So what makes a particular vintage or back-issue magazine valuable - or at least, or more value - than another. Magazine collecting in its purist form - that is, people collecting magazines irrespective of content or subject - is probably still quite unusual. Some people may collect first editions, some anything that's, say, at least 40 or 50 years old, and some may collect a run of a specific magazine to support a hobby or interest. But it's not common for someone to simply 'collect magazines' and so, if you have a magazine to sell and you're wondering if it's of value, the answer is usually 'maybe but probably not'.
I believe it's much more common for people to first be attracted by the subject matter. If you are passionate about Jaguar cars, you may well be tempted to buy a particular back-issue of a magazine with a feature on 'your' car, and that may lead on to others, building into a precious resource of information all about your particular interest. The motivation is the subject matter, not the magazine in itself. This means that, if you are looking to sell, it's all about attracting that - possibly one in a thousand - person who would be interested in your particular copy.
Ebay and similar online auction sites (Ebid, for example) have grown to become the popular way to sell individual magazines, along with just about everything else. We prefer to sell from our own site, keeping our own identity and allowing us more space to talk about the magazines we sell, but we're sure a lot more people pass through Ebay than they do here! So, if you're looking to sell magazines, that's a good place to start, but there is a cost involved. You can also make use of our forum - it's currently free to post magazines for private sale (no traders though, please).
Ingredients of a collectible magazine
We've spoken broadly about the kind of person who will be tempted to buy an old magazine, but there are certain criteria that will make one copy more desirable than the next:
- First editions - we tend to focus on first issues as these are collectible in their own right, irrespective of content or subject matter.
- Content - this can make an otherwise regular, mid-term issue stand out. For example, stories about celebrities, those who will stand the test of time and have a cult status, such as Marilyn Monroe, Princess Diana, Michael Jackson. And events, such as the first manned moon landing, the sinking of the Titanic or the events of 9/11.
- Age - truly vintage magazines are a collectible in their own right, and sometimes purely for their historical context and style for those researching a period. Some may wish to celebrate someone's birthday by giving a magazine published the year/month they were born.
- Magazines that support a niche interest - for example, sci-fi magazines aimed at groups such as fans of Star Trek; model car collectors, train enthusiasts, soccer fans, pornography (pin-ups). These people collect magazines only as a secondary element to their main passion - well okay, in terms of pornography I admit the two are quite closely linked.
- Historical or other information resource - not always related to the age of the magazine, it can be a relatively recent issue (including part works) that provide a resource of information. Again, the magazine is secondary to the main interest.
- Rarity or obscurity - we have (at time of writing) a first edition of The Mother Earth News from 1970 and the first issue of Home Grown, Europe's first dope magazine! It's frankly impossible to know for sure how many of these may be lying in attics around the USA and Europe (we guess not too many!) but just for their 'weirdness' they become collectible.
- Illustrated works - comic book characters, manga, sci-fi... the visual images in some magazines attract the attention of certain buyers and some copies can attract high prices. Some may buy a magazine purely for its cover art.
- Quality - of course the condition of the magazine is very important. Whether someone is a magazine collector or merely a buyer drawn to a copy because of some other passion, they are unlikely to buy unless the item is in at least good condition for its age. Badly creased spines, bad creasing/folds across the cover or several pages, parts of pages torn out - these things will make a magazine worthless... to all but the most keen of buyer. Notice how, even now, there could still be someone out there who would buy it. It all depends on the strength of other factors, but you certainly couldn't expect to demand much of a price.
|
