Good data. You make sense. I remember watching your video about two years ago. I was just enjoying the comic book hobby again. Went overboard with some purchases. But no way close to $69,999. It was hard for me to get your message about the Bronze Age of comics and other collectibles. Now listening and seeing the state of the economy, I get it. Thank you for your content. It takes time.
To be fair, this has nothing to do with Reddit, CZcams, or the like. Reddit is in the title simply to denote that this post I am commenting on is from that social media platform. I have nothing against any one or any platform they choose to post on.
This channel has helped me realize that I am not a comic investor, I just like to collect comics, some of which are more expensive than others. Really enjoying collecting golden age books now, you can get some great cover art and sometimes-interesting stories for cheaper than silver these days.
Most of the so-called comic book investors you meet are just collectors who want an excuse to buy what they buy. This is why taking the advice of people on collecting forums is never usually wise.
@Reserved Investments Agreed. I browse that CGC forum about once a week and a lot of them are shocked that their bronze, copper and modern comics are down 20 to 50 percent. A lot of them keep making excuses that the market will become bullish again. 😆 ha ha.
If you've got 69K to blow on a single comic as an investment, you're doing it wrong. Take that 69K and buy someone's collection or six or seven of 'em. There's always another collection around the corner. How the hell else could this market support so many damn comic book dealers and flippers. Play the same game dealers do, basing their bids on the liquid value of the raw keys only, not even what they'd be worth graded. Pay 40% of overstreet value for the keys and 10 cents on the dollar for everything else and you'll still be paying more than most dealers/buyers. Once you've got the goods, grade the best/rarest stuff and sell it on shortboxed or any number of graded book sales channels immediately. Sit on nothing! The rest? Bag 'em, board em and toss into a 25 or 50 comic "pack" kraft mailers, guarantee they contain $50 or $100 in book value per box and sell them for half of their value plus shipping/Amazon fulfilment cost. You can also bag and board and value them, then send to goodwill and get a write off on the donation value.
Always helpful! Thanks for the lessons on thinking like an investor. I'm not one but I've used you knowledge in my collecting to avoid over paying for stuff but your thinking has also freed me. I'm no longer afraid to sell into the hype and it's served me well these past few years.
As an ex FX trader and now hedge fund manager, you are pretty well spot on with your comments. People would do well to listen! As a fund we place no greater than 5% into speculative art. The operative word being ART. The fund has one very simple rule. The item must be able to be put on public display as a work of art. Why? Because in 100 years the object will still be appreciated by people as a work of art. Not an artefact of a bygone era shoved in a draw nobody cares about.
Loving this. Speak the truth my man! I have a good sized video game and manga collection but I am not a collector. I buy to use and I just keep them. So mad at Timmy for jacking these prices up so much. Anything of value now is from back in the day when the items were viewed to have no value and were used as such. Comics to be read and passed around, toys to be played with etc. X
Glad I listened to your video. It just validates my decision to change my comic book strategy from hot modern artist to silver age key Batman comics, specificially Neal Adams books and other key Batman villians from the silver age. Thanks again.
Actually, it is Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start. Try that, you might get a boost to your chicks and cars. All joking aside, I do like your channel. Good information. I wish you would do another video on U.S. Collectable Banknotes (I never really got into coins, just started with banknotes) because I do appreciate your insights.
Excellent, excellent video. Wow, this is an incredibly important concept to understand. Hope to hear more from you on Optimal Collectible Grade investing. Especially as it pertains to rare high grade slabbed coins. Question: what, if any, effect has CAC stickers had on the identifying of the Optimal collectible Grade in any given coin?
I remember going to some seminar in college several years ago where this guy was talking about how Westerns died out and most importantly, there was no evidence to suggest that the genre is ever going to come back in any meaningful way. I suspect that will probably happen with comic book movies as well. I've heard a theory that one of the main reasons Westerns died out was because they simply ran out of ways to tell stories. You already hear complaints about that today with comic book movies. I can see the well drying up in the not too distant future.
I think an interesting point on rarity as well is that rare does not always mean valuable. I had a bad habbit of buying unusual guns in the 80s and 90s (not with any intent to make money, but because I thought they were neat), and I have several guns where they made less than 100 and they are worth far less than my military firearms of which tens or hundreds of thousands were made because people want those iconic guns and not an oddball prototype made by someone they never heard of.
😆 I sold mine for £83 back in the day when I discovered girls (that was about a weeks entry level wage at the time) as I'd bought it at cover I thought I was an investment god. I still miss that comic.
Id love to hear more about why Magic Alpha PSA 10s are the exception to the usual optimal collecting grade analysis. Is it that the 10s are the optimal collecting grade for that particular collectible, an exception due to rarity or something else? I’ve been analyzing a lot of different collectibles using this and find it helpful, but was surprised when you brought up magic alpha in that way.
Love your advice and content. I concure as well. Imagine, paying 5 to 8,000 thousand dollars for paper --- paper! The smart investor would buy gold, it's not a very good investment but the returns are much higher than paper 5 k to 8 K on a stock which gives nice dividens and with the magic of compounding you can receive higher -- IRA account. When you're old retirement age, then you can create other accounts for whatever trader you are, cyclical trader, daily, investor, etc. Some comic books are great, we all agree, but 70% of them suck. What does that mean? It means if you buy silver which is a bad investment, you would get better returns than having bought 70% of shitty comics. Slver is going up, 70% of comics are going down. And it's paper. Again, comics is wonderful, its awesome, but they are expensive now, 4.99 to 7.99 for each comic then graded and autographed versus compounding. Everyone should diversify -- don't put your money entirely on comic books -- its paper. All I am saying is buy the comics to the best of your ability and the rest of your money diversify (e.g., gold, silver, stocks, e-currency). I love comics but diversify.
