Don’t kid yourself, Silk #1 will be big this week. I am sitting here watching trends on eBay and just saw a bunch of related books go across in the past hour.
For example, 8 copies of Amazing Spider-Man #4 sold from one seller in that hour, but that is not the only one. Copies of Amazing Spider-Man #4
have been being picked up all day. If you have them, good, if not try to grab copies if you can find them. Silk #1 will be big, and Amazing Spider-man #4 will be bigger.
Skip to content
Informed Comic Book Speculation and Pop Culture News
Grabbed 2 yesterday at cover,but 3.50 shipping…..pretty good!
The price should triple like edge of spider-verse 2 did.
Agreed…hope it happens..
I am better positioned for this than I was eosv
I don’t think anyone was really prepared for EOSV #2.. The only copies I was able to grab were right after you spec’d it here from Midtown. I should of bought more than 4 copies but I hesitated, almost picked up 10. I thought it was hype and then would die quickly so didn’t want to buy 10 copies of something that ended up sitting in the long box. 😉
yeah me too, I started buying like crazy when I realized silk comes out on Wednesday.
Because I bought the EOSV 2 1:25 variant for 360 a month ago and now its going for around 900.
Got 10 copies of ASM #4 and 2 ASM 1:10 variants with silk on the cover. This is one I’ve been staying strong with, along with Poyo. I’m still convinced she will play a bigger role in the long run than Spider-Gwen. She’s just more relevant imo.
Yeah man. I found 6 on the shelf a few weeks back at my LCS. Bought them all. I have ten with one variant. Waiting for that right time…
Next couple of days might be a good time to start selling. Here’s hoping the comic gets great reviews.
I’m a long term holder, 1) 1st appearances are always good, 2) the spider-verse is going to use her, spider-woman, and spider gwen a lot 3) even if the first issue isn’t good, they will make more issues which may have good ratings, 4) Prices are cheap right now and have a greater chance of upside than downside, 5) the comic book collecting market has really picked up over the past year.
Any idea what the print run on ASM 4 was?
PR was 120k+ for ASM 4.
Yup the wife likes silk in spider-woman and can’t wait till wednesday. I picked up couple of ASM 4 back when so I will hold on to some and sell some
Conquest Comic variant J. SCOTT CAMPBELL are going to be the once your going to wont in the end especially the negative variant only 1500 printed……a 9.8 will become grails in the long run!!!
Actually, those will do well but I think the winner is the Ramos 1:10 variant with Silk actually on the cover. Honestly, I think it’s the cooler of all the ASM #4 covers. Graded 9.8 copies are already fast approaching the $200 mark, I can only see them going up higher as copies start to dry up.
Ramos Variant for me also. I have about 10 left. Bought all for 8 dollars or less shortly after release. I sold a couple recently and got back what I put into all of them. The 10 left are going into the long box to be forgotten about. Also have a couple of JSC covers (2 colors and 1 B&W) and 15 of the ASM 4 reg cover. The reg covers will prolly be trade bait for me if (when) she really takes off. I hope it’s a good story in her own title.
I was gobbling these up weeks ago when I found them. I’ve been preparing for this since last month. 🙂
My LCS had multiple on the shelves but I only picked up one due to the conditions. Would you have bought more than one copy of ASM 4 if they were not in great condition? Some had edges bent and page lifting for example. Should I have grabbed those too or was I smart for leaving them and just getting one copy in decent shape?
There is no point in getting a comic below a 9.6
Honestly, I would have probably would have been there to see them before making that decision. If the damage was enough to cause it to not fetch anything over cover I wouldn’t had bothered but people are crazy, just be honest with the creases, page folds, dings and you’ll be surprised at what people buy.
I just sold one of my Enormous #1 Rossmo cover B for $40 and I clearly pointed out the corner ding on it. Someone offered me $20 for it but by the time I even replied with a counter offer, someone snagged it up with the BIN price. 🙂
I disagree on the 9.6 Ryan.. it all depends on the comic, on a case by case basis.
Just managed to find 3 of the Ramos variant at $20 each, I’m pretty happy about that…
As a collector and not a scalper I’ve been holding onto the following comics, and feel they have the most potential at their current price points:
Ultimate Fallout 4: Good potential if a spider-man movie features the black spider-man
Edge of the Spider-verse 2: Because of Spider-Gwen
Amazing Spider-man 4: Potential if the reviews of Silk 1 are good.
Batman Adventures 12: Because Harley Quinn is getting bigger and bigger.
