It has been awhile since I took the time to comment on what is happening in the world of vintage comic book collecting. Vintage comic book collecting has gone through several transitions over the last few decades and is currently one of the hottest pop culture collecting markets. And while the market for vintage comic books has been facing serious competition from other up and coming pop-culture-based collectibles (“Pokemon,” “Magic: The Gathering,” and even video games are stealing some of the spotlight) comic books have still achieved some record-breaking prices as of late. Now we have $90,000 vintage “Pokemon” cards, $100,000 “Magic: The Gathering” cards, and even $50,000-plus vintage video games. It should also be noted that these items can now be third party graded and encapsulated. But while these collectibles seem to be stealing some of comic books’ thunder are good overall, truly scarce high grade vintage comic books show no signs of slowing down, with some exceptions. It is the exceptions that I wish to discuss here.
In order to understand how we ever got to a place where certain third-party graded vintage comic books are now selling for over 1 million dollars, we have to look to the past. It wasn’t that long ago that comic books were seen as disposable pieces of newsprint that may have some value to the average comic book collector. In the 1990s, you could have bought most of the highly coveted key issues from the golden, silver, and bronze era for less than 10 percent of the prices they are now achieving. This didn’t happen by accident, as there were several key developments occurring at the turn of the millennium that caused vintage key comic book prices to skyrocket.
The first was the development of third-party grading. Comics Guaranty Corporation (known as CGC in the trade) was launched right around the year 2000, and it instantaneously transformed the market. Buyers and sellers could now buy vintage comic books and have confidence in what they were buying. CGC was the first highly respected third-party grading company to encapsulate and grade comic books just like coins.
The second key component that needed to occur in the vintage comic book market was the willingness of deep pocketed investors and speculators to enter the market. Manipulation in the collectibles market is not new. Big money got together, and the dealers followed. The auction houses came next, with Heritage Auctions pioneering a large stake in the vintage comic book market as well as ComicLink coming on the scene to add even more credibility. Record-breaking sales were being reported en masse on a regular basis, and prices were rising, but it didn’t end there. Something else needed to ignite the spark to get collectors to keep paying.
Marvel Comics has always had a vision to bring a lot of their comic book characters and stories to life on the silver screen. Emerging out of bankruptcy due to mass hysteria and speculation that nearly collapsed the modern era comic book market back in the 1990s, Marvel would be sold to Disney. Disney had the means to bring these comic creations to life, and both casual enthusiasts and hardcore collectors took notice. This was just the spark the vintage comic book market needed to bring in the average speculator.
All of these catalysts converged to create a collectibles market so strong that it has become one of the most established markets in all of pop culture collecting. Only vintage and antique toys come close to dethroning it, and still to this day, there are very few toys that regularly cross the auction block at prices similar to what some vintage comic books are routinely selling for.
Unfortunately, the rise of prices in vintage comic books has caused some investors and speculators to be blinded of the potential risks. Now that the market has been going strong in most cases for the last decade or more, trends have started to emerge. Vintage pre-1975 comic books that feature a key issue or development are definitely ones worth considering if one is going to attempt to invest in this market. One such development that has been occurring in the vintage comic book market is that every time a new movie is announced from either Marvel or DC Comics, demand for the characters that appear in those movies rises. This causes certain vintage and sometimes not so vintage comic book prices to accelerate in value. Ironically, this is generally the worst time to invest in these books. Investors are better off waiting for any movie hype to die down before buying most of these books. Smart long-term investing in any market tends to reward those who go against the trends. For instance, I am amazed at what some key issues that aren’t overhyped can sell for when compared to others that are. Some keys issues have even lost a little bit of value. One such example is Batman Adventures #12 in CGC 9.8. This book features the first key appearance of Harley Quinn, who happens to be the Joker’s narcissistic girlfriend in the Batman universe. The book was published in 1993 and is by no means a rare comic book. The book sells for over $1,500 in CGC 9.8 grade, but has dropped a little in value due to some of the DC Comic movies featuring Harley Quinn that were not well received. This is an example where comic book speculators must be careful. Just because a new movie or series is announced featuring their favorite comic book characters does not mean the movie or series will be well received by fans. Harley Quinn was well played by talented actress Margot Robbie, but the newest movie to feature her, called “Birds of Prey,” was not favorably received at the box office. As a result, many collectors consider the comic book in which she premiered to be overbought and overhyped. This is just one of the many risks in attempting to invest in overhyped books.
In conclusion, it is nice to see a collectibles market still going strong after all this time, especially with fierce competition from other pop culture collecting categories. Speculators and investors just need to understand that there are risks to buying some of these key issues at their current prices, and a correction in this market is long overdue. Still, I don’t see the market dropping on truly scarce comic books that have stood the test of time, and those are the books long-term investors should be buying. Until next time Batman, same Bat time, same Bat publication!

Shawn Surmick has been an avid collector since the age of 12. He currently resides in his hometown of Boyertown, Pa., and is a passionate collector of antiques and collectibles. His articles focus on various topics affecting the marketplace.