Am I the only one who used to only buy new #1 issues but now I hunt for specific back issues from the 90s?

I switched after my local shop owner in Cleveland showed me a copy of 'X-Force' #1 with the trading card still attached, saying 'the stuff you ignored is what people ask for now.'

3 comments

3 Comments

ellis.nina5mo ago

Remember when everyone was bagging up that X-Force #1 like it was a retirement plan? Now I'm digging through dollar bins for weird 90s stuff like Ghost Rider 2099 or that run where Superman had a mullet. The hype for new #1s feels fake when you find a cool story from an old 'What If?' that nobody wanted. My wallet hates me for chasing those old Spider-Man team-ups instead.

morgan.joseph5mo ago

My local shop had a long box full of 1993 Bloodshot #1 for fifty cents each. That book had a chromium cover and a huge print run, everyone thought it was gold. Now I grab random issues of Silver Sable or Sleepwalker for a buck and the stories are actually fun. The whole speculator market just feels like a trap to make us buy stuff we won't even read. Give me a beat up copy of a weird Marvel UK book over a polybagged #1 any day.

mark_nguyen952mo ago

I remember people buying ten copies of that X-Force #1 and storing them in those plastic bags with the cardboard backing. I got a buddy who still has a box of them in his basement thinking they'll pay for his kid's college someday. The thing is, @ellis.nina, I've been reading comics since the early 80s and I've seen this cycle repeat itself a few times now. The 90s speculator boom was just the first time it went really nuts with the chromium covers and holograms. It's funny because those old dollar bin finds you're talking about like Ghost Rider 2099 or random team up books, they were never meant to be investments, they were just comics people actually read and enjoyed. I'm not sure it's that serious though. If you're having fun digging through boxes and finding weird stuff, that's the point.