I worry that there's not enough of younger individuals entering the hobby to support it on once we die out. I fall in the category for highest viewership based on my age demographic (51). I often wonder if there will be enough collectors to purchase the books we've been hoarding our entire lifetimes.
As an Engineer I think you always have to be careful about extrapolating data outside of what it is actually telling you. Slabbing comics was not something I did as a teen who collected simply because I did not have the money, and it tends to appeal to an older demographic who are quite passionate about the subject and have money. I would pull video analytics from some of your other videos on different topics outside of slabbing to see how consistent they are and remember that it is only telling you the age of people watching your videos, not the age of the average collector or reader. On a bright note, at my local antique shop (60 cent books galore) I tend to see a range of collectors there from teens to middle age and that is representative of the fact that younger generations can not afford homes, let alone dropping big money on a 'key'. But the love and interest is there for dollar books and the stories and characters which is the foundation the hobby is built on. Collecting comics has always been niche and tiny (ignoring the pandemic) and being in NC I just saw tons of collections and stores wiped away by a hurricane (which seem to be happening more frequently) which keeps that supply and demand in check for people who are concerned. But people have been saying the hobby was dying since I was a kid and that plays into the fear aspect that happens when people have front-loaded too much cash into their collections based on future-value instead of enjoyment. Great video and always an interesting topic to discuss!
Thank you. I would like to add that the younger demographics are probably less likely to consume Sticky's vids, and watch more content aimed to their ages. I know when I was 8 to 22, these videos would be a non-watch.
I'm about to turn 26. I first started collecting and reading in 2012/13ish about halfway through New 52. I fell off after about maybe a year of reading. I came back in during covid after I found a Spawn origins tpb at Value Village. I went as hard in the paint as I financially could on reading and collecting tpbs singles and keys. Now that covid is over I'm still really involved in going to my LCS every week or two to pick up from my pull box. I still look forward to being able to get a tpb as thats my preferred format to read in, but now I have almost no desire to own any keys. I have maybe 5 keys that are worth over $100, and maybe 10-15 that are between that $50-100 price point. But I felt no joy in the act of buying/owning the keys. The only time I enjoyed having those books in when I stood in line with my brother waiting to get some books signed by Todd McFarlane. Other than that all my books sit in boxes. I feel I can't even read some of them because I can't justify the risk of what happens if I damage my ASM 300 while reading it, if that makes sense. I certainly still see value in own physical things, but mostly for the sense of community it can bring. Ie you can't lend someone your DC Unlimited subscription, but you can lend them vol 1 of the New 52 Batman. I still really enjoy certain sentimental runs or tpb collections I have, but I have really slowed down on adding things to my collection. Hopefully this sheds some light into how younger collectors might feel about the hobby
Most of my videos look similar to yours. However, there was one outlier that I found interesting. It was my video on Absolute Batman, which actually had 9.8% 18-24, 46.1% 25-34, 32.9% 35-44, 11.2% 45-54. Nobody above 55 watched it. So the older collectors don't care about new comics, but there is clearly some excitement from young people, and that makes me very hopeful for the future.
31 year old collector here. Your analytics are spot on. Whenever I go to a local con or a busy shop the majority age group are around 45-55 y/o maybe a few around my age group in their 30s but i rarely see any kids/teens go to these cons just to collect comics. However if you go to a card show one time you will see alot more kids and teens getting into pokemon or sports card collecting instead which if you ask me is just as expensive as comic books. Beside the card collecting, video games are where kids/teens are spending a majority of their money and parents money.
I am 37 and I’ve been collecting comic books on and off for approx 30 years. Some days I wonder if I will collect for another 30 years, and some days I buy more comics 😂
In the early 90’s, the 13 to 17 bracket was (in my experience as a retailer then) around 70% of the audience. Despite that, they were more like 40% of the revenue… because adults had more money to spend than a typical kid. During that era, video game rentals got so popular with the younger age brackets that it almost entirely removed them from comic buying. This had a devastating effect on the industry that it still suffers from today… because it lead to an entire generation of kids that did not ever even START reading comics. They just went straight to video games. Most of what we have now are probably those kids from the late 80s and 90s (that left for video games) feeling the nostalgia for better days. A couple of extra notes: Slabbing is expensive, so it will definitely skew the numbers a bit high. And young people now are generally poorer than young people 30 years ago, which does not help sell a floppy comic with 20 minutes worth of entertainment for $5 (and I am being generous when I say “20 minutes”).
