CGC Comic Collecting After 55

[David P Hartman]

I'm only 50 and only recently got back into collecting actively. Still have all (most) my books from when I was collecting as a kid with a paper route in the mid 1970s.

 

My guess is there are many collectors on this site who are 50+ and have been doing this a looooong time. We were among the last ones who bought old school pulp books from the "news stand" (or in my case the 7-11 racks) as far as I can tell. That changed the hobby immensely imo from something aimed at kids to focusing on adults.

I've got to ask. How exactly were you buying old school pulps, off the stands in the mid '70's? I'm 11 years older than you, and I never saw old school pulps on the stands? Maybe your referring to the digest format, a few had morphed into...in the mid 1950's? I did actually buy a Weird Tales, summer 1973 vol.47 no.1, with a 75cent cover price. (Sam Moskowitz as editor, had revived the title for its '50th Anniversary Issue 1923-1973' with Sam's inside front cover (re)intro announcing a quarterly schedule.) it looks to be approx. 1/2 inch shorter in height and width, and at 96 pgs.(+ covers) is about 1/ 2 the thickness of a 'real' pulp.

My other question, is why no one else caught the 20 year discrepancy in your statement? I actually was surprised to find out how long 711 has been around (late '20's!), having not seen any personally till the 1970's.

 

[01TheDude]

I'm only 50 and only recently got back into collecting actively. Still have all (most) my books from when I was collecting as a kid with a paper route in the mid 1970s.

 

My guess is there are many collectors on this site who are 50+ and have been doing this a looooong time. We were among the last ones who bought old school pulp books from the "news stand" (or in my case the 7-11 racks) as far as I can tell. That changed the hobby immensely imo from something aimed at kids to focusing on adults.

I've got to ask. How exactly were you buying old school pulps, off the stands in the mid '70's? I'm 11 years older than you, and I never saw old school pulps on the stands? Maybe your referring to the digest format, a few had morphed into...in the mid 1950's? I did actually buy a Weird Tales, summer 1973 vol.47 no.1, with a 75cent cover price. (Sam Moskowitz as editor, had revived the title for its '50th Anniversary Issue 1923-1973' with Sam's inside front cover (re)intro announcing a quarterly schedule.) it looks to be approx. 1/2 inch shorter in height and width, and at 96 pgs.(+ covers) is about 1/ 2 the thickness of a 'real' pulp.

My other question, is why no one else caught the 20 year discrepancy in your statement? I actually was surprised to find out how long 711 has been around (late '20's!), having not seen any personally till the 1970's.

 

because they understand that I am referring to the type of paper used for almost all comic books on those 7-11 racks versus the new style of paper found in modern books. I am not referring to pulp comic books, only the paper. Old school is not a reference to books from the 1950s - it is a common term for things from "back in my day".

[David P Hartman]

Thanks. I had missed your meaning.

[Hudson]

When I first saw this thread (a few days back), I considered writing a post for it, as soon as I had a few minutes (although I do not yet qualify for the minimum age). After reading David's posts, however, I think I am out of my league.

 

Great stuff David. You seem to have been in the midst of everything back in the day.

[David P Hartman]

Please share. Don't let my therapy secessions deter you. They just add more pages! I'll take it a step further, and say if you don't, I won't... but I already overplayed my dramatic exits....

[krighton]

Hi guys, wondering if anyone here is a collector over 55 years old and can describe how their hobby of comic collecting has changed or diminished. I know over time love for hobbies can change, just like once I hit around 25 I stopped playing video games completely, a hobby I previously had for almost two decades.

 

 

Been playing video games since the late 70s...nor end in sight

[Ken Aldred]

Hi guys, wondering if anyone here is a collector over 55 years old and can describe how their hobby of comic collecting has changed or diminished. I know over time love for hobbies can change, just like once I hit around 25 I stopped playing video games completely, a hobby I previously had for almost two decades.

 

 

Been playing video games since the late 70s...nor end in sight

 

I still read a lot of comic books, old and new, but now I'm probably just as interested in videogames, something which greatly increased over the past decade or so. A nice distraction from the currently overheated comics market, anyway, and much better value.