@@Mitjitsu There is a lot of discussion about this, most would not consider a 1984 book bronze age. I tend to agree with Overstreet here...when it comes to age determinations.
The smartest comic video on CZcams. Very good supporting arguments and math. People are not considering rarity at all. Too many copies available at high inflated prices. There is no room for financial growth. Don’t over pay in this market cause prices will drop further. I’m glad someone finally said it.
You have to look at rarity in context with demand. Dodo and the frog #92 is an incredible rare comic, but how many people want it? You can't invest in something just because it's rare. Likewise, you shouldn't ignore an investment simply because it's not rare.
You make a great point about the optimal collecting grade. What I am having trouble understanding is the idea of holding the census as the key driver for future value. From a supply and demand standpoint I can understand that the supply side is half the equation but since demand is just as important why isn’t that calculated as being just as important? For example if book A has 10 books on the census and book B has 100 books on the census one would believe book A is 10x more valuable. But if there are only 20 fans of book A and 400 fans of book B wouldn’t that make book B twice as valuable? My assumption is that I am using the wrong equation and/or that demand is difficult to determine so it’s often not factored as much. Any insight is appreciated.
Right again sean, probably shouldn’t financially invest in items you are emotionally invested in. I started buying comics last year with the idea in the back of my mind that they would be good investments. As i watch the comic market continue to correct, i find myself wondering why im not so bummed. I think its because i realize now im a collector, not an investor. Too many member berries in my head. Granted i am “investing” at a very low level so emotional satisfaction is just fine with me.
I have to constantly keep this in mind as a fan watching other collectors churn their collection and find dumpster deals on Hulk 181 and the like. Do I want to spend $200 on a comic I don't really care about? Or do I want to buy $200 worth of comics I want to read and enjoy?
Agree with much of this. exception would be Shang Chi. Stupid investment just like the other books mentioned, absolutely. But the movie was successful and the character is very likeable. I do agree this marvel edition 15 is not a good investment.
When I buy silver age blue chips I look CGC. 4.0 to 6.0. No way am I breaking the bank with those blue chip silver age comics 9.8 when I could buy stocks or bonds.
Have you ever done a video on how you think collectors of collectibles should diversify specifically in stocks, bonds, and index funds? Something super low level and easy for new investors to begin with I think would be be interesting to see your perspective on.
Actually that should be the default. They should be slowly diversifying into collectibles. To answer your question though, yes, we will discuss, as this is a collectibles finance channel.
To a certain degree you are 100% correct, BUT, we need the 'Timmies' to believe in post 1975 comic book 'investing' as...it helps keep my fat bank account...fat... ;)
I'm 60 & at the drafting a will stage of my life. Now i know people who will appreciate receiving something of value. However i know not one person who would appreciate my collection for what it is. We're ageing out. I dont invest i buy stuff i like. Nice if it keeps some value. I do like your negative take. I see it as realistic. All those books Comic Tom bangs on about are great if you already own them but a bad investment to chase.
I always laugh at the argument that "newsstand comics" in good condition are rare. By the 80s, there was already a class of collectors that very carefully stored and protected their comic books as collectibles.
@@donaldvonglitchenberger4108 There is no reason to believe newsstand comics from the 90s were "rare" or poorly cared for. Comics were newsstand since the 1930s, and yet plenty of those are in decent condition. The first Overstreet guide back in the 1970s proved there was an existing collector community that bought the best copies on the stand, saved them in best condition, and cared for monetary value.
I'm sure you can agree with this, with any investment I do my research. This vid being a investment of my time , I just have one question and trying to be as respectful as possible .....why haven't any pens moved in the corner for two years I'd vids
Hey Shawn, love your videos. I dont remember which video it was in particular, but you did mention that buying the highest grade makes the most sense in one of them.
He is right with a lot of (if not everything) things he said. I started collecting comics in 2016 and ended in 2018 when everything in comics started to go woke. I do not know sh*t about golden silver or bronze age comics so i keep my fingers away from them. I collect a lot of things i like. My golden rule is "collect what you love/like and NEVER collect for speculation/profit". So that if the value of that collection/item goes down the shi*hole you at least have something you ike/love.
Say im looking at a 1959 Willie Mays card. 10-40k 9-18k 8-2k 7-800 6-400 5-300 4-200 3-150 2-100 1-50 My intuition is the 8 cause its the largest jump % between grade but multiple scenarios are 2x.
Assuming you could get either for free, would you rather have a 9.4 Nintendo Power 1 or an equally valued first edition novel from the early 20th century? I know you have a 1st edition Great Gatsby, so something like that, but a different book
Certain books, yes. However, some of those books lack long term staying power. If and when demand falls in the comic book market (which is inevitable) I would predict the lesser important the book is, the harder it will fall out of flavor. Do NOT get convinced that just because something is old and scarce, therefore it will always have value. That is 100% incorrect.
@Reserved Investments Thank you for your response. Have you done a video on investing in historical artifacts and documents. I think you consider them to be on the higher end of collectibles. It would be interesting to know how to get into that field. Thank you, and keep up the great videos.
I remember selling my copy of Giant size X-men for $180 and thinking I'd struck gold (1995?). I was about 30 met a girl and figured I'd moved on from comics 😂. Hope she apprenticeships how much that weekend break really cost.
There's only 219 copies of a book in the world that are graded sounds pretty rare to me considering how. Many collectors there are out there in the population. Comic books have been going up since they were created. They are go up every year and we can see this through overstreet and sales. Comic books have been going up since they were created. They are go up every year and we can see this through overstreet and sales and projections and keeping track and making extrapolation charts. They are good investment guys and if you consider how many collectors are in the world hold on to them any comic books. That weren't mass produced from the eighties and back are valuable and worth money even some of the nineties.
