Losing interest...what to do?

[stanley1883]

Everyone so far has the same opinion and that's a good thing. Take care of your priorities comics will always be here when and if you decide to come back. This is a good thing to read for me, cause my life including many others lives can drastically change and make us put down the finer things in life when times are tough.

 

I wise man told me once "It's just a cloud. Things will get better. You make your own luck".

 

Hope all works out buddy!! (thumbs u

 

You said it my friend.

 

To the OP, I'd echo the sentiment. If your not strapped for cash and there is no necessity to sell, package them up real nice, Mylars or even Archives for the valuable and put it away safely. It will be that much better if you come back to them after a while.

 

On a personal note, I've had my resolve tested a few times as well, for some reason, visiting a LCS fixes me right up. So does re-reading an awesome issue or run, also just looking at what you have amassed, going down memory lane.

 

Best of luck Shootydog, hope everything works out for you!

Read comics to the kids! Maybe they'll share the enthusiasm you once had and your still spending time with them, they get to know what their father likes and you can learn what they like! If you ever pass them down, you'll be happy you didnt sell them.

[sckao]

 

Family is more important. You're making the right choice. (thumbs u

[Jking3437]

Handle your personal business, comics will always be there, might be more expensive in a couple years but they will be there

[Stumptown]

Life can be overwhelming at times but it will always keep moving and will cycle back to a place of peace for everyone at some point.

 

Echoing what others have said to keep the books if you have the space and don't need the money. Hopefully, you can also interest the kids in your collection.

 

It also may be just that your tastes have changed too and that's coincided with the life change so you don't need to necessarily hold onto everything or keep the OCD fed in some series that you've now lost interest in.

 

Hang in there and good luck.

[BEAUMONTS]

Store them away and wait for the bug to hit again - I go periods where I don't buy anything, then return with a vengeance.

 

Just don't sell them off.

+1 (thumbs u

[Shootydog]

That is the heaviest of the heavy-duty stuff. Those proceedings are the perfect storm of frustration and anxiety.

 

It is heavy duty stuff and Ive been through it with my first daughter...she came to us at 2 weeks old right from the hospital and 3 years later we finally adopted. That was without any parents in the picture at all.

 

We are looking to sell and move to a larger home nearby to keep all the girls in the current school system. Oh yeah...my mother in law will be moving in too. But thats ok...I dig her. So in 6 years we will have gone from no children to 4 adopted daughters through the foster system and a Mom in Law in the home.

 

Anyway..thanks for the advice folks. Wasnt intending to vent so much but it just kind of came out. I think im gonna spend this weekend putting my collection in a safe out of the way location and focus on growing some kids.

[mikenyc]

Family is more important. You're making the right choice. (thumbs u

 

+ infinity

 

Nothing matters more.

[comicdonna]

 

Anyway..thanks for the advice folks. Wasnt intending to vent so much but it just kind of came out. I think im gonna spend this weekend putting my collection in a safe out of the way location and focus on growing some kids.

[Conan_Aficionado]

Comic books will always be here, the kids you can kick out after their 18th birthday and come back to comics. Take care of the kids first, they are the world greatest asset. Teach them well, make them good contributors to society.

 

Best of luck,

Conan_Aficionado

 

 

[vaillant]

As I have already told you when I picked those few Dr. Strange books, I think that what you have been doing is awesome! (thumbs u

 

As far as collecting goes I think your perplexity is understandable, but again I think there is often a limited (limiting?) vision of collecting. You collect because you appreciate the comics, and you can always reduce your collection to a minimum, and occasionally keep reading the books (if you have some spare time moments).

Good entertainment, as good literature, is meant to recreate, and not to be a burden.

 

Of course, there are many reasons for which one starts collecting more massively, but the important thing is that is not something that gets in your way: the characters, the stories, obviously, have value, and carry value, so you can just (little by little) end up keeping what you are most affectioned to, and maybe read or re-read good stuff.

And as the kids grow up you’ll have also selected what you deem more worthy, and they may like to read as well.

 

(Reading good books is always important, I meant read comics).

 

Anyway sir, I am really admiring you, and I hope to get more and more generous myself, and this will help me more and more to find true value in what I like, too.

[Garf]

I don't know about anyone else but there have been two times when I was young when I sold everything off so I could get something I needed or travel. Eventually came back to it. Even though my focus has moved more towards pairing it all down to some art and trades of the stuff I love I still bought back a lot of what I sold on, the ones important to me that are a window on the past.

[kav]

I went through this long ago and sold a third of my collection for like $40

in there was asm 129, x men annual #1 and some other stuff.

dont do that.

[VintageComics]

I have completely lost interest in collecting comic books. So much has occurred in the last year I think I'm in shock. My wife and I (and daughter) went from just the 3 of us to adding 3 sisters (foster) to our home. 1 year later and the prospect of parental termination of rights puts the 3 of them squarely in our adoption crosshairs. Its probably gonna happen. I stare at the wall a lot these day contemplating the future.

 

At any rate, Ive lost any desire to hunt for or add new books to my collection. I do find myself looking on occasion but I find so much now occupying my mind. Ive been reading comics off and on all my life and this concerns me a bit. Is this just a normal reaction to an unusual situation and things will sort out or should I just acknowledge things are changing and my lack of interest just reflects those changes?

 

We all change over time and most things are cyclical. Just go with the flow and do the right thing. Everything else with fall into place as it needs to.

[catrick339]

Shooty, I'm late to the party tonight, but the advice you've been receiving is spot on, IMO.

