Jim Leonard stated: > >Also, any comic book collectors on this list: What happened to the >market? I collected Alan Moore books in the 1980s as they came out, and >in the early 1990s they were worth more than $20 a book. Now I couldn't >get more than $1-$2 apiece for them... Did something happen to the market?
The entire comic book market, both new and back issues, has been spiraling downwards since the late '90s crash. Too many speculators (and publishers catering to them with all the multi-cover and cover enhancement crap) plus the transition from being available in grocery stores, drug store, etc. to only being available in specialty shops. Guess what, if comic books are in places that people normally frequent, you don't keep attracing new readers! You're stuck with the same audience, who will slowly dwindle away. I'd also guess that the rise of eBay (and the Internet in general) has done bad things to the back issue market. It used to be that you if you wanted a certain issue, you had to find it at your local shop. (Or mail order, but that's a bit of trouble.) I spent some time going to comic shops any time my family was out of town on vacation to find stuff I wanted. Now, you just sit down, fire up the browser and either go to eBay or a dealer like www.milehighcomics.com and you can find almost anything you want. Thus, on a local level demand for many items goes down, not to mention the stores are now completing with other stores all around the country instead of just the one on the other side of town. OTOH, I sold all my TRANSFORMERS back issues back in the late '90s after the series was canceled for pennies (well, maybe quarters) on the dollar. The toys and the comics are now cranking up again and I probably could get a lot more for them if I still had them now. -- Lee K. Seitz [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
