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What is getting in the way of your comic collection enjoyment?

Started by Spider-Variant,

87 posts in this topic

Flaming_Telepath

Flaming_Telepath

Posted
Posted
Does anyone here even enjoy their collection at all? It seems to me that "serious collectors" are much more concerned about their next acquisition than they are about enjoying what they already have.

 

I've owned many slabs and I'm still trying to figure out how to "enjoy" them.

 

Hey AK! :hi: Long time, matey.

 

I too get little enjoyment out of my slabbed books...they seem to be simply 'acquisitions' and are far removed from what I love about the medium. However, I accept that buying only raw has its own pitfalls...poor grading, undisclosed resto, unavailablity, etc. It's rock and a hard place, unfortunately.

 

However, my raw books bring me great pleasure. :cloud9: Slipping them out of the mylar, seeing that beautiful shiny gloss and getting that first sniff of old newsprint... :banana: :banana: :banana:

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joe_collector

joe_collector

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I've owned many slabs and I'm still trying to figure out how to "enjoy" them.

 

Slabs are tough, as it's one of the worst methods to view and appreciate the actual book - I'll take a Mylar or Mylites2 over it any day.

 

One of the best things I ever did was break out some of my "tweener" books I've purchased on lots, and really aren't worth enough to worry about the "loss" (I'd probably get more for them due to the lower shipping). I just slapped the label in back, and integrated them into my collection.

 

In fact, I was going through my Office Pedigree and marveled at how nice these looked in Mylar.

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Old Fashion PB and J

Old Fashion PB and J

Posted
Posted
Does anyone here even enjoy their collection at all? It seems to me that "serious collectors" are much more concerned about their next acquisition than they are about enjoying what they already have.

 

I've owned many slabs and I'm still trying to figure out how to "enjoy" them.

 

 

Yes, and yes. I have many books bought for multiple reasons. I am down to 2 slabs. My first Bat-Mite, and my Jonah Hex 1. I have a few copies of JH1 on tap, so reading is no issue. I dont slab my own books, I will wait to sell. And I have a few types of books sweet covers, keys, and series. I have read most my series books. And have a few more to go to complete my X-Men 94-current, still need GS 1 and some odds and ends. Once that is complete, I plan to re-read the whole thing. I also think I have the crossover books being as I also heavily collected avengers, and have complete runs of New Mutants and X-Factor.

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3319comics

3319comics

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Posted
Does anyone here even enjoy their collection at all? It seems to me that "serious collectors" are much more concerned about their next acquisition than they are about enjoying what they already have.

 

I've owned many slabs and I'm still trying to figure out how to "enjoy" them.

 

 

Yes, and yes. I have many books bought for multiple reasons. I am down to 2 slabs. My first Bat-Mite, and my Jonah Hex 1. I have a few copies of JH1 on tap, so reading is no issue. I dont slab my own books, I will wait to sell. And I have a few types of books sweet covers, keys, and series. I have read most my series books. And have a few more to go to complete my X-Men 94-current, still need GS 1 and some odds and ends. Once that is complete, I plan to re-read the whole thing. I also think I have the crossover books being as I also heavily collected avengers, and have complete runs of New Mutants and X-Factor.

 

You need to start working on your #1 thru #93 XMen run then like me :)

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Old Fashion PB and J

Old Fashion PB and J

Posted
Posted
Does anyone here even enjoy their collection at all? It seems to me that "serious collectors" are much more concerned about their next acquisition than they are about enjoying what they already have.

 

I've owned many slabs and I'm still trying to figure out how to "enjoy" them.

 

 

Yes, and yes. I have many books bought for multiple reasons. I am down to 2 slabs. My first Bat-Mite, and my Jonah Hex 1. I have a few copies of JH1 on tap, so reading is no issue. I dont slab my own books, I will wait to sell. And I have a few types of books sweet covers, keys, and series. I have read most my series books. And have a few more to go to complete my X-Men 94-current, still need GS 1 and some odds and ends. Once that is complete, I plan to re-read the whole thing. I also think I have the crossover books being as I also heavily collected avengers, and have complete runs of New Mutants and X-Factor.

