2,123 registry users with point totals ranging from 2,265,493 points to 3 points, and I don't even begin to know how many registry sets...

Given that I would have to multiply my current collection by 100 to find myself in second place in total registry points, and with my limited collecting focus it is unlikely that I will ever be in 1st place in any of my registered sets; why the registry?

I possess a competitive nature and I want to be 1st - and I am a completionist (is that a word?) so I want them all, so what does the registry mean to me?

Well, more than anything, it's a chance to share with and connect with other collectors - whether it's Tnerb on the east coast or Peter in Portugal or anyone else that has sent me a private message - that I would never have met any other way. Even though our collections fail to have even a single book in common - we all collect, we all buy books encased in plastic tombs, and we are all compelled to share those collections with 2,122 other people (unless our sets our obscured - which I fail to understand, but to each their own). Our similarities outweigh our differences, our love of something as ephemeral as a picture-story book printed on cheap paper for the entertainment of young people (at least originally), is a commonality that makes us all part of the same sub-set of humanity.

Second, I like to showcase what I have in my collection, to show off, to share what I love with others who don't dismiss it because it is a comic book. And this is why I love sets with images. How am I ever going to appreciate what others find enjoyable from the cover of Strange Adventures 79 (cool cover by the way) or Mr. District Attorney 65 (I made that up - I've never seen Mr. DA #65) if no-one ever shares? I could surf the chat boards (umm, no) or I could spend hours on the web researching on various sites (their comics are often too degraded to enjoy the images) - but both of those options are missing something: the recommendation of someone else who collects.

Tnerb says: read these books - they are a good read. Surfer99 say: check out these Marvel Masterpiece collections - a great way to see these X-men appearances. Silver says: look at these various covers from the SA - how great are they?

Collections and collectors that are about more then the accumulation of points, more than a #1 or #2 or #17 ranking within a set. They are about a love of something and the sharing of that love.

The community is about collectors helping other collectors with their collections. I really, really enjoy our community. And although some day I hope to have a custom go-go check set for my collection, so I can have everything where it belongs - it isn't about that.

In closing I have attached a cropped image from the cover of Mr. District Attorney #65 with art by Moldoff, which I looked up while I was writing this...

Happy hunting and happy sharing.

Lee