10 Common Sense Reasons That You Need Comic Book Insurance
Comic book insurance. Is it a good idea or a bad idea? While I don’t wish to persuade you with my thoughts, I can’t help but want to give you ten very important reasons that you should consider having it. Here are 10 reasons why you should have comic book insurance.
10. Protection
To drive any car and to purchase any house requires that the person doing so has insurance.
And why?
In the event of something unfortunate occurring, they are protected from loss. Loss of their vehicle or loss of their house. Comic books are no different. In the event of something unfortunate, it is wise to have protection over your comic book collection.
Let’s say, for example, that they are stolen. Comic book theft happens all the time. Wouldn’t it be nice to know that if something like this happened, your collection would either be replaced or, at the very minimum, you’d be reimbursed by the insurance company for its value? I can’t speak for you, but I know I’d like to know that.
9. Irreplaceable Childhood
If you’re anything like me, comic books were an integral part of your childhood. Not only did they help shape the person you’d become, but they also got you through some pretty tough times.
Imagine for a second losing that part of your childhood. Imagine losing your collection…the one you had been growing since you started walking. And imagine how you’d feel if you knew that you could never get it back.
Now imagine what it would be like knowing that no matter what happens to your books, you stand a pretty good chance at getting them back. Just think about how happy that little boy or girl inside of you would be if they knew that those books that they saved their allowance for would be with them, in some capacity, for the rest of their life.
That’s the value of comic book insurance.
8. Skyrocketing Values
There are very few things that have risen in value over the last few years like comic books. It was only a couple of years ago that you could purchase an Amazing Spider-Man 300 graded 9.8 for $800-$1000. Note you’d be lucky if you could find one for less than $3500.
After years of being misunderstood, comic books are finally getting the recognition that they deserve. Collectors and investors are flocking to them like seagulls flock to food on a beach.
If I was a betting man, and I’m not, I’d bet that they will never fall back to the prices they once were. This means that any books you have are worth considerably more than they once were. As a result, having them insured probably isn’t a terrible idea.
7. Show Me The Keys
For the better part of the last 40 years, the definition of a key comic book hasn’t changed. A key is considered a book that marks either the first appearance of a character or a special event in the history of a title.
- Batman 232
- Amazing Spider-Man 129
- Detective Comics 359
- X-Men 94
- Iron Fist 14
- Aquaman 29
These are all historical keys.
These days, however, almost anything constitutes a key. Books as young as 10 years are racing up the value chart and show no signs of stopping.
- Ultimate Fallout 4
- Detective Comics 880
- Young Avengers 1
- Nyx 3
- Static 1
- Flash 92
With so many comics being given the “key” title, having comic book insurance isn’t a bad idea. You may have a key book and not even know it.
6. The Future Is Bright
As the Marvel machine continues to pump out blockbuster movies and television shows, the value of comic books will continue to rise. We know for sure that they will be releasing content for as many as 3-4 more years. This will take us to 2025. Although they could pull the plug and stop producing, in all likelihood, they won’t.
Why would they?
Each movie and television show nets them hundreds of millions of dollars. Marvel has created a license to print money and for a world built on money, they’d be insane to stop.
And their money is your money.
For as long as they are creating content, average people are making money with them. In all my years, I’ve never seen a surge in comic book popularity like we are seeing right now.
5. Easily Go Up In Flames
What are comic books made up of?
If you answered paper, you’re exactly right.
What does paper do?
If you answered burn, you’re exactly right.
Look, for as great as they are, comic books aren’t exactly durable. One small flicker and your entire collection could go up in flames. If that happens and you don’t have comic book insurance, the only thing you’ll be left collecting is the tears from the pile of ashes that lay at your feet.
You wouldn’t want to do that, would you?
Of course not.
You’d rather cash in on your insurance and start buying back your prized possessions.
4. Inheritance For Children
Just like you, I love my kids. What I meant to say was just like you and if you have kids, I love my kids. They are my world. Everything I do, I do for them and nothing will ever change that.
When I die, I plan to leave them a lot of things. I will leave them my house. I will leave them my love. And I will leave them my comic books. I may sound silly to you to read that last one but I can assure you, it’s not. It’s the truth in every sense of the definition.
My kids know how much my comic books mean to me. They see me look at them. They hear me talk about them. And they listen to me when I read them. When I die, I want to be able to give my kids the same joy that I’ve been given. That joy is found inside the pages of the most fantastical stories that have ever been created.
3. No More Will Be Made
Here’s the great thing about comic books. Once a title has been written, drawn, published, and released into the world, it will never be written, drawn, published, and released again.
Comic books aren’t forever. They aren’t something that can be brought back. The volume runs are finite. This means that however many original copies of Detective Comics 27 or Amazing Fantasy 15 exist, that’s it. There won’t ever be more. Because of this, their value will only continue to rise. Unlike, let’s say, a toy that typically depreciates over time, comic books don’t do this. Most toys are a dime a dozen and very rarely ever gain any sort of high and collectible value associated with them.
Comic books are different.
2. Trending
It’s impossible to predict what the next important book will be. Certainly, based on movie and television show release schedules, educated guesses can be made. However, at the end of the day, that’s all they are… educated guesses.
What’s interesting about comic books is that it’s a speculators market. As an investor, I tend to shy away from speculation and stick to guaranteed books. That, however, doesn’t mean that I don’t try to figure out what book will be hot next every now and then.
Comic books are trending and as I eluded to earlier, it would be wise to get comic book insurance. Here’s why. You never know what book or title will be hot next. If a book becomes hot and you have a few of them in your collection, you’ll be happy that you had insurance should something happen to that collection.
1. Peace Of Mind
At the end of the day, it’s impossible to place value on peace of mind. Knowing that something you’re worked so hard to build and maintain will always be there no matter what happens is priceless.
If none of the other reasons for comic book insurance have convinced you to get some, then let this one do it. Peace of mind is something that takes the stress of heartache away and replaces it with love, good times, and the satisfaction of knowing that nothing could make a day bad for you.
And that’s it. Agree? Disagree? Are there reasons for comic book insurance that I have missed?
