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The Core Collection Drawdown

Started by awe4one,

38 posts in this topic

Not*Sure*

Not*Sure*

Posted
Posted
How can one have too many comics? Are you not a collector? I'm not saying buy everything there is but the comics you bought you must have enjoyed. Why get rid of them? Are you losing interest in the hobby?

 

What's going to happen is the over the years you'll just re-buy those comics again. Trying to get your collection down to a certain number of boxes just tells me you are no longer interested in this hobby.

 

I'm assuming you are then no longer purchasing anything because if you did, your collection will grow.

 

I still buy comics....I bought one here just this week...

 

But I've come to realize that just "having" comics is a major pain in the . I assume, and correct me if I'm wrong, that your collection is small. Having 65+ longboxes of comics takes up ALOT of room. And no one has the time to enjoy them all individually. They take up space and you may see them all only a couple times over a couple years. Just knowing you own them isn't working for me anymore. How often do you actually look through your comics? How often do you consult them for research? Or to reread? Likely, you have them for the self-satisfactory mentality that you own them. That may work for you but after awhile you see, in my opinion, that's it's a burden that really doesn't mean all that much other than a self-satisfying experience.

 

It's a solitary endeavor that really doesn't bring much satisfaction over time when you're the only one who cares or your collecting goals have been acheived and you're looking for another genre or age to collect. Once that happens, the achievement really hasn't really meant all that much...

 

You can love comics and not own everything related to the age you collect...oftentimes knowing the comic/story exists would be enough to talk with a fellow collector. Pulling the comic from your collection doesn't add much other than showing off...

 

Jim

 

I know a lot of people who collect a certain genre or character with all their grails etc..then when the collection is complete..they look them over and sell them and pick something new.

 

That is sort of the way I looked at my ASM collection it was nearly complete AF15 -ASM300..Okay I got them all..now what?? I had a need for cash so I sold them..now I would buy them again to flip maybe but probably would not keep an Amazing fantasy 15 or ASM1 I already had them read them and enjoyed them.

 

It may be different for rich people who have enough to keep them all..but I ain't rich!!!

.

 

I totally agree that it is a hobby not everyone gets..to some of us throwing out a comic book from the 50's is a travesty..to some folks it is getting rid of old junk.

 

The kids don't appreciate them really if my husband and I passed away (God forbid) 90% of our treasure would end up in a big yard sale or at goodwill. I have (in the past) had people come to our house and take a sketch from a stack of sketches and scribble a phone number on it and then say "Oh I thought it was scratch paper it had doodles on it!"

 

I enjoyed rereading my childhood comics even though (when I got them I was small Okay) I colored in them and sometimes drew over the characters or scratched out words and made them into my own stories..they were a part of my childhood and even though I could quote the words verbatim rereading them was fun for me. I had my own little world in there in those pages. That was the true value of those books replacing them with new copies would be meaningless!

 

But replacing books I got when I started collecting again as an adult would just be books I loved the storylines for and enjoyed rereading ..And fun things I liked.

 

But for reading I bet i could get an Ipod app for that and it would take up less room lol

 

sadly my Ipod only has books I don't really care for on it..that is what I get for having a twihard jailbreak it instead of a comic collector..

 

 

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dupont2005

dupont2005

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I have a lot of comics that I liked when I was ten and don't like any more. I have comics I bought because I thought I would like them and it turns out I don't. I have comics that I bought because they came in a lot with other comics, I never thought I would like them, and was right. I have multiple copies of some comics. I have more comics I kinda like but they are just odd issues of series I will never collect. I don't collect key issues, I don't even know which issues are key issues most of the time. I collect stories for the purpose of reading, and realistically there are a lot of comics I have that I will never read again. There really is no point in me holding onto these comics, and eventually I do plan on getting rid of them. I'll never get rid of the ones I truly love though. I already made that mistake with a couple and won't be repeating it.

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Bosco685

Bosco685

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I PCS'd

Ahhh, the joys of being PCS'd. Dumping what you really didn't need but built up over a few years, overwrapping what you want to keep so the movers wouldn't damage it, and figuring out what you need to arrive early before your main household goods to survive for a short while.

 

It's like a George Carlin routine about moving "stuff" around. Funny how you don't miss it after awhile.

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Not*Sure*

Not*Sure*

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I have a lot of comics that I liked when I was ten and don't like any more. I have comics I bought because I thought I would like them and it turns out I don't. I have comics that I bought because they came in a lot with other comics, I never thought I would like them, and was right. I have multiple copies of some comics. I have more comics I kinda like but they are just odd issues of series I will never collect. I don't collect key issues, I don't even know which issues are key issues most of the time. I collect stories for the purpose of reading, and realistically there are a lot of comics I have that I will never read again. There really is no point in me holding onto these comics, and eventually I do plan on getting rid of them. I'll never get rid of the ones I truly love though. I already made that mistake with a couple and won't be repeating it.

