will CA ever trump GA?

[joe_collector]

Something gives me the feeling that you may be a CA fan JC.

 

Did you just fall off the turnip truck?

[nik]

Personally, people will always try to justify what they collect. In a ever changing hobby where grade is more desirable than age of book.

[VintageComics]

Personally, people will always try to justify what they collect. In a ever changing hobby where grade is more desirable than age of book.

 

I wouldn't say justify is the right word. I still love my SA/BA and CA books...I just happen to enjoy GA very much right now...just like when somebody who likes tacos get's tired of eating tacos for a while...you turn to something else until you enjoy coming back to it again.

 

R.

 

 

[Old Fashion PB and J]

Didnt we have a poll and most GA collectors were in the 25-35 year old range ? Here on the boards at least

 

35-40 was the largest segment, but like dog food ingredients, you have to look closer and understand that about half were 40 or older, and that segment makes up the vast majority of GA collections and $$$.

 

Compare and contrast the GA holdings of CapFreak with conditionfreak.

 

Fair enough. But how much cash does CapFreak really have to blow on books? You can be a collector, and only able to pick up a book a month. I collect GA-MA personally. I just love comics in general. But I have to pick and choose what I buy, due to budget. If I could I would own full timely and batman runs, but that is not the option. My BA and SA collections are huge in comparison, but simple to put together (mega keys excluded).

 

GA is a fun era to collect, and has alot more of a challenge. HG SA and BA are just too easy to put together (except HG SA DC)

[Paratrooper]

Yeah, I'm really concerned about the growing number of CA collectors and the need to convert them to GA using a bizarre method of nerd peer pressure.

 

I'm not saying YOU do it personally, but are you actually saying it doesn't happen?

 

I see it whenever I browse the GA forums, GA fogeys desperately trying to convert the young'uns that their BA and CA is worthless and common, and that they should really be buying GA.

 

mess, either I'm an old fogey or have been peer pressured into collecting GA books. Damned either way I suppose...of course I'm only 31 soooooooo

[Old Fashion PB and J]

Personally, people will always try to justify what they collect. In a ever changing hobby where grade is more desirable than age of book.

 

I cant decide if I find this statement sad or not. It is true, many collectors just buy the grade. I dont know if I fall into this category, but I understand. I buy raw books though so I dont search around for labels. But I do upgrade occassionally

[joe_collector]

mess, either I'm an old fogey or have been peer pressured into collecting GA books. Damned either way I suppose...of course I'm only 31 soooooooo

 

Yeah, but your liver's 103, so you qualify.

[joe_collector]

Fair enough. But how much cash does CapFreak really have to blow on books?

 

That's my point - that half sitting in the 40-65 range probably makes up 80-90% of the actual $$$ spent on GA.

[Old Fashion PB and J]

I dont think it really makes you less of a collector though. Makes you less of a "High-Profile" collector. And the same can be said for the guys putting together SA Spidy runs, or FF. Schmell and brulato would laugh at there pathetic books.

[mackenzie999]

I suspect the only thing that would hurt GA collectability would be a massive shift in focus of style & content for contemporary comics, away from all the heroic drama etc that has been popular for so long. Think of the pre-hero Platinum Age stuff. Sure, there are collectors in that niche, but what % of the marketplace do you think they represent? If there is ever such a prolonged, tectonic change in the style of comics that lasts long enough for a generation or two of readers to disconnect from the styles that began in the late 30's, GA books may be looked upon the same way many view platinum age material, and demand will probably drop significantly.

 

This is obviously just a theory that more knowedgable collectors will probably shred, but I just think that Platinum Age stuff may serve an exemplary role in this conversation. I am also well aware that there are many, many collectors of non-hero genres, but that doesn't really support my point so I'm pretending they don't exist.

[nik]

 

GA is a fun era to collect, and has a lot more of a challenge. HG SA and BA are just too easy to put together (except HG SA DC)

 

Enlighten me, what is so fun about it.

 

The art?

 

The story?

 

Hard to find in HG? yes I will give you that.

 

Now your statement about HG SA/BA books are just too easy to put together.

 

My answer is not if you don't have the money which also applies to finding the majority of GA books if grade is not an issue.

 

Like I said, every collector tries to justify what they are collecting. For me, I mainly focus on books printed from 1965 - 1975. Its what I grew up with and cherish the most from my childhood.

[VintageComics]

Nik, the idea that there are no good stories or art in the GA is a myth. There is a lot of junk but you can say that about any age.

 

People collect for different reasons.

 

I collect BA/CA/MA because I grew up in it.

I collect SA because I could never afford it as a kid but always wanted to.

I collect GA because I love history and am a very old-fashioned, sentimental romantic at heart.

 

Different reasons for different ages.

 

R.