 

I turn 60 this year, and comics have faded out of my life on several occasions

 

Sure wish I still had the stuff I nabbed as a teenager (sold at age 20 or so) or the stuff I accumulated in my 20's (mostly sold in the early 80's) or that original art that I bought in the late 80's (sold in the mid-nineties to help with a house downpayment)

 

The trick is, if you once really enjoyed something, chances are, even if you're sick of it right now, or even just can't spend any time with it, the worm will eventually turn and you'll be a gung-ho collector again.

 

In the early 90's I was absolutely sick of funnybooks. The whole Marvel/Image thing had soured me on comics in general, and the only thing that saved me was wandering into the Underground Room at the old Chicago Comicon. Remember the year that Rob Liefeld signed for 24 hours in a big ol' tent out back?

 

Ahhh, but down in the basement (Literally under ground, ) there was a big ol' passle of small press, minicomics, and UG creators, all of which were there strictly for the love of the medium. Sure, they were there to promote their work, but it was obvious that a lot of them weren't going to come close to making table, let alone cover their expenses for the weekend.

 

That was all it took, I was injected with a renewed enthusiasm for comics in general, and less mainstream titles in particular, and I've even been bitten by the Golden Age bug, and it's All Good.

 

This enthusiasm has continued unabated for over 20 years this time, and I expect it to last this time until I die.

 

Save your comics safely somewhere, and in a few years you'll be thanking yourself profusely.

 

PS

Congratulations on taking a huge lifechanging step, I wish you and your family the very best! (But store, don't sell, your collection)

 

 

[toro]

I don't think you are losing interest per say, I think you are re-focusing and re-prioritizing your life. I applaud you for what you are doing, I wish I was as lucky as you.

 

If you don't need the money and you have the space to store the books I would suggest that route. Maybe someday you will need to sell them for collage tuition. If you do have to sell I would suggest holding back the books that mean the most to you. Those that made you love comics in the first place.

 

But in the end you need to do what makes you happy and is best for your family. Bringing 3 children into your life is better then owning all the comics ever made.

[lizards2]

I have completely lost interest in collecting comic books. So much has occurred in the last year I think I'm in shock. My wife and I (and daughter) went from just the 3 of us to adding 3 sisters (foster) to our home. 1 year later and the prospect of parental termination of rights puts the 3 of them squarely in our adoption crosshairs. Its probably gonna happen. I stare at the wall a lot these day contemplating the future.

 

At any rate, Ive lost any desire to hunt for or add new books to my collection. I do find myself looking on occasion but I find so much now occupying my mind. Ive been reading comics off and on all my life and this concerns me a bit. Is this just a normal reaction to an unusual situation and things will sort out or should I just acknowledge things are changing and my lack of interest just reflects those changes?

 

We all change over time and most things are cyclical. Just go with the flow and do the right thing. Everything else with fall into place as it needs to.

 

The Phoenix says, "You must go with the flow, lest the flow go through you."

[conditionfreak]

I would move on with your life. Get rid of everything comic book related. Or, just put what you have in a back room and forget about them.

 

You can always come back (and you most likely will, if history is any indication).

 

There are much more important things in life, than comic books.

 

Don't sweat it. It ain't that big of a deal.

 

In 1984 I had to give up racing pigeons because I developed an allergy to them. In 2008, I got back into the hobby. Research during that time figured out how I could keep them without suffering the effects of being allergic to them (it just required a new type of facial mask when I am in a pigeon loft).

 

I thought about pigeon racing during that lapse, very often. After I came back into the hobby, it was like I never left.

[jimbo_707]

Handle your personal business, comics will always be there, might be more expensive in a couple years but they will be there

Depending on what you collect, they may even be less expensive in a couple of years. When I got back into the hobby in 2012, the books I like were selling for a lot less than they had been in '08-'10.

[DWL]

Shooty, I'm late to the party tonight, but the advice you've been receiving is spot on, IMO.

 

I turn 60 this year, and comics have faded out of my life on several occasions

 

Sure wish I still had the stuff I nabbed as a teenager (sold at age 20 or so) or the stuff I accumulated in my 20's (mostly sold in the early 80's) or that original art that I bought in the late 80's (sold in the mid-nineties to help with a house downpayment)

 

The trick is, if you once really enjoyed something, chances are, even if you're sick of it right now, or even just can't spend any time with it, the worm will eventually turn and you'll be a gung-ho collector again.

 

In the early 90's I was absolutely sick of funnybooks. The whole Marvel/Image thing had soured me on comics in general, and the only thing that saved me was wandering into the Underground Room at the old Chicago Comicon. Remember the year that Rob Liefeld signed for 24 hours in a big ol' tent out back?

 

Ahhh, but down in the basement (Literally under ground, ) there was a big ol' passle of small press, minicomics, and UG creators, all of which were there strictly for the love of the medium. Sure, they were there to promote their work, but it was obvious that a lot of them weren't going to come close to making table, let alone cover their expenses for the weekend.

 

That was all it took, I was injected with a renewed enthusiasm for comics in general, and less mainstream titles in particular, and I've even been bitten by the Golden Age bug, and it's All Good.

 

This enthusiasm has continued unabated for over 20 years this time, and I expect it to last this time until I die.

 

Save your comics safely somewhere, and in a few years you'll be thanking yourself profusely.

 

PS

Congratulations on taking a huge lifechanging step, I wish you and your family the very best! (But store, don't sell, your collection)

 

 

+ 1

[DWL]

I don't think you are losing interest per say, I think you are re-focusing and re-prioritizing your life. I applaud you for what you are doing, I wish I was as lucky as you.

 

If you don't need the money and you have the space to store the books I would suggest that route. Maybe someday you will need to sell them for collage tuition. If you do have to sell I would suggest holding back the books that mean the most to you. Those that made you love comics in the first place.

 

But in the end you need to do what makes you happy and is best for your family. Bringing 3 children into your life is better then owning all the comics ever made.

 

+ 1