Speculators Shmeculators

I first got into comics during the height of the speulation craze of the early 90s. I call it a craze because that's what it was. People who really didn't give a damn about the comics buying 27 different copies of Superman #75 (The Death of Superman for you laypeople). At this time a lot of publishers were using gimmicks to sell their books, nothing storywise, but a ton of hologram covers, foldout covers, variant covers, trading cards, and various other things that didn't make thebook any better, just more expensive.
I remember getting a copy of Adventures of Superman #500 (The Return) Which came polybagged with a special edition trading card, and was published with 8 additional story pages that didn't really move the story along, they just looked cool. Anyway when I got my copy I opened the factory sealed bag and read the issue with glee. This was awesome, I mean Superman was coming back from the dead. I knew they couldn't keep him dead for long. My joy was shortlived however, when I brought my book to school the next day.
Several of the other kids who fancied themselves “collectors” thought I had commited the crime of the century by opening that issue. Didn't I realize that the value would be severely diminished just because the bag was opened? One kid bought eight copies and didn't open a single one. Another time I had a friend pick me up a copy of Uncanny X-Men #300 with a holo-foil cover. If you don't know what holo-foil means, don't ask, it's not really that important in the long run. One of these collectors chimed in with his two cents and said “I know that book, it's worthless.” I wanted to respond with , “Dude it just came out.”
In the long run, neither of these books went up in value. Bagged or not Adventures of Superman #500 is still worth its cover price of 3.50. Uncanny X-Men #300 is worth 4.00, a 5 cents above cover price. Keep in mind these are their Near Mint/Mint values. Both of these books actually had pretty decent stories but were overshadowed by their glitz, glamour and hype.
I've always been a reader of comics first, a collector second; and never have considered myself a speculator. If you're looking for something to invest money in, comics aren't it. Case in point Gen 13 #1, that book was huge when it came out. I bought it for cover price, and it shot up to $60.00. But now it's listed NM/Mint value is listed as $4.20. A lot of comics have gone up in value, some even fetch thousands of dollars, but overall this is not the reason to buy them. Buy them for a good story and beautiful artwork. That value is priceless.