How things have changed...

I started collecting comic books when they were sixty cents. That might not be more than some reading this but it is likely more than most. I got an allowance which was my original funds for my comic book collecting and I normally shied away from purchasing back issues. My main (immature) reasoning was the cost; back issues were too expensive compared to new issues.

When books hit seventy-five cents apiece, the simple math was I could buy four books for the $3.00 I had. I wasn?t charged tax and I didn?t buy bags and boards because it would cut into the money I had for books. Mind you, it?s not that I didn?t buy back issues. I remember the long walk I took to purchase a copy of New Mutants #8 for a $1 and sometime later I bought a Daredevil #171 for $3.00. It was during that transitional time that I thought buying four new books compared to one back issue was so much better. After all I was buying them to read. As I got older I decided if I wanted to complete my collection it was the back issue bins I would have to search in.

I was very selective with what I purchased, in fact I still am but I find it easier to purchase back issues. This is most likely due to what I am willing to spend on CGC graded comic books. At conventions or during blow out sales I tend to find books only a couple months old for a $1 apiece. Now all these decades later (2 1/2) I am buying four back issues for the price of one new book.

Just recently I purchased both issues #19 and #20 of Daredevil Volume #1 for only $25 (both copies are in a Good + condition). That is $12.50 apiece or about seven new books. The ratio is a lot smaller with the increasing prices. I am still waiting for Marvel to follow DC at the price of $2.99 like they said?.

Then of course there are CGC books (and PGX). How can I complain about spending $4 on a new book when I will spend $16 (Black Panther #513) on a newly graded 9.8 CGC encapsulated book (shipping not included). The hobby has been changing for a great many years but I never stood back and witnessed it until recently, that is until I started to spend hundreds of dollars at a time, and not just on any back issues, the best that not only I can afford but the best that is out there.

It is kind of interesting though. The books I hesitated at paying between $3 and $35 apiece (DD #?s 158-191). I am now looking at paying anywhere from $35 to $500. I want to get them all in a 9.8 and the price alone on issue #168 (lowest to date is $515.00) will be more than what I paid for the original 33 issues combined.

Thanks for reading

Tnerb