BoD #1 was the 1st appearance of *NEW* Female Hero

[wwise03]

I have a question from a non-collector Valiant reader. Do you guys actually turn a long term profit from investing in multiple copies of variant covers? And if you do, does the profit you turn justify the risk?

I understand you might get lucky and buy 10 copies of a book that gets hot (though that seems more likely with Image books). But in doing so, you may have to buy 10 copies of 10 different books that never get hot and just sit there, thereby killing any margin of profit you made in the books that get hot.

It seems to me your money would be better spent buying valiant books for reading and taking the rest of your money to invest in blue chip dividend paying stocks like Johnson & Johnson and Proctor & Gamble, which have a proven track record of earning you 8-10% return every year over decades.

Not telling you how to spend your money, I'm just curious if investing in comics actually works.

[DirtbagSailor]

I have a question from a non-collector Valiant reader. Do you guys actually turn a long term profit from investing in multiple copies of variant covers? And if you do, does the profit you turn justify the risk?

I understand you might get lucky and buy 10 copies of a book that gets hot (though that seems more likely with Image books). But in doing so, you may have to buy 10 copies of 10 different books that never get hot and just sit there, thereby killing any margin of profit you made in the books that get hot.

It seems to me your money would be better spent buying valiant books for reading and taking the rest of your money to invest in blue chip dividend paying stocks like Johnson & Johnson and Proctor & Gamble, which have a proven track record of earning you 8-10% return every year over decades.

Not telling you how to spend your money, I'm just curious if investing in comics actually works.

I made more than I spent last year (and in a few cases, a +300% to 400% ROI).

[mkb28]

Steve:

Looks like your purchase of my 9.8 slab may turn out to be a really nice deal for you. Congrats!

Michael

[Shadowman99]

After comparing this picture with the silhouette I really think it's the girl next to Bloodshot, look at her scarf around her neck and her boots the girl next to EW don't have a scarf or is she wearing boots. The silhouette also seems to have long plated or braided hair touching the bottom of her foot.

To add some strength to that, I'm damn certain I rememeber reading elsewhere on the forum here back when the inks of this image were published that the girl centre-bottom is Alyssa from the Shadowman series, so that at least rules one out...

As an aside, I think it's pretty lame for VEI to tease 'she's appeared in a comic already so it's not a new appearance' when referring to a character that just popped up in the background of an image at less than half the size of the foreground characters... That's a pretty lame teaser imo

[Keith]

After comparing this picture with the silhouette I really think it's the girl next to Bloodshot, look at her scarf around her neck and her boots the girl next to EW don't have a scarf or is she wearing boots. The silhouette also seems to have long plated or braided hair touching the bottom of her foot.

To add some strength to that, I'm damn certain I rememeber reading elsewhere on the forum here back when the inks of this image were published that the girl centre-bottom is Alyssa from the Shadowman series, so that at least rules one out...

As an aside, I think it's pretty lame for VEI to tease 'she's appeared in a comic already so it's not a new appearance' when referring to a character that just popped up in the background of an image at less than half the size of the foreground characters... That's a pretty lame teaser imo

Wow, really? I think it's pretty awesome! Valiant is making good on their promise that Book of Death would detail events to come, and here we go.

[DirtbagSailor]

Here is a chart showing BoD #1 (Rivera 1:60 Variant) sales over the past two weeks.

Notice any spike in activity?

[FormerReader]

As an aside, I think it's pretty lame for VEI to tease 'she's appeared in a comic already so it's not a new appearance' when referring to a character that just popped up in the background of an image at less than half the size of the foreground characters... That's a pretty lame teaser imo[/color]

Wow, really? I think it's pretty awesome! Valiant is making good on their promise that Book of Death would detail events to come, and here we go.

I like that they are doing this. It reminds me of VH1 Valiant. It is still not a first appearance though. It is only a cameo so I look forward to the first appearance of the character.

[wwise03]

Here is a chart showing BoD #1 (Rivera 1:60 Variant) sales over the past two weeks.

Notice any spike in activity?

Has the spike in activity led to price appreciation? I see one available for less than $20 on eBay.

[DirtbagSailor]

Has the spike in activity led to price appreciation? I see one available for less than $20 on eBay.

That usually takes more than 24 hours to happen. That $18.98 BoD #1 in 8.0 condition isn't selling because it's listed as an 8.0. It's likely they can't give it away because there are still 1,023 copies that are likely in better condition.

