Your Comic Books are Worthless
Bloomberg Business week ran an article that was picked up by Yahoo Finance on Halloween titled “Those Comics in Your Basement? Probably Worthless” There was a lot of buzz among comic book collectors and on the Internet forums so I thought I’d weigh in on the story.
The unfortunate truth for many is the article is correct. The vast majority of millions upon millions of comic books printed over the years are almost worthless. This is especially true for comic books printed since the 1980’s. The vast majority of e-mail I receive asking about the value of readers’ comic books are about comics from the 80’s or 90’s that sell in bulk for pennies, if they sell at all. It’s an unfortunate truth.
But what about older comic books?
Unfortunately here, too, the media has misrepresented the value of comic books by only highlighting the issues selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars to well over $1 million. That is a very, very small group of comic books. The vast majority of even “old” comics are not worth anywhere near what the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide says. The truth is most of them are common issues with no real importance highlighted by keys, important issues such as #1’s and major character introductions. The commons typically sell for a small percentage of “guide” while the keys can bring a higher percentage and in some cases even surpass the guide price.
This is why it’s so important to research the value of your comic books correctly, a process I describe quickly in the free post Comic Book Value and Price Guide Finder, and more in-depth in the comic book selling book “Quick Cash for Your Comic Books” on this website and another version available on Amazon.
Be careful! The Bloomberg article could lure you into selling your comics for far less than you could possibly sell them for. I brokered a collection last year with many common issues from the 1970’s, but we were still able to get several thousand dollars for the comics by packaging and marketing the entire collection, keys and all, in the correct way and to the right people.
I agree with the Bloomberg article overall, because there is a definite tendency to think that your comic books are worth far more than they are based on a number in a guide, something I see all the time. What is important is you do your research correctly, come up with a realistic price expectation and sales game plan.
Comic Book Storage Secrets – Microchamber Paper
It’s unfortunate for us comic book collectors, but our perishable paper comic books are facing two very persistent enemies – time and the environment. Comic books were always meant to be perishable and quickly disposed of, so the early issues were made of the worst possible paper. If you read the earlier post about the super storage tip, you saw the basics of the two stop system for keeping your non-CGC or PGX comics in perfect shape. Today we’ll talk about and link to some example about why microchamber paper is so important.
Microchamber paper is used to absorb the off-gassing that occurs when paper ages. Although the process slows if you keep your comics in a cool, dark environment, it still occurs. I urge you to take a look at some examples of how using microchamber paper can help your collection.
Take a few seconds and click on the links below (they will open in a new window or tab).
Effect of Microchamber Paper on Vintage Paper and Newsprint (make sure to scroll down on the page)
The Chemistry Behind the Process (if you are really serious about this and want to know the nuts and bolts)
As you can see in the experiments and pictures, the benefits of microchamber paper are impressive to say the least. If you are now going to insert a few sheets into every comic of your collection, at least insert them into your most valuable books stored by the super storage tip.
If you are looking to purchase microchamber paper you can check it out on Google, look at this thread on the CGC forums, or the Amazon links below.
The CGC Census and What it Means to You
Every market is driven by supply and demand and the rare and collectible comic book market is no different. Minuscule differences in grade can mean the difference between thousands of dollars of value and final sales prices. With this reality where can the serious collector or investor go for information? Enter the CGC census.
Since the beginning of CGC they have been collecting data on every comic book they have ever graded. This data is searchable in two different places and is easy to use. The first location is CGC itself. In order to search their database you need to be a member, but fortunately it’s free. If you don’t want to bother with that you can visit CGCdata.com and also search their version of the database.
Each service provides the same data, only the search presentation is slightly different. The data is broken down my title and issue number, and then by how many total books have been graded along with how many in each specific grade. The data is important for both grading and purchasing.
If you’re contemplating grading your comics you may want to know if there are hundreds of other copies in the same condition as yours and then research what they are selling for. In the end it may not be worth having your comic professionally graded. On the other hand, if you think your comic could achieve the highest grade to date, submission to CGC may be very important to the final value.
Before I purchase a graded comic book I always take a look at the census. The “best” seems to always sell and I don’t want to overpay for an issue that’s readily available in the grade I’m considering. It’s a personal decision, but you need to be armed with all the information possible before you part with your hard earned money.
If you are serious about comic books, make sure you check out both sites. Once again, here are the links:
CGC Census Data from CGCData.com
