The end of comic collecting (long)

[SuperBird]

I had an interesting few weeks which have led me to reevaluate comic book collecting as a whole, and I thought it worthy of a post. I'm curious if other boardies have had similar revelations.

 

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I have been an avid comic collector for 25 years or so. I remember the very first comic books I ever read- an early issue of Micronauts where the captain gets his hand cut off on a spacewalk, the trial of the Flash, Simonson's Thor. All of which I was completely enthralled by. I spent my teens buying up dozens of comics a month, storing each very carefully in bags with backing boards. I went to local shows, hunting down hard to find Miller Daredevils, silver age Silver Surfers, and early PC titles like Twisted Tales.

 

In the mid eighties I got 'serious' about collecting, and I went completely nuts over the rare black and white indy books like Albedo, TMNT, Samurai, Troolblood, Fish Police and all that junk.I catalogued all of them on my Apple ; at one point they had an astounding book value of $10k! (I was rich!)

 

I kept up with collecting through college, switching mainly to vertigo stuff like Sandman, still all this time keeping everything in 'NM' condition, even though my collection was enormous- like 16 longboxes worth.

 

I finally stopped buying modern comics in lieu of TPBs a few years ago, but still was really attached to all these comics I'd been meticulously storing for decades in the best condition I possibly could manage. I had to specifically get shelving to store them in our new house, with a dehumidifier to keep the room dry.

 

As the saying goes "The things that you own end up owning you." I just had too much stuff. I had an eye to get rid of most of my collection...

 

 

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Then 2 weeks ago, looking to start selling books off to pay for my growing GA obsession, I answered a post from a boardie looking for high grade Sandman books. I knew they were for the most part worth barely more than cover price even in 9.6/9.8, but the buyer was willing to pay extra for NM+ copies. Seeing as how this was better than dumping the lot on eBay for $150 (the going rate for the series), I went through my stack of 75 Sandman books pulling out the ones I thought were NM+ or better. I had bought them off the stands, looking for the most perfect copies at the time in each stack at the shop. I had stored them carefully with bags and boards after reading them once or twice each.

 

Only 18 books made the cut, by my eye, out of 75.

 

OK then, at least I could get $4-5 each for em from this guy, right? So I brought them in to work for a grade check from PointFive, to make sure I did not waste the buyers time. After the grade check?

 

'Only 2 books made the 9.6 cut. *maybe* ' Jon says.

 

And the Sandman books were probably some of the more desirable books I had saved all these years. Now worth, at most, an average of cover price. Minus eBay fees.

 

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At the same time, I was made aware of comics4kids.org, and the potential of donating them to charity for a write off.

 

Many of which I have saved for decades. Many of which have a guide value of $5, $10, but sell for literally nothing in the real world. As I was packing them up, you know what I had to do?

 

I had to take out all the backing boards to save on shipping weight. I ended up taking most out of bags as well. One thousand comics I had tried to keep 'mint' for most of my life, I was now basically trashing to fit them into as few shipping boxes as possible.

 

The irony is not lost on me.

 

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I still love comic books. I love the feel, the smell, the oldness of them. I still love reading modern comics. The hobby is just at a point now, to me, where I don't want to own many of them any more. Most post 1975 books in less than high grade aren't worth much of anything now, and I am almost positive they won't be worth more in the future. And I really, really don't care about HG.

 

With TPBs, and the availability of new comics downloadable online- which can't be far away (legally, that is)- I look forward to reading as many new comics as ever before.

 

I still have a few thousand comics I'd love to get rid of, and if I can figure out a way to essentially trade them off for TPBs, I will do just that.

 

 

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Now, I am able to sell some of my comics for over $1 each. I also boxed up a full run of Cerebus to sell to another boardie (he only wanted nm- books). What did I do with the 'profits'?

 

I ran out and bought more Golden Age Superman.

 

 

 

[MutantKeys]

Can I have a short summary

[SuperBird]

short version:

 

Why am I keeping all this stuff? It's worthless and I already read it.

 

[Transplant]

Can I have a short summary

On another board we used to have a shorthand for long posts where you stopped reading : tl,dr - too long, didn't read.

