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In 2014, a copy of "Action Comics" #1—the 1938 debut of Superman—sold for a whooping $3.2 million. This was not the first time "Action Comics" #1 had turned heads in the comic-book world—in the 1990s, when opportunists first noted that the comic...
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In 2014, a copy of "Action Comics" #1—the 1938 debut of Superman—sold for a whooping $3.2 million. This was not the first time "Action Comics" #1 had turned heads in the comic-book world—in the 1990s, when opportunists first noted that the comic was rare and highly sought-after, a "speculators boom" was born. Comics giants like DC and Marvel attempted to artificially create that same sort of demand with hyped storylines like 1992's "The Death of Superman" and limited editions like 1991's "Ghost Rider #15," with its glow-in-the-dark cover. Speculators snapped up those comics, as well as vintage back issues, thinking they'd be worth money someday. Simply put, they're not. That's because most old comic books were mass-produced and widely read, which means there's lots of inventory, and in poor condition at that. As a result, today, many of those same comic-book speculators are shedding their collections in big lots. At the same, adults who ravenously consumed comics as kids are finding they don't have the space to keep their well-loved dog-eared volumes of Golden, Silver, or Bronze Age comics. The good news for people who genuinely love comics is that a collection can be launched quickly, letting you delve into, say, Batman's complex history for relatively little money. When looking at an entire collection or lot of vintage comics, try to get a sense of the themes in the overall collection, the general condition of the books, and who the collector was and what they collected. Most importantly, try to understand the quality of the individual books by looking at as many specific examples as possible.

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