 

You need to start working on your #1 thru #93 XMen run then like me :)

 

I MAY break down and buy a few of the issues. But honestly I have always hated looking at SA X-Men covers. But the keys are definately there. Juggernaut, Magneto, X-Men, Havok, these are some favorites. Oh , one last thing . I HATE the sentinels.

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Foolkiller

Foolkiller

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Aside from a few major keys, comic collecting does not bring me the same "joy" it once did because I feel I view them too much as commodities. I still enjoy looking at a nice book or looking at a book in a mylar -- or sniffing the paper or reading one and marveling at the art (like Jack Kirby on Avengers 4).

 

I'm actually considering liquidating down to about 1000 books or so, which includes my Cap run etc. I have to see where I am at after my value tier. I realize that so many books I acquire I rarely look at. Like JC, I have stacks of books purchased that I almost never have a chance to even look at for months on end. I have purchased several runs... read them and now would like to make space.

 

I was talking to my friend Gene (from here on the boards) about this and comic collecting is really an addiction. Hard to break the cycle but almost liberating when you do. I finally stopped buying all new books except Captain America and JSA and the occasional trade and find that I don't miss going to the comic shop at all anymore for new books.

 

The problem for me right now is that I've almost enjoyed watching my books go to new homes rather than the acquisitions. I was excited by the AF 15 and still am, but that kind of purchase is few and far between. I have not taken an extended break from buying, and post baltimore, I probably will see if I can take a month off, then extend to 6 months, then possibly to a year. If I really miss it, I'll come back. In the meantime, I expect to almost entirely liquidate my collection.

 

So what's getting in the way of my enjoying the hobby at the moment is me.

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Spider-Variant

Spider-Variant

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Aside from a few major keys, comic collecting does not bring me the same "joy" it once did because I feel I view them too much as commodities. I still enjoy looking at a nice book or looking at a book in a mylar -- or sniffing the paper or reading one and marveling at the art (like Jack Kirby on Avengers 4).

 

I'm actually considering liquidating down to about 1000 books or so, which includes my Cap run etc. I have to see where I am at after my value tier. I realize that so many books I acquire I rarely look at. Like JC, I have stacks of books purchased that I almost never have a chance to even look at for months on end. I have purchased several runs... read them and now would like to make space.

 

I was talking to my friend Gene (from here on the boards) about this and comic collecting is really an addiction. Hard to break the cycle but almost liberating when you do. I finally stopped buying all new books except Captain America and JSA and the occasional trade and find that I don't miss going to the comic shop at all anymore for new books.

 

The problem for me right now is that I've almost enjoyed watching my books go to new homes rather than the acquisitions. I was excited by the AF 15 and still am, but that kind of purchase is few and far between. I have not taken an extended break from buying, and post baltimore, I probably will see if I can take a month off, then extend to 6 months, then possibly to a year. If I really miss it, I'll come back. In the meantime, I expect to almost entirely liquidate my collection.

 

So what's getting in the way of my enjoying the hobby at the moment is me.

 

Yes, the joy is not what it used to be for me either. I still get the latest ASM, just to continue the run. I read the story but I have no passion either way about it. I did really start to get into art, but funding put a damper on that one as well. Not sure if I will every sell everything, and def not the ASM run until I need the funding.

 

Glad a lot of people are using this thread though to give us a glimpse of where they are at. I'm envious of those that still have the passion.

 

 

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ernster

ernster

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Well said, Brian. The most "joy" I ever had collecting comics was when I was in grade school. I didn't worry about the condition of the books so much but I loved reading and collecting them. I read the books over and over again and I didn't coIlect the books to make a profit some day...I just really enjoyed the hobby so much more back then...

 

So for me, it's all about having a balance in life, I really enjoy other things like: spending time with my family, volunteering at my kids school, sports, running/working out. With anything else in life if you take something to an extreme you develop an addiction to and the "joy" that you once had for the hobby disappears and your left with a compulsion to aquire new books.