Almost everything you just stated here is hype. Yes, 200+ in 9.8 alone. Most collectors and even investors, aren’t going for a 9.8 condition copy, nor should they. Furthermore, that didn’t save the original Reddit poster from losing tens of thousands of dollars by speculating on this book, so what’s your point? That alone decimates your argument.
I’m still learning comics but I’ve done sports cards for a while and just because something is rare doesn’t mean it will sell for more than something not rare. It’s all about the demand. You can have the rarest of comics but what does it matter if there is no demand. No demand means value drops…more demand value rises. You keep saying giant size X-men 200 9.8 is not rare…your wrong. It is rare when the demand for it is so high. Maybe your looking to much into the Covid Market bringing things so high and dropping so much now. The Markets are pretty much back to where it should of been. You also got to think the people buying these books and their age bracket. 20 years from now the adults at that time will want Deadpool and venom not some of the old rare stuff they didn’t grow up with. I do agree with your point on Finding optimum value though.
Appreciate the content, thanks. This is the one channel that explained the term rare correctly. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I feel that may be the most incorrectly used word in collectibles.
House of Secrets #92 I really agree with. Classic character done by a classic team. Also Swamp Thing is cool if people are getting fatigued from super heroes in tights.
Unfortunately though people like x men 100x times more than obscure swamp thing. I like swamp thing but it’s really for obscure and cult interest. Not gonna have demand of x men or Spider-Man. Or Batman. Ever.
I mean... it's all about offer and demand. A book can be super rare but without demand, its value will not grow. In the other way, a book can have many editions but have a high price cos of its popularity (ex: ASM#300)
Just came a across you channel, good stuff. I'll be looking out for you future vids. Good contrast to people that say stick to your "hulk 181s, ASM 129s" etc etc if you want good safe investment choices
After making some mistakes in the card market, I fed my comic fomo by buying omnibuses of the comics I've wanted. Some have pretty good covers to enjoy just as well. My investments/collecting in video games pre-pandemic has me sitting pretty well overall, but thinking to sell a lot of it to realize the profit.
but you waited too long to sell if you wanted to realize the best profits. Now its either you sell now knowing in your head you missed the boat for the best profits or you hold for years.
I like your video and appreciate your passion, but it's not the best "sound" advice on some of your recommendations. I'm a previous broker with Edward Jones having passed the Series 7 and Series 66. The Vanguard fund you mentioned is not tax sheltered. You aren't paying a "yearly" tax on the ownership of a comic book. You are subject to tax on the sale of said book though. Many books have actually outpaced the market itself. Your fund recommendations also have a cost for the management team to maintain and keep those funds that many people in society never realize. Majority of investors don't read the PROSPECTUS which outlays these fund costs. I implore you to proceed with caution in not advising people to get individual stocks. For example, TESLA has appreciated 44.91% within the past (30) days in valuation. You can't give me another investment item in that timespan that has appreciated at that level. Not real estate, not another equity, not a fund, and maybe, maybe.. a comic book, but there's a low chance of that.
Another great video. In terms of optimal grade with CGC is there another for page color? I've heard with bronze and newer you want to avoid cream and off white to cream.
Try to stick with off-white to white pages or true white pages for bronze age books and later. Silver age you can extend that to off-white pages as well, but anything further, you may be buying a potential problem book.
I am primarily an ancient coin collector. But In terms of popularity and price when it comes to modern collectables I put a 1st impression of the Hobbit or a Casino Royale in the same mental bucket as Superman or Batman and Winnie the Pooh (hobbit and action comics 1 came out within a year of each other and the hobbit was printed to 1500 copies originally). So why oh why do Pikachu Illustator, Action Comics, Amazing Fantasy, Batman etc sell for millions when Comparable non-super hero IP original collectibles of the other IPs that are arguably within the same realms of popularity and cultural relevance even today sell for a fraction of that. I know that Books are not the same market as cards or comics but I imagine it must have something to do with the demographics. That comics, cards post 2020 have taken on a lot of young probably men and thus have stupid highly risk tolerance compared to coins, books etc etc. even of stuff of a similar age and more pop culture orientated
@@ReservedInvestments thx for the reply. 40 y/o MBA and lifelong collector here. Never really got caught up in investing or speculation with my collection, but I do churn and sell off portions of it periodically. I’m glad to have found some common sense & level-headed thoughts being expressed here. Thanks again - new subscriber confirmed 👍
Just playing the devil's advocate Shawn, in your video about your coin collection, you were talking about things like "for this series I will only look at grade xyz and above". Same for comics. I'm sure that's what gave people the impression to go for higher grade, premium stuff (if they ignore the larger context about supply and the nuances of that optimal threshold, of course)
There are over 400+ videos on this channel. You would have to identify which video you mean specifically. I have mentioned the optimal collecting grade concept multiple times now and it also has its own dedicated video. I get that some individuals may only just be discovering my channel now. That said, it is on them to go back and review previous videos if they are so inclined.
Your comment about pre 65 being the goods as 1970 brought about the Price Guide. I worked in a comic store for three years starting in 1983 probably a real cool era.... One of my duties was filing files every Friday when ups delivered that weeks new books. Files were books we'd put in folders for customers who would pick them up. Some customers were buying multiple books for a title each month, and I'd always put choice copies in them. Your point about people already speculating and not every copy being graded is spot on. I had a bunch of original art from comic shows- I wonder what that sells for now.
