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<\/p>\nBuying comic books as an investment is not new to the comic book world.\u00a0 In fact, before the industry collapse during the chrome age (1991-2000) collectors were investing heavily into comics hoping to one day retire on their collection.<\/p>\n
However, in the late 90\u2019s just before year 2000 the bubble burst as collectors attempted to cash in on their investment and were told that their collection was basically worthless\u2026This is the sad reality of investing in comic books.\u00a0 Some comics that are near and dear to our heart are essentially worthless.<\/p>\n
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But does that mean investing in comics is not a good idea?\u00a0 Absolutely not.\u00a0 However, I would caution newbies as investing in comics is like putting your money in the stock market \u2013 comic book values can go up and down.\u00a0 And like stock brokers, you need to have the wisdom and experience to purchase the right comics that would yield a gain.<\/p>\n
Why is that?<\/p>\n
To answer that question, I need you to understand that a lot of comics aren\u2019t even worth their cover price.\u00a0 Especially if you are purchasing a modern comic book (which retails for $3.99).\u00a0 I would say almost all (about 98%) of today\u2019s modern comic books are going to be in tomorrow\u2019s dollar bins.\u00a0 That is because it is very rare for a modern comic to retain its cover price value, much less for it to go up in price.<\/p>\n
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This is what happened during the crash of the \u201890s.\u00a0 The market was flooded with comics packaged as collectors items.\u00a0 Those collector item comics of the \u201890s are now sitting in the dollar bin of most comic book stores because there are no one who wants to buy them.<\/p>\n
In order for a comic book to be worth something, it has to have certain special characteristics. \u00a0Seasoned veterans like myself have trained ourselves to watch for these traits.\u00a0 This is why one of the biggest mistakes rookies make is assuming that if a comic is old it must be valuable.\u00a0 I have been to countless appraisals and this misconception of “old being valuable” has been present 80% of the time.<\/p>\n
In truth, in all my years of collecting, I discovered that there are three things that make a comic book (or any item) valuable: Rarity, demand and pop culture significance.\u00a0 There are other factors besides these three \u2013 but all three factors I mentioned MUST be present in the item for it to be valuable.<\/p>\n
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Let\u2019s take for example Action Comics #1.\u00a0 That comic book made history when it was sold for $3.2 million dollars.\u00a0 In fact, it was even stated that it was possibly the most valuable comic in the world.\u00a0 (For those of you that are newbies \u2013 Action Comics #1 is the first appearance of Superman)<\/p>\n
Note: All three characteristics are present.\u00a0 Let me break it down for you:<\/p>\n
*Rarity \u2013 Printed in 1938 there are only a few known copies left to exist.\u00a0<\/p>\n
*Demand \u2013 Action Comics #1 is one of the most sought after comic books by collectors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
*Pop culture significance \u2013 Superman is one of the most famous heroes in history.\u00a0 (During that time, comics were stories of cowboys and indians, cops and robbers, romance novels, etc.)<\/p>\n
As you can see, all three characteristics are present.\u00a0 If a comic (or item) contains these three elements you can definitely be sure that it is going to be valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n
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