 

But I read the whole thing here and I must say I sympathize a little. Especially for late 80s and early 90s books.

[mister_not_so_nice]

Matt,

Very interesting post, since I can relate to alot of what you wrote. My final take away, Sounds like you should have a full booth at the next VCC.

[shiverbones]

I have a 4 shortbox limit on my collection. I too feel easily buried & owned by the stuff. I prefer to have just 2 shorts, but sometimes I spill over.

[BlowUpTheMoon]

I read the whole post - good read. I can relate.

[comicdonna]

Nice story Matt! I especially like the ending!

[drbanner]

I can empathize...pretty much went through the same thought process a few years ago, and for the last several years I've been sending mega-boxes of 90's/00's books to comics4kids, after taking them out of the boards/bags, just like you!

 

It didn't stop with 90's drek with me though, I also got rid of most of my BA and CA stuff too (sold some, donated the rest), and a whole bunch of my SA and turned silver, bronze, and copper into GOLD!

 

I'll probably keep on the same path of refining my collection into fewer and fewer, but better, books. For me, kids played a big part of it too...15-20 long boxes take up a lot of space.

[sterlingcomics]

I can empathize everything you said. You truly have to love this hobby, because it doesn't always pay to keep the stuff sometimes. I simply use the addage "collect what you love"...and given availability of the stories, I still love having a copy of the issue from the stands...although I see downsizing eventually for the ones I truly love or cherish.

 

Wow, I didn't read Mike's post and mine almost sounds exactly the same. Scary.

 

[SuperBird]

For me, kids played a big part of it too...15-20 long boxes take up a lot of space.

 

I know the feeling. Part of me wants to keep the books for her for when she's older (she's 2 now) cause she does like them, but I figure I can always rebuy most of them for virtually nothing. I tried reading some Byrne Superman stuff with her, but she got bored within a page or 2...

 

same as me, actually...

 

 

[rob_allan]

Well, I know where you're coming from. I had a nice run of books that at one point I thought to be valuable. I took what I thought was great care of them from childhood into my teens. They probably had an average grade of... I'm going with 7.0. Some, of course were probably 9.4s, with some probably less than 7.0 too. Even the Spidey books were essentially worthless since they weren't in-grade. I bought a couple of Avengers runs and Batman runs from boardies for a bit less than $1/book but it's sad that those books weren't worth more to them either.

 

Anway, like you, I've become aware of "something". But I drew a completely different conclusion.

 

The hobby has changed.

 

People are grade sensitive/aware now. And largely due to CGC, comics are graded far more harshly than in the past. Even books I purchase from noteworthy trusty dealers are usually overgraded by a grade or so.

 

At first, I rallied against this. But in some ways, I prefer it. I can now collect the best available copy-- and know it really is. It devalued my collection bought over the last 25 years, but my more recent purchases (mostly GA) are more valuable than ever. And I'm really starting to fall in love with Signature Series books. The few I've had done recently have been great. I'm more aware of how to store my own books, so the stuff I buy new is in better shape than ever. And I've found a way to connect with other people who have the hard-to-find gems I'm looking for.

 

Buyers are more aware now. I, for one, won't let that spoil the hobby for me! There's tons of benefits to all of this. It IS an adjustment, but I'm going to welcome it with open arms. And it doeesn't make me nervous about the future. To the contrary, I have more confidence. There's a standard now to protect me and my "investments." (Now the problem is a good deal of the stuff I love isn't popular. And that's my own fault for having poor taste!)

[tilleycs]

When I got back into collecting comics a few years ago, I was collecting full runs of titles that I used to collect back in the 70's and 80's. I intended to read all of them, but now I'm realizing that I will probably never be able to (or I'll just be reading them as quickly as possible to check them off my list and stick them in a box to be donated, so it's not like I'll really be enjoying them).

 

In addition to getting them because I'm a completist, I think subconsciously I was hoping to be able to recreate the original reading experience, with the same anticipation, excitement, and wonder from my youth. But I've learned that you can't. Being able to buy a whole stack now is not the same thing as riding my bike down to the 7-Eleven, hoping that the new JLA, Green Lantern, or Flash issue had come, and pedaling home as fast as I could if it had. Nostalgia is a powerful thing, but you can't recreate a reading experience.

