• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Is It Possible To Quit Comics?

Started by Boozad,

102 posts in this topic

Boozad

Boozad

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Assuming you're going to pick up at least one other book to keep the Bats 251 company, it sound like you're tastes are probably going to be more selective/refined this go around.

 

Spot on. I still have about 1,000 raw books I want to move on which will be an arduous task, but I intend to do it. But I have decided on maybe 20 books or so I'd like to own in a certain grade, and this time around I won't have the kamikaze attitude I had five years ago. It makes a massive difference in the fact that it feels far more enjoyable and less of a burden.

 

Once you get those 20, you'll go for another 20, and eventually build your way to another sell-off.

 

Just a quick update on this. I have to admit I sort of agreed with you at first when you posted this, we all know what it's like when you collect comics. Since I started this thread I have made a fair few purchases, but only a handful have been 'notable' ones. I picked up one book that has virtually killed all of my interest in buying for the short term, it was a book I didn't think I'd own again for quite some time.

It's only a Modern book, but it's one I have a huge connection with and it really has satiated my appetite.

 

I've landed four books out of that twenty in the time between starting this thread and now, and I can safely say I'm happy to just keep up with my modern pull list for a while. You had me worried with that post Andrew, but it seems like I've allayed my fears, and I'm definitely still more concentrated on selling what I don't want than buying what I do want.

 

I'm enjoying this stint in collecting, it's much more rewarding than any other stint.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Dr. Balls

Dr. Balls

Posted
Posted

I've quit comics twice (once as a mid-teen, once in my early 20s) before getting back into it in 2008 at age 36. I realized that no matter what I am doing in life, I need to accept the fact that I love comics and comic art, and instead of blowing out my things when I get bored with it, or I'm focused on something else - I just need to set it aside for awhile knowing I will come back to it.

 

I also make purchases that I know will generate revenue at some point in the future - these are books I don't consider part of my "personal" collection. Recently, I had to come up with cash to get my car painted - so I had a large sell-off of my nonessential books that I've collected over the years for the sole purpose of raising funds.

 

Seems to work well for me, and I'll hopefully stave off the desire to liquidate for a long, long time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Crimebuster

Crimebuster

Posted
Posted

I sort of quit for a long period of time; from around the whole Heroes Reborn fiasco in 1996 until about four years ago, I was a reader rather than a collector. I stopped buying back issues entirely, put all my old stuff in storage and just bought new stuff to read, then threw them in the closet or a box or whatever. So for over a decade I was out of the hobby, but still reading new comics.

 

Then I got back into the old stuff, right around the time I realized all the new stuff I was reading was complete garbage. Now I'm down to about three new titles and spend most of my time and money tracking down older stuff to read.

 

It's possible to quit. You just need to lose your passion for comics is all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
bb8

bb8

Posted
Posted

This thread is like an AA meeting (for me, anyways). Which is funny and a little sad at the same time. A word comes to mind that I don't think I've encountered yet: moderation. There are so many facets to life, and your hobby should be pretty far down the priority list. I'm struggling with finding the right balance right now. It's hard when you have an addictive personality, and I definitely do. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jimjum12

jimjum12

Posted
Posted
My first well documented departure from collecting comics lasted quite a while, the best part of ten years, and it was only because I lost a whole collection in one fell swoop that I gave up. But the second time around I managed to obliterate the old collection in some style, and when the time came to knock it on the head for the second time round I swore I'd make a clean break.

We decided to buy the house we were happy in and I needed to find $15,000 to put a deposit down to secure the mortgage, then find solicitors fees and survey fees, so comics were the obvious 'lifestyle choice' that had to be sacrificed to get that money together.

 

It bothered me at first when I was selling books, seeing those beauties in Mylar being packed up and shipped, but after a while I became pretty much desensitised to it and I thought that was it, that they'd all go and that would be the end of it.

But between quick looks on here, The Dark Knight Rises and being a complete sodding geek I felt that pang again, so I decided to try to satiate it with a purchase of a Batman #251 9.4. But it doesn't work does it? Buying one doesn't stop the feeling, it just makes it worse.

 

So from my experiences over the last 20 years I now believe there should be a government warning on comics as they're more addictive than smoking cigarettes. In fact I'd rather give up smoking than buying comics.

 

.....I would dare say you'd have better luck chewing off your own face than you would kicking comics. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you, but that's just how it is. .....But it's not your fault. You're a victim, dude. On the bright side.....at least you crashed and burned with something like a CGC 9.4 Batman 251. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jimjum12

jimjum12

Posted
Posted
Assuming you're going to pick up at least one other book to keep the Bats 251 company, it sound like you're tastes are probably going to be more selective/refined this go around.

