STOPPING COLLECTING MODERNS

[fbiagentcooper]

Hi I am looking for opinions on my dilemma - I know theres no right or wrong answer but keen to hear your thoughts.

 

MODERNS. Every thursday I show up at the LCS and buy a bunch of comics which go in a pile and by the time I get round to reading them the trade is out which I buy anyway and find more enjoyable as a sit down read. (bit like a DVD box set as opposed to watching the eps every week)

 

SO - the obvious thing to do is stop buying the moderns and keep to collecting silver & bronze age - which I do and love.

 

BUT

 

There's that niggling thing in the back of my head that says 'will i look back one day and be cursing not buying these titles when they came out as prices start to sky rocket?' or has the hobby gotten so collector driven that it is impossible for moderns to gain that level of interest?

 

there will always be the Kick Asses, Walking Deads and USMs of this world which do take us all by surprise I guess.

 

So anyway has anyone else recently thrown in the moderns towel?

 

Thanks

[nmtg9]

I wrestle with the fact i dont but moderns (yet). most of them will always be cheap and i figure ill pick them up in a few years. bronze especially can be had at good prices now but maybe in ten years they will be deep in collections and not as available so im focussing on those for now.

 

i wouldn't worry about it, just keep an eye out for issues that start to rise. not variants though. i hate variants. stupid marketing gimmicks.

[kidcolt]

I was facing the same issues. I continued to buy them even though I was only reading a few of them, nothing like throwing money away and having a growing pile of garbage comic in the corner to show for it. After 6 or 7 months I finally decided to cut my list down drastically. Now I only buy Deadpool, Batman, Detective, ASM, Jonah Hex, Usagi YouJimbo, DD and Conan. I considered Batman and Tec but I decided to keep the comic runs together (for now). I have started buying some older issues and a lot more trades and HC.

[Boozad]

My modern list is so small my opinion probably is moot. With only Batman, Tec, Locke & Key and 30 Days on my pull list, I'm constantly considering buying more instead of less.

 

I never do though

[joe_collector]

There's that niggling thing in the back of my head that says 'will i look back one day and be cursing not buying these titles when they came out as prices start to sky rocket?'

 

 

Thanks for the laugh this morning. (thumbs u

 

Seriously, even the most ardent Modernite will admit that an era-encompassing spike in prices has about a 0% chance of happening, and even the few issues that do a short-term jump will be overridden by the sheer glut of worthless copies.

 

If profit is one of your goals, then dropping Moderns would be the best bet, and put that money elsewhere.

[HeyMoe]

Do you want to read 'em or collect 'em?

 

Some of the best reading can be found in moderns.

Writers like: Ellis, David, Busiek, Morrison, Johns, Millar, Loeb ,etc. F u c k, the list is endless. I will not try naming all of 'em.

Artists? McFarlane, Lee, Ross, Hitch... Again an endless list.

(And these are only the ones that I like!!)

Nothing wrong with moderns to READ. The writing and artist skill today is superb.

 

Collectability?... Nah!

Trades, reprints, availabilty. Doesn't make for a collectible.

But...Within the last month I have been able to sell on eBay, recent runs of Civil War, Infinite Crisis, Final Crisis, R.I.P, Ultimates.. etc.

 

You collect, AND READ, what you like.

 

The opinions of others, me includeed, well ... YOU have to decide that!

 

 

Hi I am looking for opinions on my dilemma - I know theres no right or wrong answer but keen to hear your thoughts.

 

MODERNS. Every thursday I show up at the LCS and buy a bunch of comics which go in a pile and by the time I get round to reading them the trade is out which I buy anyway and find more enjoyable as a sit down read. (bit like a DVD box set as opposed to watching the eps every week)

 

SO - the obvious thing to do is stop buying the moderns and keep to collecting silver & bronze age - which I do and love.

 

BUT

 

There's that niggling thing in the back of my head that says 'will i look back one day and be cursing not buying these titles when they came out as prices start to sky rocket?' or has the hobby gotten so collector driven that it is impossible for moderns to gain that level of interest?

 

there will always be the Kick Asses, Walking Deads and USMs of this world which do take us all by surprise I guess.

 

So anyway has anyone else recently thrown in the moderns towel?

 

Thanks

[Stannum-migration]

An alternative way to do this, if you go to cons, and really want the issues rather than trades, and dont need to read them right away, and dont need cherry picked 9.8 copies:

 

You can often fine entire years of series in the dollar boxes (You may not find them all, but paying $1.00 a piece rather than 3.99 a piece is more palatable to me)

[Reno McCoy]

Moderns are for reading, no question about it. Sure, once in a while one comes along that you can cash in on if you're fast enough, but for the most part, buy to read.

 

What I've found myself doing is getting my monthly fix reading super hero books that I wouldn't be buying in collected format and those that read well because of the serial aspect (like Spider-Man).

 

Buying monthlies also lets me do the whole bagging, boarding, and collating thing, which is one thing I really enjoy about collecting comics. Plus, you get some cool covers to enjoy whenever you're poking around your comic boxes.

 

But read them to enjoy them. Don't worry about the value increase because it probably won't happen.

