This time, I decided to try out some comics in the back-issue bins that we would normally put straight into the bargain section. This includes 1980s Fantastic Four, Captain America, and Avengers. All in near mint condition, of course. Most moderns in less than near mint condition always go right into the bargain boxes.
I was looking at a stack of Iron Man. These look recent to me, because they came out when I was in business. Also you see plenty of them come though the store. Normally they just sit, unsold in the bins. We don't even bother with them. In light of the new Iron Man movie coming out, I figured that I would give these another try in the back issue bins. I looked at the date of the first comic book in the run of Iron Man. It was 1982. When you stop to think about it, that was over twenty-five years ago, and the comic book is normally too recent and too common to put in the back-issue bins! Back in the year 1982, 25 years earlier would have been 1957. You didn't see lots of people bringing in stacks of like-new condition comics from 1957. Heck, you didn't see too many nice stacks of high grade stuff from 1967, for that matter. Fantastic Four #1 and Amazing Fantasy #15 were still rare in any grade, and they had come a little over 20 years earlier. You were lucky to get one a year to sell. I know that many dealers no longer deal in back issues at all, let alone expensive ones like FF #1, AF #15, Avengers #1, X-Men #1 etc. Let me tell you something. I have been dealing in comics for 25 years as a store owner, and for 5 years before that before my store. I have always been keen on buying key books like that, and I have never had a hard time selling them. There has been much speculation about the bubble bursting, and the prices going down on these key books. I have never seen it happen. I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for this to happen.
To my view, 1960s and older comics are the ones with the real, lasting value, and have real scarcity, especially in high grade. The 1970s books are the grey area. Most of the 1980 and up books are still common. The passage of time has not improved this, in most cases. What was desirable 25 years ago is still desirable now. There is a reason for this: Direct distribution.
Since the 1980s, most comics are sold in comic book stores on a non-returnable basis. New comics that do not sell are not returned or pulped. They are put back on the market. Since the 1980s, people started to discover the high value of old comics, so they keep their comics, rather then throwing them away or recycling them like they did in the past. Mom doesn't throw them away any more. Perhaps she should!
Back in the 1970s when I was collecting, I had a heck of a collection of comics that I was able to store in just a few boxes. I had a nearly complete run of Spider-man, Daredevil, Fantastic Four and Conan among other Marvel Comics. I had every comic book that Neal Adams, Steranko, Berni Wrightson and other artists that I liked drew. I had all the Superman titles from the late 1950s and up. All of these treasures took up around 5 long boxes, as I recall. Collecting was much more affordable too. I bought all these treasures with money I earned from babysitting and yard work. Try to collect a marvel run with chump change these days, even in low grade! (Lots of the books in my collection were high grade. I took any grade that I could find.)
Lots more people seemed to collect runs of comics when I was young. Heck, several kids on my street collected. Now there is so much stuff that it's hard to collect all the Marvels and DCs like you could back then. Most of the comics from the collection that I just bought were bought new, not as back issues. 90% of the collections I see are mostly comics bought new off the stands 1980s and up. When I was a kid, me and other collectors bought new comics, but we bought lots of back issues, and filled in runs.
If I was going to collect again, I would probably choose to get a nice run of Marvel comics from the beginning with Fantastic Four #1 in 1961, to around 1975. It would be interesting to read the comics in order, including the letters columns editorial pages and ads and study the development of the Marvel style. Beyond co-creating the characters and writing most of the stories through the 1960s, developing the Marvel style is something that Stan Lee deserves massive accolades for . He brought in a sense of excitement and fun. Even as a dealer, with the ability to purchase wholesale, it would be an expensive proposition. If I was to collect just one title, I would probably get Amazing Spider-man. Up through around issue 100, perhaps continuing to issue 150 would be fine for me. A really nice short box of treasure.
