Any other twenty-somethings mostly in awe of everyone's else's stuff?

[THE_BEYONDER]

Just because someone's collection is worth more $$$$, doesn't necessarily mean it's a nicer collection.

 

Let's use Byrne's X-MEN run as an example. Is the complete run in 9.8 necessarily better than a 9.4 run with PERFECT QP?

 

Anyone with enough money can buy the Highest Graded copies.....but it takes time and patience to find all those books with zero production defects .

 

And for the record:

 

I collect Bronze Age books because I like them.....not because I can't afford Silver Age.

[sterlingcomics]

You Go, B-Man!

[jimm94]

I'm 29, and have been back into collecting for about 2 years now after a 10 year hiatus. I sold off all my books of any value long ago, so I've essentially had to start from scratch.

 

I'm not jealous or envious of the comics in other people's collections, but these boards have really helped reflect upon my own life decisions. I feel as though I'm very behind in life in terms of savings, equity, discretionary income, etc... I accept responsibility for my actions, however, since I lingered far too long in college, couldn't control my credit card debt, and had a horribly low paying job immediately after college. 4-5 years ago, I was struggling to pay rent and had to decide if I should pay the phone or electric bill on a given month.

 

I'm very fortunate to have been able to turn most of that around, but I'm still paying the piper for many of my past choices. I have a pretty good job now (though the $$$ would spend much further if I didn't live in the Bay Area), and love the company I work for. Even still, I know that my income is probably only 1/2 to 1/3 that of some of the more affluent members of the forum. Instead of letting it depress me, I try to be inspired by it. I know that if I keep working my butt off and continue to pursue sources of additional income outside of my regular job, my ship will eventually come in. Above all, life has taught me that money isn't everything and to be grateful for what you have - even if you have nothing.

[Illiterati-migration]

Just because someone's collection is worth more $$$$, doesn't necessarily mean it's a nicer collection.

 

Let's use Byrne's X-MEN run as an example. Is the complete run in 9.8 necessarily better than a 9.4 run with PERFECT QP?

 

Anyone with enough money can buy the Highest Graded copies.....but it takes time and patience to find all those books with zero production defects .

 

And for the record:

 

I collect Bronze Age books because I like them.....not because I can't afford Silver Age.

 

Try putting together a full run of DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths. Then we'll talk, fancy boy.

[THE_BEYONDER]

Just because someone's collection is worth more $$$$, doesn't necessarily mean it's a nicer collection.

 

Let's use Byrne's X-MEN run as an example. Is the complete run in 9.8 necessarily better than a 9.4 run with PERFECT QP?

 

Anyone with enough money can buy the Highest Graded copies.....but it takes time and patience to find all those books with zero production defects .

 

And for the record:

 

I collect Bronze Age books because I like them.....not because I can't afford Silver Age.

 

Try putting together a full run of DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths. Then we'll talk, fancy boy.

 

"fancy boy"?

 

"fancy boy"?

 

"Fancy boy"?

 

 

That's it!!! You're a dead man.

[Illiterati-migration]

Just because someone's collection is worth more $$$$, doesn't necessarily mean it's a nicer collection.

 

Let's use Byrne's X-MEN run as an example. Is the complete run in 9.8 necessarily better than a 9.4 run with PERFECT QP?

 

Anyone with enough money can buy the Highest Graded copies.....but it takes time and patience to find all those books with zero production defects .

 

And for the record:

 

I collect Bronze Age books because I like them.....not because I can't afford Silver Age.

 

Try putting together a full run of DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths. Then we'll talk, fancy boy.

 

"fancy boy"?

 

"fancy boy"?

 

"Fancy boy"?

 

 

That's it!!! You're a dead man.

 

"The forumite you were trying to reach-- MajorKhaos-- is no longer here. Thank you for your post. Have a nice day."

[THE_BEYONDER]

Just because someone's collection is worth more $$$$, doesn't necessarily mean it's a nicer collection.

 

Let's use Byrne's X-MEN run as an example. Is the complete run in 9.8 necessarily better than a 9.4 run with PERFECT QP?

 

Anyone with enough money can buy the Highest Graded copies.....but it takes time and patience to find all those books with zero production defects .

 

And for the record:

 

I collect Bronze Age books because I like them.....not because I can't afford Silver Age.

 

Try putting together a full run of DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths. Then we'll talk, fancy boy.