 

Well I was not attached to my childhood Avenger comics but some others I really loved..

 

When I closed up brick and mortar I was stuck with a lot of storage comics..customers who bought huge numbers of singular issues for the purpose of speculating..I always thought it was super dumb..but then when the comic speculation boom jumped the shark some of these guys left the boxes there collecting dust in the backroom. As a result I had to figure out what to do with 1000 copies of Xforce #1 and those dang gatefold Xmen issues..not to mention the guy who saddled me with 1000 copies of Beavis and Butthead #1..

 

I also had the "not paid for subscriptions" boxes I did not carry new issues but had deals with other dealers for my special customers..and ended up with heaps of that carp too..

 

But when I would sit and bag and board second hand collections I would take a break and thumb through a story I wasn't familiar with and sometimes just say WOW I gotta get more of these..Then I would go through the store and gather up the issues I could and read them..usualy then bag and board them and sell them.

 

Sometimes,I'd find a nice special one I really liked and keep it..

 

That is how I got started collecting vintage mens magazines..I just loved the articles( technical specs for the "new" Stutz Bearcat or how to disassemble and clean your new Winchester) and was fascinated by the airbrushing(really those old mags did nothing to increase men's knowledge of women lol how many read them as a young man and then got married and were shocked their wife had parts in those blanked out areas!)..

 

I could read the old car and gun articles in early issues of Modern Man over and over again. Even the ads were cool. They do not really make magazines so interesting anymore! I hated to lose those but magazine boxes are more cumbersome to store than comic boxes..

 

I wouldn't try to recollect them but if someone gave me a box of them I'd totally make room.

 

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JiveTurkeyMoFo

JiveTurkeyMoFo

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I'm glad you're paring down your collection Jim....its probably a liberating feeling, especially when you have some extra cash in your hand that you can use to upgrade a TV, or major appliance or two.

 

Me, I've been avoiding buying a particular collection of about 5,000 books for a month or so. Did I really want to deal with 20 longboxes of stuff? I hemmed and hawed about it, but I finally did it. Luckily, now that I've had a chance to really go through everything, it was a solid financial decision in hindsight as the collection turned out to have 13 of 20 longboxes worth of Silver and Bronze Age. Nothing major, but enough $20-$100 books to make it worthwhile. But, I doubt I'm going to keep more then a longbox or two of stuff, everything else gets blown out at the November Tampa show for a couple of bucks a piece.

 

I'll make my money back (and then some), put away a couple of hundred "keepers", and call it a day. I'd rather pass on the deal to someone else then store these things for years as I try to maximize my return.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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JuliusSeizure

JuliusSeizure

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A few years ago, I did donate about a longbox or two to save space (my collection is about 20+ longboxes, though not all at my house currently). At the time we had an apartment and space was really tight and I didn't donate anything I wouldn't be able to replace easily and cheaply.

 

I would love to have 60 long boxes of comics I really enjoyed, but space is always a consideration unless you're wealthy. I sometimes wonder if I will ever have the "what's this all for?" mentality and wish to sell. At this point I have so much invested in the runs I've built that I can't imagine it, but if my kids show no interest in them as I get older, I guess that could happen. I'm hoping they will enjoy the collection for years, but we all know it's impossible to make your kids like the things that you like.

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awe4one

awe4one

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But, I doubt I'm going to keep more then a longbox or two of stuff, everything else gets blown out at the November Tampa show for a couple of bucks a piece.

 

Having a show near you where you can set-up definitely is a convienence. I would love to have a similar show near me. It would make liquidating the comics I don't want much easier...

 

Jim

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kimik

kimik

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Congrats on paring the collection down. It is a hassle at the start when you realize how many truly worthless books you have laying around, but once you get to the good stuff it is a bit more difficult.

 

FWIW, just keep the big keys and truly hard to find items and that is all you need. Use the trades or Omnibuses for the rest.

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Silver Surfer

Silver Surfer

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Jim 30 long boxes is still a ton of books. I'm looking at the pile of moderns I've bought over the last few years that are taking up more and more space and I'm wondering if I should give them all to me buddy's kid, keep only a handful. I honestly think that in 15 years they will be worth less than what I paid for them so why bother. :P

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awe4one

awe4one

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Jim 30 long boxes is still a ton of books. I'm looking at the pile of moderns I've bought over the last few years that are taking up more and more space and I'm wondering if I should give them all to me buddy's kid, keep only a handful. I honestly think that in 15 years they will be worth less than what I paid for them so why bother. :P

 

I ended up giving a longbox away to a friend of mine's son. According to him, his son having a blast with them...

 

Jim

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