But the $7 sales and $14.99 ado not appear to be occuring anymore. Now that most sources have dried up, it is safe to say that a few will pop up here and there for more than they were selling for last week, and then (eventually) the market will stablize to the NEW normal.

It should be noted that a few $100+ sales for 9.8 copies just happened; and those were not selling well prior. I sold a 9.8 for about $30 a while back, so there has certainly been some growth in market value, though it's really too early to tell how much to expect.

[nycjadie]

Steve:

Looks like your purchase of my 9.8 slab may turn out to be a really nice deal for you. Congrats!

Michael

[nycjadie]

I have a question from a non-collector Valiant reader. Do you guys actually turn a long term profit from investing in multiple copies of variant covers? And if you do, does the profit you turn justify the risk?

I understand you might get lucky and buy 10 copies of a book that gets hot (though that seems more likely with Image books). But in doing so, you may have to buy 10 copies of 10 different books that never get hot and just sit there, thereby killing any margin of profit you made in the books that get hot.

It seems to me your money would be better spent buying valiant books for reading and taking the rest of your money to invest in blue chip dividend paying stocks like Johnson & Johnson and Proctor & Gamble, which have a proven track record of earning you 8-10% return every year over decades.

Not telling you how to spend your money, I'm just curious if investing in comics actually works.

I typically don't buy to make a profit. I do buy to offset my costs for my collection, and I use them to trade for items I want. Having a few variants on hand helps a lot so I have items of interest to trade.

Aside from my personal raw copies, I track how much I spend on collections, raws and grading costs. Right now, I figure I've built a collection worth about $80K or so, realistically, and I've spent $2100. I think I'll have that number down to close to zero in the next month or so. I'm not out to make money. I'm out to build a collection, and if I have any extras, I use those mainly to cover my CGC grading costs. And if I do sell, I typically price at the low end of the going rate, priced to move, in the hope that they will be enjoyed by a fellow collector as much as I do.

I've never been great in the market, although I've had good luck on a few stocks. Nearly all of my income comes from my job, and my time is worth more doing that, but I find it relaxing and enjoyable to buy collections, sort out what I want to keep, and sell the rest to others from far and wide. My biggest customer is in Mexico, believe it or not.

[FormerReader]

Here is a chart showing BoD #1 (Rivera 1:60 Variant) sales over the past two weeks.

Notice any spike in activity?

Has the spike in activity led to price appreciation? I see one available for less than $20 on eBay.

The thing to remember after the initial spike in people rushing out to buy the book, the price often drops back down to the pre-speculation price as people move on to the next big thing. Check the CGC boards under the books that are heating up.

[iggy101us]

My biggest customer is in Mexico, believe it or not.

Not so hard to believe since the Armor Hunters destroyed all the comics in Mexico City.

[DirtbagSailor]

Here is a chart showing BoD #1 (Rivera 1:60 Variant) sales over the past two weeks.

Notice any spike in activity?

Has the spike in activity led to price appreciation? I see one available for less than $20 on eBay.

The thing to remember after the initial spike in people rushing out to buy the book, the price often drops back down to the pre-speculation price as people move on to the next big thing. Check the CGC boards under the books that are heating up.

I might agree that they rise, then fall, then stablize.

But I don't think this will sell for $7.99 again...

[nycjadie]

My biggest customer is in Mexico, believe it or not.

Not so hard to believe since the Armor Hunters destroyed all the comics in Mexico City.

For the win!

[nycjadie]

Here is a chart showing BoD #1 (Rivera 1:60 Variant) sales over the past two weeks.

Notice any spike in activity?

Has the spike in activity led to price appreciation? I see one available for less than $20 on eBay.

The thing to remember after the initial spike in people rushing out to buy the book, the price often drops back down to the pre-speculation price as people move on to the next big thing. Check the CGC boards under the books that are heating up.

I might agree that they rise, then fall, then stablize.

But I don't think this will sell for $7.99 again...

Have to agree. It's probably not going to be a $15 book either. And it will likely solidify in price, meaning a more stable variant to invest in. This shouldn't be a surprise. Dinesh told us this book is the Rai 0 of the VEI universe.

[FormerReader]

Here is a chart showing BoD #1 (Rivera 1:60 Variant) sales over the past two weeks.

Has the spike in activity led to price appreciation? I see one available for less than $20 on eBay.

The thing to remember after the initial spike in people rushing out to buy the book, the price often drops back down to the pre-speculation price as people move on to the next big thing. Check the CGC boards under the books that are heating up.

