The need to own the actual comic - or - fan vs. collector vs. combination

[Dr. Balls]

"Most" gives me an out.

 

The image I have of a key collector is the guy at a store or convention carrying a copy of Wizard magazine with all the first appearances highlighted. Appreciation for the work is not a factor, just the fact that the guide said it's worth more. You'll find guys like this blathering at a convention about books they say they own, even if no one is listening. They'll pick the Richard Dragon 5 out of a run, and have no idea who Richard Dragon or Bronze Tiger are. Their new favorite character is whoever's appearing in the next movie.

 

That's the kind of collector is dislike. You're fine.

 

I gotcha! Whew!

 

I'm not sure how I'd label someone like that. Not "investor" really. Certainly not a real "collector" or "fan." Maybe "speculator?" But even then, I'm sure there are fine folks here who have speculated on books before and profitted from it, but that doesn't carry with it the annoying quality you've described above. I get your meaning, though.

 

If you just collect keys you're not a real "collector"? You realize this sounds just a *tad* elitist, right?

[the blob]

...heck, I even sold off my x-men 3 when i was strapped for cash one month.

 

the blob sold his first appearance of The Blob?!?!?

 

Believe me, every time I see one since then I take a long hard look at it. I have a lot of regrets over books I've sold over the years (TOS 39, IH 181, FF 5, ASM 2-10, IM 1, B&B 28, ST 110, X-Men 2-10...).

 

Anyway, I would have kept it if it didn't have tape on the back "sealing" a rip (admittedly, I prefer Juggernaut among the X-Men villians, but I'm sure someone here had the name already and Blob is self depricating) It was a VF from the front and I suspect when I bought it I didn't take it out of the bag and do a good examinaqtion because it was so cheap. 15 years later when changing out bags I realized why it was cheap to start with.

[the blob]

problem is, the "key" issues always seem to revolve around some "first", whereas some of the "best" story arcs do not necessarily and those should be important too.

 

You have perfectly centered the problem. I know of at least a first apperance which is totally meaningless (and I DO love the character): it’s the Devil Slayer, thrown in in a late Deathlok story.

 

There are also issues where there is a partial coincidence of the two elements. FF #5 or Avengers #4 are surely good examples.

 

Dang, I would like to have your readiness to sell books in case of need… I don’t.

 

--------------

 

You call it readiness to sell books in case of need...for me it's me and my family living a little bit above our means (largely due to childcare expenses, which will go down A LOT when my two year old goes to kindergarten in 3 years.....) and every 2-3 months hitting a cash crunch when some expense comes out of the blue (this year it was $7K for replacing part of the roof and associated interior repairs). The books get sold...can't avoid paying the mortgage! (As I actually have a lot of equity in my house..)

 

Anyway, this stuff comes and goes, though the early silver age stuff does get harder and harder to replace at a price i can afford.

[the blob]

I don't like this "list" stigma, but I am considering carrying one around. Not to highlight the "keys", but for plugging holes in minis or if I have issues 1-4 and 6-10 of a title, keeping an eye out for #5 etc. While I am not a completionist per se, these things bug me. Not to mention, the market seems to appreciate runs without gaps if I ever sell them.

[HeroX]

"Most" gives me an out.

 

The image I have of a key collector is the guy at a store or convention carrying a copy of Wizard magazine with all the first appearances highlighted. Appreciation for the work is not a factor, just the fact that the guide said it's worth more. You'll find guys like this blathering at a convention about books they say they own, even if no one is listening. They'll pick the Richard Dragon 5 out of a run, and have no idea who Richard Dragon or Bronze Tiger are. Their new favorite character is whoever's appearing in the next movie.

 

That's the kind of collector is dislike. You're fine.

 

I gotcha! Whew!

 

I'm not sure how I'd label someone like that. Not "investor" really. Certainly not a real "collector" or "fan." Maybe "speculator?" But even then, I'm sure there are fine folks here who have speculated on books before and profitted from it, but that doesn't carry with it the annoying quality you've described above. I get your meaning, though.

 

If you just collect keys you're not a real "collector"? You realize this sounds just a *tad* elitist, right?

 

I only collect keys and I do consider myself a real collector. My post was not knocking key collectors, it was really just in response to the "guy" FineCollector was trying to describe in his post--trying to define the type. I wasn't intending to offend or be elitist.

[HeroX]

...heck, I even sold off my x-men 3 when i was strapped for cash one month.

 

the blob sold his first appearance of The Blob?!?!?

 

Believe me, every time I see one since then I take a long hard look at it. I have a lot of regrets over books I've sold over the years (TOS 39, IH 181, FF 5, ASM 2-10, IM 1, B&B 28, ST 110, X-Men 2-10...).

