Market Spotlight!

You're not getting $22.50 for this

OK, let's see what money-making goodies are currently crossing my mind's eye.  I think we'll start with:

What To Do With The New 52?

DC has certainly hit the beast with a cattle prod, haven't they?  Titles are selling out, disappearing, and hitting the secondary market for some occasionally attractive numbers.  And not just the big guns, either - I don't think it's out of bounds to say that the books carrying the most buzz right now are Animal Man and Batgirl, at least in terms of under-ordering and market activity.

We have to be a bit careful here, though.  I don't recommend looking at the Bleeding Cool charts and backing up the truck for a metric ton of Animal Man books.  That book did close at $22.50....once.  It was an isolated moment of some poor bastard's madness, or perhaps a toddler got hold of the keyboard for a moment.  I can't explain why that happened, but I know it isn't consistent.  Can you reasonably expect to sell some of these books for $8-$10 at the moment?  Yes, Virginia, you can.

But again, I would caution any kind of major exposure, because I'm not in love with the long term values on any of them.  Is it conceivable that history will look fondly on something like Action Comics # 1?  Certainly.  But will we perceive it more fondly, than say, Grant's JLA # 1 from 1997?  Is it a bigger deal than say, the John Byrne revamp from 1987?  I think the answer to both questions is "no", and I can pick up perfect copies of JLA # 1 for less than $10, and I can score all the John Byrne Superman # 1s I want in mint condition for about a buck.  There's too many copies available to achieve any kind of critical mass in my opinion.

Having said that...if you put a gun to my head and said "pick one investment opportunity out the bunch", I would instantly choose the Justice League # 1 digital combo pack.  The print run on Justice League # 1 is going to be sitting pretty close to 300,000 copies before all is said and done.  Estimated copies of the first print combo pack?  15,000.  That's relatively scarce, and what's more than that, it represents the first ever example of "same day digital" from DC comics.  That makes it scarce and historically significant, and that sounds like a reasonable investment opportunity to me.  It's a no-brainer at the $4.99 suggested retail, and I honestly wouldn't be opposed to paying the current going rate of $15 for a copy.

Long story longer, if you want to try and find one of those Green Lantern error copies at your LCS and buy 1 for cover price, knock yourself out.  But I wouldn't sink a ton of money into buying multiple copies of New 52 books, the risk/reward just isn't there.  These are for reading, I think, and huzzah for that.

Elephantmen: War Toys - No Surrender
Image Comics
ISBN:  1582409803
SRP:     $9.99

What a delicious little morsel this book is!  It's got all the makings: a cult hit with a strong niche following, a fairly consistent shipping schedule on the monthly book to drive interest in the collections, and a dirt cheap entry point should you find one hanging about your local comic shop.

It takes $45-$50 to buy a copy of this book on Amazon in any condition right now.  Even with no discounts, you're looking at a minimum of 4-5X on your investment, which is exceptionally nice.  I haven't found one, so I can't vouch for how quickly to expect a turnaround.  But Starking's work on Elephantmen is widely acclaimed, so I don't see the material going out of style, nor do I expect it to go back to press immediately.  Perfect.

Ion Vol 2 - Dying Flame
DC Comics
ISBN:     1401215513
SRP:       $14.99

There are actually quite a few books featuring Kyle Rayner that do very well in the secondary market.  If I were to name the most underrated champions of the secondary trade market, I would give you Dick Grayson and Kyle Rayner.  So it really didn't shock me to recently discover that the second volume of the Ion series was commanding close to $40 in used condition, and $50+ in new.

The place you want to be as a trade flipper is that 3X or better factor, and with the SRP at $15, we're sitting in a very comfortable spot with Dying Flame.  I think this one is an insta-buy, because the track record here is very comforting.   

Happy Hunting!

-Ryan