Tips on staying focused with collection 0

[Kevin76]

I keep a want list on google sheets, stuff I really want and delete them as I get them. While I won't get everything on the list cause some of it is too expensive, I just try and get what I can.  

[tomo]

16 hours ago, jcjames said:

Currently I am in the "acutely-focusing my collection" phase as well.  Here's my plan:

Step 1: Take half of what you own, and sell it.

Step 2: Then take half of what's left, and sell that.

I second this approach.  I decided several years ago to get serious about filling out my Superman collection.

To do that I needed funds (those ten centers ain't getting any cheaper).  I looked at my 50+ longbox hoard, and fired up the old Ebay account.  I'm now at about 30 loosely packed longboxes.  12 of those are the Superman books, 12 are the "keepers", and I'm down to just 6 or so longboxes of miscellaneous titles.

And the best part?  I've never had more fun collecting since I started cleaning house.  I now enjoy freeing up space in the boxes, and filing away nice books from the1940-1950's.  It's no longer a chore to go into my office and try to find room in packed longboxes for more books.

I imagine by years end, I'll be digging into the "keepers" to fund more purchases, but so far I haven't truly missed a book I've sold. Yeah, there have been some that I wished I waited an extra 6 months or so before I sold them to take advantage of movie hype news, but you win some you lose some.

[1950's war comics]

It's easy to lose focus and get carried away with bing buying, comics are like crack and eBay makes it almost too easy !

Hopefully your urges will subside and you can go on to become a patient collector, nice collections are built up over time.

[ADAMANTIUM]

That is a tough lesson to learn

It's frustrating to want everything right away

then it's frustrating that you have so much and want to speculate on more

then it's a little depressing when things stop coming in the mail  

[NoMan]

4 minutes ago, 1950's war comics said:

It's easy to lose focus and get carried away with bing buying, comics are like crack and eBay makes it almost too easy !

Hopefully your urges will subside and you can go on to become a patient collector, nice collections are built up over time.

Patient: that's the part that's tough. I'm not impatient just sometimes you've gotta jump (or not) as prices generally seem to go up. 

[Bird]

2 hours ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

That is a tough lesson to learn

It's frustrating to want everything right away

then it's frustrating that you have so much and want to speculate on more

then it's a little depressing when things stop coming in the mail  

I am more an OA collector than comics, but I used to go to the post office multiple times a week to pick up art. Now I go for quality over quantity and make less than 10 buys a year (at least last year and this year so far). When I went to pickup a page on Friday the clerk and I had a laugh at how infrequently I get those large flat packages anymore. You will get used to the new normal, and I appreciate my purchases a lot more now. Coming home from a con with 25 pieces was fun though.

[Readcomix]

12 hours ago, lizards2 said:

The biggest problem I see with focus on individual title/series is that you end up paying too much to complete that title/series.  I instead focus on targets of opportunity (nice stuff obtained on the cheap).

That's my general principle, too. Of course, not every value pick is a permanent home pick. Some are acquired to build toward something else. Sometimes I know just the person it's right for; sometimes I just know it's a bargain that has a fan base. (Found a Gold Key Star Trek 1 today; not a Trekkie myself, but I respect the book and its place in the hobby and could not pass it up. For example.)

I take it this is what you mean too, more or less, Lizards2?

[lizards2]

9 hours ago, Architecht said:

11 hours ago, lizards2 said:

Or you could just try being a jerk!

Sorry, what is the point you are making?

Aren't you the one that gave me my custom title....,

[lizards2]

16 minutes ago, Readcomix said:

13 hours ago, lizards2 said:

The biggest problem I see with focus on individual title/series is that you end up paying too much to complete that title/series.  I instead focus on targets of opportunity (nice stuff obtained on the cheap).

That's my general principle, too. Of course, not every value pick is a permanent home pick. Some are acquired to build toward something else. Sometimes I know just the person it's right for; sometimes I just know it's a bargain that has a fan base. (Found a Gold Key Star Trek 1 today; not a Trekkie myself, but I respect the book and its place in the hobby and could not pass it up. For example.)

I take it this is what you mean too, more or less, Lizards2?

Absolutely.  Yes, yes, targets of opportunity.

I gave up the idea of completing anything years ago.    Although I did just finish my 1966 Teen Titans run - had to settle for an 8.5 on #29, but as near as I can tell, I got it for dirt cheap - and since it's CGC'd there is a 30/100 that it's either a 9.0/9.2 or a 30/100 it's 7.5/8.0 - I'm game for those odds.

 

[lizards2]

9 hours ago, porcupine48 said:

11 hours ago, lizards2 said:

Or you could just try being a jerk!

 

[Readcomix]

1 minute ago, lizards2 said:

Absolutely.  Yes, yes, targets of opportunity.

I gave up the idea of completing anything years ago.    Although I did just finish my 1966 Teen Titans run - had to settle for an 8.5 on #29, but as near as I can tell, I got it for dirt cheap - and since it's CGC'd there is a 30/100 that it's either a 9.0/9.2 or a 30/100 it's 7.5/8.0 - I'm game for those odds.

 

 

2 minutes ago, lizards2 said:

Absolutely.  Yes, yes, targets of opportunity.

I gave up the idea of completing anything years ago.    Although I did just finish my 1966 Teen Titans run - had to settle for an 8.5 on #29, but as near as I can tell, I got it for dirt cheap - and since it's CGC'd there is a 30/100 that it's either a 9.0/9.2 or a 30/100 it's 7.5/8.0 - I'm game for those odds.