How about Batman #121 1st Mr. Freeze and Origin (known as Mr. Zero back then) It seems many people are "banking" on the next two Batman major motion pictures will feature him as a villain. Are we still in an age where movies can dictate KEY comic book prices if said villain or hero is featured in it?
well, you don't really lose anything until you sell something.......as long as they hang onto it for 10 to 20 years they should be able to recoup their investment in my humble opinion.......granted...could the X-Men franchise disappear in that time......seems unlikely, but one never knows and as always life and investing is ......a risk!
Giant Size X-Men #1 CGC books currently on eBay now: 157 Copies of a classic Golden Age Batman issue with an iconic Dick Sprang cover CGC currently on eBay now: 11 (I'm not naming the book publicly because I'm personally investing in it) Just like you said in this video, way too many people are banking into the items that are already hot and have loads of copies available. The best thing to do is look at the overlooked. When the first "She-Hulk" trailer hit, I sold my copies of #1 for a nice chunk of change. Right now, if I wanted, I could buy them back for a third of what I sold them for. DON'T BUY INTO THE HYPE. Focus on obscurities and ACTUAL rare items.
I have talked about this in previous videos. I do not like signed collectibles. I do like historical documents with authentic signatures. I prefer collectibles in their purest state/form possible. But yes, some do have value.
Giant size Xmen is very uncommon. Not quite rare but there’s 10x more buyers than they are of swamp thing. House of secrets has less buyers except cult classic or comic aficionados. Rare but less demand Money is made based on supply and demand GS Xmen has the demand and popularity. Swamp thing doesn’t b
you think 219 is not rare? Where do you draw the line? I draw the line at 25 copies or less if I can afford it. Edit: I see you mentioned action comics 1 which has 50-100 estimated copies in existence
I'm curious what you think about the investment potential of Tales to Astonish #13. 1960 publication. 604 copies on the combined CGC and CBCS censuses. Only popular because of the success of the Guardians of the Galaxy film franchise. Would you expect that popularity will fade?
It has scarcity going for it, but you are correct, it was the 'Guardians' franchise that caused that book to pop. There are better places to park your cash in the silver age era in my opinion.
Do they have other investments and want to draw out monies but want to avoid a high tax bill? Take the loss on capital gains (since comics are in the capital gains bucket) and reduce their overall tax bill. Cool stuff man! The Sotheby's and Christies economic report talk deeply about all investable assets in the auctions and the lower forecast they see coming. Everything eventually rises either because of a post correction attituded or inflation boost. Maybe I should buy more Beanie Babies...🤪
That’s an apples to oranges comparison. One is rooted in pop culture, while the other is a mature/sophisticated market. It might be an interesting video though…
Good data. You make sense. I remember watching your video about two years ago. I was just enjoying the comic book hobby again. Went overboard with some purchases. But no way close to $69,999. It was hard for me to get your message about the Bronze Age of comics and other collectibles. Now listening and seeing the state of the economy, I get it. Thank you for your content. It takes time.
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Shawn yells at Redditors should be the title of this series
To be fair, this has nothing to do with Reddit, CZcams, or the like. Reddit is in the title simply to denote that this post I am commenting on is from that social media platform. I have nothing against any one or any platform they choose to post on.
@@ReservedInvestments I think if you turned your answers to their posts into CZcams shorts people would eat it up
This channel has helped me realize that I am not a comic investor, I just like to collect comics, some of which are more expensive than others. Really enjoying collecting golden age books now, you can get some great cover art and sometimes-interesting stories for cheaper than silver these days.
Most of the so-called comic book investors you meet are just collectors who want an excuse to buy what they buy. This is why taking the advice of people on collecting forums is never usually wise.
@Reserved Investments
Agreed. I browse that CGC forum about once a week and a lot of them are shocked that their bronze, copper and modern comics are down 20 to 50 percent. A lot of them keep making excuses that the market will become bullish again. 😆 ha ha.
If you've got 69K to blow on a single comic as an investment, you're doing it wrong. Take that 69K and buy someone's collection or six or seven of 'em. There's always another collection around the corner. How the hell else could this market support so many damn comic book dealers and flippers. Play the same game dealers do, basing their bids on the liquid value of the raw keys only, not even what they'd be worth graded. Pay 40% of overstreet value for the keys and 10 cents on the dollar for everything else and you'll still be paying more than most dealers/buyers. Once you've got the goods, grade the best/rarest stuff and sell it on shortboxed or any number of graded book sales channels immediately. Sit on nothing! The rest? Bag 'em, board em and toss into a 25 or 50 comic "pack" kraft mailers, guarantee they contain $50 or $100 in book value per box and sell them for half of their value plus shipping/Amazon fulfilment cost. You can also bag and board and value them, then send to goodwill and get a write off on the donation value.
Always helpful! Thanks for the lessons on thinking like an investor. I'm not one but I've used you knowledge in my collecting to avoid over paying for stuff but your thinking has also freed me. I'm no longer afraid to sell into the hype and it's served me well these past few years.
You are learning! Thanks for the comment.
As an ex FX trader and now hedge fund manager, you are pretty well spot on with your comments. People would do well to listen!
As a fund we place no greater than 5% into speculative art. The operative word being ART. The fund has one very simple rule. The item must be able to be put on public display as a work of art. Why? Because in 100 years the object will still be appreciated by people as a work of art. Not an artefact of a bygone era shoved in a draw nobody cares about.
Thanks for the comment!
Much respect Sean for not running people down for making mistakes. We all do it and if we listen and learn we will make fewer mistakes!
I've made six figure mistakes in my life...we all make them, maybe just not that big...lol.
Loving this. Speak the truth my man! I have a good sized video game and manga collection but I am not a collector. I buy to use and I just keep them. So mad at Timmy for jacking these prices up so much. Anything of value now is from back in the day when the items were viewed to have no value and were used as such. Comics to be read and passed around, toys to be played with etc. X
Glad I listened to your video. It just validates my decision to change my comic book strategy from hot modern artist to silver age key Batman comics, specificially Neal Adams books and other key Batman villians from the silver age. Thanks again.