 

"fancy boy"?

 

"fancy boy"?

 

"Fancy boy"?

 

 

That's it!!! You're a dead man.

 

"The forumite you were trying to reach-- MajorKhaos-- is no longer here. Thank you for your post. Have a nice day."

 

[burntboy]

I'm a thirty-something and am in awe of some of the collections of the guys who contribute here. CentaurMan, Timely, tth, hkp, linmoth, Drummy, Bonds25, Captain_Tripps, GhostTown, BronzeBruce, and my personal favorite, Burntboy's collections (among many, many others too numerous to list) are amazing to look at. I also have a soft spot in my heart for Povertyrow's collection because it consists largely of books that I know nothing about and I like reading about how excited he gets about his pre-Code horror. It almost makes me want to start buying some. Aside from comics, some of Gene's original art just floors me too. And then there's David's "Tomato Box" pedigree that has some great bronze books that are in great shape, and I just dig the fact that he stored them in tomato boxes. We haven't had that many Pretty Book of the Day threads lately, and I think it's high time we started seeing some more of them.

 

thank you, kind sir.......and what a day it's been. i'll have some pretty books up next week because i got the kind of call i love to hear this am - "it's Scott at CGC and your books are ready to ship - and oh, by the way, we want more money for grading 5 of them"

 

seems that i got 2 ST's (117 & 120) at 9.4, a TOS 54 at 9.4 and JIM's 92 at 9.0 and 100 at 9.2. i sent them in economy, so they want the standard fees for those - OK!!

 

and DKB, i've got some great old books that i bought off the newstand, but i'm still in awe of captain tripps collection and i'm freakin' 56 years old. no harm being wowed by someone else's collection.

 

and as much as i rarely agree with JC, he's right - collect what you like and don't ENVY other's collections. AND when the big crash comes, perhaps we older dudes will be begging you to take some of these heirlooms off our hands

[Jeffreykli]

To have the kind of books that show up here frequently you have to have $$$$, some may choose to collect in newer ages, but I guarantee they aren't buying VG copies of Hulk 181 for the most part, but rather 9.4's. Sure it's not everyone on here, but let's be truthful, you aren't owning key GA or Silver age books unless you A) have been collecting for quite a few years or B) you have some $$$ to play with.

 

I'm going to be 35. I started collecting about 20 years ago, and only collected for about 10 years. But for those 10 years, I was putting a lot of money into comics, as well as flipping them. So, I have a fairly nice collection, probably VF to NM. I think I'm lucky because I had a pretty good eye for grading, and CGC has been great to reinforce my grades. But, the majority of my purchases were less than $200. Buy what you like and what you can afford...if you have to save up for that big purchase, it makes the purchase all the sweeter.

[tilleycs]

I'm 33 and although I collected for about 10 years in the 70's and 80's, I completely lost interest in the late 80's and got rid of everything I'd collected. In all the wisdom I had as an 18-year-old, I thought I'd never be interested in comics again (translation: I was freakin' insufficiently_thoughtful_person to do that, but...live and learn). Fortunately, I missed the 90's, but I still wish I hadn't gotten rid of everything I'd collected earlier.

 

I got back into collecting last year, and I can relate to the envy. I don't sit around being eaten up with it, but when I see the Timely books or look at covers in books like "The Classic Era of American Comics" or "The Steranko History of Comics", I can't help but wish I had a lot of those books. Not so I could flip them, but so I could have something that valuable.

 

I was tempted to get into investing/speculating, but I really can't right now (getting married in November) and it's not a good fit for my personality. But it helps keep comics from becoming a commodity, and the "thrill of the hunt" is infinitely more fun for me by trying to figure the cheapest way to do it (I'm just collecting full runs of reader copies). Being able to trade for a book (or find it for a dollar in a bargain bin somewhere) that I used to own when I was a boy...the memories it brings back, the excitement it still provides, the part of me that still connects with it (even after all these years and how different I am now)...it's something you couldn't put a price tag on if you tried.

 

To me, THAT is the magic of comics. Not how much profit you could make if you got it low and sold it high, but how much of those old stories, those old pictures, those old battles, that bit of dialogue that you've never forgotten, those old characters are still in you and a part of you after all these years. We may have lost a lot of things along the way, but part of those old comics is still with us. And God willing, they always will be, and we'll be able to pass that same experience on to the generations that follow (*cough* Comics4Kids *cough*).

