For those completing runs, lets hear your upgrade stories 0

[Westy Steve]

For those of you finished filling holes in your favorite runs, please share your upgrade stories.  Did you wait until finishing the run to upgrade the key?  Do you sell the book before you get the replacement?  Do you find yourself owning multiples of the same book because you don't sell when you upgrade?  Most importantly, did you ever talk a dealer into taking a lower copy in trade to upgrade on the spot?  How'd you approach it?  Just curious, really.

[FineCollector]

What we collect is probably going to affect our answers significantly, and I'm pretty sure every one of my opinions is contrary to what most people around here think!  I'm a Silver age collector with a preference for nicely presenting mid-grade books.  I like sprinkling gold and atom age books into my collection for flavor, but don't expect to complete runs on my budget.  Nothing I'm after is rare, so I have the luxury of waiting for a copy I find appealing.  I take no additional pleasure in owning a rare book, I just want my copy.

I find resale a hassle, so I rarely upgrade, and I don't buy placeholders.  I buy comics like adopting a pet: we're together until the end.  If prices stay flat, and I can upgrade an issue significantly, I'm open to it, but I'd rather spend my money on something new.  Key or common, it doesn't matter.  As a run collector, every issue is just as important as the next.  The only difference is how many people you have to push aside to get a particular issue.

I try not to carry doubles, and I have no interest holding for investment sake.  That's money I could be using for something I'll appreciate more.

I'm not spending enough money to warrant upgrades with dealers, but in general, probably not a good idea.  No good business man will trade one-for-one, he's going to leave room to markup your copy, and he'll already have his own markup on his copy, so you're getting hit both ways.  Best to just deal in cash.

[theCapraAegagrus]

53 minutes ago, FineCollector said:

What we collect is probably going to affect our answers significantly, and I'm pretty sure every one of my opinions is contrary to what most people around here think!

This.

I don't really collect "runs". I collect stories (i.e. The Dark Knight Returns, The Death of Superman, etc). I don't consider upgrading my DKR #2-4 issues, because they were all signed by Miller and Janson on the same day, despite not being 9.8s.

I also don't consider upgrading my AoS #497 or MoS #19, because aside from never seeing that issue of Adventures of Superman SS in 9.8 hit the open market, I know that there isn't much of a market for the lower-graded issue that I already own.

[Conacon]

I'm more of a "by hook or by crook" guy myself. I wanted to collect Avengers #1-100 (eventually through 200) and I knew I'd have several hurdles.

First and foremost, price. This is a hobby that can't eat too much into the family budget, so I went the reprint route and most of my 1-100 are from MSA and MTA. If given the choice between a cheap low grade issue or a fair-priced mid/high grade issue, I'd go the low road with no intention of trading up. My Avengers 14 is faded and my Avengers 10 had Captain America colored in ink pen, but I'm good with that. As long as I can read the story...

The second hurdle for me is location. There is one LCS in our area, and I've mined the heck out of that one for low-grade Avengers, MTA and MSA. I make occasional trips to Dallas or Austin, but those are few and far between. I troll the local swap shops, flea markets, and resale shops, but they usually don't carry much in the way of comics. 

About the only time I upgrade is when I find a decent-priced actual copy to replace a reprint. However, I will replace a bronze/modern with a better copy when I can b/c 10 year old me was not kind to my collection in the 80's!