Actually, it is Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start. Try that, you might get a boost to your chicks and cars.
All joking aside, I do like your channel. Good information. I wish you would do another video on U.S. Collectable Banknotes (I never really got into coins, just started with banknotes) because I do appreciate your insights.
Excellent, excellent video. Wow, this is an incredibly important concept to understand. Hope to hear more from you on Optimal Collectible Grade investing. Especially as it pertains to rare high grade slabbed coins.
Question: what, if any, effect has CAC stickers had on the identifying of the Optimal collectible Grade in any given coin?
I remember going to some seminar in college several years ago where this guy was talking about how Westerns died out and most importantly, there was no evidence to suggest that the genre is ever going to come back in any meaningful way. I suspect that will probably happen with comic book movies as well. I've heard a theory that one of the main reasons Westerns died out was because they simply ran out of ways to tell stories. You already hear complaints about that today with comic book movies. I can see the well drying up in the not too distant future.
Correct. No one is going to look back and care about most of these movies and television shows.
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I think an interesting point on rarity as well is that rare does not always mean valuable. I had a bad habbit of buying unusual guns in the 80s and 90s (not with any intent to make money, but because I thought they were neat), and I have several guns where they made less than 100 and they are worth far less than my military firearms of which tens or hundreds of thousands were made because people want those iconic guns and not an oddball prototype made by someone they never heard of.
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😆 I sold mine for £83 back in the day when I discovered girls (that was about a weeks entry level wage at the time) as I'd bought it at cover I thought I was an investment god.
I still miss that comic.
Wow, great video! I gotta say I do enjoy your "slapped in the face by a stale donut" line.
Id love to hear more about why Magic Alpha PSA 10s are the exception to the usual optimal collecting grade analysis. Is it that the 10s are the optimal collecting grade for that particular collectible, an exception due to rarity or something else? I’ve been analyzing a lot of different collectibles using this and find it helpful, but was surprised when you brought up magic alpha in that way.
Love your advice and content. I concure as well.
Imagine, paying 5 to 8,000 thousand dollars for paper --- paper!
The smart investor would buy gold, it's not a very good investment but the returns are much higher than paper
5 k to 8 K on a stock which gives nice dividens and with the magic of compounding you can receive higher -- IRA account. When you're old retirement age, then you can create other accounts for whatever trader you are, cyclical trader, daily, investor, etc.
Some comic books are great, we all agree, but 70% of them suck.
What does that mean?
It means if you buy silver which is a bad investment, you would get better returns than having bought 70% of shitty comics. Slver is going up, 70% of comics are going down. And it's paper.
Again, comics is wonderful, its awesome, but they are expensive now, 4.99 to 7.99 for each comic then graded and autographed versus compounding.
Everyone should diversify -- don't put your money entirely on comic books -- its paper.
All I am saying is buy the comics to the best of your ability and the rest of your money diversify (e.g., gold, silver, stocks, e-currency). I love comics but diversify.
In that first Overstreet guide it listed Tarzan #1 as one of the 5 most valuable comics (at the time). It has not done anything ever since.
Thank you for the information!
Thank you for the video Shawn
If you were going to invest in a bronze age comic I would have thought TMNT#1 would have been the best choice.
Or maybe original art from TNMT? As a kid I owned some from issue 2...
But TMNT is a Copper Age book, not a Bronze Age book. It is even listed this was in the Overstreet Guide.
@@ReservedInvestments I thought bronze age was defined as 1970 to 1985.
@@Mitjitsu There is a lot of discussion about this, most would not consider a 1984 book bronze age. I tend to agree with Overstreet here...when it comes to age determinations.
The smartest comic video on CZcams. Very good supporting arguments and math. People are not considering rarity at all. Too many copies available at high inflated prices. There is no room for financial growth. Don’t over pay in this market cause prices will drop further. I’m glad someone finally said it.
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You have to look at rarity in context with demand. Dodo and the frog #92 is an incredible rare comic, but how many people want it? You can't invest in something just because it's rare. Likewise, you shouldn't ignore an investment simply because it's not rare.
Please watch the other videos I have done. I’m not saying you should ignore anything…
You make a great point about the optimal collecting grade.
What I am having trouble understanding is the idea of holding the census as the key driver for future value. From a supply and demand standpoint I can understand that the supply side is half the equation but since demand is just as important why isn’t that calculated as being just as important? For example if book A has 10 books on the census and book B has 100 books on the census one would believe book A is 10x more valuable. But if there are only 20 fans of book A and 400 fans of book B wouldn’t that make book B twice as valuable? My assumption is that I am using the wrong equation and/or that demand is difficult to determine so it’s often not factored as much. Any insight is appreciated.
To be fair, the statement "Top 10% is investible quality" is a strong suggestion that the highest grading is best.
Incorrect.
The "Jelly 🍩 " haha always excellent content Shawn !!! Thanks for another great video!!!!
What do you think about investing in comic book pages? For example, the Spidey black suit page selling for 3.36 million dollars a few years ago?
Right again sean, probably shouldn’t financially invest in items you are emotionally invested in. I started buying comics last year with the idea in the back of my mind that they would be good investments. As i watch the comic market continue to correct, i find myself wondering why im not so bummed. I think its because i realize now im a collector, not an investor. Too many member berries in my head. Granted i am “investing” at a very low level so emotional satisfaction is just fine with me.
I have to constantly keep this in mind as a fan watching other collectors churn their collection and find dumpster deals on Hulk 181 and the like. Do I want to spend $200 on a comic I don't really care about? Or do I want to buy $200 worth of comics I want to read and enjoy?
