The Philosophy of Paring Down a Collection

[adamstrange]

But then I think it would be a little strange to have only one DC book, no matter how important it is.

Why is it strange to keep a book you love?

 

Over time, I have found it most satisfying to look for and keep those books that are important to me regardless of whether the logic behind their purchase would make sense to someone else.

 

Buy what you like and can afford, but not what I like because I'm buying those.

[Jeffreykli]

For me, I made the switch from collecting long runs of books that I started when I was a teenager to focusing on keys or other books that held special meaning to me.

 

So, why keep a run of FF 150-400 when there wasn't really anything in that run that meant anything to me, other than the run itself? Once I made that decision, it was pretty easy to dump them and free up the space.

 

On the other hand, my FF #48 which was my first "big" purchase? Not going to leave my collection, period.

 

As I've been continuing to pare the collection, I then decided to get rid of almost any slab that was worth less than $100 (unless again, it held special meaning, like some of my favorite Dave Stevens covers). My rationale here was that at $100 for a slab, it should be very easy to replace.

 

My collecting usually occurs in waves, and right now, I'm a little burned out at the moment. Wouldn't think about dumping the entire collection, but haven't aggressively been adding to the core collection either.

[JuliusSeizure]

I've gone hot and cold on not only publishers but individual titles so often, that unless it's the drekkiest of drek, I don't trust myself to get rid of anything because I know there's a good chance that in a couple of years I'll really want it again.

 

Also, I don't know if it's just me but, especially with all the superhero movies coming out, certain back issue prices seem to be going through the roof. Someone gave Iron Man 55 as an example - as an Iron Man completist, I have one and would hate to have to replace it at today's prices. Same with my early Avengers.

 

The angst over the issues I don't have yet climbing out of my reach far outweighs the satisfaction of having paper profits in the hundreds of percents on certain books in my collection.

[TheShadowKnows]

But then I think it would be a little strange to have only one DC book, no matter how important it is.

Why is it strange to keep a book you love?

 

Over time, I have found it most satisfying to look for and keep those books that are important to me regardless of whether the logic behind their purchase would make sense to someone else.

 

Buy what you like and can afford, but not what I like because I'm buying those.

+1

I only have one plastic man.It is a great cover and it came from a good friend.That is the only PM I will ever have.

[Johnny U]

Do it... and then the money to do something cool...

 

I sold off my lower grade and mid grade Batman books and other junk I had accumulated. I raised the money and bought this in 2010. You will feel much better when you trade in the useless stuff to get the one cool thing. BTW - I purchased this from Filter at 2010 NYC Comic Con.

 

Great looking 3.5!

[skypinkblu]

I've been going through the opposite thing. I've had almost full runs of every Marvel title for years, but I started selling them off to buy GA books. I kept the DCs. I just found them more charming...more comic book like. I enjoy the dumb story lines, the fantasy, no one had teenage angst...except possibly Supergirl for a page or two.

 

Then I got to Iron Man and Daredevil..they are cheap runs, they take up a lot of space, but I always loved them the best, so I kept them and sold off the Spideys and Avengers. Not sure what I'm going to do with Thor, because he was my 3rd favorite...kind of like Jimmy Olsen...such silly books, but they were COMIC like and I love them.

 

Now I find I just can't keep quite so many books, just a space issue and we are moving in a year or so..if I have company most of the people don't quite get walking over long boxes next to a bed... so I've been selling off a even a few of the GA books. Instead of trying to complete runs, I've been trying to keep my very best favorites of each series. It takes me forever to pick out 20 books to sell, I just like them all, but I'm getting out of the compulsion to get every book...it took me 10 years to finish the Wonder Woman series and when I was done...I was almost disappointed...

 

I set a goal of keeping 1,000 books...but my friend laughed at me...so maybe just one guest room with books will be my goal, .

 

Keep what you love...Adventure 247 is one of the best books ever...and it's way harder to find than most Marvels. Nothing HAS to match.

 

Isn't it nice when you think about the really wonderful problems we have with our hobby?

 

Good luck...and just have fun:)

[nocutename]

I am always paring down my collection but I tend to buy the same amount that I sold.

 

I have a spreadsheet of all my comic books. I start a new one and move over comics that I am interested in selling. Once I get the sell list together, I think about it for a day or so. I guess I explore how much I enjoy the book or think about replacing it later on. In the meantime, I start pricing them out on ebay and mycomicshop. I sell differently then most. I like the sell in lots and get rid of them quickly. So if I have a small run on a title, I don't break it up.

 

When I figure out the pennies that my stuff is worth, I put it even cheaper on Craigslist. I end up selling lots of 100+ books anywhere from $25 to $60. In my area, they sell fast in that price range.

 

Once you start selling off books, it ends up getting easier to sell off more. You currently have a sales thread going and when you start pulling the books to ship them, you may see what I mean. On the flip side, you may regret selling some of them. Use that as your yardstick.

 

Good luck.

[Kevin.J]

I am also thinking ( just thinking) along these lines only I am considering dumping Marvel, I am 99% complete with everything I could ever want that is Marvel, the only things left that I dont have are some pre-code issues and the stuff that only Frankie BAF can find

I plan in my mind, using the cash and space getting rid of Marvel, to fund my DC collection.

