There are speculators, yes; but, not at the levels in the mid-90s.  It was massive.  It dovetailed with speculators in the trading card market and fell apart together.

I remember taking a look at the prices of old pulp sci-fi magazines on eBay a year or two ago, and being shocked to discover that they were really very cheap. Even pretty old mags from the years we might call the Golden Age, if we were talking about comics, were way cheaper than comics of the same vintage. I took this to be an indication that comparatively few people are still actively collecting pulps.

I've bought a small number of old SF pulps the last few years - probably only 5 or 6 issues all told - but might try to get into more of that kind of thing at some point, as long as the prices remain relatively affordable. Probably in the main for some stories or authors I'm curious about but that are hard to find in anthologies or what have you.

On a somewhat related matter, I recall looking on eBay for original copies of The Strand magazine from the late 19th and early 20th century which featured the original publication of various Sherlock Holmes stories and they were really expensive. Even when they were in pretty crappy shape.

Interesting that you should mention Ant-Man, here's why:

Back issues price spike are one way to judge what's 'hot' via Marvel films but there's also seeing what Marvel currently publishes in regard to the films too. Last month, they released Taskmaster: Anything You Can Do...TPB which collects his early appearances throughout a number of Marvel titles from the 80s to the 90s. I bought it simply because I like the villain and hadn't read some of those adventures.

What I found interesting though is that his first four appearances were all written by Michelenie, Avengers #195-196, #223 and Marvel Team-up #103. All four appearances also feature Scott Lang, Ant-Man. If Scott had an early antagonist in his super-heroing career, it would certainly seem to be Taskmaster.

I quite enjoyed how Michelenie handled Ant-Man throughout here (Scott even makes appearances in his Iron Man run which, till now, was the full extent of my reading of him).  So much so, I considered checking into Scott's first appearances in Marvel Premiere which is where your comments come into play. Recent checks into eBay auctions and sales for those two issues seem to start typically around $30 and go upward into the triple digits (especially if the issues are slabbed). Scott's prominence within the MCU may help keep those resale prices up.

That's looks below the lowest condition I would accept. I guess I'm lucky to have gotten around a FN+/VF- for $30 on a newsstand edition, I even had a deal for one fall through before that/or it actually did get lost. It could be others like me want the newsstand editions of '70s-early '80s comics as the ones they remember and are willing to pay more for that. I just can't shake the feeling that something from that time with the diamond in the top left corner and a blank or line through the UPC code box is not a reprint (same for DC with the Whitman logo). I want the 'real' edition exactly like I remember it. It wasn't until Dazzler #1/Star Lord Special/Marvel Fanfare/Ka-Zar/Micronauts/Moon Knight where there was no newsstand edition I eventually had to accept those @#$%^! ooglah diamond corners (and no, I don't like Spider-Man in the box at the bottom on everything, especially not an issue of Star Wars, or I'd imagine Conan or The 'Nam for people who bought them). I was much happier with the 'M' shape.