Then buy what you want hold it and you win
Agree with much of this. exception would be Shang Chi. Stupid investment just like the other books mentioned, absolutely. But the movie was successful and the character is very likeable. I do agree this marvel edition 15 is not a good investment.
When I buy silver age blue chips I look CGC. 4.0 to 6.0. No way am I breaking the bank with those blue chip silver age comics 9.8 when I could buy stocks or bonds.
To this day, I can't tell the difference between an MS69 and a MS70... only difference I see is double the price.
Have you ever done a video on how you think collectors of collectibles should diversify specifically in stocks, bonds, and index funds? Something super low level and easy for new investors to begin with I think would be be interesting to see your perspective on.
He has step 1) find an index fund that you like e.g ftse100 or S&P 500. Put money in it. Done.
Just invest in a low cost index fund, ticket symbol VOO and do it every month until you die. Your welcom
Actually that should be the default. They should be slowly diversifying into collectibles. To answer your question though, yes, we will discuss, as this is a collectibles finance channel.
In all learn from your mistakes!
Thanks, Shawn! It's so good to have your videos and the details you add to them are incredible.
Glad you like them! Thank you for the feedback.
There’s a little more to this investing in comics. Census of comic in different grades is a major part in buying comics at different grades
Excellent content
But Sean, your factual math data goes against my magical belief system!!
Anything beyond silver age is usually a losing proposition. This guy knows what he's talking about
To a certain degree you are 100% correct, BUT, we need the 'Timmies' to believe in post 1975 comic book 'investing' as...it helps keep my fat bank account...fat... ;)
I'm 60 & at the drafting a will stage of my life. Now i know people who will appreciate receiving something of value. However i know not one person who would appreciate my collection for what it is. We're ageing out.
I dont invest i buy stuff i like. Nice if it keeps some value. I do like your negative take. I see it as realistic. All those books Comic Tom bangs on about are great if you already own them but a bad investment to chase.
BOTTOM LINE - Buy what you LIKE, not based on investment. Buying collectibles (ANY collectible) because it MIGHT go up in value is just stupid.
Is it? This is a collectibles finance channel…emphasis on finance…
I kind of think the superhero craze is already on its way out. Cocaine Bear just beat Ant Man 3 at the box office.
What is the optimal collecting grade for amazing fantasy #15 in a cgc case?
I love you man! No cheat codes to life! Knowledge! Excelsior!
Shawn is the Goat 🐐
Great video 👍
Thanks!
I always laugh at the argument that "newsstand comics" in good condition are rare. By the 80s, there was already a class of collectors that very carefully stored and protected their comic books as collectibles.
Newsstand comics especially in the early 90s in good condition are rare. They were beat up on comic racks and handled terribly
@@donaldvonglitchenberger4108 There is no reason to believe newsstand comics from the 90s were "rare" or poorly cared for. Comics were newsstand since the 1930s, and yet plenty of those are in decent condition. The first Overstreet guide back in the 1970s proved there was an existing collector community that bought the best copies on the stand, saved them in best condition, and cared for monetary value.
The last few sales for House of Secrets 92 above 9.2 have been trending up.
I'm sure you can agree with this, with any investment I do my research. This vid being a investment of my time , I just have one question and trying to be as respectful as possible .....why haven't any pens moved in the corner for two years I'd vids
The optimal grade for amazing fantasy #15 is 5.0
Hey Shawn, love your videos. I dont remember which video it was in particular, but you did mention that buying the highest grade makes the most sense in one of them.
Related to antiques or graded collectibles? There is a difference.
I am surprised he didn’t lose $69,420.
He is right with a lot of (if not everything) things he said. I started collecting comics in 2016 and ended in 2018 when everything in comics started to go woke. I do not know sh*t about golden silver or bronze age comics so i keep my fingers away from them. I collect a lot of things i like. My golden rule is "collect what you love/like and NEVER collect for speculation/profit". So that if the value of that collection/item goes down the shi*hole you at least have something you ike/love.
2:38 in the scenario you just laid out is there no 9.8,9.9,10 in this scenario? I get the “dbl the price part” but looking for bit of clarity.
Say im looking at a 1959 Willie Mays card.
10-40k
9-18k
8-2k
7-800
6-400
5-300
4-200
3-150
2-100
1-50
My intuition is the 8 cause its the largest jump % between grade but multiple scenarios are 2x.
Assuming you could get either for free, would you rather have a 9.4 Nintendo Power 1 or an equally valued first edition novel from the early 20th century? I know you have a 1st edition Great Gatsby, so something like that, but a different book
Great video, as always. Would you consider pre-code sci-fi and horror comics good investments?
Certain books, yes. However, some of those books lack long term staying power. If and when demand falls in the comic book market (which is inevitable) I would predict the lesser important the book is, the harder it will fall out of flavor. Do NOT get convinced that just because something is old and scarce, therefore it will always have value. That is 100% incorrect.
@Reserved Investments Thank you for your response. Have you done a video on investing in historical artifacts and documents. I think you consider them to be on the higher end of collectibles. It would be interesting to know how to get into that field. Thank you, and keep up the great videos.
@@carlosrey9914 Thank you. I have not yet done a full dedicated video to historical documents. I am considering it...
Batman #227 🥰
Great video Shawn!
Thanks!
I'm sure he's mentioned in other videos, what's the book behind his head? (His left our right)
My background changes, so I have no way of answering, but if you watch previous videos, the book is probably mentioned at some point.
1 million copies of ASM 300
5000 copies of Walking Dead 1
I've done great flipping games the last couple of years thanks to your channel. Keep it up, Shawn! 👏
Thank you for the feedback. Glad you are getting something out of this.