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Mr. Zipper

Mr. Zipper

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Well said, Brian. The most "joy" I ever had collecting comics was when I was in grade school. I didn't worry about the condition of the books so much but I loved reading and collecting them. I read the books over and over again and I didn't coIlect the books to make a profit some day...I just really enjoyed the hobby so much more back then...

 

Well, maybe this is the crux of the matter...

 

To many of us, collecting is an attempt to recapture something that is impossible to recapture -- our childhood and the associated joy of first discovering a new and exciting world of fantasy.

 

So, by definition, the pursuit of collecting will always ultimately be a failure and result in some degree of disappointment.

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Spider-Variant

Spider-Variant

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To many of us, collecting is an attempt to recapture something that is impossible to recapture -- our childhood and the associated joy of first discovering a new and exciting world of fantasy.

 

 

^^

 

 

Yes, for me this is the crux of the problem.

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Cimm

Cimm

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Wow... I am at the point where I ALMOST consider this collection (my fourth!), to be respectable... I enjoy all aspects of comic collecting... the hunt, the acquisition, the bagging of the recently arrived, looking through all the older books as I find the spot that the new ones fill, looking over my lists for "what's next?"... finding the random book that I wasn't hunting, but, having seen, MUST possess... My purchases are coming fewer and farther between, not because I have lost the fever, or am out of things I want, but because the things I want are getting to be in the higher price ranges, necessitating longer periods of saving in between purchases, which gives me more time to appreciate the books I already own...

 

But, most of all, I enjoy, and appreciate, talking comics and pulps with people that know as much (or, in the case of THIS forum, MORE than me :D)... I have only been here a short time, but the longer I am here, the more I regret not coming here sooner...

 

Thanks, ya'll,

Cimm

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COI

COI

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I was talking to my friend Gene (from here on the boards) about this and comic collecting is really an addiction. Hard to break the cycle but almost liberating when you do.

 

I've had a couple of similar conversations with Gene as well. I very recently came to the realization that while I was actively collecting, I was spending all my time hunting for my next purchase and no time whatsoever enjoying what I already owned. I enjoyed the hunt, but could care less about the books once they were in my possession. What that meant was that all the time and money I was tying up into the hobby really wasn't netting me any real benefits. What was happening was almost paradoxical; I liked acquiring, but I hated accumulating. I hate having the clutter of comic boxes in my living space, and I hate all the bagging/boarding/scanning/organizing that goes with having a collection.

 

So am I done collecting? Nope. My want-list is down to a few mega-grails that'll probably take me 20 years acquire.

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COI

COI

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How's it going Nick? ;)

 

However, my raw books bring me great pleasure. Slipping them out of the mylar, seeing that beautiful shiny gloss and getting that first sniff of old newsprint...

 

Problem is, I may be the only collector who hates the smell of old newsprint. :frustrated:

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Mr. Zipper

Mr. Zipper

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What was happening was almost paradoxical; I liked acquiring, but I hated accumulating. I hate having the clutter of comic boxes in my living space, and I hate all the bagging/boarding/scanning/organizing that goes with having a collection.

 

hm

 

Sounds very familiar.

 

Yet, every time I vow to "trim all the fat," I can't pull the trigger. Plus all the long boxes of moderns wouldn't be worth the time and effort it would take to unload them. The stuff that is real easy to sell I can't seem to part with. :frustrated:

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gaz973

gaz973

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I still thoroughly enjoy nearly all aspects of the hobby including reading moderns, collecting raw and slabbed SA & BA books, selling at shows and chatting with other collectors.

Reading other posts from people who sound as if they are feeling a bit jaded with collecting, I speculate that there are two points that keep the hobby enjoyable for me.

 

1)- I don't get much spare time to enjoy the hobby. Between family and work most of my time is gone so I appreciate the time that I get for my collecting.

 

2)- I'm on a more limited budget than some collectors so when I get a book that I really want (I recently purchased my most expensive book yet) it has more of a WOW factor for me.

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