Today we hit 1,000 views and this is my 25th post/entry. I hope all of you are enjoying this blog. When you log into the blog, don't just scroll down and read what is there. Also click on the links on the right side of the page and read the archived stuff. Some of the better articles, IMHO, include:
"A time machine and $800"
The article about buying slabs is very informative
The article about getting stuff for free is good
There is an article about buying an 1839 Large Cent or a 1939 Nickel that pertains to all collectors regarding making a good purchase.
"Those are Hot Right now" is good advice.
So read, read, read! And for gosh sakes, please comment on the posts. People want to hear what you have to say about these concepts.
Collector Steve
Welcome. The purpose of this blog is to facilitate the development of a book I'm writing about techniques for building a valuable collection of most any type of collectibles through intelligent purchases, profitable sales, and "flipping".
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
How Many Reasons Are There To Buy That Thing?
Over the long term, some collectibles increase in value nicely. Some of them just languish. You can have a lot of fun collecting items that don't increase in value very much, but when it comes time for you to sell, or your family to sell your collection on your behalf after you're gone (Yikes!), it would be nice if your collection was filled with those items that increased in value handsomely.
There are many ingredients in the soup that makes up the future performance of collectibles. One of the strongest ingredients is good demographics. If you collect what the young folks want to collect, you'll probably do fine. But let me tell you about a simplistic way to evaluate them.
LET ME COUNT THE WAYS...
In simple terms, if a collectible has multiple reasons...multiple aspects of attraction...to be a desireable collectible, it will probably do pretty well.
Let me give you an example...look at this comic book:
This is a copy of Four Color Comcs #178. It is the first appearance of Scrooge McDuck. It's worth about $125 in that condition. Why is such a dog-eared book worth so much. Let's count the ways:
1. It's a neat looking cover. Come on! That bear is so cute, and the fact that he's angry makes him even cuter.
2. It's an IMPORTANT book in the series. This is the first appearance of Scrooge McDuck!
3. It's rare. Not a lot of these out there.
4. Interestingly, another reason is that it has "cross-over appeal". It is an item that would be desireable not just to a comic book collector, but also to a Walt Disney Item ("Disneyana") collector.
So we have four reasons why it is desireable. But what if it had all four of those reasons, but it was in high grade? High grade comics are also collected for that aspect alone. Then it would have FIVE reasons why it was desireable. FIVE is more than four, so we'd expect it to be worth more.
Now let's look at another one:
This is Vault of Evil #1. In the condition shown, it's worth $10 to $20. Let's count the reasons why it's a good collectible:
1. It's got a cool cover! Come on man, a WEREWOLF! That's just neat.
2. It's a nicer grade. It's not mint, but it's certainly nicer than the Four Color, right?
3. And....umm....hmmm.... Ok, I'm drawing a blank here. Maybe because it's a first issue??? Though that's not too important in a short, otherwise unimportant series, right?
So in summary, I can really only think of TWO reasons why it would be considered a good collectible. Two is certainly less than Four, so over the long term, this might not do as well as the Four Color, but, in fairness, for it's age, it did OK for the owner's initial 20 cent investment. ***See my blog article about the 1839 Large Cent and the 1939 Nickel where I discuss the ages of collectibles and it's bearing on value***
However, the thing to walk away with is that there are only Two really good reasons to seek it out. There are other comics with more than two reasons that might be a better choice over the long term.
Now let's look at the most valuable comic book out there. A near mint copy of Action #1, which sold recently for $1.5 million. Wow! Crazy money! But let's count the reasons.
1. First Superman Appearance (very important)
2. First Superhero Appearance (extremely important)
3. Very Rare
4. It has a very cool cover (trust me).
5. It is in very high grade
6. There are many other firsts, such as the first super strong character, first character to wear his underwear outside his tights :), first mention of Ma & Pa Kent., etc.
7. It has a track record of steady increases in value. This can be a good reason to buy something, but it can also be a reason that a price bubble is forming...the difference is often based on how fast the price is rising.