 

I know it may sound corny, but that's the truth from my experience.

[eddly]

 

I'm 25 years old, and I have been collecting off and on for the last 7 years. I bought the majority of my comics when I was between the ages of 8 and 11 though when I was a "dedicated" collector. My best purchase back then was when I bought about 50 detective comics in the 480 to 570 range from a reader's bin in a local comic store. Looking at them now I'd say they are fine/very fine in condition. The dealer was selling them for 25 cents each but when he saw I was taking as many as I was, he gave me a sweet deal... about $5 for all of them.

 

Luckily I guess, I haven't sold any of my comics, so I have some "nice" runs of Transformers, Detective Comics, Punisher, Hawkeye, Doom Patrol, Semper Fi and Incredible Hulk.

 

In the last 7 years I've bought about 10 comics through ebay... one fine/very fine copy of hulk 181, and I have about 5 Star Wars #1's of various grades (although the auction descriptions described them as very fine/nmint... what a joke)

 

So I have a pretty small collection, but I'm pretty happy with it. If I could change anything I would have bought more silver age/bronze age when I was younger... but I didn't know any better.

 

I bet all you older guys here are in awe of my run of Semper Fi. That deserves it own thread.

[Foolkiller]

I'm also 28... but I'm not that awe struck by many books any more. Maybe that's my cynical nature coming through. But I've owned, at some point, most of the marvel keys and many of the "hard to find books". I've also sold them again and again and again. Those that I haven't owned, I've gotten a chance to see up close and personal.

 

Owning many of those books in uber high grade does not appeal to me. I am awe struck by Captain Tripps and Tom Brulato's books especially when I see them in person... but only for about ten seconds, and then realize that I wouldn't want to actually feel compelled to own them.

 

I've always been a proponent of the idea that so much of the value placed in collectibles stems from "pride in ownership" more than anything else... especially in today's culture of owning a 9.6 registry set of book (x).

 

Love comics... always have, probably always will. I still love hunting down back issues -- BUT, for me, putting money into living life experiences is more important. That's why I like the social aspect in comics right now... meeting up with others and talking about comics on this board is important... can't talk about it with any of my other friends... but after spending tons of money in my early 20s on comics -- I just can't get into it the same way anymore.

 

When I look at my collection, I'm happy with owning runs of certain books... some in high grade -- some for the cool art -- but most of all I collect because comics are the art form I enjoy the most. Cartoon strips, comics in general... it's all cool... but I'm not in awe of any of the collections I see amassed -- they are impressive in their own way, but not a goal I aspire to in any way.

[blowout]

Why worry about it, they're just comic books. Collect what you like and have a good time.

 

[rjpb]

Thanks to Ebay, comic shops, conventions etc., in many ways it's never been better for collectors on a budget, as long as you remember that grade isn't important when you don't have a cash to burn. Sure, high grade silver has gone through the roof, and even lower grade keys can ge pretty pricey, but lower grade copies of many many silver age & early bronze books can be had for $5-$15, and even less. Considering these books are 30-40 years old, that's not to bad. When I was a kid in the early 70s, any 30 year old Superhero comic was going to cost me at at least $10 or about $80 in today's money. Any superhero book that was 20 years old (early 1950s) was at least a buck, or $8 in todays money. I'm sure you can find a lot of stuff from the early eighties for a buck or less today, even in higher grade. Sure, compared to what they cost back then, the value of a given comic in any grade has far outstripped inflation, but those comics are alot older now.

 

While they might cost more, Golden Age comics are much easier to find today than they were in the early 70s, and in many cases, lower grade copies are not that much more expensive when inflation is factored in. While most lower grade GA comics are worth 10-30x what they were 30 years ago, once again the the inflation factor brings that down to more like 1.5 - 4x more expensive, not bad considering they are twice as old.

 

There is also more available in reprint than ever before, and not just new reprints, but vintage ones. Can't aford to collect Silver Age ASM, then collect Marvel Tales.

 

Lastly, if you younger collectors are like most of us, you will probably have more disposable income as you get older, and find yourself buying more expensive additions to your collections.

It's the hunt that makes collecting fun. Sure it would be nice to snap our fingers and have our want lists filled, but I don't know how satisfying it would be in the long haul.

[drbanner]

In my opinion this hobby isn't about about having the biggest, most expensive collection, it's about having the most fun collecting the books you do.