 

At some point, I had my "why am I doing this?" Moment with so many runs. I took a good look and moved off the stuff I knew I was not going to read again (80's Justice League, Morrison JLA, Peter David Hulks and Aquaman, JSA, Warlord, X-Men above 150, West Coast Avengers, Justice Machine. Etc.) Then I reread and decided on many runs (Elementals, Champions, super villain team-up, secret society of super-villains). None of which made the cut.

Now I am down to three sizable full runs (Avengers, Iron Man, Defenders) that I will read through once before making any moves. (By Avengers and Iron Man, I mean just original numbering; through 402 and 332 respectively. Anything after that wa culled early, even though I enjoyed that vol 3 with lots of Busiek/Perez.)

And I still want a Yellow Claw 3 and 4, but I don't think of GA/atomic era short series as a completist affliction. I managed to bail on Boys Ranch with three of six issues missing so I tell myself I don't have a problem. 

[adampasz]

I know the cool kids only buy Keys these days, but I find collecting runs helps me focus. I also try to set realistic expectations of when or if I'll ever complete them.

This is stupidly obvious, but the best way to complete a run is to keep it short. I was able to build up high grade Conan 1-30 run in a about 4 months this year, I found most of the books at reasonable prices, and it was really satisfying. It made it a lot easier to stay focused by ignoring any issues above #30... even when there seemed to be good deals.

Similarly, there whole swaths of characters and titles I've decided to ignore (starting with the big guns: Batman, Superman, FF, Avengers...). This makes it much faster for me to scan listings and zero-in on what I want, without getting distracted by other shiny stuff.

Like everyone's already said, you have to be patient and wait for the good deals to turn up.

p.s.: With some help from Lizards, I'm about 75% there on my silver Titans run, but the few gaps are proving tough to fill!

 

 

[lizards2]

14 minutes ago, Readcomix said:

 

At some point, I had my "why am I doing this?" Moment with so many runs. I took a good look and moved off the stuff I knew I was not going to read again (80's Justice League, Morrison JLA, Peter David Hulks and Aquaman, JSA, Warlord, X-Men above 150, West Coast Avengers, Justice Machine. Etc.) Then I reread and decided on many runs (Elementals, Champions, super villain team-up, secret society of super-villains). None of which made the cut.

Now I am down to three sizable full runs (Avengers, Iron Man, Defenders) that I will read through once before making any moves. (By Avengers and Iron Man, I mean just original numbering; through 402 and 332 respectively. Anything after that wa culled early, even though I enjoyed that vol 3 with lots of Busiek/Perez.)

And I still want a Yellow Claw 3 and 4, but I don't think of GA/atomic era short series as a completist affliction. I managed to bail on Boys Ranch with three of six issues missing so I tell myself I don't have a problem. 

I did just pick this up from a great big Richard here on the boards:

It fits in my fish-in-the-face collection with these:

 

Honestly though, I keep finding more fish-in-the-face books.

[lizards2]

7 minutes ago, adampasz said:

I know the cool kids only buy Keys these days, but I find collecting runs helps me focus. I also try to set realistic expectations of when or if I'll ever complete them.

This is stupidly obvious, but the best way to complete a run is to keep it short. I was able to build up high grade Conan 1-30 run in a about 4 months this year, I found most of the books at reasonable prices, and it was really satisfying. It made it a lot easier to stay focused by ignoring any issues above #30... even when there seemed to be good deals.

Similarly, there whole swaths of characters and titles I've decided to ignore (starting with the big guns: Batman, Superman, FF, Avengers...). This makes it much faster for me to scan listings and zero-in on what I want, without getting distracted by other shiny stuff.

Like everyone's already said, you have to be patient and wait for the good deals to turn up.

p.s.: With some help from Lizards, I'm about 75% there on my silver Titans run, but the few gaps are proving tough to fill!

 

 

Dammit - I think I have access to a bunch of those Teen Titans if I could get my financial situation straightened out.

I readjusted my Conans to 1-24 I think.  Now, If I could just find them.  They've been lost in the comic-clatter for about 5-6 years, and my upgrades are in a separate holding tank, waiting to be united with the base collection.  Dammit - turning into an episode of hoarders.

[Readcomix]

3 minutes ago, lizards2 said:

I did just pick this up from a great big Richard here on the boards:

It fits in my fish-in-the-face collection with these:

 

Honestly though, I keep finding more fish-in-the-face books.

Now THAT'S focus! 

[Patriot6]

9 minutes ago, lizards2 said:

Honestly though, I keep finding more fish-in-the-face books.

[Readcomix]

7 minutes ago, Patriot6 said:

What laugh? He puts that Criminals on the Run up for sale, I'm all over it!  

Actually, it looks awful nice...I probably couldn't afford it! 

[Patriot6]

Just now, Readcomix said:

What laugh? He puts that Criminals on the Run up for sale, I'm all over it!  

Actually, it looks awful nice...I probably couldn't afford it! 

Oh I love it too, just the collecting fish in the face books bit, love it!

[Patriot6]

2 minutes ago, Readcomix said:

What laugh? He puts that Criminals on the Run up for sale, I'm all over it!  

Actually, it looks awful nice...I probably couldn't afford it! 

You don't prefer the Blue Bolt?

[Readcomix]

Just now, Patriot6 said:

You don't prefer the Blue Bolt?

I KNOW I can't afford to!

Actually, it's just that the Criminals on the Run has been on my radar ever since buying Scott Shaw's card set. Buy one; they're cheap. Then you'll hunt relentlessly for 40 more obscure books and willingly overpay!