X-men 266: Because of the Gambit movie.
Outcast 1: Because of the new Cine-max show.
Walking Dead 1: More and more people are watching the show.
Thief of Thieves 1: Prices have really dropped and it looks cheap now.
Saga 1: Its the best reviewed comic over and over again
Amazing Spider-man 583B: Obama is on the cover.
Disney’s Frozen: Low Print run and little kids will be messing up their copies so there will be few high graded ones.
I keep hearing about people claiming Silk all depends on if it’s good or not. Honestly, so far I like her story and character better than Spider-Gwen. Did anyone actually read EOSV #2? I thought the actual story was kind of meh.. The only reason Spider-Gwen is going to do so well is because there’s now the Gwemaniacs out there in collector land.. 😉
I’m still holding out claiming Silk is the better long term character. Much more interesting in my opinion.
Of course I didn’t read EOSV #2 that would be $80 thrown away because of a NM/Mint rating going down the drain. I only focus on supply and demand and the demand for Spider Gwen is higher than that of Silk.
There were reprints.
Hmm.. I can read my comics and leave them in pristine condition. Also, when I bought mine, the comic was still a $10 or less book, I also had one come damaged so that was the reader copy.. well, redeemed the digital code to read on my tablet.
I only have one rule when it comes to comics. Whatever I buy I must also read. I don’t get the Spider-Gwen hoopla to be honest, she should stay dead but then again, I’ll buy to sell to suckers though.. 😉
I thought eosv was an Archie Spiderman book but it resonated with people.
Yeah but I’d rather buy a new #1 comic book with potential for $3.00 than spend $3.00 on a reprint to read.
The reprints are starting to be valuable as well. I remember back in the day, nobody cared about reprints.. now when they are doing different covers and the print runs are lower, people are paying premiums for something that no one should want.. I pay attention.
Yeah, but it seems there are more and more collectors coming about because its been easier to invest in comics than in other assets classes as long as you do your research. So the supply of high graded books falls short of the demand, causing the high grade reprints to go up in value. Its easier to invest in something with a 500,000 print run than invest in a company with 300,000,000 shares outstanding. And its easier to dish out $3.00 for a new first print comic than to spend $100.00 on a share of a company. For the average person, other investments take up too much capital and require a hell of a lot more knowledge and education on Finance, micro and macro economics, and Accounting than comics do. Almost anyone can make money on comics long term and short term. I was a finance major with an econ minor and many people don’t realize that comics are a great investment because they require less time and energy.
You can make money on anything actually, if you do it right and do your homework. I’m not betting my retirement though on comics, it’s a hobby first. Like every market though, it’s all speculation that no one can predict.
Yeah you can make money doing anything if you do it right, but the risk / reward of comics far exceeds that of many other assets. And everything in life is speculation, Like i can tell you to buy a January 20, 2017 $100.00 Call option on DIS and you probably will make money faster than with comics, but its not certain.
And your right you need to diversify your investments, but comics can be one of the options.
I buy comics to sell comics to buy more comics and to pay some bills.. but for long term retirement, I’ll stick with things that are a safer bet.
“For the average person, other investments take up too much capital and require a hell of a lot more knowledge and education on Finance, micro and macro economics, and Accounting than comics do.”
I disagree with that though. That’s why people like you went and got degrees. Most smart people stick with credible banks and investments to do all that for them, after of course doing your own homework. I give you money for retirement, I have this amount when I retire.
When it comes to making money off comics, it’s actually a lot of work to be honest. It takes constant reading and inquiries into what’s going on in the comic industry, etc. I spend way more time reading about what “might be hot” and potentially sell for money than I do with my other investments that are just sitting and making all kinds of dough while I do practically nothing but continue giving them a % out of my monthly income.
It might not be a lot of work for the comic enthusiast actively doing it to make money but if I approached any person on the street to give me X amount of dollars each month to invest in the selling “hot and popular speculated” comics, I’d probably get told to get lost.. 😉
Bank’s interest rates are very low. And relying on someone else (Who probably went to college and got a degree) to invest for you makes you not accountable for your own investments. You have to do research on anything if your going to make money. Making money off comics is easy, + you have to constantly read about any investment to make a good return on it, so your point about comics being a difficult investment is stupid. Its better to do things for yourself than to be a lazy person who trusts in other people to do the work they should be doing. Your right that retirement money should be diversified, but where did I say that I’m spending my whole retirement on comics. I just said they are a great investment with a high return.
Lemme ask you this, what assets do you have in your retirement portfolio? What is your annual rate or return?
