Striving for that Final Aspiration

We all have these. They could be as simple as getting through the day or as complex as providing for your family. If you?re reading this, it could also be finding the comic book you?ve been searching years for. It might be because you are coming closer to completing a set and the only thing stopping you is locating the books themselves.

I have been doing my best to complete a CGC set of New Mutants. This includes all 100 issues, 7 annuals, 1 special, and their origin in Marvel Graphic Novel #4. I have been striving to put together this set for over a year and now the forward motion has slowed to a crawl. I will keep looking for the issues I need but I think my immediate goal will have to change from getting them all in a 9.8 to getting all my original issues graded. I think it would be really cool to have a set regardless of condition, and most likely the only way I will be able to complete a set before a certain other collector.

Apparently the points don?t matter and the cost is secondary. My greatest hesitancy and fear is the books will get lost in the mail. These are my pride and joy of my collection. When I had my issue #15 graded it was at a convention. It took me awhile to even join CGC with a paying membership which allowed me to send in my first and (at the moment) only submission. It was a good experience. I had the books out and back within about a month. I wasn't expecting high grades at all. I guessed the highest I would have received would be an 8.5, so I was surprised when my issue #9 was returned with a 9.2.

At times in my life I have wondered numerously why I collect comic books. I stopped once because lack of money, never because I was uninterested with it. To be honest with you I am glad that happened because as I was catching up by buying the back issues I needed, I realized they sucked, and most likely would have given up because of disinterest. Eventually writers such as Bendis, Brubaker, Pak, and Ellis (to name a few) wanted to write Epics and not stories. I am 39 now and still love going to the comic book shop and glazing over all the new issues. If I had the money I would be collecting a lot more than I am.

I still collect shot glasses and out of the over 300 owned, I have only had to purchase a handful. The collection stems from friends and family purchasing them when they were on vacation. I started playing pool and there are two pool cues I would like to get, one being around $500. I have yet to purchase any new Star Wars action figures and only recently put a deposit down on the first statue I bought in years (if not decades). So it isn?t just comic books I collect.

Why do I collect? What makes me look at a graded comic book and have the desire to buy it? I tend to buy CGC graded books only because I already own raw copies of the same issues and want the best out there (that I can afford). Essentially I am purchasing doubles. If I bought a 2011 Chevy Camero, I wouldn?t buy another one. If I were out to eat I wouldn?t buy two Rib-eye steaks to have in one sitting, not to mention buying identical houses next to each other. Of course you should see how many copies of Star Wars I have. One more will be added when the Blue Ray Discs are released in September (Thank you George).

What is the appeal of collecting? Is it addictive? Or is it just me? Can I quit? And do I even want to? And where will this all lead me? Is it my goal to finish or just something I dare to dream, and how ambitious do I have to be to finish both?

Thanks for Reading

Tnerb