[David P Hartman]

How, do you consider a video game a better value? Game Stop doesn't pay that much for used games. Or, perhaps you mean in the personal time that this 'external entertainment' occupies you? Not the after market.

[Ken Aldred]

The former.

 

200 + hours of playing Skyrim or Mass Effect for £15, versus less than an hours' worth of comic book reading for the same money, for example.

 

A greater level of immersion in a superbly-rendered, virtual environment.

 

In the case of the above-mentioned Mass Effect, with a storyline and dialogue on par with or bettering what you can find in comic books.

[David P Hartman]

I never gave video games much thought.... Pong just didn't seem that fulfilling... Pac Man was just more bells and whistles... I liked the old pinball machines better.... By the '90's, I had a roommate that was into Zelda. If I never hear that theme again, it'll be to soon... The Grand Theft Auto sounds like they had spiced things up with hookers being like speed bumps in a demolition derby... but all this is still just a course toward atrophy. Once it gets to a 'holodeck' full emersion virtual reality caliber, then why leave the house? Does any of this prompt anyone to create, or write code, other than hackers looking for cyber theft opportunities? Quantum computers may/will be the gateway to things yet undreamed. But the allure of comics is tangible. Inspiring the next generation of artists and writers! It took forty years before special effects actually could deliver a plausible Spider-Man movie. But, as good as that was/is, there will be an esoteric group that says, read the book(s)! If ignorance is bliss, why isn't the world more giddy? If/when we have cracked the mysteries of the mind, mastering endorphins release/production, then what motivations would even tempt us to leave our own minds?

In the mean time. Read. Write. Draw. The best is yet to come.

Your born, you die. Enjoy the interval. (Video games included.)

 

[thehumantorch]

The former.

 

200 + hours of playing Skyrim or Mass Effect for £15, versus less than an hours' worth of comic book reading for the same money, for example.

 

A greater level of immersion in a superbly-rendered, virtual environment.

 

In the case of the above-mentioned Mass Effect, with a storyline and dialogue on par with or bettering what you can find in comic books.

 

Agreed Paul, there are some great video games that have tons of immersive game play.

 

Give Fallout 3, Fallout 4, or Fallout Vegas, a try.

[MetalPSI]

180 hours and a Platinum trophy for Skyrim. Played that while on the road for work as well, it was that good.

 

Currently stuck in ESO, which is just as entertaining. They are releasing a HD version of Skyrim for PS4 and XBoxOne, Oct 28.

 

Personally, I think I am going for South Park's Fractured But Whole in Dec

[Jeffro.]

The former.

 

200 + hours of playing Skyrim or Mass Effect for £15, versus less than an hours' worth of comic book reading for the same money, for example.

 

A greater level of immersion in a superbly-rendered, virtual environment.

 

In the case of the above-mentioned Mass Effect, with a storyline and dialogue on par with or bettering what you can find in comic books.

 

Agreed Paul, there are some great video games that have tons of immersive game play.

 

Give Fallout 3, Fallout 4, or Fallout Vegas, a try.

 

Or better yet, go classic with FO1 or FO2

[Ken Aldred]

I never gave video games much thought.... Pong just didn't seem that fulfilling... Pac Man was just more bells and whistles... I liked the old pinball machines better.... By the '90's, I had a roommate that was into Zelda. If I never hear that theme again, it'll be to soon... The Grand Theft Auto sounds like they had spiced things up with hookers being like speed bumps in a demolition derby... but all this is still just a course toward atrophy. Once it gets to a 'holodeck' full emersion virtual reality caliber, then why leave the house? Does any of this prompt anyone to create, or write code, other than hackers looking for cyber theft opportunities? Quantum computers may/will be the gateway to things yet undreamed. But the allure of comics is tangible. Inspiring the next generation of artists and writers! It took forty years before special effects actually could deliver a plausible Spider-Man movie. But, as good as that was/is, there will be an esoteric group that says, read the book(s)! If ignorance is bliss, why isn't the world more giddy? If/when we have cracked the mysteries of the mind, mastering endorphins release/production, then what motivations would even tempt us to leave our own minds?

In the mean time. Read. Write. Draw. The best is yet to come.