You’ll have to excuse me for not freely giving up my financial info over to a stranger on the interwebs.. 😉
That’s fine. But you are reinforcing my point that comic investing/scalping/flipping is easy or else you wouldn’t do it. I don’t care what you do with your retirement/savings. I don’t care if you are so smart that you give your money to a “college educated” person to handle your investments. I don’t even know what you are arguing about because you obviously use comics as a means of making money.
I bet you I know more about your retirement than you do if you give me that information.
I don’t see why you are arguing with me anyways I was just stating that comics are a good investment. Then you go on a tangent about how they aren’t because you won’t spend your whole retirement on comic books. DUH!!!
I’m not arguing with you per se, I’m just not agreeing with you in saying investing in comics is “easy”…. it’s more work and I don’t think anyone could just “sell comics to make money”.
This is where I found in disagreement over when you stated primarily: “many people don’t realize that comics are a great investment because they require less time and energy.”
I just can’t agree with that statement. You can spend just as much time and effort predicting and reading up on the current trends of what will be “potential” with comics than say Stock XYZ.. that’s if you take investing seriously.
I said it was easier than other investments. All things in life require work. And in this market almost anyone can make money by selling comics.
And I disagree with that statement again saying it’s “easier than other investments”. It might be easy for some but you can’t assume for everyone. To someone who specializes in the stock market, making money by following businesses would likely come easy to them. If they know nothing about comics or the industry, they would probably suck at it, especially if they see the comic as purely entertainment and no monetary value. That’s why any market to make money requires work. I just don’t go around claiming something is easy, it’s making presumptions in my opinion.
I’m in the computer field, people who don’t know how to fix the simplest of problems think I’m a genius when I fix their problem.. but I’m not a genius, I just did my homework and been around computers long enough to understand them. If they did their homework and learned more about computers, it would then likely be easier for them.
Hopefully you get what I’m saying and I’m not arguing with you that you can’t make money by selling comics, because well, I funded my vacation last year by selling comics. I just can’t agree that it’s “easier” than others.. it depends on the individual in my opinion.
They do require less time and energy. Stocks require more work and knowledge or else you would be investing your own retirement money and not relying on someone else to do it.
It took me a year to get the hang of the comic book market, whereas it took me many more years to get the hang of the stock, options, and futures markets. And as with everything you are constantly learning more and more as you go along.
I’m done arguing… I hope we both make money with ASM 4
Plus you aren’t spending any time and energy with your retirement, you are relying on someone else to do it. So how can you compare two things: comics and stocks, when you are only active with one of those things?
I didn’t say I wasn’t active, I just used that as an example without all the details. I still do my homework on my other investments, it just requires less knowledge of the intricate details most of the time.
The comic market is just as volatile as any other market. Take a look at Hot Topic Star Wars.. no one knew it was gonna be a $200 comic within a matter of hours and then no one knew it was going to be a $20 comic within 2 days. Sleepwalker.. the $1 bin comic became $20 practically over night. You sleep for a day in any market, you could be left out in the cold really quickly.
All I’m saying is, for someone who understands stocks, learning to sell comics likely comes easy.
You can’t say its harder than other investments because you aren’t actively involved with other investments… You have no room to talk when you are talking about a variety of things and are only involved in one thing.
See my reply above. Don’t make so many assumptions. 😉
I said: “I disagree with that though. That’s why people like you went and got degrees. Most smart people stick with credible banks and investments to do all that for them, after of course doing your own homework. I give you money for retirement, I have this amount when I retire.”
Not anywhere did I say I personally just “leave it up to others” to make my money, I was talking in general as an example.. 😉
U really like to argue don’t u? lol
I’m not arguing actually, I’m just having a conversation. If your getting upset because someone doesn’t agree with you on the internet, then you probably shouldn’t be on the internet. 😛
And the other rule I have, I don’t take anything personal on the internet.
It’s all good though. If everyone agree in the world, it’d be a really boring world if you ask me.
I bet your rate of return on comics is higher than that of your other investments, which is my point. It has a high rate of return
Nah, I’m making way more money in my other investments. 😉
I’m not getting mad. I like to argue. And I agree with your last statement lol.
I said rate of return not how much your making. Rate of return is a %age.
Pfftt.. I wish.. my rate or return sucks on comics. Remember, I’m a collector first, seller second (I make money to buy more comics and pay some bills off for the most part). Maybe one day in retirement I’ll have enough comics to open a comic book store to make all the thousands upon thousands I’ve spent.. 😀
This exactly…every now and then we get lucky and make some money of a book that happens to get some heat…but the amount you get for that does not even begin to compare to how much has been spent.
