Where to go from here

[Shadow Images]

Ever have a point in your collecting and don't know where to go with it?

 

Over the last year or so I have sold off a hugh chunk of my collection to fund some business acquisitions. I was able to keep the runs of Tec, Batman, Star Wars, GI Joe, and Transformers I wanted to. Now I want to start picking up some comics again but seem to be stuck on what to start collecting again. I would love to collect it all but as we all know you can't have everything.

 

Anyone else ever hit that point?

 

 

[dupont2005]

I do all the time. Space and budget and changing focus make me reevaluate what I'm doing every year or so. When I first joined here I was all about 80's bargain bin indies. The weirder and smaller press the better. Still love that stuff, but who has the space for that much drek? For the last year or two it's been mostly fancy slipcase hardcovers. Right now it's Bronze Age mags.

[vaillant]

It depends on your preferences… Aside from early Batman I would never collect the other ones, so it’s hard for me to give you some advice…

 

Glad to hear you the funding went well, anyway!

[valiantman]

If you kept all the books that are your core collection and sold off a huge chunk... maybe you should buy popular (large market) books that you don't mind selling the next time you need to... and keep your core collection safe.

 

Otherwise, if you have to sell again, you may need to sell something that hurts.

 

I have lots of books that people consider keys that don't mean anything to me.

If I reach a point that I need to sell something... they'll be the first to go.

[Shadow Images]

If you kept all the books that are your core collection and sold off a huge chunk... maybe you should buy popular (large market) books that you don't mind selling the next time you need to... and keep your core collection safe.

 

Otherwise, if you have to sell again, you may need to sell something that hurts.

 

I have lots of books that people consider keys that don't mean anything to me.

If I reach a point that I need to sell something... they'll be the first to go.

 

 

I only plan to buy CGC slabs this time around. I love GA classic covers and the only runs I am thinking about doing are Flash 105-155, Green Lantern 76-89 and Captain America 100-115. I am not one to collect super high grade as I buy the book not the grade.

 

I think some of my unwillingness to buy anything right now might be there is only $300 in my fun money account .

[dupont2005]

If you kept all the books that are your core collection and sold off a huge chunk... maybe you should buy popular (large market) books that you don't mind selling the next time you need to... and keep your core collection safe.

 

Otherwise, if you have to sell again, you may need to sell something that hurts.

 

I have lots of books that people consider keys that don't mean anything to me.

If I reach a point that I need to sell something... they'll be the first to go.

I love too much of my stuff. I had a solid run of just about every 90's X-Men and X-Men related book. One shots, minis, solo titles, spinoffs, sister titles, everything. Like 7 longboxes full. I was never going to read any of it, and don't even like them. But after I sold them it kind of hurt knowing I didn't have them.

[FineCollector]

I only plan to buy CGC slabs this time around. I love GA classic covers and the only runs I am thinking about doing are Flash 105-155, Green Lantern 76-89 and Captain America 100-115. I am not one to collect super high grade as I buy the book not the grade.

 

If you're going to buy Cap 100-115, you should also be doing Tales of Suspense 58-99. You're not stuck blowing the budget on the big keys from earlier in the run, and they're chronically underpriced in mid-grade.

 

I'm working on the Flash run too, but if you stop at 155, you'll be missing some classic covers in the 170's...

 

[catrick339]

The only solution to your problem that ever worked for me was: sell it all, and see what you end up missing and what you don't give two nickels about.

 

I sold once early on for money in the college days, once because I thought had outgrown it, and once to build up bank for a new house and after I had most everything I loved in reprint.

 

The last reason didn't stick, and it was Fantastic Four that put me back under the gun.

 

I had bought a big old pile of early FF's on ebay, right in the middle of the sweet spot of the Lee-Kirby days, for eventual resale. Made the mistake of reading a few, and I'm damned if I don't need the pamphlets after all. I've spent the last ten years rebuilding my SA Marvel and select DC titles, and this time, although I'm nearly complete again, I'll never finish any of the big ticket runs again, barring the magic garage sale.

 

My FF 1, TOS 39, JIM 83, TTA 27, and Avengers 1 are all rags or coverless, and my AF 15, Hulk 1, and Spidey 1 are nonexistent. Even for a guy who does a few shows now and then, the megakeys have taken such sharp jumps that they're once again way out of my reach. Everything else is coming along nicely, or already completed, and this time I've kept my focus on the titles I really enjoy reading and keeping.

 

Everything else I buy is for the fun of reading it, and it's all Catch And Release. I still buy a bunch of funnybooks, but after I read 'em they eventually go back out the door. And as anyone who has ever seen one of my sales threads knows, this allows me to buy absolutely anything, in any condition. I've seen a LOT of interesting books in the last ten years.