 

Spot on. I still have about 1,000 raw books I want to move on which will be an arduous task, but I intend to do it. But I have decided on maybe 20 books or so I'd like to own in a certain grade, and this time around I won't have the kamikaze attitude I had five years ago. It makes a massive difference in the fact that it feels far more enjoyable and less of a burden.

 

Once you get those 20, you'll go for another 20, and eventually build your way to another sell-off.

 

Just a quick update on this. I have to admit I sort of agreed with you at first when you posted this, we all know what it's like when you collect comics. Since I started this thread I have made a fair few purchases, but only a handful have been 'notable' ones. I picked up one book that has virtually killed all of my interest in buying for the short term, it was a book I didn't think I'd own again for quite some time.

It's only a Modern book, but it's one I have a huge connection with and it really has satiated my appetite.

 

I've landed four books out of that twenty in the time between starting this thread and now, and I can safely say I'm happy to just keep up with my modern pull list for a while. You had me worried with that post Andrew, but it seems like I've allayed my fears, and I'm definitely still more concentrated on selling what I don't want than buying what I do want.

 

I'm enjoying this stint in collecting, it's much more rewarding than any other stint.

 

.....this was similar to the solution I found.....but I still struggle with overindulgence. My collection is small.....favorite books in nice shape that I always wanted.....I avoid runs. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

Link to comment
Share on other sites
lizards2

lizards2

Posted
Posted
I believe the only way to quit comics altogether is to make sure you get rid of everything you have that is comic books and comic book related.
Is this before or after driving a stake through my heart?
Link to comment
Share on other sites
ComicConnoisseur

ComicConnoisseur

Posted
Posted
Assuming you're going to pick up at least one other book to keep the Bats 251 company, it sound like you're tastes are probably going to be more selective/refined this go around. If I was in such a position of being able to start fresh, I would probably miss all the books, but that feeling would likely be moderated by the thought that curating and managing what I decided to keep would be make me feel less like the comics owned me.

 

The problem is typically the financial element. Most households have a DVD collection, and in some cases the total amount spent on those DVDs over the course of their accumulation is fairly substantial. But when crunch time hits, no one thinks "time to sell the DVDs" because they're not worth much, but more importantly, because they're not viewed as a financial investment.

 

I think those who wrestle with collecting would be much happier if they treated their collectibles the way they treat their consumables, and consider the money spent. If that means buying a 6.0 instead of a 9.4, that's what they should do.

You make a very good point,as most comic books should be thought of as disposable media.

An example

When I buy a blu-ray

avengers_2-disc_blu-ray-300x376.jpg

 

a video game

halo4_rp_2d_wrap_boxshot610.jpg

 

a book

killing-lincoln-the-shocking-assassination-that-changed-america-forever-by-bill-o-reilly-and-martin-dugard.jpg

I don`t think to get them bagged and boarded or slabbed

but

when we buy the latest modern like this

JusticeLeague_0-alt-cover.jpg

and

250px-Avengers_vs._X-Men.jpg

 

We bag and board them,and think about possibly getting them slabbbed.

What makes comic books different from other disposable media that they have to be bagged,boarded and maybe slabbed?

Is it that we have been told since we were kids since the 1980s and 1990s that these will be worth money?

Is it now ingrained in us that all comic books must be bagged and boarded?

hm

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Boozad

Boozad

Posted
  • Author
Posted
What makes comic books different from other disposable media that they have to be bagged,boarded and maybe slabbed?

 

Who said comics were disposable media?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
lizards2

lizards2

Posted
Posted
I'll quit comics when I'm dead. Unless there is an afterlife, and then I'll never quit.

You need the custom coffin....,

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
vane

vane

Posted
Posted

Started in the mid 1980's, went off and on until around the end of 2003. My wife and I purchased a house that we shouldn't have. We both had to work to keep up with the payments and the other bills we had. For 7 years we lived to keep the house. No vacations, hardly went to any restaurants, and no buying comics. Then we decide to do a short sale late 2010 on our home. We moved in a apartment and now we're enjoying life AND I'm able to buy comics again. But I don't want to live in apartment forever. So I have to keep my spending habits in control.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ComicConnoisseur

ComicConnoisseur

Posted
Posted
What makes comic books different from other disposable media that they have to be bagged,boarded and maybe slabbed?

 

Who said comics were disposable media?

Why are they different from paperbacks,books,newspapers,blu-rays,dvds,and cds?

Why do they get slabbed,bagged and boarded?

What makes them different?

How is watching a dvd,reading a book and listening to a cd any different then reading a comic book? Entertainment is entertainment.

Most of the times the bags and boards are worth more than the comic books themselves,so why do we continue to bag and board the comic books?

Are we anal? Do we have ocd? or is it because somebody in the 1980s or 1990s told us so?

I ask again

The modern cd,paperback or blu-ray doesn`t get slabbed,bagged and boarded,so why does the modern comic book?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Go to topic listing