Your graph is 100% correct I’m 47 I collect physical media, physical things .. I like physical things collecting is lots fun!! today we live in a golden age where nostalgia market catering for? They produce things today from toys, comics, movies etc targeted demographic “the collector” when we were young only we can dream of!! Of the things available today.. We truly live in golden age
I’m 27 years old and I love collecting comics. I’ve been collecting things my whole life. Started out with Hot Wheels and Pokémon cards when I was like 5. I know a bunch of people my age who still collect.
I don't think there is a fixed demographic. most who collect or read comics are in it for life, often times leaving and returning to the hobby. at lest that's my impression. Comics will always be desirable by them
Very good video. I’m 39. My two cents on this. The demographic you mentioned as being the sweet spot of the bell curve. This group is most likely to be those with some to more disposable income. The young audience don’t have that at the moment but they will in the future once they fall into that disposable income group
Hey Sticky! I have a veryyy small UA-cam channel, mostly talking about hauls or recent pickups. Even with my small channel my demographic is pretty damn identical to yours. Great vid!
There is truth in this analysis and at the same time, comics have become a uber niche market. Most kids are interested in Manga over western comics. There is still a desire for comics but in a different format like digital webcomics. More physical books are diminishing and have been more unattainable due to high prices. Good video.
Just a prediction: As collectors die out their relatives will sell those in stacks (even happening already) and lots of old comics will lose value, because of too much supply and nearly no demand. Maybe not all but most of the cgc slabs gonna cost way more less than the original value. I think you were right about selling or cracking most of the slabs you own.
I’m just turned 50 years old. I’m a collector of Lego and toys. I think it not coming to an end. I really love “real” things and digital media is just a fantasy.
I dont think its over even trying to look ahead by 10-20 years. I do agree that those who are 30 and younger, generally, are not as interested. I agree that mid 30’s to mid 40’s are pretty involved being that they were seeing the late 80’s and 90’s boom of comics paired with nostalgia and fair prices. It makes absolute sense to me that 45-50+ year olds are the strongest market currently. It makes me want to start collecting Barbie, Rick & Morty, Adventure Time and My Little Pony comics now just to sell it to the younger generation later when they are off their iPads long enough to purchase tangible items for bullshit reasons that Tik Tok told them is a “new trend”.
Interesting topic. I feel like there's likely a strong relationship between age classes and when people start to get the physical space and money to actually start a collection. You start life as a child, going to school, living with your parents, etc. Then, depending on whether you're successful or not, you may end up getting a good job and a house. It is only at that point that you can really start being serious about a large physical collection. Not while you're at school. Not while you pay student debts. Not on a small hourly wage. Ans certainly not living in a small apartment. Once people reach those, I think they might end up being more interested in large physical collections, but that takes time, and that brings us to that mid-30 to mid-50 age class you showed. Of course people will have different experiences, but I feel life progression is a big part of it. So because of this I don't believe the hobby is necessarily dying. It's just that people get in it late.
Feel like this theory is far from true in areas like TCGs or Sports Cards, video games, or even shoes. There are a number of areas we see younger generations still heavily collecting and keeping hobbies alive. It ebbs and flows through cycles.
Newer Underground/ hardcore Rap and Hip hop have a lot of nostalgic and comic references. The age group for that type of music is 19-35. They just don't have enough money to collect. were all so broke... Not to mention kids that are growing up in this new marvel era. Once they get a source of income (If they ever do) then they should have a bigger marvel interest then even we did (Millennials). The anime community is still fairly young as well. Not saying collecting these things will ever be back to where they were because of where technology is today.. but I think there is still hope.
Good video but I think you may have looked at it the wrong way - so in my late teens/20s I had a passing interest in collectibles etc but my primary focus was going out drinking, concerts, clothes etc. my income didn’t support collecting as I was younger and my mind was elsewhere. The older the got the more I stayed in the better career progression I had the more disposable income I had … I begun collecting. So the issue may not be that this younger generation aren’t going to collect it’s that they aren’t collecting YET. I could be wrong but that’s my lived experience and I know from my friends it’s a similar story. Keep up the great content
I agree with what you said but there is one thing that missed. GenZ and new generations see the same vibe of collecting that we have with our comics in digital format. They might not care as much as us to collecting physical figures and comics but the collect digital stuff. I know many of us see that as an absurd thing which is understandable but it shows we don’t now GenZ good enough.
