As of today, we are ten months through 2020 and at least for me I still cannot believe Summer is over. That is because I did not really have one, did not do much. And I feel that may be the norm for most people since COVID mixed up the world kind of closing everything and what not. But I can tell you one thing, the comic market is open for business, and it has been hotter than ever before.
Let us look at the big picture. Due to COVID Disney has pushed back all future releases, some indefinitely for the time being with no announced release date. For example, even the highly anticipated Black Widow film which was scheduled for May 2020 has been pushed to May 7th, 2021. That is a whole year away and Black Widow is the first film that needs to happen in Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This delay in content has drove comic collector speculators in a whirlwind of imaginary scenarios. What character is going to appear, who is going to die, what story line will be used etc. For example, the most recent big “leak” is that Jonathan Majors will be playing Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man 3, but that’s not even until Phase 5 in 2022-2023! That story has already sent Avengers #8 (1st app. Kang the Conqueror) skyrocketing! With so much left unknown, attention is being brough to almost every key issue which falls within the cosmic, time travel, infinity stone storyline. Plus, don’t forget about the Spidey-verse with Venom 2, Morbius, a title unannounced female Spidey movie, plus a sequel to the animated Into The Spider-Verse. There is a lot going on with Marvel. Now let us analyze the collector/speculator/investor sitting at home during COVID.
Your typical comic collector in today’s world for someone who buys vintage, graded comics is a person with disposable income. Whether they are independent from a significant other and children or just have a high earning salary the point is that comics are not a life necessity. Now enters COVID, you cannot go out to eat really, no movies, no vacations or going to a club. You could not even really play golf until recently. This means you are spending money far less than you used to, plus even if you were laid off you might have been receiving an extra $600.00 stimulus on top of unemployment. You got money to burn! Throughout COVID comic values have been seeing an exponential rise in certain books, sellers are loving it, collectors are eating them up. Some are worried it is a bubble, other’s think it will only continue to rise. But for whatever it is worth here is what I think.
You cannot truly predict the future, and history tends to always repeat itself. Collecting markets are cyclical with huge ups and downs in between. Whether it is toys, fine art, cars, or watches everything which trades as a tangible asset is subject to volatility. So, the point is if you are sitting on comics at home now is a great time to sell. But do not sell outright, always work consignment. Selling at auction only works to your benefit, if you need me I’m here to help.
