Monday, October 26, 2009

Nothing Ventured . . .

When I was about 11 years old I had my first investment idea. I was reading a comic and noticed an ad for "premium collectible comics." The company sold very expensive comics, in fact the most costly ones. On the list for sale was Amazing Fantasy #15, the first appearance of Spider Man. My first thought was "Hmmm . . . that would be a great investment, Spiderman will always be popular" or something like that. I immediately went to my Mom and told her about my idea. I attempted to reason with her but sadly she was unconvinced and didn't give me the money. How much was the ad asking for this comic? $2500. Last night I was surfing a comic price guide site for fun. Prices for a near mint version of Amazing Fantasy #15 today? About $250,000! Oh how I wished I had convinced my Mom that day!

I also think of some of the properties I looked at when I first became interested in using some of my home's equity to buy another one. Some of the houses have more then doubled in value . . . and that was only five years ago! It reminds me that when we risk nothing we are sure to get it. Whether it is investment wise, spiritually, or in the realm of relationships taking risks and facing your fears is the way to growth. Of course you won't "win" with everything you risk, sometimes you will lose it all. Risk wisely, but risk something.

4 comments:

Jay Boaz said...

What website were you looking at? The one I use has Amazing Fantasy 15 listed at $84 000, and it has a note that a copy graded at 9.4 sold for $210 000 in 2007.

Either way, the paltry $3000 you needed at age 11 would have returned a nice chunk of change. :)

Mark said...

Hey Jay,
I was using the one you used! At least I think so, comicspriceguide.com? I clicked on the 9.4 grading and it showed a 9.8 at just over $250K. Of course I know that is the highest range but my point is that such comics can be wise investments. If I had $250,000 kicking around I would have no problem buying AF #15 and holding onto it as a long term investment!

Jay Boaz said...

Oh, okay, I didn't look at the 9.8 grading (it's pretty unrealistic to find even a new book graded at 9.8, let alone one from the 60's).

Comics can be wise investments, but you really have to know what you're doing or get really lucky; there is a conception out there that if you buy a comic, immediately seal it up in mint condition, one day it will be worth money. This misconception almost led to the downfall of the comic book industry as so many people were buying and bagging without reading, the print runs were so high that the books were worth next to nothing. When all of these non-reading collectors realized this and stopped buying, the industry as a whole almost completely collapsed. It took many years to rebuild it after that.

Mark said...

Hey J, I agree, not all comics are good investments (just like not all stocks and not all properties)! Thanks for your thoughts!