The Future of the Comic Book Market7976
 Captain Corrector
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CaptainCanuck private msg quote post Address this user | |
| While the number of older raw books steadily declines due to slabbing, does anyone else feel that back issue raw books will eventually become quite rare and hard to find, like the many major keys are (unless they are cracked out of the slab, of course)? Or, will there always be a healthy supply of raw books? * back issues are the key terms here (e.g. pre-1990). I realize that new raw comics are flooding the market on a daily basis.  |
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 Collector
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infinityG private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @CaptainCanuck there will always be a healthy supply of raw books. There's just too much out there. | ||
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 You do know that the new guy brings the donuts, right?
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DWeeB1967 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I agree with @infinityG except that I do see a future in which older (say, Bronze Age and before) comics in very high-grade that are not slabbed are in short supply. There just aren't that many of them out there (especially for Silver Age and before). Of course, slabbed comics can always be cracked out.  |
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 past performance is no guarantee of future actions.
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KatKomics private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I think it will depend on the book, condition and value and if the current owner plans on selling. I would not buy a raw book over say $1000 from the internet unless it was graded. In person I can check it over myself. If the owner wants to maximize their $$ there is a big jump say from 8.5 to 9.0 and it is in their interest to get it graded - sometimes I wonder why such a valuable book is being offered raw...if it's really worth $XX and is in XX condition then pay the fee and get the price bump. Given long enough I think the high grade or low grade but still valuable will end up being slabbed |
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 Pictures? We don't need no stinking pictures.
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brysb private msg quote post Address this user | |
| OLD comics that are pressed beyond recognition and whose spines are flattened flatter than a pancake will unwittingly appeal to the next generation of collector's who feel a RARE find is found. HA, LOL!! | ||
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 COLLECTOR
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dielinfinite private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I donāt see graded books overtaking the market any time soon. As of May 2018 CGC reports it has graded 3.8 Million books and I am sure a healthy number of those are past the 1990 cutoff you placed. According to some sources, in 1960 alone you had books with average sales per issue breaking 100k copies and even a couple breaking the 1 million copy mark. Of course, I am aware that a lot of those books have been lost/destroyed but Iād be incredibly surprised if both grading companies combined ever approach grading so many of the books in the 60+ years preceeding 1990 that raw books of that era become the exception. That said, I do see raw key books, especially in the higher grades, becoming more scarce because there are so many incentives to slab but to answer the original question about whether raw back-issue books in general will become scarce, I just canāt see it happening |
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 PEDIGREED... Again!
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martymann private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Slowly, ever so slowly, I'm trying to slab many of my favorites. Marty |
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Pictures? We don't need no stinking pictures.
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brysb private msg quote post Address this user | |
| The RARE finds are those that have not been tampered with, not pressed, not improved upon, left in lesser condition as intended by the actual age and LEFT ALONE in a natural state of actual condition. | ||
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You do know that the new guy brings the donuts, right?
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DWeeB1967 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @brysb Then I still have *HUNDREDS* of rare finds. |
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 Collector
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michaelekrupp private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I think we will reach a point someday where more golden and silver age keys are slabbed than not, especially higher grades. Most silver and bronze and even many lower grade golden age exist in such numbers that it is not practical or feasible to slab the majority of them, even decades down the road. Plus there will always be people who actually want to read the comics! | ||
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Pictures? We don't need no stinking pictures.
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brysb private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by DWeeB1967 Thank you.  |
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 Beaten by boat oars
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Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user | |
| If only DocBrown wasn't at banned camp, he could provide his thought provoking insights... | ||
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Pictures? We don't need no stinking pictures.
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brysb private msg quote post Address this user | |
| The DEVIL will be the one who presses and distorts the comic into a NM DEITY! | ||
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 I had no way of knowing that 9.8 graded copies signed by Adam Hughes weren't what you were looking for.
