From the Business section of today’s NY Daily News:
Marvel-ous investments
A “Marvel Comics” No. 1 dating back to 1939 just went for $201,250. A “Captain America” from 1941 featuring the stars-and-stripes clad superhero knocking out Hitler and his thugs, roped in $96,686.
While there’s one voice of reason quoted — “I would not suggest putting significant amounts of money in comic books,” said New York-based accountant Alan Straus. He said no more than 5% to 10% of your investment should go into any type of collectibles. — he appears 14 paragraphs into the article, surrounded by fluffy commentary from collectors; an overly rosy picture of the industry’s “soaring sales” since the collapse in the 90s; and, most depressingly, references to Wizard‘s price guide and the statement that, “Popular new titles, costing about $2.99, can double or triple in value in a matter of weeks.”
Is that light at the end of the tunnel, or a train heading straight for us?
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Crap. Where was this speculation a year ago when I was going around and pitching comics’ first female dominican albino midget character?
I was going to give her tetanus and everything. You know, really make her “modern” and “risqué”.
I probably wouldn’t be worried until I see something similar in the Wall Street Journal. That said, excepting one small part, the overall tenor of it leans towards collecting comics with a buy and hold strategy rather than the quick flip. If a few thousand of those type of investors want to come in to the market I don’t think it’s a bad thing.
On the whole, pretty superficial. I laughed out loud when the only example given of comic book “gimmicks” was Superman’s death.