I remember selling my copy of Giant size X-men for $180 and thinking I'd struck gold (1995?). I was about 30 met a girl and figured I'd moved on from comics 😂. Hope she apprenticeships how much that weekend break really cost.
There's only 219 copies of a book in the world that are graded sounds pretty rare to me considering how. Many collectors there are out there in the population. Comic books have been going up since they were created. They are go up every year and we can see this through overstreet and sales. Comic books have been going up since they were created. They are go up every year and we can see this through overstreet and sales and projections and keeping track and making extrapolation charts. They are good investment guys and if you consider how many collectors are in the world hold on to them any comic books. That weren't mass produced from the eighties and back are valuable and worth money even some of the nineties.
Almost everything you just stated here is hype. Yes, 200+ in 9.8 alone. Most collectors and even investors, aren’t going for a 9.8 condition copy, nor should they.
Furthermore, that didn’t save the original Reddit poster from losing tens of thousands of dollars by speculating on this book, so what’s your point? That alone decimates your argument.
So if you had $20,000 right now, where would you invest that money into? Really liked the video and had a lot of great info in it. Thank you.
I’m still learning comics but I’ve done sports cards for a while and just because something is rare doesn’t mean it will sell for more than something not rare. It’s all about the demand. You can have the rarest of comics but what does it matter if there is no demand. No demand means value drops…more demand value rises. You keep saying giant size X-men 200 9.8 is not rare…your wrong. It is rare when the demand for it is so high. Maybe your looking to much into the Covid Market bringing things so high and dropping so much now. The Markets are pretty much back to where it should of been. You also got to think the people buying these books and their age bracket. 20 years from now the adults at that time will want Deadpool and venom not some of the old rare stuff they didn’t grow up with. I do agree with your point on Finding optimum value though.
Appreciate the content, thanks. This is the one channel that explained the term rare correctly. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I feel that may be the most incorrectly used word in collectibles.
House of Secrets #92 I really agree with. Classic character done by a classic team. Also Swamp Thing is cool if people are getting fatigued from super heroes in tights.
Unfortunately though people like x men 100x times more than obscure swamp thing. I like swamp thing but it’s really for obscure and cult interest. Not gonna have demand of x men or Spider-Man. Or Batman. Ever.
@@MetalBum if it has half the suppy and half the demand it will be the same price. That's how that works.
@@lmrbeerbellyl just stop it
@@lmrbeerbellylthere’s not demand for swamp thing
@@MetalBum They're making a Swamp Thing movie, and we'll also see Justice League Dark. There is demand.
Great video. It is very helpful. People don't seem to learn unless they loss money and then reality its them
LMAO, I watched this yesterday. Last night Giant Size X-Men 7.0 RAW dropped over $5K (Canadian) in one day.
I mean... it's all about offer and demand. A book can be super rare but without demand, its value will not grow. In the other way, a book can have many editions but have a high price cos of its popularity (ex: ASM#300)
Just came a across you channel, good stuff. I'll be looking out for you future vids. Good contrast to people that say stick to your "hulk 181s, ASM 129s" etc etc if you want good safe investment choices
I bought the 9.6 like you said, but when it arrived it was a 6.9!
After making some mistakes in the card market, I fed my comic fomo by buying omnibuses of the comics I've wanted. Some have pretty good covers to enjoy just as well. My investments/collecting in video games pre-pandemic has me sitting pretty well overall, but thinking to sell a lot of it to realize the profit.
but you waited too long to sell if you wanted to realize the best profits. Now its either you sell now knowing in your head you missed the boat for the best profits or you hold for years.
A quarter of a percent is way better than 3/4 of a percent. That's actually relief.
I like your video and appreciate your passion, but it's not the best "sound" advice on some of your recommendations. I'm a previous broker with Edward Jones having passed the Series 7 and Series 66. The Vanguard fund you mentioned is not tax sheltered. You aren't paying a "yearly" tax on the ownership of a comic book. You are subject to tax on the sale of said book though. Many books have actually outpaced the market itself. Your fund recommendations also have a cost for the management team to maintain and keep those funds that many people in society never realize. Majority of investors don't read the PROSPECTUS which outlays these fund costs. I implore you to proceed with caution in not advising people to get individual stocks. For example, TESLA has appreciated 44.91% within the past (30) days in valuation. You can't give me another investment item in that timespan that has appreciated at that level. Not real estate, not another equity, not a fund, and maybe, maybe.. a comic book, but there's a low chance of that.
Really enjoy watching this video. Glad I learned early on and dumped the super-heroes and switched to GA.
I'm curious about your opinion on sports cards. Particularly soccer cards. Thanks
Another great video. In terms of optimal grade with CGC is there another for page color? I've heard with bronze and newer you want to avoid cream and off white to cream.
Try to stick with off-white to white pages or true white pages for bronze age books and later. Silver age you can extend that to off-white pages as well, but anything further, you may be buying a potential problem book.
I am primarily an ancient coin collector. But In terms of popularity and price when it comes to modern collectables I put a 1st impression of the Hobbit or a Casino Royale in the same mental bucket as Superman or Batman and Winnie the Pooh (hobbit and action comics 1 came out within a year of each other and the hobbit was printed to 1500 copies originally).
So why oh why do Pikachu Illustator, Action Comics, Amazing Fantasy, Batman etc sell for millions when Comparable non-super hero IP original collectibles of the other IPs that are arguably within the same realms of popularity and cultural relevance even today sell for a fraction of that. I know that Books are not the same market as cards or comics but I imagine it must have something to do with the demographics. That comics, cards post 2020 have taken on a lot of young probably men and thus have stupid highly risk tolerance compared to coins, books etc etc. even of stuff of a similar age and more pop culture orientated
remember investors, you never lose unless you sell!