Your born, you die. Enjoy the interval. (Video games included.)

 

There's a lot of decent mobile gaming now, with processors in tablets and phones getting quite fast, and so you aren't always imprisoned inside, sat on your arse using a console or desktop PC. Just as easy to take a quality game outside as it is a quality trade paperback.

 

Also, I quite enjoy using a tablet to pinch magnify interesting panels in a comic book .jpeg image, looking at details which I would more than likely miss in a physical, paper equivalent.

 

Being liberal about it, there's a place for both old-school newsprint and more high-tech reading, for stories told in panels or stories told by journeying through a VR environment . Without justification, you choose where you're happiest being on that spectrum and where you're the most entertained.

[Ken Aldred]

The former.

 

200 + hours of playing Skyrim or Mass Effect for £15, versus less than an hours' worth of comic book reading for the same money, for example.

 

A greater level of immersion in a superbly-rendered, virtual environment.

 

In the case of the above-mentioned Mass Effect, with a storyline and dialogue on par with or bettering what you can find in comic books.

 

Agreed Paul, there are some great video games that have tons of immersive game play.

 

Give Fallout 3, Fallout 4, or Fallout Vegas, a try.

 

Or better yet, go classic with FO1 or FO2

 

It is about time I played one of these, having focused on Elder Scrolls instead, up until now.

[David P Hartman]

It's crickets over here.... anyone want to hear some more (selective) memories...? Game reviews? (Online chess is all I got.... snore)

[Duffman_Comics]

Sure.

 

I'm an old fart too, so the stories tend to be invented or repeated . . .

[rjpb]

I'm just a bit past 55, and my interest has shifted over the years, I lost interest in all but undergrounds at around 16, and while I expanded a little in my early 20s, I didn't start collecting vintage books again until I was in my late 20s, and not more seriously until my early 30s. My interest in both new and vintage stuff peaked in my 40s, and has been tapering off the last decade. I mainly got tired of accumulating new stuff, and only buy a couple new books a month these days.

 

At one point my back issue interests included classic GA covers of all genres, as well as oddball and esoteric stuff from all eras, and a smattering of Bronze and Silver titles I remembered fondly from my youth. These days, my keepers tend to mostly GA crime books and undergrounds. Every thing else I have sold or plan to sell.

 

I still enjoy buying and reading comics, though not as thoroughly as I used to. Most of the older stuff I buy is with the intent to sell, but it still has to be something I'm interested in, so the rush of acquisition is still there. For me the day I got a given book, has generally been the day I enjoyed it most.

 

[Artboy99]

I tend to gravitate to the games I feel I get the best gameplay from. I don't need to see the latest and greatest graphics, I just want to enjoy the gameplay.

 

I am currently playing Diablo 2 in hardcore mode/ single player.

 

[Ron C.]

I will be 55 in a few months, so hopefully I can join the conversation. I collected from mid-70's through 1983 and loved it. Then came Grad school, work, family and I lost touch with the industry (although I did occasionally buy an Overstreet guide to see what some of my and other comics were currently worth). I carefully stored and moved all of the long boxes throughout the years. It wasn't until this Spring that I saw a sale notice for a Hulk #181, that I thought that I should see what I actually had in those boxes. So I took my 15 or so long boxes and re-bagged and boarded everything. My wife loved the take over of the basement The question then became... which ones do I send to CGC.. in fact, before 6 months ago I had never heard of CGC.. Do I go with CGC, CBCS, or PGSomething? I came to these boards and have been hooked! I spend WAY too much time here, but it is great.

I got to play a comic grading game... got better over time and can't wait for the 5th Green Eggs contest (Thanks again to Andy and Shim). There were no 9.6s and 9.8s when I left the comic world. Now I have to decide which comics I want signed ON THE COVER (who knew that would be acceptable?). I have a lot of comics to sell when they return from CGC. The question will be: where is the best place to sell? Comic Link, mycomicshop, Heritage, eBay??? Any suggestions would be appreciated. My wife wants me to start selling before I buy a ton more, but that is not going so well now that I have learned about sketch covers!!

Sorry for the long post, but thank you in advance for any advice.