I wouldn't have watched StickyGoose as a kid because you're not a cartoon and you don't drive cars off cliffs. Shows with people staring at a camera and talking were either news or public access shows. Kids today can only listen to adults for about 15 seconds max. Worst-case scenario, comics books may fade but existing books may be lumped in with character/movie memorabilia. When people realize digital media can be erased at whim, they buy their favorites back on physical media.
Im 58. I've been reading and collecting comics for 50 years! I had a 10 year gap, and a load of my original comics have long gone. But I still have plenty. I have no children of my own. But I couldn't even persuade my neice, nephew, Godchildren or friends kids, to actually read comics. 😒 My Godson has come to most of the MCU movies with me though. 💁
especially a hobby like comics that is typically enjoyed in large quantities. Comics were a cheap hobby for many decades until the 1990s. In 1980, avg comic was $0.40 and min wage was $3.00. That means you could buy 7.5 comics per hour worked. Today, you cannot buy even TWO comics for one hour worked. And then factor in 'decompression' and it takes a whole day's work to just get ONE story arc. Comics today are written for the Pull List, not the casual walk-by traffic. Add all this up and you get a hobby that is too hard to get into and too expensive to keep up with.
The people who spend money on collecting have extra funds, aka 40-65 years old. Everything is so expensive starting out in life it's hard to spend as much money as you want to on hobbies.
The reason why these demographics break down this way is because usually people from the ages of 45 to 55 have more money to spend than somebody who’s 35 and under because they have worked in their career they’ve gotten the promotions and raises that the man under 35 is still waiting for so they have more disposable income. I seen it happen with the video game market and the switch and what sells in that market. Originally what got hot with Nintendo in Sega, then it went and 64, GameCube, etc. it seemed like as the next generation would come around and hit that 45 year mark what system was out when they were younger would become popular
What that person writes is not nessarily true. We can see that in music. Vinyl sells, and now cds. Everything has cycles. Malls are dead because of online sales. These same people when they have a family will be into collecting with their family. People always want something physical stuff. Society said the same about people your age when you were younger. That all you cared about was video games. You lived in urban areas and you didn't collect.
Great Video! I often find my self purchasing omnibuses considering my Son, hoping he will one day want to read them when his older, but what happens if he doesn’t care about any of it?🥺
The younglings are into manga and sports cards nowadays. Not sure what we can do to get them into American comic books. There’s gotta be something we can do, right?
40 something and 50 something generation is always been the collectors and the ones that spend big money so the generation in their twenties now will have disposable cash and they're 40s and will be collecting what they loved when they were younger this generation still loves watching superhero movies playing video games and such so they will be getting into that stuff and collect when they're older and have more disposable income humans by Nature are collectors we've been collecting for thousands of years
It doesn't help when you have manbun comic dealers like the one you encountered the other year. Its mostly people like that thats putting off the younger generations from collecting in my opinion.
I’m in my mid twenties and I believe it’s more to do with the fact that comics aren’t nearly as popular among the youth as they once were. People in their teens and 20s nowadays are typically more into anime and manga compared to american comics. Because I know plenty of people my age that collect stuff. It just isn’t comic books
I am 41, I do like to have physical copies but having endless boxes of comics can feel like a burden I’ve been buying less singles and more trades. I completely agree my son is in 3rd grade and he is not about collecting I bought him a few comics and he started to fill a short box but that was over after a couple months he’s more into Fortnite skins and digital entertainment.
Hey sticky I do agree with What you are saying, however people are buying comic books so much so that I had 3 books to pick up yesterday and I could only find 2 of them at 3 Different comic shops and this is Wednesday we are talking about. So In summary, I would say we don't have to worry about people not buying comics anytime soon, bud.
Accurate demographic. Minimizing your footprint & your items is what they're pushing, their aim is to get your $$ by you subscribing to watch their movies, listen to their music, download their video games, read comic books online, etc. and continue paying them monthly fees for things that will never be yours. My various physical collectibles/media, etc. they're mine forever to share with my son, family & friends who will never have to pay for it ever again. I collect back issues, tpbs, and older comics, rarely will I buy a new comic unless it has all 3 things going for it-great story, great writer & great artist.(Not just the cover guys, we don't fall for the multiple variant cover ripoffs.)
Every single one of my buddies who collect comics that has children, their kids have zero interest in their collection. Including my kids. So yea, this is definitely a dying hobby or at least will be when my generation is gone. I’m 56 by the way.