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drchaos private msg quote post Address this user | |
| There will always be a ton of raw books but high grade raw books will be harder to find as more and more get slabbed. As the supply dwindles buyers will be more suspicious of restoration, loose centerfolds or other flaws not easy to see without careful inspection. In other words the high grade raws will seem too good to be true. |
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Pictures? We don't need no stinking pictures.
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brysb private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Whenever I hear about a comic that is pressed to near perfection status I realize I am a dinosaur and TRUE COLLECTING is a thing of the past. And to slab is to enslave! Collector's of my era counted on ads that informed us of condition of comics, no hint or idiotic insinuation that it would be pressed or restored! UNHEARED of in my time. |
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Beaten by boat oars
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Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user | |
| The higher grade keys will probably keep being slabbed. There will still be raw copies, some probably high grade because some purist won't want their books entombed in a plastic prison. | ||
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Captain Corrector
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CaptainCanuck private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @Studley_Dudley Quote: Originally Posted by Studley_Dudley I thought he would have been āreincarnatedā on this board by now, but his distinctive perspective hasnāt surfaced as of yet. |
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 Collector
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MR_SigS private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Shill accounts aren't his style. | ||
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I had no way of knowing that 9.8 graded copies signed by Adam Hughes weren't what you were looking for.
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drchaos private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by MR_SigS With his winning personality I don't think the charade would last long anyway. |
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 I live in RI and Rhode Islanders eat chili with beans.
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esaravo private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Believe it or not, I miss the input from both him and @conditionfreak. Perhaps I will send them both Christmas cards. | ||
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Collector
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michaelekrupp private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by brysb I too miss the days of cbg and other adzines. |
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I had no way of knowing that 9.8 graded copies signed by Adam Hughes weren't what you were looking for.
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drchaos private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by esaravo I liked conditionfreak. He is a good seller. |
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Collector
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MR_SigS private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by drchaos Ah, the books. Of course. |
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| Post 23 • IP flag post | ||
 Collector
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Drogio private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by CaptainCanuck There is a raw book within every slab. I get the question being asked but I don't see the significance to the answer relative to the individual. Whether books are slabbed or raw, they're just as likely to be hordered or put up for sale. The super expensive books should be slabbed buy the seller/owner if anything to know what you have and offer it maximum protection, know the true value for insurance reasons and be able to liquidate the asset when the time comes. And if someone desires the book raw, they can always "free" it from the case. Because in the end it's still a "raw" book inside...just a little tougher to get at, and a little expensive to put it back in its case.  |
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Collector
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MR_SigS private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by CaptainCanuck I like to think[hope] people will figure out the futility of "slab everything" long before then. |
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 Collector
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comic_book_man private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I feel like the market has normalized over the last few weeks/months - the price gap between grades seems to have shrunk on many key books. I think it has something to do with the flood of Stan Lee books saturating the market and tieing up capital. @CaptainCanuck Awesome collection(yours?), but if value is your goal wouldn't you want to move some of those? But then again, the books will increase in value each year & there is no reason to believe Disney/WB will sour their comic marketing... There will always be raw books circulating, removed from slab or original. Scarcity will impact the oldest books first and most.   |
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Captain Corrector
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CaptainCanuck private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @comic_book_man Not my collection, just a photo I stumbled upon that inspired the thread. |
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| Post 27 • IP flag post | ||
 Collector
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CatCovers private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I think high-grade key books will get steadily harder to find in the wild, but I can't imagine slabs will ever make a huge dent in the volume of raw books out there. I don't slab many comics, mostly those valuable ones in fantastic condition or key books in such bad condition you want to get them slabbed and graded before they fall apart. Most of the slabs I have I picked up in low-bidding auctions. |
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 Joined The Club
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Steverogers11 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Well if it dives great time to buy | ||
| Post 29 • IP flag post | ||
 Collector
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BrianGreensnips private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I will still be collecting and Reading comic books no matter what the market does. Buy and read what you like and there will never be a big let down. | ||
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