That’s retarded advice
Nope. You lose if u cannot find the next greater fool
Great advice
New to the channel here - thx for the informative content! Just curious, are you GenX or Millennial?
GenX. I do state my exact age in some of the videos.
@@ReservedInvestments thx for the reply. 40 y/o MBA and lifelong collector here. Never really got caught up in investing or speculation with my collection, but I do churn and sell off portions of it periodically. I’m glad to have found some common sense & level-headed thoughts being expressed here. Thanks again - new subscriber confirmed 👍
Welcome!
Just playing the devil's advocate Shawn, in your video about your coin collection, you were talking about things like "for this series I will only look at grade xyz and above". Same for comics. I'm sure that's what gave people the impression to go for higher grade, premium stuff (if they ignore the larger context about supply and the nuances of that optimal threshold, of course)
There are over 400+ videos on this channel. You would have to identify which video you mean specifically. I have mentioned the optimal collecting grade concept multiple times now and it also has its own dedicated video. I get that some individuals may only just be discovering my channel now. That said, it is on them to go back and review previous videos if they are so inclined.
Shawn do you remember when comics and Super Heroes were so toxic that Marvel stock was $4 and they were basically bankrupt? Before the buyout.
Read the book Comic Wars... ;)
Your comment about pre 65 being the goods as 1970 brought about the Price Guide. I worked in a comic store for three years starting in 1983 probably a real cool era....
One of my duties was filing files every Friday when ups delivered that weeks new books. Files were books we'd put in folders for customers who would pick them up. Some customers were buying multiple books for a title each month, and I'd always put choice copies in them.
Your point about people already speculating and not every copy being graded is spot on.
I had a bunch of original art from comic shows- I wonder what that sells for now.
How about Batman #121 1st Mr. Freeze and Origin (known as Mr. Zero back then) It seems many people are "banking" on the next two Batman major motion pictures will feature him as a villain. Are we still in an age where movies can dictate KEY comic book prices if said villain or hero is featured in it?
Batman 121 is a key and a scarce key as well.
@@ReservedInvestments Thank you kindly
Why is alpha MTG an exception?
Why does the growth of a lesser grade outpace the top items from your perspective?
MTG Alpha is a highly speculative market where prices between grades are not yet established. That is why...
well, you don't really lose anything until you sell something.......as long as they hang onto it for 10 to 20 years they should be able to recoup their investment in my humble opinion.......granted...could the X-Men franchise disappear in that time......seems unlikely, but one never knows and as always life and investing is ......a risk!
Uh, for a comic book to not be a good investment, does not mean that the franchise has to go to zero or disappear. Please watch my earlier videos.
Are SciFi pulp magazines like Planet Stories #1-3 worth holding on to?
Giant Size X-Men #1 CGC books currently on eBay now: 157
Copies of a classic Golden Age Batman issue with an iconic Dick Sprang cover CGC currently on eBay now: 11
(I'm not naming the book publicly because I'm personally investing in it)
Just like you said in this video, way too many people are banking into the items that are already hot and have loads of copies available. The best thing to do is look at the overlooked.
When the first "She-Hulk" trailer hit, I sold my copies of #1 for a nice chunk of change. Right now, if I wanted, I could buy them back for a third of what I sold them for.
DON'T BUY INTO THE HYPE. Focus on obscurities and ACTUAL rare items.
Grader at CGC got a speeding ticket the morning he graded your book. 9.2
Grader got laid the morning he graded your book. 9.6
Could you kindly give us a tour of your Lego collection sir? 🙏
But Shawn you said it in every video to buy buy spend 😂 jk love the channel man!
Hey Shawn - Curious, what about signatures? Do they have any value on collectibles? Thanks!
I have talked about this in previous videos. I do not like signed collectibles. I do like historical documents with authentic signatures. I prefer collectibles in their purest state/form possible. But yes, some do have value.
I never buy the highest grade comics, coz gem mint 10s are way out of my budget =D
Giant size Xmen is very uncommon. Not quite rare but there’s 10x more buyers than they are of swamp thing. House of secrets has less buyers except cult classic or comic aficionados. Rare but less demand
Money is made based on supply and demand
GS Xmen has the demand and popularity. Swamp thing doesn’t b
It’s not uncommon. It’s common as day…
My money market account is paying real cash in free money right now.
you think 219 is not rare?
Where do you draw the line?
I draw the line at 25 copies or less if I can afford it.
Edit: I see you mentioned action comics 1 which has 50-100 estimated copies in existence
That’s total copies. GSX 1 has 219 copies alone in 9.8.
I'm curious what you think about the investment potential of Tales to Astonish #13. 1960 publication. 604 copies on the combined CGC and CBCS censuses. Only popular because of the success of the Guardians of the Galaxy film franchise. Would you expect that popularity will fade?
It has scarcity going for it, but you are correct, it was the 'Guardians' franchise that caused that book to pop. There are better places to park your cash in the silver age era in my opinion.
@@ReservedInvestments Thanks for your insight!
Do they have other investments and want to draw out monies but want to avoid a high tax bill? Take the loss on capital gains (since comics are in the capital gains bucket) and reduce their overall tax bill. Cool stuff man! The Sotheby's and Christies economic report talk deeply about all investable assets in the auctions and the lower forecast they see coming. Everything eventually rises either because of a post correction attituded or inflation boost. Maybe I should buy more Beanie Babies...🤪
They are not selling the books, so no actual loss was incurred…
You should do a video on Collectors art and compare the two
That’s an apples to oranges comparison. One is rooted in pop culture, while the other is a mature/sophisticated market. It might be an interesting video though…
@@ReservedInvestments Maybe Pop culture is evolving to a mature/sophisticated market
@@chi-tn No, it is not. Different dynamics...