I have been collecting for 25 years and have over 10,000 books and just began to sell in 2014 and towards the end of the year is when I started to make some speculation purchases to make some cash, just to turn around and buy more comics…and maybe pay a bill or car registration here and there.
I think what it comes down to is lessening the blow of the monthly cost of the addiction.
I love that I haven’t paid out of pocket for years for comics. Mine are all paid in full by selling. Not to mention that I give my wife cash each month towards the budget. I need to get over the my comic collection mentality and sell them all. I have started to see all my comics as inventory to sell when the time is right.
Getting out of the collector mentality took me a while. Beginning to make some money off of some key books the past year has helped to get rid of the collector mentality. I am actually buying less every month and selling more. I try to only sell things for more than I paid and will tend to just leave it in the collection if it is not worth it. I am going down from probably a 100 comic a month habit, to about 15-20 books a month, but if something heats up, it is gone.
What I do now though is look back on books I could have sold at their peaks that now sell below cover and just think, “how did I not sell that at the time.” Does any one remember “The Authority” and how much those books were going for at their peak?
Yup a do still have mine. SameFor Peter Panzerfaust. Missed the high on that one.
Sent from my iPhone
>
Yeah, quick flips seem like the best way to make money honestly. Predicting the long term value is like predicting when the world is going to end, near impossible if you ask me.
The world is going to end Poyo. Soon too. The New 52 world that is. Wakka wakka.
Hehe.. most of the Marvel universes will end too.. they’re all being smooshed together.. 😉
That’s my favorite word right now. Smooshed
Right and that is the difference between being a “hot” book versus being a key book. Heat cools off but we really don’t get to see the keys until I think 10 years later…or even more sometimes. These are the books that only go up over time if you check in on them every 5 years or so.
Take Sleepwalker #1 for example. Who back in 1991 would of thought the comic with 500k copies would ever be a $20 comic book? No one.
Is the Secret Wars “smooshing” something you guys are speculating on? Who even knows now right? Civil war is trading big and not to long ago you could have bought the series for $20. Or am I just buying into the hype? I have not bought into the hype of a crossover event in over two years…but this one looks different.
Knowing the right time to sell is tricky for sure. That’s why I think quick flipping is best. If you got the comics in hand and they skyrocket overnight, dump them, make your money now. The chances you have a Walking Dead #1 you got at cover price is slim to none. But knowing you made some profit is better than holding them for too long to the point no one no longer wants them.
You also see drops in values when the shows end, or the movies end for those comics that tie in with those. Take for example when Captain America The Winter Soldier movie was announced and then came out, fans went out, drove up the price of the comic. Now that it’s out, it’s cooled back down. It’s still a comic with value but not at it’s peak.
No. Secret war is smoothing all the different realities together. I just like seeing the word smoothing in the media a lot.
You know growing up in my area there were 4 comic shops in the early 90’s. By the mid nineties all but one closed and a couple more opened and closed. By the early 00’s the one that managed to stay open and endure the crash finally closed and the owner was finished with comics on all levels. He was not going to read, sell, or deal with them anymore having done so for 40 years of his life at that point. The whole point of this story is…
Somewhere in my hometown there has to be some container filled with whole cases of “Sleepwalker 1” and a bunch of “New Mutants 98” to go along with it.
I’d imagine a bunch of the over printed comics over the past half century also made their way to the local landfills as well.
I think there are two regrets associated with this scenario. The regret of a book being hot and cooling off to below cover levels and one still sitting on them. Or the regret of selling early only to have the book climb even higher…I sold my Peter Panzerfaust at about $120 for the first 3 issues…it climbed higher. While I regret selling it is not as big as the “Authority” regret. Sold my first print of “Copra 1” for $175 and that is a regret…as it is climbing…but still…not as big as the Authority…lol
Better to make something rather than nothing. Of course a younger me was content on just hording all the books…but now, with a family, and kids in the picture…I like the money.
for example u buy a comic at $3.00 and sell it at $9.00 the Rate is 200%. And in the stock market you have $100,000 and it goes up to $120,000 the rate is 20%. If ur rate of return on investments is higher than ur average rate on comic books why aren’t you listed as the richest man in the world?
When one is buying $300 worth of comics each month (probably my average) to read and just one of those comics ends up hot and I sell it for $9 when it cost me $3, I’m still $291 in the negative.