I might agree that they rise, then fall, then stablize.

But I don't think this will sell for $7.99 again...

Have to agree. It's probably not going to be a $15 book either. And it will likely solidify in price, meaning a more stable variant to invest in. This shouldn't be a surprise. Dinesh told us this book is the Rai 0 of the VEI universe.

Well if it was the Rai #0 of VEI shouldn't it be a $13 book in NM?

I agree it won't be a $8 book anymore, but it also is not worth whatever the initial spike is. I will concede that this book has more going for it in that there are cameos of several unknown characters.

[nycjadie]

Maybe the regular might have a price cap of $15, but Rai 0 doesn't have a variant, let alone a 1:60 variant. If Rai 0 did have a variant with a print run of approximately 1200, what would it be worth?

[FormerReader]

Maybe the regular might have a price cap of $15, but Rai 0 doesn't have a variant, let alone a 1:60 variant. If Rai 0 did have a variant with a print run of approximately 1200, what would it be worth?

I agree it would be worth more. Just having fun.

[depluto]

I have a question from a non-collector Valiant reader. Do you guys actually turn a long term profit from investing in multiple copies of variant covers? And if you do, does the profit you turn justify the risk?

I understand you might get lucky and buy 10 copies of a book that gets hot (though that seems more likely with Image books). But in doing so, you may have to buy 10 copies of 10 different books that never get hot and just sit there, thereby killing any margin of profit you made in the books that get hot.

It seems to me your money would be better spent buying valiant books for reading and taking the rest of your money to invest in blue chip dividend paying stocks like Johnson & Johnson and Proctor & Gamble, which have a proven track record of earning you 8-10% return every year over decades.

Not telling you how to spend your money, I'm just curious if investing in comics actually works.

I've always planned for the long haul ... I buy stuff cheap and hold onto it just in case. Some of it works out ... I have a bunch of books that I paid a buck (or so) for 20 years ago that are really worth something now. I've been selling them and using that money for newer books and travelling. I think differently about that now since I just turned 50 (how long do I want to just hold onto this *SQUEE*?) but that's my thinking with the rarer Valiant stuff. Not to flip it, but maybe if VEI's movies are a hit then this stuff will be verrrrrrry nice to have in a few years.

And then I have a bunch of stuff that I collect and have no intention of ever selling ... I try to get at least one copy of everything Valiant does, and I still buy Spidey and Iron Man every month. I also have a hellacious Ultraverse collection that will probably never be worth much.

[jmatt]

Not telling you how to spend your money, I'm just curious if investing in comics actually works.

For some, me included, it's not so much that you think you'll make money buying and selling the books. It's more about the satisfaction that something you own is now more valuable in the marketplace, even though you have no intention of selling it.

[mramsterdam]

The character could be the person between Gilad and Gravedog's legs.Kind of hard to tell if it's a female or male.

[Shadowman99]

As an aside, I think it's pretty lame for VEI to tease 'she's appeared in a comic already so it's not a new appearance' when referring to a character that just popped up in the background of an image at less than half the size of the foreground characters... That's a pretty lame teaser imo[/color]

Wow, really? I think it's pretty awesome! Valiant is making good on their promise that Book of Death would detail events to come, and here we go.

I like that they are doing this. It reminds me of VH1 Valiant. It is still not a first appearance though. It is only a cameo so I look forward to the first appearance of the character.

Yeah, I definitely do think it's lame

First VEI say "We have a new character!" and then they say "Oh, actually she's not new, she already appeared in this comic..." and the 'appearance' turns out to literally be as a background character - that's hardly spectacular. But I do agree it's good that VEI are following up seeds that they plant in the books - they've been really solid in that respect ever since the company formed which rocks.

I agree with FormerReader: I don't think that an illustration as a background blob constitutes a real 'first appearance'.

[jmatt]

I agree with FormerReader: I don't think that an illustration as a background blob constitutes a real 'first appearance'. [/color]

Yeah, that's a tough call. Without even a mere mention of the character's name or the character actually doing something, it's hard to think of that as a first appearance.

And in a way, it kind of steals the thunder of the character's real first appearance when their title debuts.

[Elveen]

I think it counts as a 1st app. Cause Valiant just told us it was.

I actually like this move a TON! This is what gets attention and noise in today's market place.
And the good thing for VEI is that the books are good so anything they can do to get attention to their product is a win.

It's like Jack B in X-O #4. We all love that, this is no different.
It shows the purposeful moves and far planning of Valiant.