[Griz]

I went through a similar thought process a few years ago and realized I was wasting money. I was buying moderns out of habit and a misguided belief that I would miss something if I didn't get them. In reality, I didn't like them that much and was throwing my money away. I like the "old" books better and have been happier spending my collecting dollars there.

 

My 2 cents: If you like to read them, buy them and enjoy. If you don't really like them, don't spend the money on it. Put your dollars toward something that will make you happy.

[MR.COMICBOOK]

Hi I am looking for opinions on my dilemma - I know theres no right or wrong answer but keen to hear your thoughts.

 

MODERNS. Every thursday I show up at the LCS and buy a bunch of comics which go in a pile and by the time I get round to reading them the trade is out which I buy anyway and find more enjoyable as a sit down read. (bit like a DVD box set as opposed to watching the eps every week)

 

SO - the obvious thing to do is stop buying the moderns and keep to collecting silver & bronze age - which I do and love.

 

BUT

 

There's that niggling thing in the back of my head that says 'will i look back one day and be cursing not buying these titles when they came out as prices start to sky rocket?' or has the hobby gotten so collector driven that it is impossible for moderns to gain that level of interest?

 

there will always be the Kick Asses, Walking Deads and USMs of this world which do take us all by surprise I guess.

 

So anyway has anyone else recently thrown in the moderns towel?

 

Thanks

Buy trade paperbacks,it will save you money in the long run to buy older comics.

Kick Asses, Walking Deads and USMs if they take you buy surprise, it`s a gamble you took.

[AGGIEZ]

I was in the same boat for about 6 months. I've cut my modern regular issue list down to 4 books, Walking Dead, Locke & Key, DMZ and Guardians of the Galaxy. I am about to go straight TPB on all of these.

 

As for the collectability of moderns, I think there is a very small portion of these books that will sustain or increase in value, i.e. Walking Dead #1, Y: The Last Man #1, etc.. Very few and far between and I really don't think any of the mainstream titles like Batman, Superman or X-Men will be worth the paper they're printed on in 20 years.

[Limited66]

Buy what you like to read and can't wait for the trade to find out what happens next. This keeps my modern buying at only a few books plus whatever I want to check out and see if its worth a damn.

 

 

[Ares]

Buy your Bronze books and find a way to Dload latest relases if your so worried

[John A III]

I personally prefer the modern age for writing and artwork; however, I keep my pulls to about 7 or 8 titles a month. I think if you enjoy reading the moderns you should buy them monthly, but if you don't read them, what is the point to buying comics that in all likely hood will drop in value instead of increase. I hope more collectors get into the hobby and later drive the price up, but while that will be nice for the hobby, I like to buy the books to read so increase in prices won't help me much for what I collect now. If only I can get rid of the three boxes of stuff I no longer enjoy I'd be set.

[moonlite]

here's some thoughts, if everyone stops buying monthlies:

 

1) then many comic shops go out of business...

2)you have to start only buying from online or the huge comic stores that survive by diversity (games, cards, cds, dvds, back issues)

3)eventually there are no tpbs as those are generally compiled from monthlies and wonder if comic companies will just wait to compile or not?

4)prices keep going up anyway

5) comic shops going out of business take away availability of back issues (again, go online or to only bigger stores)

6)I prefer monthlies to collect because of the separate cover, condition, completing a run/storyline...but I like TPBs to read because I usually sell out of an issue and forget to save me one or don't have time to read right away and do so much that I can't remember storyline from one month to next

 

just some thoughts as a LCS owner

[Pirate]

I clicked since the title made absolutely no sense and then I read the inside and it didn't either.

[joe_collector]

That's true moonlite, but it's not the comic reader's DUTY to keep funneling money into Marvel/DC/etc. and keep all the LCS in the world running, it's the comic publisher's DUTY to keep the readers entertained and believing they are receiving good value for their money.

 

The OP seems to think that the publishers are failing him, so he should drop them.

 

As a LCS owner, your comments should be aimed towards Marvel and DC, and NOT the readers.

 

 

[Flaming_Telepath]

That's true moonlite, but it's not the comic reader's DUTY to keep funneling money into Marvel/DC/etc. and keep all the LCS in the world running, it's the comic publisher's DUTY to keep the readers entertained and believing they are receiving good value for their money.

 

The OP seems to think that the publishers are failing him, so he should drop them.

 

As a LCS owner, your comments should be aimed towards Marvel and DC, and NOT the readers.

 

 

 

Quite correct. If there is an issue with moderns, it's the fault of the publishers. That LCSs get caught in the crossfire is sad, but they have to speak up and take their problems back to Marvel & DC.

 

Accepting garbage for your hard earned coin, just to prop up the middleman, is not acceptable in any business.

[Ringfinger]

I went and am going through currently except to the extreme where I have not read a comic in about six months. The moderns were expensive and complicated my life as I never got around to reading them. I will cull them out soon and decide my focus. Yes, I do feel like I am missing something but at the same time, it is Silver and Bronze where my love is.

[Reno McCoy]

You know, I realized something. What I tend to do with moderns is read a few issues and decide if the book is good enough to collect the trades. Once I decide the book is good enough, I switch over.

 

If a book is fun, I might stick with just monthlies, but for the most part, I just test the water with the monthlies.