Long time collector and CGC slabber, first time writing.

Hello CGC community. I have been collecting since 1985, around the age of 10. I read mainly Superman and Spiderman comics purchased from the Circle K, Bashas or TG&Y - all within a short bike ride. I don't have any of my comics from my youth because I read them and basically threw them in a corner - so sad.

A few years later I got into collecting and took better care of my comics. My first purchase as a collector with money made from a paper route was Amazing Spider-Man #129 for $10. It looked like it was used as a placemat - but the first appearance of the Punisher was mine, all mine! I collected mainly Marvel comics (didn't everyone else?) until the late 80s.

In my early teens my tastes changed and I started to read a lot of Anime/Manga; I was a HUGE Akira fan. As a collector I started to focus on cheap, low-grade keys. I used Comic Price Guide Monthly for comic book values. In the early 90s I started to collect Valiant comics and was a faithful reader of Wizard magazine around issue 5 (the one with the Sam Keith Hulk Cover?) I never used the Wizard price guide, but I liked their top 10 hot comics and their segments on collecting. I also discovered the Overstreet price guide and realized that there was a golden age of comics that I never knew existed - All monthly comic book price guides that I read started at the silver age. Image comics came on the scene around that time and I was hooked.

I stopped collecting around the mid-90s after the market seemed saturated. A new #1 issue with 4 different holographic chromium fold-out covers was coming out every week. I felt like I was getting fleeced. I took a decade long break from collecting.

I started again in 2005 - after lugging my 4 long boxes with me move after move, I decided to revisit what those boxes contained. I was surprised at the instant nostalgic feelings from looking at my old collection again. Also surprised that all those #1s from the 90s were worthless Oh well, collect and learn.... This was also the year that I bought my first CGC graded comic book. I like what CGC does for the comic industry and continue to have my comics graded to this day.

Thanks for reading my trip down memory lane. Please comment if you have similar experiences to share - I'd be interested to read them.

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