My DC collection, (silver age to date) is as big and complete as my Marvel collection but is missing the majority of the golden age part, the only way I could ever afford the big stuff would be to get rid of the Marvel big stuff.

 

Now what to do with my Fiction House, Fawcett, Charltons, Gold Key, Dell etc, etc.......oh and all those moderns.

I laughed when Sky said her company had to climb over boxes to get to bed, I have long since thrown away the beds and furniture from my guest rooms to make them into comic rooms that I cant have anyone stay over anymore.

My biggest problem is that I just cant resist comics, any comics, all comics and I think that if I sold them, I would just be starting again looking to replace them

[Psithyrus]

I've gone hot and cold on not only publishers but individual titles so often, that unless it's the drekkiest of drek, I don't trust myself to get rid of anything because I know there's a good chance that in a couple of years I'll really want it again.

 

Also, I don't know if it's just me but, especially with all the superhero movies coming out, certain back issue prices seem to be going through the roof. Someone gave Iron Man 55 as an example - as an Iron Man completist, I have one and would hate to have to replace it at today's prices. Same with my early Avengers.

 

The angst over the issues I don't have yet climbing out of my reach far outweighs the satisfaction of having paper profits in the hundreds of percents on certain books in my collection.

 

That's funny. When I was reducing my modern list, it ended up being mostly Batman, Spider-Man, and X-Men (along with a couple of books I enjoy currently), which is the exact same list (along with the Silver Surfer) that I liked 20 years ago, when I first started collecting. Of course, now I also like a few new characters, but the core of the group hasn't changed.

[media_junkie]

My only recommendation would be to think things through and make sure you want to sell off your DC. Don't make a rash decision like I did.

 

Back in the day when the Spiderman Clone Saga came out it caused me to stop collecting Spiderman and infact totally turned me off of the character, so much so that I just said "To hell with it." and sold my entire run of Amazing Spidermans.

 

Now many many years later I have started to rebuild my collection (well from 1 to 300 that will be my stopping point) and it is alot more expensive, I mean ALOT to rebuild.

 

So no matter what you focus on, be sure that the books you get rid or are not something you might want to get back in a few years, or it will cost you.

[Psithyrus]

Oh, and to answer your other question: I collect what I refer to as the '500 keys' - all Marvel books from SA/BA/CA. PM me if you want the list.

 

PM incoming. I'd actually really like to see that list, please.

[Point Five]

For the past two decades, I've collected both Marvel and DC, with an emphasis on Silver & Bronze. But lately, I've been having a collecting crisis of sorts. I've seriously been entertaining the notion of dumping my entire DC collection and solely collecting Marvel.

I did the same, but it was the Marvels I dumped and the DCs I kept. I like my runs of 80s X-Men, Miller DD, etc etc, but they were taking up a good amount of space for books I wasn't really spending time with (and I have to admit, I don't really think about them anymore). I kept the Spideys but that was it.

 

So, yeah! Do what makes sense for you and what you enjoy. I'm a big believer in paring down ... I'm down to about 7 short boxes of books.

 

 

[rjpb]

In very general terms, my rule of thumb when selling-off/down-sizing my "permanent" collection is this: would I have thought that this or that book was cool when I was 12 years-old?

 

If the answer is "yes", it stays...if not, it goes.

 

I really like this answer.

I recently sold off the few remaining books I actually bought when I was around 12 or 13. . I'd been carting them around for forty years and realized they didn't have as much nostagic value as I would have thought. I had sold most of childhood collection when I was around 20, and had saved a couple small runs that were my favorites at the time. I've been slowly paring down my collection and even got rid of books I once thought would be the last things I sold. I don't really have much interest in collecting the books that I had as a kid. I was a different person then, and tastes change.

[Phil Maguire-migration]

I've recently pared down my collection and my response to that was fascinating. I was moving them from one storage place to another and tought to myself, "This isn't right. They should be out being read and enjoyed." And this response surprised me. I would find it really hard to get rid of my books because they are like friends (they give me words of advice, they amuse me and some inspire me) but I don't feel the same way about my comics. When I hold a comic, I wonder about who had it before me and who will own it after me. I wonder about where it's been and how much of the world it's seen. (You've got to remember, it's traveled across the Atlantic Ocean and the English Channel just to get to me). I wonder about the times it's lived through and how it has survived when so many of its compatriots have been trashed long ago. I suppose it's because it's ephemera: it's fragile and it wasn't designed to last. Yet it has lasted. I suppose I don't see myself as a collector, simply as someone looking after it for the next person in the chain.

 

Of course with modern technology, it's possible to gain access to the art and story in digital form which is so much easier as you no longer have to worry about the cat chewing the corners of your favourite just to get you feed her (even worse, when she does after being fed)

[zuulioso]

Oh, and to answer your other question: I collect what I refer to as the '500 keys' - all Marvel books from SA/BA/CA. PM me if you want the list.

 

PM incoming. I'd actually really like to see that list, please.

 

+1 that is probably thread worthy in and of itself!

[Jeffro.]

I have plans to part with most of my collection so I can focus on DC war, Richie Rich and DC bronze horror. That's the stuff that interests me most these days. Also, maybe an odd Atlas pre-code horror book as well