Is there a new generation of comic book collectors?

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*Dont worry. The Fragezeichen is meant to be an englisch question mark.

Today I made a pilgrimage to the spectacled Temptresses of Thalia. Of course the Flash still wasn't available, but the Smurf - Magazine took me by Surprise containing, hold yourself tight, an awesome Gimmick: Six (in words '6') Throatnecks plus Ball to out-bowl the evil wizard. Magical!

Even though I have a monthly subscription I buy mostly back-issues. Heavy emphasis on Batman, but also Cosmic Marvel, Horror Magazines, from EC, Warren to Marvels 70s Curtis mags and Pacific Comics, Phantom Stranger, Marvel Star Wars (3 missing issues), MTU and 2-in-1, Indy titles like Love & Rockets or Cerebus.
I love my complete runs of Swamp Thing, Mister Miracle, The Demon, Suicide Squad, Star Man, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Thunderbolts, B&B 100-200, Starman, Preacher ... etc. But it takes up a lot of space... :(

Seems to me like 90's type speculation is making a comeback these days, judging from demand for first appearances of Cosmic Ghost Rider (why?:rolleyes:) , Gwenpool or Knuul (spelling?). Let's hope it will not be as detrimental to the hobby as 90's speculation was.

Back issues I buy 99% on ebay.
And yes, the spec comeback is only US comics, at least AFAIK.
In the 90's speculation was mostly caused by the Death of Superman, GL becoming a villain and the new publishers like Image, Valiant, Malibu etc., with cover gimmicks such as "Touch the Blood" "Glow in the dark" or Bullet hole in the comic and "hot artists" ranked in Wizard and Hero magazine, such as McFarlane, Leifeld, Silvestri, Turner, Portacio, Sears, Campbell etc. . Look it up on youtube! There is a lot of videos on the current speculation going-ons as well. Or check sites like Comic Book Invest.

Hopefully they focus on reading and enjoying the content and not just buy them to collect them and put them in a CGC slab.

Judging by what I see on youtube, a lot of people collect only the hot flavor of the month comic (Weapon H, Cosmic Ghost Rider, Groot, Deadpool, Squirrel Girl etc). And such a focus might not necessarily be a good thing.
Or collecting Variant covers, which in turn is bad for the comicbook shop (as to get one variant cover, they need to order from ten to a thousand copies of the same book and the additional copies will only gather dust on the shelves).
Or inflating prices for first appearances to the point where newer collectors will drop out since they cannot pay for the first appearance of Cosmic Hulk of Vengeance, the hottest new character making a cameo apperance in postcredits of the Cloak and Dagger tv show.
Or they spend too much money on a Cosmic Ghost Rider first appearance and when they turn around later to sell it they will make a loss.

My advice: put the emphasis on reading the books, not collecting them, buy new books to support the publishers, then sell them to give other comic fans the opportunity to broaden their horizons and then spent the money you made on more comics.