 

Do you think the BSD's get the same level of personal satisfaction from cutting a five-figure check to upgrade one book that a 12 year old kid gets from attending his first big con and walking away with a stack of books from the quarter bin? Maybe they do, but the point is that you don't have to spend a ton of money, or have NM copies of silver and gold age books, to enjoy your own collection immensely.

 

I bet some of the veteran collectors are in "awe" when they see some kid enthusiastically scrounging through the quarter boxes on the floor under the dealer tables while the BSD is asking to over-scrutinize yet another "wall book".

 

I think everyone here should have the attitude that their collection is the best collection out there!!

[blowout]

In my opinion this hobby isn't about about having the biggest, most expensive collection, it's about having the most fun collecting the books you do.

 

This is what collecting should be all about.

[Darthdiesel]

In my opinion this hobby isn't about about having the biggest, most expensive collection, it's about having the most fun collecting the books you do.

 

This is what collecting should be all about.

 

It's all about the one-upmanship and the "in-your-face" factor. It's all about looking prettiest. What is collecting all about without status and the chance to rub someone's face in it? You guys and your bizzaro values

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gotcha!

[matewan1990]

Don't lose faith in those VALIANTS. A quick check of eBay's completed items will show you how much those comics are going up in value. Try finding nice copies of some of VALIANT's lower print run comics and you'll see just how high the prices are going right now. I have nearly every VALIANT from the first three years of the company's existence and some of the stuff I have is very collectible. Some of the really rare stuff, like the uncut Magnus Robot Fighter card sheets, notes and letters from VALIANT and items like the X-O Manowar ring, the two bottles of beer they distributed and some of the other promotional stuff is skyrocketing in value. VALIANT COMICS were very good comics. Even some of the later stuff was better than anything on the stands today. Quality will always rise to the top. Just look at ECs. Those books are all quality and they bring high prices in the back issue market.

[DawgPhan]

Don't lose faith in those VALIANTS. A quick check of eBay's completed items will show you how much those comics are going up in value. Try finding nice copies of some of VALIANT's lower print run comics and you'll see just how high the prices are going right now. I have nearly every VALIANT from the first three years of the company's existence and some of the stuff I have is very collectible. Some of the really rare stuff, like the uncut Magnus Robot Fighter card sheets, notes and letters from VALIANT and items like the X-O Manowar ring, the two bottles of beer they distributed and some of the other promotional stuff is skyrocketing in value. VALIANT COMICS were very good comics. Even some of the later stuff was better than anything on the stands today. Quality will always rise to the top. Just look at ECs. Those books are all quality and they bring high prices in the back issue market.

 

Valiants suck and will never be worth anything. They are the reason that comics failed in the 90's They represent every bad thing about comics. They invented the chromium cover. How many stupid chromium comics can you put out.

 

Of course those early valiants arent that high right now and there are still tons of deals to be had on ebay. And not the bust your bubble or anything but the beer, the ring, and letters arent really that sought after. sure there are a few hardcore completist that really need that stuff, but the rest of it really only means someone to the person that first bought it. "Some of the later stuff was better that anything on the stands today?" Well I dont know about that. Some of the last issues of some of the books are complete [!@#%^&^]. Some are good..bloodshot comes to mind. Of course I dont really read new comics so I cant really compare it. About EC's like valiant they have a strong following, but I doubt that they will ever really get into the same leagues with the Marvel/DC books since they are no longer publishing comics. One of the main reasons that books like AF 15 are so expensive is that there are so many people that want one and new people are getting introduced to spider-man all the time. Which means more and more people are wanting that book. ECs and Valiants dont really have that. If someone started publishing Valiants again I would think that the price of valiants would go up since there would be new people interested in buying them up, but I really think that soon, rather than later, all of the valiant collectors will be satisified...there are more than enough of these books to make everyone happy. Even the rarest of the rare with valiant is on ebay once per month. Hell even the Bloodshot platinum has come up for sale TWICE in the past 2 months.

[tilleycs]

One other thing I thought of: At this point in my life, I can either sink a lot of money into comics or I can sink a lot of money into my savings/retirement accounts. So, I could either have an AF #15 in my hands, or I can have one in my savings/retirement accounts (virtually speaking). At this point, I can't do both.

 

I feel a lot more secure, and think it's the best decision, having one in my savings/retirement accounts, and just getting reading copies of the comics I want. That works best for me.