OK, so I count several reasons why an Action #1 would be considered desireable. So it's the big winner in our counting contest.
The point here is not to just count the reasons why something is desireable and use that as a valuation tool. It's not a valuation tool. But it is a good screening tool for separating the pearls from the lowly peas. If the collectible you're contemplating purchasing is desireable for only a couple of reasons, you might want to keep shopping. If you find an item where you can think of several reasons why it would be good, like condition, cross-over appeal, rarity, it's "cool factor", then it will probably increase in value nicely over time.
There are many ingredients in the soup that makes up the future performance of collectibles. One of the strongest ingredients is good demographics. If you collect what the young folks want to collect, you'll probably do fine. But let me tell you about a simplistic way to evaluate them.
LET ME COUNT THE WAYS...
In simple terms, if a collectible has multiple reasons...multiple aspects of attraction...to be a desireable collectible, it will probably do pretty well.
Let me give you an example...look at this comic book:
This is a copy of Four Color Comcs #178. It is the first appearance of Scrooge McDuck. It's worth about $125 in that condition. Why is such a dog-eared book worth so much. Let's count the ways:
1. It's a neat looking cover. Come on! That bear is so cute, and the fact that he's angry makes him even cuter.
2. It's an IMPORTANT book in the series. This is the first appearance of Scrooge McDuck!
3. It's rare. Not a lot of these out there.
4. Interestingly, another reason is that it has "cross-over appeal". It is an item that would be desireable not just to a comic book collector, but also to a Walt Disney Item ("Disneyana") collector.
So we have four reasons why it is desireable. But what if it had all four of those reasons, but it was in high grade? High grade comics are also collected for that aspect alone. Then it would have FIVE reasons why it was desireable. FIVE is more than four, so we'd expect it to be worth more.
Now let's look at another one:
This is Vault of Evil #1. In the condition shown, it's worth $10 to $20. Let's count the reasons why it's a good collectible:
1. It's got a cool cover! Come on man, a WEREWOLF! That's just neat.
2. It's a nicer grade. It's not mint, but it's certainly nicer than the Four Color, right?
3. And....umm....hmmm.... Ok, I'm drawing a blank here. Maybe because it's a first issue??? Though that's not too important in a short, otherwise unimportant series, right?
So in summary, I can really only think of TWO reasons why it would be considered a good collectible. Two is certainly less than Four, so over the long term, this might not do as well as the Four Color, but, in fairness, for it's age, it did OK for the owner's initial 20 cent investment. ***See my blog article about the 1839 Large Cent and the 1939 Nickel where I discuss the ages of collectibles and it's bearing on value***
However, the thing to walk away with is that there are only Two really good reasons to seek it out. There are other comics with more than two reasons that might be a better choice over the long term.
Now let's look at the most valuable comic book out there. A near mint copy of Action #1, which sold recently for $1.5 million. Wow! Crazy money! But let's count the reasons.
1. First Superman Appearance (very important)
2. First Superhero Appearance (extremely important)
3. Very Rare
4. It has a very cool cover (trust me).
5. It is in very high grade
6. There are many other firsts, such as the first super strong character, first character to wear his underwear outside his tights :), first mention of Ma & Pa Kent., etc.
7. It has a track record of steady increases in value. This can be a good reason to buy something, but it can also be a reason that a price bubble is forming...the difference is often based on how fast the price is rising.
OK, so I count several reasons why an Action #1 would be considered desireable. So it's the big winner in our counting contest.
The point here is not to just count the reasons why something is desireable and use that as a valuation tool. It's not a valuation tool. But it is a good screening tool for separating the pearls from the lowly peas. If the collectible you're contemplating purchasing is desireable for only a couple of reasons, you might want to keep shopping. If you find an item where you can think of several reasons why it would be good, like condition, cross-over appeal, rarity, it's "cool factor", then it will probably increase in value nicely over time.
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