JazzMan

Some have history, like:

#10 - that's the first comic I bought to really start my ASM run.  Even though I had a few here and there, it was the one that I bought as a novice collector at Emerald City Comicon back in 2007.

The drug issues - 96, 97, 98 - that was probably my first mini focus run.  One of them came back as a married cover, but I can't see how that's the case.  

You may notice a couple of 185s - one I bought as a kid and got a kick of the story - how absurd that Peter Parker didn't graduate because he missed a PE credit   I upgraded that copy to a nicer one but kept my childhood copy.

Also, not part of the first 200, but I have a couple of 252s - the Stan Lee signed one I bought off the rack...at a Barnes and Noble back in the day.  I heard the buzz around Spidey changing his costume and thought I'd get myself a copy.  It had been years since I bought a new comic off the rack and I was in college at the time.  I'm astounded I kept it so well.

The 300 I bought off a fellow boardie.  I had recently sold my 300 9.6 and I thought I had made a big mistake - this was probably about 10-12 years back.  Well, one came up for sale at a decent price and I snatched it up.  Glad I did.

Lastly, the #1 - it's a recent purchase - I just got the box from Metro today.  I had a 6.5 signed by Jack Kirby  until about 5 years ago.  It was a birthday gift from 2008 - I had seen it at Metro when I visited earlier that year.  I liquidated a few keys back in 2016 to pay off my son's student loans (oy vay!), including that one.  I made a modest return of about 35% but now that same grade is about 350% of the price just 5 years back.  I had been shut out in recent auctions and in the last ComicConnect auction I told my wife that I was going to get it no matter what.  Both of us were glued to the auction site and saw the bidders jump in and I would retaliate.  It came down to the last few seconds and a bid comes in.  Unlike many auction houses, with ComicConnect it starts a 3:00 (I think) timer so you can't get sniped.  Well, this drove up the price to an area I wasn't too keen to getting but my wife told me to go for it.  We were so relieved when the final hammer came down and I finally owned a #1 again.  What an adrenaline rush!

And my graded books:

Bookended by these two:

18 hours ago, Jordysnordy said:

Let's see what you have so far.

I keep my collection in these magazine holders - It's so much easier to pull out and pick up a comic this way and it keeps with the aesthetics the wife appreciates.

Here's my raw stash of the first 200:

6 hours ago, SECollector said:

Good luck with the coolest quest of all!

For my part, I am on the other side and it feels like I am going through a collecting identity crisis lol. I had been working with my 1-400 run for a few years, took a break after I got most of the bigger keys (minus #101 and #300) plus almost all 100-400, and kinda lost my motivation. I came back a few months ago, decided to continue working with it but the spark isn't there unfortunately. I don't feel passionated enough to hunt (and pay current prices) for (otherwise awesome) books like #7, #11 and honestly the majority of the higher valued books I am missing. 

I decided to take the step and have sold my 301-400 run and I still don't know how I feel about it. My thought is to continue selling most of my 150-300 books except the bigger keys that I have graded and grab a #101 and #300, as well as a couple of non-spidey bigger keys that I always thought I would grab "later. Unfortunately IH #181 being one of them. 

However the case, I am so happy I have these and a few others that I am probably never ever letting them go!

 

You've got the AF15 as your crown jewel, so you should be happy about that.  After owning one I stupidly sold it for what seemed like a huge profit at the time but, alas, it is becoming increasingly further from my grasp as the days move on.  I may settle for a nice looking restored book in the future. 

I went through something similar to you for a number of years, actually.  It wasn't until the last six months that I once again had a focus and discipline to hunt for a run or specific comic.  I've noticed that I prefer the thrill of the hunt rather than the trophy in the end.  Being an undisciplined collector brought me little joy - more of spontaneous buys rather than a methodical approach to collecting.  I would categorize it as impulse buys.  Bottom line, don't lose the drive - each book contains a story and has a story, so keep making stories.

The quest has started once again.  After selling off a good portion of my ASM 1-100 a few years ago to purchase Marvel Comics 1, I am once again putting the run back together, but this time I'm doing 1-200.  I've got about 42 left in the top 100 and about 60 between 101-200 so about 102 books left.  The ones over 100 shouldn't be too much of a concern, although I've never owned a 129 yet (I do have a reprint, but that doesn't count for the run), but there are lots of keys between 1-50.  I am only missing about half of those and I recently picked up my #1, so it's all down hill from now on.  The quest is on!

Why doesn't JazzMan have a custom title?  

I know, right?  

• I've been here for who knows how long
• I'm the self proclaimed president and only member of the Frank Robbins fan club
• I'm witty and funny as all heck
• I've been active for sooo dang long
• I'm a die hard Yankees fan...oh, wait a minute...maybe that's the reason 
• I'm generally helpful to noobs and a nice guy when you meet me

So really, what's the deal here? 

Come on, lay it on me!

Here's my FF1 that used to be a CGC 2.5 that was graded in 2000.  I should have taken it out earlier!