The Amazing Report Replaces the Market Report

Comic trends are changing

That doesn't mean we no longer stock German comics from the good old days. No, not at all. It simply means that these comics now only occupy a niche with us, because there is only demand for very specific series, and even that is rather declining.

Where are the new focal points? Well, they're not that new. The trend of recent years clearly points towards American superhero comics from Marvel, DC and various independent publishers. These are the front-runners, far ahead of all other comics.

Ever since the Amazing Toys Comic Shop opened, we have focused on Marvel and DC comics from the 1960s and 1970s and have continuously expanded this department. The Silver Age and the Bronze Age of comics have been part of our range from the start, and we have a solid stock of many thousands of comics from this period on offer.

The front-runners

In recent months it has once again become clear that investing in these comics was worth it. As always, Marvel dominated the sales figures, and DC was, as always, in second place. The immense output of films and TV shows that the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) has given us did the rest to boost sales.

Besides the regular sales of popular series such as Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and Avengers, collectors also discovered shelf warmers like Defenders, Marvel Team-Up and Sub-Mariner. Of course, the key issues always went quickly. Among them, naturally, the hotly sought-after debuts, the First Appearances. Some comics didn't survive an hour after being listed in our online shop.

Above all, Bronze Age Marvel comics (1970s) were the solid backbone of recent months. But because collectors, and of course the insatiable MCU, are always looking for new shores, we have also expanded the more recent eras. The trend clearly points into the 1980s, so we also have comics from that decade on offer.

The magic key issues

Key Issues, Key Issues, Key Issues. There are brand-new ones too, no doubt about it. The latest example is Thor #1 from 2014, in which Jane Foster wears the Thor costume for the first time, apart from the famous What If #10 from 1978, of course. Or Thor God of Thunder #2 (2013) with the first appearance of God Butcher. These are interesting comics from the latest era, from this millennium, that still fetched a good 100 francs apiece.

Looking back, it's amazing how comics from the notorious «5 franc box» can blossom into sought-after collectibles. After all, they only got really hot because of the MCU! Of course, we also recorded sales of solid classics that fetched good prices simply because of their venerable age of 50+ years. The low-numbered Avengers in particular we couldn't restock as fast as they were snapped up from the comic boxes. Sadly.

Don’t Forget the TCG!

The second solid pillar was, of course, trading cards, above all Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! Our strength here was and is the great variety. All the new products, but also lots of old items still in their original packaging and many thousands of single cards make our shop unique. By far the largest share of sales was and is thanks to trading cards. Maybe my son Thomas (the Sparkojote) will write a guest post on this one day.

And finally we're back where we started, with the German comics. They bring up the rear, but they still have their place. Above all the usual suspects like the Williams Marvels from the Seventies and their DC counterpart, Superman from Ehapa. So here too: invincible superheroes! That's no surprise. Tight-fitting long johns just have something about them. On that note, I'll end this Amazing Report.