodged. Now may be a trying time, but that does not mean it's impossible. Play it smart and you too could find some hidden gold and steals out there. The key is to spend what you can afford and to also be smart with that money. Collectors could have sold their books and then repurchased the same book a few months later and still had money to spend on other books.
Finally, if you have any other words of wisdom, please add them in the comments sections. I would love to learn what other rules our readers have for thriving right now in the comic book marketplace. What books have you added that once were holy grails that are now sitting on your trophy wall because you used your own tricks to purchase them? It is not bragging if you are helping others!