Remember, collector here first, then seller. Selling is just the portion of the hobby to pretty much fund the hobby (and pay off other bills if I can). Now, do I think I could do it for actual investment, maybe but that’s like asking a crack smoker to sell crack.. I love comics, I love to read comics.. I collect first. All my comic buying comes out of my own monthly entertainment allowance, most of everything I buy stays in the collection unless I buy multiple copies if I think something is going to be valuable to sell quickly or flip later.
So ur saying the comics you spent $291 on are completely worthless?
Well, not entirely worthless. Only on the aspect that the return rate currently is zero unless I sell them.
Just like my Saga #1 in my collection. I paid $80 for it. It’s probably worth $150 today.. but tomorrow it could be worth $3.50 for a number of reasons (cat chews on it, kid finds it and wipes his butt with it.. ).. until I sell it, I don’t consider it valuable. But that’s just me. I must also remind you, I’m not motivated by money.. I make enough to be comfortable and I’m doing enough to hopefully retire early without having to be a Walmart greeter just to make ends meet.. 🙂
I was talking about investing in comic books earlier and I’m an investor who only buys comics with potential, not a hobbyist who reads every comic book from a series and only has a few which are valuable. And I was talking about investing in comic books this whole convo.
I know. And I was just simply disagreeing with you that selling comics is “easy”. To some, most likely, to others, probably not so much.
Rate of Return is a financial term with an actual definition. The equation is Asset Value / (Asset Value – Cost of Assets) = Rate of Return. You are talking about a financial term called capital gains. Capital gains is Gains from selling off assets / original total asset value = Capital Gains Know what I’m talking about if you are going to argue against me.
I know it’s an investment term but in the world of comics, I buy a $80 comic and I’m checking eBay and websites finding the trend to be $150 for such comic, to me, rate of return means nothing until I actually sell it to make actual money off of it.
To me, my “valuable” comics sitting in my closet with the potential to be worth X amount of dollars is just unrealized gains. Of course you can say that about any investment but most of my 401k, IRA and other accounts I have are actually making real gains currently, unlike my comics appreciating in their long boxes. Now, would I love for them to retain their value when it does come time to sell them? Sure, who wouldn’t but until I do, they are not making any type of actual gains until that day comes. It’s all unrealized to me.
you are talking about capital gains and not rate of return there is a difference.
I know, I was just speaking on a overall level. Rate of return means nothing to me until you actually sell it to make that actual rate or return.
I can talk all day how I spent $80 on my Saga comic and how it’s “worth $150” now but until I sell it for $150, it’s still just a comic in a box that I spent $80 on. 😉
I hope I taught you two new terms today. Rate of Return and Capital Gains…
I know of the terms, you taught me nothing new there. We can agree to disagree that in my mind, rate of return means nothing. I can say the painting on the wall I paid $5 at a garage sale is now worth $500 with a rate of return of 10000%. But until I actually sell it for $500, that rate of return is just that, a talking point. 😉
My comics appreciated at least 30% this year so I’m doing well with them.
and you can’t say that your comics are valueless because they still account as an asset. So you have to subtract the total cash liability from the comic asset value. I bet you would have a good return if you did that. Like with stocks I still attribute what I currently hold minus what I paid for them to find my rate of return.
i’m not talking about ur capital gains between stocks and comics
You guys are crazy talking all this point of return and s*#!. All that I know is that a collector will always be the one making the most money both long term and short term. Cuz say that EOSV #2 an investor sold it that say week for $20 while the collector hold on to his waited then sold it for $100. When collecting comes first regarless what anyone says they will always make all that $ no matter what year or day they want to sell there books cuz comic books will always hold there value wethear is in $ or it means something special to that person like there first comic book.
Yeah but what if say investor had 20 copies while the collector only bought the one? The investor can dump his 20 copies at $20 each, making $400 dollars. Over time, the comic rises to $100 in value and the collector wants to sell his only copy? Who made out? In this case, the comic investor/flipper.
Also, comics can peak and then decline as well. What if the investor flips his 20 copies at $20 for $400 total. The collectors one copy peaks at $100 but he holds out, hoping it continues to rise but over more time, the demand declines and then it falls back to say, $50.
I wouldn’t necessarily say the collector always makes the most money because most flippers are not just flipping one copy but usually multiple copies.
Jesus Christ. Between Ryan and Poyo….my brain has exploded. Lol
Slow day at work.. well, not slow, just a day it was easy to multitask and make lots of chatter! 🙂