 

I've thought about getting rid of most of the "common" issues and leaning more toward higher-dollar issues so that I won't have as many (because I won't be able to afford them!). I don't think that mine own me, it's just a practical matter of not being able to read them all.

[Point Five]

Matt, don't know if you intended it but there's a nice symmetry between the beginning and end of your thoughtful post:

 

I have been an avid comic collector for 25 years or so. I remember the very first comic books I ever read- an early issue of Micronauts where the captain gets his hand cut off on a spacewalk, the trial of the Flash, Simonson's Thor. All of which I was completely enthralled by.

...

Now, I am able to sell some of my comics for over $1 each. I also boxed up a full run of Cerebus to sell to another boardie (he only wanted nm- books). What did I do with the 'profits'? I ran out and bought more Golden Age Superman.

Seems like you are finding new ways to recapture those collecting feelings you had as a kid...doesn't sound like the end of collecting to me. More power to you. (thumbs u

 

 

[SuperBird]

... I bought a couple of Avengers runs and Batman runs from boardies for a bit less than $1/book but it's sad that those books weren't worth more to them either.

 

Anway, like you, I've become aware of "something". But I drew a completely different conclusion.

 

The hobby has changed.

 

People are grade sensitive/aware now. And largely due to CGC, comics are graded far more harshly than in the past.

 

I think that even more than CGC, eBay and the internet has really transformed the hobby. It has made local scarcity- which used to be a main factor in value- nonexistant. I would actually venture to say that CGC is one of the main reasons comic collecting has survived and thrived the way it has since the internet revolution.

 

Now, instead of ALL the Punisher #1s (or insert any title here) being worth $1 each, 99.9% of them are worth $1, while .1% are worth $100. At least there's that .1%.

[rob_allan]

Matt, don't know if you intended it but there's a nice symmetry between the beginning and end of your thoughtful post:

 

I have been an avid comic collector for 25 years or so. I remember the very first comic books I ever read- an early issue of Micronauts where the captain gets his hand cut off on a spacewalk, the trial of the Flash, Simonson's Thor. All of which I was completely enthralled by.

...

Now, I am able to sell some of my comics for over $1 each. I also boxed up a full run of Cerebus to sell to another boardie (he only wanted nm- books). What did I do with the 'profits'? I ran out and bought more Golden Age Superman.

Seems like you are finding new ways to recapture those collecting feelings you had as a kid...doesn't sound like the end of collecting to me. More power to you. (thumbs u

 

 

This is a good observation/post. So much so I'm quoting it just to draw more attention to it and hope it gets a second read/thought.

[SuperBird]

Matt, don't know if you intended it but there's a nice symmetry between the beginning and end of your thoughtful post:

 

I have been an avid comic collector for 25 years or so. I remember the very first comic books I ever read- an early issue of Micronauts where the captain gets his hand cut off on a spacewalk, the trial of the Flash, Simonson's Thor. All of which I was completely enthralled by.

...

Now, I am able to sell some of my comics for over $1 each. I also boxed up a full run of Cerebus to sell to another boardie (he only wanted nm- books). What did I do with the 'profits'? I ran out and bought more Golden Age Superman.

Seems like you are finding new ways to recapture those collecting feelings you had as a kid...doesn't sound like the end of collecting to me. More power to you. (thumbs u

 

 

and you know why I collect GA Superman, right? (You'll love this)

 

When I was 10 or so, my dad got me that hardcover Superman collection "From the 30's to the 70's", and I obsessed over all the old covers. Now I mainly buy the issues from that book!

[jools&jim]

 

I have been an avid comic collector for 25 years or so. I remember the very first comic books I ever read- an early issue of Micronauts where the captain gets his hand cut off on a spacewalk, the trial of the Flash, Simonson's Thor. All of which I was completely enthralled by.

 

Trust me on this: If you were enthralled by them once, chances are VERY good you'll want them back someday, and that desire will have NOTHING to do with their monetary value...

[precodekeith]

I can relate!

[TupennyConan]

I like long posts & I liked this one. Good luck with your existing collection & good luck with your future collection!! Thanks for your story!!!