 

Anyway, I would have kept it if it didn't have tape on the back "sealing" a rip (admittedly, I prefer Juggernaut among the X-Men villians, but I'm sure someone here had the name already and Blob is self depricating) It was a VF from the front and I suspect when I bought it I didn't take it out of the bag and do a good examinaqtion because it was so cheap. 15 years later when changing out bags I realized why it was cheap to start with.

 

That's a lot of keys to cut loose! My X-Men 3 is missing a piece about the size of a quarter out of the cover. Drives me crazy, right out of Iceman.

[oakman29]

"Most" gives me an out.

 

The image I have of a key collector is the guy at a store or convention carrying a copy of Wizard magazine with all the first appearances highlighted. Appreciation for the work is not a factor, just the fact that the guide said it's worth more. You'll find guys like this blathering at a convention about books they say they own, even if no one is listening. They'll pick the Richard Dragon 5 out of a run, and have no idea who Richard Dragon or Bronze Tiger are. Their new favorite character is whoever's appearing in the next movie.

 

That's the kind of collector is dislike. You're fine.

 

I gotcha! Whew!

 

I'm not sure how I'd label someone like that. Not "investor" really. Certainly not a real "collector" or "fan." Maybe "speculator?" But even then, I'm sure there are fine folks here who have speculated on books before and profitted from it, but that doesn't carry with it the annoying quality you've described above. I get your meaning, though.

 

If you just collect keys you're not a real "collector"? You realize this sounds just a *tad* elitist, right?

Not a "real" collector if you only collect keys?

Brother I've been "collecting" longer than you've probably been alive,speculate on that.

[Mental-migration]

In the 60s he had a style that did and would have looked fine in an Atlas book, but seemed at odds with the styles of Kirby, Buscema, Romita and Colan. He probably would have been better appreciated if he had been working for DC alongside guys like Infantino, Novic and Cardy.

 

Not every artist is interested to follow some trends and/or "modernize" his style, also because "modernization" is a very tricky concept.

The most remote things can look fresh and more original than current work, when they have not been seen for a long time, or are adequately brought to a new life.

 

What is often said about Heck could be said for many other artists – and it is undeniable – which gave life to the Marvel Age in its infancy and early years.

But take Colan: as "unique" his style was he hardly "fit" the classical Marvel standard we mostly recognize in Buscema.

 

George Tuska also had a peculiar style, with not much "fireworks", but I am reading right now the early Iron Man issues and when he is inked by Johnny Craig he is just wonderful. So is Johnny Craig alone on the Marvels, when he inks himself.

 

I think such notions of "modernity" and "freshness" should be left aside when they are not clearly what defined the Marvel Age of comics.

 

Anyone who thinks Heck and Tuska are "just wonderful" is

[Unca Ben]

Anyone who thinks Heck and Tuska are "just wonderful" is

...Is what?

 

Mental?

[vaillant]

Anyone who thinks Heck and Tuska are "just wonderful" is

...Is what?

 

Mental?

 

You gotta love the creativity of board newcomers.

It just takes time, and cultivation of observation to learn how to judge art (or any other thing).

In fact, I find awesome that "culture", "cult" and "cultivation" share the same etimology.

[vaillant]

You call it readiness to sell books in case of need...for me it's me and my family living a little bit above our means (largely due to childcare expenses, which will go down A LOT when my two year old goes to kindergarten in 3 years.....) and every 2-3 months hitting a cash crunch when some expense comes out of the blue (this year it was $7K for replacing part of the roof and associated interior repairs). The books get sold...can't avoid paying the mortgage! (As I actually have a lot of equity in my house..)

 

Anyway, this stuff comes and goes, though the early silver age stuff does get harder and harder to replace at a price i can afford.

 

I understand. Can you tell me what "equity" means in this context (sorry, english is not my language, and although I write it decently it’s hard to get sometimes)?

 

You are absolutely right with the "harder and harder" part. What brought me back to full collecting in comic book has been a venture into the Golden Age, and it is even tougher to decide if to sell or not a GA book, especially if truly rare, and especially if it is even more rare to find in lowgrade at a decent price.

 

I don't like this "list" stigma, but I am considering carrying one around.

What is the "list stigma"? If it’s about collecting "keys", I can sympatize, but there is to say that there are various ways to collect them, and Dr. Balls way is surely the right one. (thumbs u

Or should I say "was"?

[Dr. Balls]

"Most" gives me an out.

 

The image I have of a key collector is the guy at a store or convention carrying a copy of Wizard magazine with all the first appearances highlighted. Appreciation for the work is not a factor, just the fact that the guide said it's worth more. You'll find guys like this blathering at a convention about books they say they own, even if no one is listening. They'll pick the Richard Dragon 5 out of a run, and have no idea who Richard Dragon or Bronze Tiger are. Their new favorite character is whoever's appearing in the next movie.