Interesting but deeply flawed analysis. My son watching UA-cam on the family account that I created on our TV. This isn't being picked up in your analysis. This is just one glaring issue. I will admit that the bulk of collectors came into the hobby during the 90s boom. We are in our late 30s to late 40s.
Damn I’m 45 .. just had a newborn baby a week ago to , so now I have some one to inherit my collection … I think if your economy is doing well and people have extra money to burn they buy things like collectables .. that’s what I did 😂
Movies were only ok when I was a kid in the seventies. Star Wars was kind of an exception. Most fantasy/sci fi movies kind of felt silly (silly stories and silly art). Comics had great art and very interesting stories. If you were looking for quality stories and quality art, comics had it...movies didn't. it's different nowadays. Movies graphics got a lot better and a lot of stories were quite good up until just a few years ago when the woke crowd took over.
I'm 53 so it makes sense. I collected comics in high school. Kids today reading paper comics is a fantasy. They are into video games or phone apps so they wouldn't want to be associated with boomer uncool things. Sad fact.
There’s been a massive correction in the comic hobby since the pandemic. Most collectibles have recovered such as Pokémon tcg but comics have continued to decline for many reasons. The Disney MCU is partly to blame. There’s a simple roadmap of success Kevin Feige refuses to follow. Bring in the characters people actually love. Ghost Rider, Punisher, white queen, fantomex etc… and don’t fuck them up. MCU did it right with Deadpool and Wolverine. They are headed the right direction with Doom, so sick of the mcu and c lost characters like starlord getting a decade of full length features
Great video. My audience actually skews older even. The average age is 45-54 at 34% of my viewers. Under 34 represents only 2%. I think because you are younger than I am you can appeal to a younger audience.
The burning question is this, will there come a point in time as the collectors disappear that the value of paper collectibles just plummets to rock bottom. Because there is no demand for comics. SELL SELL SELL SELL NOW people and convert it to crypto.
Yes. There is no doubt about this. Comics will go to nothing. Only golden age. If anything else. Make the money back now and invest in something people will Always care about.
Those 13-17 year old kids ..see you as some old geezer wheezing on about comics. If you want their interest you need to do some sort of dance routine. Sad state of affairs.
The point you are missing is that most people with disposable income are older. These are the people buying slabs. The younger demographic are playing video games and watching movies. The cultural icons of the characters are still strong
It's crazy. So by this commenter's logic, if other people are getting rid of their collections, it's becausse they're following the Marie Kondo trend and are technologically obsessed, but if HE gets rid of his collection, then it's because of the economy. Almost like a dog barking at passing cars.
I’m 14 and I feel like I’m the only one of my kind left! I hope this community gets revived sometime in the future
You did not enter your correct birth date when you signed up am I right ?
@@andrewb-e8lmost people under 18 just put an older age since UA-cam has some restrictions on people under 18, I’m 16 and I did the same thing
@Kid-Comics hey mate, keep reading and collecting any comics you love. 🫡
@@2ndbestbob28 appreciate it! Reading God Loves, Man Kills right now!
I am 19 and spend too much money on comics.
Stay off my lawn, whippersnapper!
Why did my silly reply get deleted?
I’m 20 and I also spend too much money on comics
21 and same here
@@fuzzy8593 what did you say lol
I worry that there's not enough of younger individuals entering the hobby to support it on once we die out. I fall in the category for highest viewership based on my age demographic (51). I often wonder if there will be enough collectors to purchase the books we've been hoarding our entire lifetimes.
I refuse to own nothing. I will own EVERYTHING!!! 😄
34 been into comics since I was kid..don’t plan on stopping
As an Engineer I think you always have to be careful about extrapolating data outside of what it is actually telling you. Slabbing comics was not something I did as a teen who collected simply because I did not have the money, and it tends to appeal to an older demographic who are quite passionate about the subject and have money. I would pull video analytics from some of your other videos on different topics outside of slabbing to see how consistent they are and remember that it is only telling you the age of people watching your videos, not the age of the average collector or reader.
On a bright note, at my local antique shop (60 cent books galore) I tend to see a range of collectors there from teens to middle age and that is representative of the fact that younger generations can not afford homes, let alone dropping big money on a 'key'. But the love and interest is there for dollar books and the stories and characters which is the foundation the hobby is built on. Collecting comics has always been niche and tiny (ignoring the pandemic) and being in NC I just saw tons of collections and stores wiped away by a hurricane (which seem to be happening more frequently) which keeps that supply and demand in check for people who are concerned. But people have been saying the hobby was dying since I was a kid and that plays into the fear aspect that happens when people have front-loaded too much cash into their collections based on future-value instead of enjoyment. Great video and always an interesting topic to discuss!
