I've been lurking on these boards for around 5 years now and finally got around to joining just recently. Been reading/collecting comics since the early 70's but as a pre-teen all of them except literally 2-3 got trashed. If only I knew then what I know now! but oh well that's life.
I got back heavy into collecting in 2009 when a buddy at work told me "Obama is going to be on the cover with Spiderman" that's all it took, of course I got a lot of the variants but I quickly turned that around and went after modern, copper, bronze, and silver-age keys. Especially the bronze era where I remember having 181 Hulk among others.
I definitely didn't think I'd amass 5,000 some odd comics in 5 years but it is a hobby that I'm proud to be a part of. It seems when you try to slow down collecting that "awesome deal" comes along and you try to go after it. The collectors/dealers I've met have been awesome it's just a great hobby that I'm glad to be a part of.
Peace
James