Any comics worth more than 'cover'?

[Cat]

Wow really?? I got my copy autographed by Neil Kaplan earlier this year... I wonder if that makes it any more (or less) valuable. I have no intention of ever selling it, but I'd be curious to know.

In all likelihood - less valuable.

But in cases like that, it's more than worth it for sentimental value.

[GoktimusPrime]

That's cool. It's not like I buy toys and comics as a form of investment anyway -- purely for pleasure. Obviously I'd be chuffed if anything appreciates in value, but if it doesn't (or if it depreciates) then I'm not fussed either. As you said, it's the sentimental value that's priceless anyway.

[llamatron]

I had at one point pretty much the entire DW run of comics... even priced at $1 per issue they barely move...

[reillyd]

There are (some) variant covers of dream wave that hold value, but not all of them. I would see which are variants, which are not, and use a site like milehighcomics.com or mycomicshop.com to confirm any hunches. I would personally buy many of the dw variants, but you also have to remember some of the early ones eg holographic covers were so overprinted. The later ones much less so.

A full set of more than meets the eye profiles would also fetch a pretty penny.

[reillyd]

While we are on the subject, if you have any of the mini comics that dreamve a d then IDW have done, or if anyone else has sitting somewhere away, I would also be prepared to make a good offer on them. These are über rare, and I don't have a complete set,. Think DVD and game release exclusives mini comics.

[Zippo]

So, without actually doing any further reasearch .. it seems that the majority of comics are worth less than cover price and could be really hard to even give away yet alone sell for any sort of profit.

Couple I have may be worth the dollars.
However -- with these I think its all or nothing as I wouldn't want to part with some and be left with others.

Oh well. I shall find a home for them somewhere

[GoktimusPrime]

So, without actually doing any further reasearch .. it seems that the majority of comics are worth less than cover price and could be really hard to even give away yet alone sell for any sort of profit.

This should come as no surprise to any comic collector.

Comic books - on the whole - appreciate really poorly (if at all - some may even depreciate) ever since the collapse of the comic book market in 1992. A lot of people blame the Death of Superman for this, and I'm inclined to agree. I remember when Death of Superman came out, it was HUGE news (even regular evening TV news were covering it for a while). People were racing to comic book stores to buy the first printing of that book. A friend of mine, who'd never been into Superman before then (although he was a fan of Batman) went and bought the first printing of Death of Superman and kept it sealed. He bought a second printing late to open and read (so between the first and second printing he would just stare at his sealed comic but with no idea of what was inside it!). He did the same thing with the entire Funeral For A Friend series and many issues later with Superman -- always buying the first print to keep sealed and second print to read... I think he did it for about a year or two (maybe more, can't remember) -- but eventually he did stop when it finally dawned on him that all these comics he was collecting wasn't really worth what he'd hoped they would be.

Chuck Rozanski published an essay in Comic Buyer's Guide which explains how the Death of Superman caused the comic market collapse in the 1990s This web site gives a good concise explanation.

I think collecting comics should be like collecting toys -- do it because you like it, and not because you're expecting a high return later.

Now I'm not suggesting that you've collected comics as "investment", Zippo... but this is just a heads up for anyone who may not be a comic collector and may be thinking about starting a comic collection -- just like with starting a toy collection, I think it's best to do it out of passion for the hobby rather than for a monetary return; because as Randy Herkowitz of Comic Book Bin says, "Collecting action figures solely for monetary gain is a risky business and perhaps not the greatest way to invest your money as no one can predict the future and what collectors will desire ten to twenty years from now. .....you are most likely better off playing the stock market or something perhaps more stable." (while this quote only mentions action figures, the same could be said for comic books too ).


The Death of Comic Collecting