Thank you. I would like to add that the younger demographics are probably less likely to consume Sticky's vids, and watch more content aimed to their ages. I know when I was 8 to 22, these videos would be a non-watch.
Thanks Commander Data
I'm about to turn 26. I first started collecting and reading in 2012/13ish about halfway through New 52. I fell off after about maybe a year of reading. I came back in during covid after I found a Spawn origins tpb at Value Village. I went as hard in the paint as I financially could on reading and collecting tpbs singles and keys. Now that covid is over I'm still really involved in going to my LCS every week or two to pick up from my pull box. I still look forward to being able to get a tpb as thats my preferred format to read in, but now I have almost no desire to own any keys. I have maybe 5 keys that are worth over $100, and maybe 10-15 that are between that $50-100 price point. But I felt no joy in the act of buying/owning the keys. The only time I enjoyed having those books in when I stood in line with my brother waiting to get some books signed by Todd McFarlane. Other than that all my books sit in boxes. I feel I can't even read some of them because I can't justify the risk of what happens if I damage my ASM 300 while reading it, if that makes sense. I certainly still see value in own physical things, but mostly for the sense of community it can bring. Ie you can't lend someone your DC Unlimited subscription, but you can lend them vol 1 of the New 52 Batman. I still really enjoy certain sentimental runs or tpb collections I have, but I have really slowed down on adding things to my collection. Hopefully this sheds some light into how younger collectors might feel about the hobby
I’m 16 been collecting comics since I was 9. My dad was a big collector introduced me to this crazy world
Sticky Goose is making the comic books community great again. 👍
Most of my videos look similar to yours. However, there was one outlier that I found interesting. It was my video on Absolute Batman, which actually had 9.8% 18-24, 46.1% 25-34, 32.9% 35-44, 11.2% 45-54. Nobody above 55 watched it.
So the older collectors don't care about new comics, but there is clearly some excitement from young people, and that makes me very hopeful for the future.
31 year old collector here. Your analytics are spot on. Whenever I go to a local con or a busy shop the majority age group are around 45-55 y/o maybe a few around my age group in their 30s but i rarely see any kids/teens go to these cons just to collect comics.
However if you go to a card show one time you will see alot more kids and teens getting into pokemon or sports card collecting instead which if you ask me is just as expensive as comic books. Beside the card collecting, video games are where kids/teens are spending a majority of their money and parents money.
I am 37 and I’ve been collecting comic books on and off for approx 30 years. Some days I wonder if I will collect for another 30 years, and some days I buy more comics 😂
In the early 90’s, the 13 to 17 bracket was (in my experience as a retailer then) around 70% of the audience. Despite that, they were more like 40% of the revenue… because adults had more money to spend than a typical kid.
During that era, video game rentals got so popular with the younger age brackets that it almost entirely removed them from comic buying. This had a devastating effect on the industry that it still suffers from today… because it lead to an entire generation of kids that did not ever even START reading comics. They just went straight to video games.
Most of what we have now are probably those kids from the late 80s and 90s (that left for video games) feeling the nostalgia for better days.
A couple of extra notes: Slabbing is expensive, so it will definitely skew the numbers a bit high. And young people now are generally poorer than young people 30 years ago, which does not help sell a floppy comic with 20 minutes worth of entertainment for $5 (and I am being generous when I say “20 minutes”).
Sticky Goose needs to start using youth words Rizz, Cap, and Hawk TUAH verbiage 😂
Your graph is 100% correct I’m 47 I collect physical media, physical things .. I like physical things collecting is lots fun!! today we live in a golden age where nostalgia market catering for? They produce things today from toys, comics, movies etc targeted demographic “the collector” when we were young only we can dream of!! Of the things available today.. We truly live in golden age
This was a very refreshing video from you. Great talking points all around. And my demographics are exactly the same.
42 here. Started collecting last year
The problem having less you will feel less happy, looking at things that you worked hard for is rewarding.
I’m 27 years old and I love collecting comics. I’ve been collecting things my whole life. Started out with Hot Wheels and Pokémon cards when I was like 5. I know a bunch of people my age who still collect.
Gen X in the house!
Bunch of old dudes sitting around feeding the goose
I’m 58. Been buying and reading comics since 1977.
