Comic Investing/Speculating During A Recession

Too bad the gov only lets us put 10k into an I Bond per year. I bought one for myself and one for my wife at the end of April. Getting over 9% interest for the next 6 months now. I’ve been hoarding cash, not Cover A’s, for the past few months. I’ve got a “buy” list if thing tank out. I really think people have overpaid for houses again and month after month those mortgage payments are going to take a toll. Mortgage doesn’t mean death grip in its Latin roots for nothing.

4 Likes

:100: :100:

I am a buy on the dip guy. Especially with comics. People are going to fire sale comics in order to make cash for other things. I bought collections when things like this happen. At one point I had 4-5 copies of ASM 300 NM 98 (still have 2) and other more modern keys that people let go cheap.

6 Likes

Yeah I think we have a little while to go before stuff really starts hitting people hard. The holidays are gonna be tough…

5 Likes

I made the $151 purchase, maybe just a fluke.

4 Likes

Less disposable income means less people will be bidding on stuff…those auction type listings are gonna get sniped!

6 Likes

Some interesting data from Altan Insights that follows the fractional collectible market

In May comic book index had a -6% return.
Year To Date comic books are still +4.4%.

So still showing relative strength compared to other collectibles via the Fractional ownership market.

Mind you these comics they are following the Blue Chips. I doubt there are any Tosin books in there :rofl:

Also lately companies starting to announce layoffs (Tesla 10% workforce today’s news) also offers made to new hires are getting rescinded (Coinbase) etc…

1 Like

I do need to look at any sites except Ebay, for sales data.

Also, I know sales decline when the stock market declines…and vice versa.

1 Like

I agree with you with Ebay data.

The Altan article is to compare how other collectible markets are doing vs. Comic Books.

If money isn’t flowing in any other collectible sectors we know the slowdown is real.

I don’t know if I feel it is an apple to apples comparison with comics, but I’ve been a toy collector for as long as I remember versus being fairly new to the comic scene (vintage Star Wars more than anything). Because of the state of the game, vintage SW has started to dry up in terms of availability and the prices of it have turned it into a bit of a rich person’s game (anyone see the Rocket Fett that ended yesterday by the way for $236k which is waaaay higher than one went for just a year ago).

Even legitimate loose weapons for vintage figures such as the black blaster for the Imperial Gunner and A-wing pilot, or the all black blaster for Luke Stormtrooper now routinely fetch $300.

Because of this, I’m seeing a significant increase in demand for modern Star Wars. Sure, the initial Power of the Force lines were overproduced, but later lines starting in about 2008 onward were much harder to find and are very popular with collectors. Folks are switching over and moving onward from the true vintage stuff.

I think it is prudent to not ignore some of the more modern age collectibles (regardless of genre) keeping in mind the things that younger generations held dear. Especially during these times.

Some examples, H.O.M.I.E figures, Muscle men, Jurassic Park toys, Space Jam toys.

Because the so called “True collectors” scoff at anything they deem not worthy of their dollars and attention, they often leave quite a few golden eggs to be had.

Another example, the modern Star Wars Clone Wars figure of Darth Sidious is very, very pricey. I’ve found two now just sitting in $1 bins at shows from dealers who specialize in “vintage toys”. They fetch $75-$100 loose/in nice shape.

8 Likes

As someone who has no idea about the collectible toy market you taught me something new, thank you!

If you know what you are doing and what rare items to look for in any niche you will have an edge versus the average collector out there.

$236K for a Rocket Fett WOW :money_mouth_face:

1 Like

The job market these past 6 months has been bonkers. I work at a Fortune 75 company, and we’ve seen massive turnover in the market with companies throwing around a lot of money to win the race for talent. My guess is that is going to come to a screeching halt over the next 6 months, but who knows. This stuff is hard to predict.

2 Likes

This is the issue…people left for greener pastures only to find out they are now subject to LIFO (Last In First Out)… Those are going to be the first ones laid off, and most likely they are not going to get hired back at the last company.

Fortunately, I think as a whole, you can find a job…you just might not want to do that particular job…but when you have to feed yourself, or family, you do what you can to survive. What we have yet to see is how the world hunger situation is going to play out…it could be worse than the pandemic…

I’m not a doom and gloom kinda guy, just realistic…I am thankful each day I have on this planet with my family, regardless of how many comic books, toys, things that we have…just being together is priority #1 and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

6 Likes

To be fair, Rocket Fett is the holy grail of toy collecting generally. Not even just within the Star Wars collecting space.

It’s a virtually non-existent toy.

1 Like

Hard to call it a toy when it was never released to the public.

Toy prototype. Cameo of a toy, not a full appearance of a toy. :wink:

1 Like

While it is certainly rare, and obviously a grail. It is because of the very nature of the item, the urban legend sort of discussion about it, and the popularity surrounding it that it fetches the prices it does.
It’s the demand and mythical status of it that drives the price of it.

Here’s the true story involving the recall.
http://theswca.com/textf/toydeath.html

It’s funny as it is actually less rare than many other vintage SW items/one shots and prototypes that were produced in less numbers (yet go for less).

From the current experts on the matter, there are about 70 L slots and 30 J slots out there. In the just the last 4 years there have been 7-8 more show up. Prices also impacted by condition, paint applications/actual stage of the prototype process, paperwork, etc.

So again, relatively speaking, they are rare, but from an overall prototype and first shot type scenario,they really aren’t that crazy rare (if that makes sense). The whole supply versus demand because of its status is all.

My mother is from Dayton, OH. Went to school with a kid to went on to become a Kenner Engineer and her best friend married him. They were my mom and dads maid of honor and best man way back when. Super nice couple/man. I had the luxury of getting catalogs directly from him as a kiddo. He was heavily involved with the aspects of Kenner SW, as well as the original Alien toy line. His work was politely plundered some time ago in terms of documents and prototypes.

I know folks always say this sort of stuff and people roll their eyes and go yeah right. I provided some information and documents that helped with this book below, brought this man back into the light (with his permission), and have an acknowledgment in it from the authors which I really appreciated. I highly recommend it if you have any interest in the Kenner days of Star Wars. Fascinating stuff!.

3 Likes

The article indicates it was related.

Jim Kipling stated that in a meeting with Joe Mendelsohn, president of Kenner at the time, that both he and Tim Pine advised the removal of the rocket feature from the Boba Fett. This was most likely based on the January 11 news reports of the death of Robert Jeffery Warren and was a mere 4 weeks before the 1979 New York Toy Fair.

I need to go back and watch this episode. I think the boba fett prototype was mentioned.

Isn’t there only one unopened rocket Fett was on pawnstars awhile back.