Question about breaking into collecting older books

[Drakeprimeone]

A friend of mine that I work with both collect comics. I collect Moderns and he collects Marvel Keys.

 

I always give him a hard time because he buys 1.0 or .5 condition books. His last purchase was X-men 1 in a .5

 

I always told him for the money he shells out, he could get some very nice HG stuff. Or atleast one solid grade Key.

 

His reasoning is that he'd rather make sure he has every key reguardless of condition then upgrade each one at his leisure.

 

Made a lot of sense to me.

 

I'm thinking about doing something similar and was hoping to get some other input.

 

Whats preferable on a modest spending budget ($100-$200)?

 

Buy low grade keys and upgrade later or save up for 1 solid grade key?

[Drakeprimeone]

To give you an idea on what I am looking at

 

DareDevil #1

 

1st appearances of as many of the Avengers as is affordable to me...

Eying Black Widow, Hawkeye, Vision, Antman Hank Pymm, and Wasp

 

Iron Man #1

 

Early Avengers titles

[General Zod]

It all depends on what you can live with. The better condition the book, the more desirable it tends to be.

[CAP Freak]

Some of those later ones i.e. Vision, Iron Man #1 can be quite cheap.

 

I'd go for VG range for the rest of them as you can get 1st Wasp and Hawkeye and early Avengers for <$60 each

 

[Drakeprimeone]

I guess it goes without saying that if anyone has copies of any of these keys in Lower Grade that you are willing to sell PM me.

[Comicopolis]

Fill the gap in the collection with what you can afford and then upgrade later.

[Mac Man]

I will tell you that even low grade SA Marvel keys are going to cost a pretty penny. XM 1 and Tos 39 in GD will cost you between $500 (low end) and $750. Even a modest key like Silver Surfer 1 in VG+ to VG/FN will easily cost you $100. It's a fun niche to collect, but it definitely takes some $ to make a real dent in it. Like all collecting, hit the issues you KNOW you'll enjoy as it will make spending that amount of money much more palatable to start. GL!

[nochips]

Can't go wrong collecting older keys. They are usually affordable and many people just want a copy to own, not a VF+ HG gem. I bet if he wants to sell that .5 he would find a buyer pretty quick.

[PokerKid]

The better the grader, the more I like a book, however it means I have to narrow my focus on the number of books I collect. Low-grade books are great for the price and allow a person to enjoy many more comics. Having a 1.0 or .5 book also makes it much more likely that you will take the comic out and enjoy it. There are no wrong decisions. Collect what you are happy with and you will be fine.

[dopy02]

quality over quantity

 

[Rob]

quality over quantity

 

I agree with that too, but I may have a different take on it. I'd rather have an X-Men #1 in CGC 1.0 (~$500?) than many Bronze 9.6's. Quality can be defined as what is desirable to the collector.

[Limited66]

quality over quantity

 

I agree with that too, but I may have a different take on it. I'd rather have an X-Men #1 in CGC 1.0 (~$500?) than many Bronze 9.6's. Quality can be defined as what is desirable to the collector.

 

So quality over quantity in context.

[Mio]

I collect ECs almost exclusively. I generally do not even buy books in Fine anymore unless the eye appeal is much higher than the technical grade. This limits me to buying in low volumes; but I just can't bring myself to shell out money for a low grade book - I'd rather buy a reprint.

 

Higher-graded books will probably maintain their value in the long-term moreso than lower-mid grades. But more importantly, I'm buying what I like.

[ft88]

Then there is quality of title. Would you rather have an AF 15 in Good or a daredevil 1 in VF.

 

A classic Hulk v Thing FF 25 or a generic NM Tales to Astonish?

[piper]

Then there is quality of title. Would you rather have an AF 15 in Good or a daredevil 1 in VF.

 

A classic Hulk v Thing FF 25 or a generic NM Tales to Astonish?

 

(thumbs u

[conditionfreak]

Depends on what you like (of course). Which would appeal to you more? Having 14 Ford Focus' in the garage, or one Mercedes and one Cadillac?

 

Would you be happy to only have 5 books like this as your entire collection: AF #15 in Good plus, ASM #1 in G/VG, Avengers #4 in VG, Avengers #57 in Very Fine plus and Showcase #22 in Good/VG?

 

Or, would you rather have a complete run of ASM in any condition? Or, a complete run of Avengers in any condition?

 

If I had it to do all over again. I would buy established keys only, in the highest grades I could afford. I would only buy three books a year, to maximize how much I could spend on any one book.

 

By now, I would have a nice stack of keys only.

 

Oh. Buy your books already CGC'd so that you don't get those annoying surprises.

[Drakeprimeone]

Depends on what you like (of course). Which would appeal to you more? Having 14 Ford Focus' in the garage, or one Mercedes and one Cadillac?

 

Would you be happy to only have 5 books like this as your entire collection: AF #15 in Good plus, ASM #1 in G/VG, Avengers #4 in VG, Avengers #57 in Very Fine plus and Showcase #22 in Good/VG?

 

Or, would you rather have a complete run of ASM in any condition? Or, a complete run of Avengers in any condition?

 

If I had it to do all over again. I would buy established keys only, in the highest grades I could afford. I would only buy three books a year, to maximize how much I could spend on any one book.

 

By now, I would have a nice stack of keys only.

 

Oh. Buy your books already CGC'd so that you don't get those annoying surprises.

 

Ah, a lone different opinion amongst the crowd of get what you can afford and upgrade as you go.

 

I'd definitely would like the best condition possible however I guess I am weighing Time vs the Satisfaction of having a filler book

[Mac Man]

Depends on what you like (of course). Which would appeal to you more? Having 14 Ford Focus' in the garage, or one Mercedes and one Cadillac?

 

Would you be happy to only have 5 books like this as your entire collection: AF #15 in Good plus, ASM #1 in G/VG, Avengers #4 in VG, Avengers #57 in Very Fine plus and Showcase #22 in Good/VG?

 

Or, would you rather have a complete run of ASM in any condition? Or, a complete run of Avengers in any condition?

 

If I had it to do all over again. I would buy established keys only, in the highest grades I could afford. I would only buy three books a year, to maximize how much I could spend on any one book.

 

By now, I would have a nice stack of keys only.

 

Oh. Buy your books already CGC'd so that you don't get those annoying surprises.

 

Aye, but there's the rub! A complete run would include all of those keys Why not have your cake and eat it too?-)