 

That's the kind of collector is dislike. You're fine.

 

I gotcha! Whew!

 

I'm not sure how I'd label someone like that. Not "investor" really. Certainly not a real "collector" or "fan." Maybe "speculator?" But even then, I'm sure there are fine folks here who have speculated on books before and profitted from it, but that doesn't carry with it the annoying quality you've described above. I get your meaning, though.

 

If you just collect keys you're not a real "collector"? You realize this sounds just a *tad* elitist, right?

Not a "real" collector if you only collect keys?

Brother I've been "collecting" longer than you've probably been alive,speculate on that.

 

Werd to Oak.

 

I started collecting just keys in 2008 because after buying and selling two collections prior, I wanted to just go after these key books and not have such a huge collection. (I have all my old favorites in digital format - no need for longboxes of runs)

 

I get what you're saying (HeroX) - but I'd speculate that the key collectors you are singling out are a minority group that gives everyone else a bad name.

[Dr. Balls]

Dr. Balls way is surely the right one. (thumbs u

Or should I say "was"?

 

Yeah - that list might be cursed. I worked on it for years, and within a few months of me posting it up online, I sold off my collection.

[HarveySwick]

Collectors are born, not made. Either you are or are not a collector, matters not what it is.

 

i am a collector. Sports Cards, and Comic Books are what i collect. There really is no choice. Sure i could choose not to collect them anymore, but then i'd just collect something else.

Sports Cards eh? I may have some...

[vaillant]

Dr. Balls way is surely the right one. (thumbs u

Or should I say "was"?

 

Yeah - that list might be cursed. I worked on it for years, and within a few months of me posting it up online, I sold off my collection.

 

This aside (it indeed might be! ) I think you approached the thing in the best possible way: commonly agreed upon and at the same time important keys, and then expanding to the "minor" keys which were important to you.

 

Hey, I am probably among the few people in buying Ghost Rider #1 for the Son of Satan. And I just picked ToS #46 because I love the Soviet heroes and villains.

[HarveySwick]

I've always felt, even since I was a kid, that owning a First Appearance or a Key Issue for your favorite characters felt like you were owning a piece of them. Or their history. I love it and when I got back into collecting nearly a year ago, my first goal was to pick up all First Appearances of characters from my favorite Superhero - Daredevil. Since then though, the floodgates have burst open and I've started picking up first appearances of a lot of my favorite characters.

 

I also used to always buy TPB's to read, but recently got into buying nice HC editions to someday have a nice little library of my favorites.

[vaillant]

Collectors are born, not made. Either you are or are not a collector, matters not what it is.

 

i am a collector. Sports Cards, and Comic Books are what i collect. There really is no choice. Sure i could choose not to collect them anymore, but then i'd just collect something else.

 

This sounds really like a strange statement to me. I have thousands of comics (not just comic books, and US comics) but I never considered myself a collector.

I "collect" but I don’t "collect", I mean I would have no problem to break up runs to keep just single books which I recognize as more meaningful.

 

A thing I would not surely say is that I am "born" as a collector: I just think that some people have more an attitude to "preserve" and "care for" than others, especially when we are talking of intellectual and artistic manufacts like books.

[the blob]

...heck, I even sold off my x-men 3 when i was strapped for cash one month.

 

the blob sold his first appearance of The Blob?!?!?

 

Believe me, every time I see one since then I take a long hard look at it. I have a lot of regrets over books I've sold over the years (TOS 39, IH 181, FF 5, ASM 2-10, IM 1, B&B 28, ST 110, X-Men 2-10...).

 

 

That's a lot of keys to cut loose! My X-Men 3 is missing a piece about the size of a quarter out of the cover. Drives me crazy, right out of Iceman.

 

It's a lot more than that. I forgot about JLA 1, 2; 6 or 7 copies of FF 48, 3 copies of FF 49, 2 copies of 52, multiple IM 1, Cap 100, DD 1, Marvel Spotlight 5, JIM 83-87, multiple SS 1s and 4s, Sgt. Fury 1 and about 25 1940s GA slabs of DCs and Timelys (mostly) at about $300-$800 each. The list goes on and on. Buying and fixing up a 100 year old house in NYC costs a lot of money.

[HeroX]

I get what you're saying (HeroX) - but I'd speculate that the key collectors you are singling out are a minority group that gives everyone else a bad name.

 

See, I didn't think we were disagreeing! I'm a key collector too! I was only commenting on FineCollector's comment about that "minority group." I promise I wasn't being elitist!!!

[FineCollector]

Not a "real" collector if you only collect keys?

Brother I've been "collecting" longer than you've probably been alive,speculate on that.

 

How many books have you bought, bagged, and not looked at since because they have no meaning to you, apart from the notation in the price guide?