I’m 25 and have been collecting since I was 23 😮💨Sticky 👑
We all OLD AF except for you RIP VAN STICKY.
I don't think there is a fixed demographic. most who collect or read comics are in it for life, often times leaving and returning to the hobby. at lest that's my impression. Comics will always be desirable by them
That's cool because I can get them cheap when they don't know what to do with them once the collector passes on lol
Very good video. I’m 39. My two cents on this. The demographic you mentioned as being the sweet spot of the bell curve. This group is most likely to be those with some to more disposable income. The young audience don’t have that at the moment but they will in the future once they fall into that disposable income group
Hey Sticky! I have a veryyy small UA-cam channel, mostly talking about hauls or recent pickups. Even with my small channel my demographic is pretty damn identical to yours. Great vid!
Ive just turned 60!
There is truth in this analysis and at the same time, comics have become a uber niche market. Most kids are interested in Manga over western comics. There is still a desire for comics but in a different format like digital webcomics. More physical books are diminishing and have been more unattainable due to high prices. Good video.
Did not have Sticky Goose vs the world economic forum on my bingo card
I'm 50, watch tons of comic book videos but don't collect them. I have a long box of 70s-80s books and just like watching stuff.
Just a prediction: As collectors die out their relatives will sell those in stacks (even happening already) and lots of old comics will lose value, because of too much supply and nearly no demand. Maybe not all but most of the cgc slabs gonna cost way more less than the original value. I think you were right about selling or cracking most of the slabs you own.
Hell yeah I’m the 3.1% im 24!
I’m just turned 50 years old. I’m a collector of Lego and toys. I think it not coming to an end. I really love “real” things and digital media is just a fantasy.
I dont think its over even trying to look ahead by 10-20 years. I do agree that those who are 30 and younger, generally, are not as interested. I agree that mid 30’s to mid 40’s are pretty involved being that they were seeing the late 80’s and 90’s boom of comics paired with nostalgia and fair prices. It makes absolute sense to me that 45-50+ year olds are the strongest market currently. It makes me want to start collecting Barbie, Rick & Morty, Adventure Time and My Little Pony comics now just to sell it to the younger generation later when they are off their iPads long enough to purchase tangible items for bullshit reasons that Tik Tok told them is a “new trend”.
I'm in that 0% and I spend a lot of money on comics
Interesting topic. I feel like there's likely a strong relationship between age classes and when people start to get the physical space and money to actually start a collection. You start life as a child, going to school, living with your parents, etc. Then, depending on whether you're successful or not, you may end up getting a good job and a house. It is only at that point that you can really start being serious about a large physical collection. Not while you're at school. Not while you pay student debts. Not on a small hourly wage. Ans certainly not living in a small apartment. Once people reach those, I think they might end up being more interested in large physical collections, but that takes time, and that brings us to that mid-30 to mid-50 age class you showed. Of course people will have different experiences, but I feel life progression is a big part of it. So because of this I don't believe the hobby is necessarily dying. It's just that people get in it late.
Comic Tom dominates the 13 year old boy demographic…. And he likes it that way…
🤨
The WHO quote is "You will own nothing and be happy". hahaha I just wrote that the same time as you voiced it in your video.
Feel like this theory is far from true in areas like TCGs or Sports Cards, video games, or even shoes. There are a number of areas we see younger generations still heavily collecting and keeping hobbies alive. It ebbs and flows through cycles.
Newer Underground/ hardcore Rap and Hip hop have a lot of nostalgic and comic references. The age group for that type of music is 19-35. They just don't have enough money to collect. were all so broke... Not to mention kids that are growing up in this new marvel era. Once they get a source of income (If they ever do) then they should have a bigger marvel interest then even we did (Millennials). The anime community is still fairly young as well. Not saying collecting these things will ever be back to where they were because of where technology is today.. but I think there is still hope.
Good video but I think you may have looked at it the wrong way - so in my late teens/20s I had a passing interest in collectibles etc but my primary focus was going out drinking, concerts, clothes etc. my income didn’t support collecting as I was younger and my mind was elsewhere. The older the got the more I stayed in the better career progression I had the more disposable income I had … I begun collecting. So the issue may not be that this younger generation aren’t going to collect it’s that they aren’t collecting YET. I could be wrong but that’s my lived experience and I know from my friends it’s a similar story. Keep up the great content
I'm 47 and we have the most disposable income I think.
I agree with what you said but there is one thing that missed.