 

[Old Fashion PB and J]

I like the art, the roots of comic books. So for me what better place to collect ? I do collect key books from all eras, and also have 1 sole surviving run to complete (X-Men 94 to current) . The books I choose to collect are just the start of the books I like to read. Everyone has a different niche, as you stated you like books from when you were growing up. And I would have to say that 90% of us have the same financial problem, just different levels. If I could go buy NM copies of whatever I wanted without having to worry if I was spending too much money, I would.

 

Themonetary is the difference. If you had the cash to buy whatever you wanted, you wouldnt be collecting for long. You would be owning.

[Old Fashion PB and J]

The other part of GA collecting for me is I dont worry about the grade. I will buy low grade all day long, as long as the major flaws dont turn me off. But SA and I wouldnt want low grades of many books, and constantly want to upgrade.

 

I think GA is just the most "fun" part of my collecting. I buy what I really like with GA, the covers make me chuckle ALOT, and the stories are not as well written they arent as terrible as people make them out to be. If I want good reads, today is wednesday I will be pickig up new comics.

[ChemEng]

Personally, I only collect what I like, and it's just too hard to get into some of the GA books that have characters I have never heard of before. Sure, I may wind up enjoying some of those series, but how can I ever know if I can't afford to buy more than one or two books? Basically, it's just so much easier to pick up a couple of BA/CA books, say, "Hey I like this!" and start collecting a bunch.

 

If I was rolling in disposable income, I would be able to do the same with GA books.

[VintageComics]

One more thing Nik...a SA or newer run can be put together in any grade.

 

No matter how much money you have with GA, sometimes the books just do not show up...that makes it an impossible run to put together even if you have the money.

 

R.

 

 

[Old Fashion PB and J]

Personally, I only collect what I like, and it's just too hard to get into some of the GA books that have characters I have never heard of before. Sure, I may wind up enjoying some of those series, but how can I ever know if I can't afford to buy more than one or two books? Basically, it's just so much easier to pick up a couple of BA/CA books, say, "Hey I like this!" and start collecting a bunch.

 

If I was rolling in disposable income, I would be able to do the same with GA books.

 

All of the books I collect are based off of curent characters. The biggest one as of late would be Alex Ross and his "Project Super Powers" I have loved this series, and he has brought back some GREAT characters from the GA. The nice part of this series is that the characters used are still somewhat affordable. And there are series that are pretty reasonable to collect.

[Jeffro.]

I think if you are a fan of comic books, you're always going to want to dig into the history of them and end up appreciating stuff that was way before your time.

 

Again with the generalities.

 

There are lots of BA, CA and MA collectors, including many on here, who have absolutely no interest in GA comics and never will have any interest in GA comics. I know I'll never buy one and I love comics.

 

 

Following a generality with another generality, eh?

 

To be fair, you are correct in that some will never be interested in GA books. However, some will develop an appreciation for them. We've seen it happen on these very boards. So anything is possible.

[joe_collector]

GA is a fun era to collect, and has alot more of a challenge. HG SA and BA are just too easy to put together

 

See, this is what most GA collectors say to create nerd peer pressure. SA/BA/CA/MA is just "to common" and "easy to find' so move over to GA where it's "a real challenge".

 

Who care how easy or hard it is to collect something?

 

If you're in it ONLY for the challenge, then comics aren't for you and I could name hundreds of other hobbies where the challenge is exponentially higher as you're dealing with very limited, extremely expensive one-of-a-kind items that almost never come up for sale.

 

I collect comics that I like, no matter how rare or common they are, and have never been a follower of others, which has incidentally saved me a ton of money (B&W craze, Modern variants, limited, speculation, etc.) by not being sucked into buying what someone else thinks I should.

 

MK should be a classic example of this - he collects an entire run of CA X-Men in 9.8, yet all he gets is derision from the old-fogey-crowd about how "common and worthless" his Copper books are - so he sells them off to buy SA, to be "one of the boys" (even picking up their "I only collect books that are a challenge" catch-phrases), but quickly discovers he has absolutely no interest or identification with that era, so he sells them off not long after buying them.

 

That's the kind of "cautionary tale" that I everyone should read. Collect what you like, not what someone else convinces you to like.

[joe_collector]

I think if you are a fan of comic books, you're always going to want to dig into the history of them and end up appreciating stuff that was way before your time.

 

Again with the generalities.

 

There are lots of BA, CA and MA collectors, including many on here, who have absolutely no interest in GA comics and never will have any interest in GA comics. I know I'll never buy one and I love comics.

 

 

Following a generality with another generality, eh?

 

To be fair, you are correct in that some will never be interested in GA books. However, some will develop an appreciation for them. We've seen it happen on these very boards. So anything is possible.

 

No, I am not "following a generality with another". Please reread his comment:

 

"if you are a fan of comic books, you're always going to want to dig into the history of them"

 

That's an absolute statement, and an incorrect one, since I and many others have absolutely no interest in collecting or reading GA to figure out what Joe Palooka or the Green Lama was up to.