WHAT??!!! You NEVER Bought All The Marvel and DC Rip-offs? Lucky.

Comic fans are to blame. 

You people bought into the whole pay-over-the-top for Bronze Age comics because  they had a mention of "The Avengers" or "Guardians of the Galaxy" or "Rocket Raccoon" or "Black Panther" or "Ultron".  In fact, it gets very monotonous listing the number of characters that were sed to con the new "chic comic geeks" out of their money

Dealers and comic store owners squeezed big bucks out of you w "The Sub-Mariner is the next book to get -it's their next secret movie project!"  No. No it isn't. completed my Silver Age run of The Sub-Mariner last year -well, Sub-Mariner #1 was going for between $300-500....WHY???  So I got the Tales To Astonish first issue reprint for £5.00 ($10) including p&h.  A week later that reprint (lower grade) was going for $200-300???  

Dealers have been laughing all the way to the bank.  It's no secret that I contacted two comic dealers who had both sold Sub-Mariner #1 (Silver Age) for between £00-400 ($700-900).  I told them I had a few old comics from the 1960s including a Sub-Mariner number 1 -"Is that worth anything -would you be interested in buying?"   Both responded the same way so I'll paraphrase: "Well, you might -MIGHT- be able to sell it for £5 ($10)....what else do you have?"   In fact I knew one of the staff at shop A and he had answered the phone.  After hearing that I had Black Panther 1-10, Sub-Mariner (complete run) plus other books to sell and was going to call back once I had made a full list the boss had literally screamed the shop down because "some p**** is going to practically give me a lot of books for £20 ($40) -I know I can sell just one of the books for £200!"

And I hear similar stories all the time.  I was in one store when the owner told someone with a box full of Silver Age comics they were "worth maybe £10 for the box" and as I had seen what was in the box I interrupted: "Oh, no. Those are originals not reprints and in mint condition -give him a tenner for the box and he can sell the comics to a collector for far more"   Customer left and the shop owner told me I had "f***** up" a business deal" and that there was a small fortune in the box.  "Then make a fair offer" I said. I never wanted to go back to that shop any way!

Golden Age comics ARE worth something in the best condition.  Millions were burnt, shredded and worse due to War Efforts in the US and then that ass hole Wertham which led to comic burnings and bans and the Comics Censorship Code Authority.

Silver Age and Bronze Age and even "Copper Age" comics are printed and reprinted in the hundreds of thousands.  They are NOT rare.

Yet comic collectors -true fans before the chic comic geeks of The Big Bang Theory era- cannot buy and complete their collections because they have been faced with price tags only idiots would pay.

Consequently, and scream as much as you like it will not change a thing, all those comics you bought are not worth anything.  As a store or a dealer how much they will give you for your "complete runs".  Because movies based on comics make millions it does not mean your comics are.  The comics have nothing to do with the movies other than by name.

The guy who bought the first appearance of The Guardians Of The Galaxy from the 1960s for $300+ and screeched out that he had been conned.  No. Those WERE the Guardians of the Marvel comic universe NOT the movie universe. 

There are so many stories like this and why?  Because people are told "That comic will pay for your retirement!" so they shell out big money.  A year later the comic is worth....not a lot.  Will the dealer buy it back?  Like *****!

I enquired around amongst dealers just how much I could get for my complete Silver Age Sub-Mariner run (70+ issues)?  Best offer? £30 ($60)....and I'd need to pay postage on top of that.

The second culprit is the store owner/dealer.  Yes, it's business but to around 90% of them it's about screwing every penny they can get out of the comic buyer.  F*** ethics -it's greed.  They will lie and rip you off.  They do not care.  And guess what?  They do this because they buy into the greed of the comic companies -"We're killing off------ and that will make this a HOT comic!  They'll be lining up to shell out for a copy!!"  Greed.  How to make more money out of nothing....hmm.  "Hey -we got gays getting married in our title!"  "Hey -we got gay SUPER HEROES gettin married in  ours!"  Money. Greed. Idiots giving away money.  Why???

Oh...."our character dates an ethnic....an ethnic in a wheelchair!"  KAAAA-CHING!!!!!!$$$$$$

I could get very rude here but I wont.

ooooh.  Issue #57 will be a new #1 KAAAAAA-CHING!   "Every issue is going to be a #1!"  KAA-CHING!!!    I remember when Batman was Batman.  Before he was rebooted to be Batman after that time he was rebooted to be Batman -remember?  After that big reboot that turned him into Batman...yes, THAT is how ridiculous it has gotten.

Comic companies will deny it (let's face it -it is the TV series and movies keeping them alive) and even dealers because they still want to screw the money out of you so long as you are gullible!  Sales ARE suffering.  Back issue stacks are growing.  Ebay prices are coming down and a lot of store owners are complaining that "no one is buying the back issues" or even the hot new titles as they used to.

2015 -2016 at the latest- is going to see a comic book industry collapse.  Signs are already there.  As the man ranted in that video I posted and as explained in the article about comics lack of value I reposted to CBO....Your Comics Are Worthless.

You want to invest in something that should earn you money?  Go for the print on demand or small press publishers because (1) only prints a copy based on getting an order -not printing dozens or thousands of copies.  (2) print 50 copies, maybe over zealously 100.

So, over time, wear and tear, people lose interest and dump the comics in a bin....fewer and fewer copies so the rarity pushes up the price.  If you purchased copies of Browner Knowle -limited to 50 copies per issue- hold on to them (I am) because thewy will increase in value.

And do you know, as mainstream comics implode and value drops, the Small Press will flourish because they are outside the mainstream and do not even know or care about Marvel, DC, Archie, Image or US comics in general.

Buy small to invest big.