GenZ and new generations see the same vibe of collecting that we have with our comics in digital format.
They might not care as much as us to collecting physical figures and comics but the collect digital stuff.
I know many of us see that as an absurd thing which is understandable but it shows we don’t now GenZ good enough.
I'm a little over the 50 year old mark.
I wouldn't have watched StickyGoose as a kid because you're not a cartoon and you don't drive cars off cliffs. Shows with people staring at a camera and talking were either news or public access shows. Kids today can only listen to adults for about 15 seconds max. Worst-case scenario, comics books may fade but existing books may be lumped in with character/movie memorabilia. When people realize digital media can be erased at whim, they buy their favorites back on physical media.
Im 58. I've been reading and collecting comics for 50 years!
I had a 10 year gap, and a load of my original comics have long gone. But I still have plenty.
I have no children of my own. But I couldn't even persuade my neice, nephew, Godchildren or friends kids, to actually read comics. 😒
My Godson has come to most of the MCU movies with me though. 💁
6:19 younger generations would not be able to afford a luxury hobby.
especially a hobby like comics that is typically enjoyed in large quantities. Comics were a cheap hobby for many decades until the 1990s. In 1980, avg comic was $0.40 and min wage was $3.00. That means you could buy 7.5 comics per hour worked. Today, you cannot buy even TWO comics for one hour worked. And then factor in 'decompression' and it takes a whole day's work to just get ONE story arc. Comics today are written for the Pull List, not the casual walk-by traffic. Add all this up and you get a hobby that is too hard to get into and too expensive to keep up with.
The people who spend money on collecting have extra funds, aka 40-65 years old.
Everything is so expensive starting out in life it's hard to spend as much money as you want to on hobbies.
The reason why these demographics break down this way is because usually people from the ages of 45 to 55 have more money to spend than somebody who’s 35 and under because they have worked in their career they’ve gotten the promotions and raises that the man under 35 is still waiting for so they have more disposable income. I seen it happen with the video game market and the switch and what sells in that market. Originally what got hot with Nintendo in Sega, then it went and 64, GameCube, etc. it seemed like as the next generation would come around and hit that 45 year mark what system was out when they were younger would become popular
What that person writes is not nessarily true. We can see that in music. Vinyl sells, and now cds. Everything has cycles. Malls are dead because of online sales. These same people when they have a family will be into collecting with their family. People always want something physical stuff.
Society said the same about people your age when you were younger. That all you cared about was video games. You lived in urban areas and you didn't collect.
I'm your audience. I'm 51; I'm old😂 Still benching 225 so I guess I'm going to be alright.
Great Video! I often find my self purchasing omnibuses considering my Son, hoping he will one day want to read them when his older, but what happens if he doesn’t care about any of it?🥺
The younglings are into manga and sports cards nowadays. Not sure what we can do to get them into American comic books. There’s gotta be something we can do, right?
I love comics!!!
40 something and 50 something generation is always been the collectors and the ones that spend big money so the generation in their twenties now will have disposable cash and they're 40s and will be collecting what they loved when they were younger this generation still loves watching superhero movies playing video games and such so they will be getting into that stuff and collect when they're older and have more disposable income humans by Nature are collectors we've been collecting for thousands of years
Heading to a world of pod houses and 30 minute cities
It doesn't help when you have manbun comic dealers like the one you encountered the other year. Its mostly people like that thats putting off the younger generations from collecting in my opinion.
Good video
That chart seems accurate for me reading & collecting
Easy to figure out. 60+ are in retirement age and have time to spend on you. 18-24 are busy trying to score! 13-17 wouldn't get your humor anyways.
As comics dissappear, so 'ipso facto' shall comic channels.
I’m in my mid twenties and I believe it’s more to do with the fact that comics aren’t nearly as popular among the youth as they once were. People in their teens and 20s nowadays are typically more into anime and manga compared to american comics. Because I know plenty of people my age that collect stuff. It just isn’t comic books
Dang, that’s interesting.
I am 41, I do like to have physical copies but having endless boxes of comics can feel like a burden I’ve been buying less singles and more trades. I completely agree my son is in 3rd grade and he is not about collecting I bought him a few comics and he started to fill a short box but that was over after a couple months he’s more into Fortnite skins and digital entertainment.
