Originally Posted by
RC65
I'm with the others that future value has no real bearing on my buying choices...however...
1). You mention that you will have to borrow money(". . . borrow THOUSANDS . . .") -- everyone needs to make their own financial priorities, but I can't conceive of borrowing money to buy a book. Either I have the slush funds for pleasure and hobbies or I don't; perhaps you need to look at selling some other King book(s) or ?? to fund the purchase.
2). As Carlos mentions above, there are more prudent places to put money if you're looking for an investment return (or, minimally, stability) -- especially given the diminishing reading rates in our country and the incursion (though one that has apparently leveled off, if recent reports are to believed) of e-books. Book collecting has always been a niche hobby, but certainly never more so than today. To that point, collectibles are never a good bet as one never knows if the proverbial bottom will fall out...ask those hobbyists who loaded up on Beanie Babies, baseball cards, Thomas Kinkade paintings, and Hummels how their "investment" is doing. It would seem like books would never follow suit, but I'm guessing the collectors of these now essentially-valueless items believed the same thing about their collectible.
3). allasorte writes, "The one thing that didn't lose value but stayed the same in value were books and art. Not skyrocket price increases or bottoming out pricing, but their value hovered at what they were worth. I think the exact way and wonder the same thing about death in general. Artist's artwork increases with their death, and writers are artists. It only makes sense that when King retires his art will either stay steady or grow in value when he retires or worse, based on what I see today." I would suggest this is not accurate. When the economy hit the skids (and it's only partially recovered, and we'll have to see what happens next), books and art both took a hit. I can't speak to Stephen King in particular (though I have seen some general weakness, but, yes, less than other popular-fiction authors), but everything from small-press books to American literary first-editions (a long safe harbor against economic downturns) to gallery art took a hit as well, generally speaking. Nothing is immune to economic forces. As far as death increasing value, if the diminishing values of many late authors I've collected over the years has taught me anything, it's that American popular culture has a very short memory...if the artist is not around to create fresh material and visibly promote his body of work, his presence and popularity often fades from the scene -- history is littered with authors who were immensely popular in their age who are no longer read or recognized by a modern generation. Even authors who were popular and collected within the last decade or so may be relegated to this dustbin of literary history. Do I think Stephen King will be an exception (as exceptions do exist, though they are few and far between)? Perhaps -- maybe even probably. But were I looking for an investment, I wouldn't gamble borrowed money on this possibility.
Sorry to be the wet blanket...just thought I'd throw up an alternate perspective. Don't get me wrong, I love collecting books as much as anyone here, but future worth is never a real consideration...it's a nice bonus when it happens, but value can have such temporal fragility that it can't be a priority. If it were, I'd have to limit my buying to Gutenberg Bibles as virtually anything else is subject to the forces of the economy and the changing whims and tastes of popular culture.