Ok so I’m 43 and not only do I read my comics but I collect as well. I guess I maybe a little out of the demographic but there ya go
More like: How Old Is The Average Person Watching my youtube Videos
Hey sticky I do agree with What you are saying, however people are buying comic books so much so that I had 3 books to pick up yesterday and I could only find 2 of them at 3 Different comic shops and this is Wednesday we are talking about. So
In summary, I would say we don't have to worry about people not buying comics anytime soon, bud.
Accurate demographic. Minimizing your footprint & your items is what they're pushing, their aim is to get your $$ by you subscribing to watch their movies, listen to their music, download their video games, read comic books online, etc. and continue paying them monthly fees for things that will never be yours. My various physical collectibles/media, etc. they're mine forever to share with my son, family & friends who will never have to pay for it ever again. I collect back issues, tpbs, and older comics, rarely will I buy a new comic unless it has all 3 things going for it-great story, great writer & great artist.(Not just the cover guys, we don't fall for the multiple variant cover ripoffs.)
I think I just watched chicken little cry out the sky is falling.
Every single one of my buddies who collect comics that has children, their kids have zero interest in their collection. Including my kids. So yea, this is definitely a dying hobby or at least will be when my generation is gone. I’m 56 by the way.
Interesting but deeply flawed analysis. My son watching UA-cam on the family account that I created on our TV. This isn't being picked up in your analysis. This is just one glaring issue. I will admit that the bulk of collectors came into the hobby during the 90s boom. We are in our late 30s to late 40s.
Damn I’m 45 .. just had a newborn baby a week ago to , so now I have some one to inherit my collection … I think if your economy is doing well and people have extra money to burn they buy things like collectables .. that’s what I did 😂
oh yea im not a collecter i read my comics but im definitely 50 i remember dropping hidden forest back in nam and hittin an epic griddy sigma style
Movies were only ok when I was a kid in the seventies. Star Wars was kind of an exception. Most fantasy/sci fi movies kind of felt silly (silly stories and silly art). Comics had great art and very interesting stories. If you were looking for quality stories and quality art, comics had it...movies didn't. it's different nowadays. Movies graphics got a lot better and a lot of stories were quite good up until just a few years ago when the woke crowd took over.
I'm 53 so it makes sense. I collected comics in high school. Kids today reading paper comics is a fantasy. They are into video games or phone apps so they wouldn't want to be associated with boomer uncool things. Sad fact.
they'll grow up. watch and wait
There’s been a massive correction in the comic hobby since the pandemic. Most collectibles have recovered such as Pokémon tcg but comics have continued to decline for many reasons. The Disney MCU is partly to blame. There’s a simple roadmap of success Kevin Feige refuses to follow. Bring in the characters people actually love. Ghost Rider, Punisher, white queen, fantomex etc… and don’t fuck them up. MCU did it right with Deadpool and Wolverine. They are headed the right direction with Doom, so sick of the mcu and c lost characters like starlord getting a decade of full length features
Great video. My audience actually skews older even. The average age is 45-54 at 34% of my viewers. Under 34 represents only 2%. I think because you are younger than I am you can appeal to a younger audience.
I am 62
The burning question is this, will there come a point in time as the collectors disappear that the value of paper collectibles just plummets to rock bottom. Because there is no demand for comics. SELL SELL SELL SELL NOW people and convert it to crypto.
Yes… it’s called generational amnesia…
Yes. There is no doubt about this. Comics will go to nothing. Only golden age. If anything else. Make the money back now and invest in something people will Always care about.
I feel like you couldn't be more wrong. #privatecollector
@@doughargis9626 time will tell
Those 13-17 year old kids ..see you as some old geezer wheezing on about comics. If you want their interest you need to do some sort of dance routine. Sad state of affairs.
The point you are missing is that most people with disposable income are older. These are the people buying slabs. The younger demographic are playing video games and watching movies. The cultural icons of the characters are still strong
All that social security money 😊
Bottom Line, When Gen X does, so will collecting as we know it
It's crazy. So by this commenter's logic, if other people are getting rid of their collections, it's becausse they're following the Marie Kondo trend and are technologically obsessed, but if HE gets rid of his collection, then it's because of the economy. Almost like a dog barking at passing cars.
there will be no second hand market in 40 years. watch. who collects trains anymore.
literally millions of people.
they use to be 12 cents with great stories wheelchair larry
where's your wife?
Back in the day stamp collecting and Western comics were the hot thing. That should tell you where we are heading.
alas, Superhero comics as well as Horror comics were also "the hot thing" back in the day. Still around strong
Beautiful stuff however was wondering why you take down the election 🗳️ day video 🫥