Omnibus, Absolute, Deluxe, and HC Thread 19 19

[F For Fake]

On 8/1/2022 at 11:30 AM, Flex Mentallo said:

Yeah, Fanta are truly great. I have the original mags, and the Palomar and Luba hardcovers, but I still have this on order! I was lucky to put my order in early and got a good deal with Forbidden Planet here in the UK. But I think it should be fine to wait until the price comes down, as it probably will, and supply chain issues are hopefully behind us!

I'm the same way, I have the magazines, I have those oversize hardcovers, but it should be really nice to read them all again in publication order in this format. It's material I've bought over and over again, but this should be the last hurrah, I'd think! 

[Flex Mentallo]

On a similar note, the next Taschen volume is supposedly due in September, according to Blackwells and Speedyhen here in the UK. It's FF #1-#20.

And good news for Spidey fans, ASM volume 2 is coming next year!

[Flex Mentallo]

On 8/1/2022 at 4:33 PM, F For Fake said:

I'm the same way, I have the magazines, I have those oversize hardcovers, but it should be really nice to read them all again in publication order in this format. It's material I've bought over and over again, but this should be the last hurrah, I'd think! 

Famous last words. I'm old enough to have collected early Marvels when they first came out [don't have any now, sadly]. I was out of collecting for decades - then Marvel Masterworks started appearing circa 1988, and I got roped back in. When omnibi of the same material started being published, I resisted for about a decade before caving - now I have the masterworks and the omnibi.

Then Taschen, with their gigantic pages on proper paper, so the colors look the way they first appeared - so I will have the same material three times over!

Perhaps I need an intervention!

Edited August 1, 2022 by Flex Mentallo

[F For Fake]

On 8/1/2022 at 11:44 AM, Flex Mentallo said:

Famous last words. I'm old enough to have collected early Marvels when they first came out [don't have any now, sadly]. I was out of collecting for decades - then Marvel Masterworks started appearing circa 1988, and I got roped back in. When omnibi of the same material started being published, I resisted for about a decade before caving - now I have the masterworks and the omnibi.

Then Taschen, with their gigantic pages on proper paper, so the colors look the way they first appeared - so I will have the same material three times over!

Perhaps I need an intervention!

If you do, then I definitely do as well! I think I've gotten used to this upgrading game to the point where I don't really mind anymore. Some material I'm just going to buy over and over again, that's how it is ha. I think it's a behavior I inherited from movie collecting. So many movies I bought on VHS, then Laserdisc, then DVD, Blu-Ray (which could be multiple editions, steelbooks, new scans, restorations, etc) and now 4K UHD. How many versions of Alien or Jaws or The Thing have I purchased? Who can say. So, in retrospect, it makes my re-buying of comic material seem practically sane!

[MisterX]

On 8/1/2022 at 2:52 AM, Flex Mentallo said:

Dark Horse Archives - some of my favorite material here!

One of my biggest selling regrets was unloading my Dark Horse archives of Magnus Robot Fighter and Mighty Sampson. 

[Flex Mentallo]

On 8/1/2022 at 9:16 PM, MisterX said:

One of my biggest selling regrets was unloading my Dark Horse archives of Magnus Robot Fighter and Mighty Sampson. 

Magnus prices seem to have gotten a bit silly. Samson maybe less so.

But there is always a possibility that someone will offload a set on eBay for a bargain price. It does happen.

[Flex Mentallo]

As you can see from this rather awkward pic, I'm not terribly bothered about my bookcases - the big challenges are finding the right size shelves, and somehow getting all the jigsaw pieces in more or less the right place. Despite having a three room apartment, I barely have enough space. [But then about half my hardbacks are not remotely related to comics.]

This rather Dickensian shot is of the opposite wall of my bedroom. See what you can spot. I'll finesse some details later!

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 8/2/2022 at 3:46 AM, Flex Mentallo said:

As you can see from this rather awkward pic, I'm not terribly bothered about my bookcases - the big challenges are finding the right size shelves, and somehow getting all the jigsaw pieces in more or less the right place. Despite having a three room apartment, I barely have enough space. [But then about half my hardbacks are not remotely related to comics.]

This rather Dickensian shot is of the opposite wall of my bedroom. See what you can spot. I'll finesse some details later!

That is so damn satisfying to look at.

[F For Fake]

On 8/2/2022 at 3:46 AM, Flex Mentallo said:

As you can see from this rather awkward pic, I'm not terribly bothered about my bookcases - the big challenges are finding the right size shelves, and somehow getting all the jigsaw pieces in more or less the right place. Despite having a three room apartment, I barely have enough space. [But then about half my hardbacks are not remotely related to comics.]

This rather Dickensian shot is of the opposite wall of my bedroom. See what you can spot. I'll finesse some details later!

Lovely stuff. I once again feel that pang of jealousy that I get whenever I see a nice set of those BPRD hardcovers. I really wish I'd jumped on them at the start. At the time, I was buying all of the individual comics, and didn't think I really needed both hardcovers and floppies. Eventually I sold most of my comics in favor of switching to collections, but by then the train had left the station, and prices were up up up. Dark Horse usually does a really good job of keeping popular stuff in print, so I keep holding out hope that we'll eventually get a re-release of the early BPRD volumes, or a new Library Edition treatment to match the beautiful Hellboy Library editions.

In the meantime, I'll just drool over yours! (That's metaphorical drool. I won't drool on your actual books. I'm a collector, after all!)

[theCapraAegagrus]

Are The Boys: Definitive Edition prices due to the show's popularity, or have they always been this ridiculously expensive?

[Flex Mentallo]

On 8/2/2022 at 3:25 PM, theCapraAegagrus said:

Are The Boys: Definitive Edition prices due to the show's popularity, or have they always been this ridiculously expensive?

The last two volumes were astronomically expensive long before the tv series. I had to hold out a long time to land affordable copies.

[Flex Mentallo]

On 8/2/2022 at 3:19 PM, F For Fake said:

Dark Horse usually does a really good job of keeping popular stuff in print, so I keep holding out hope that we'll eventually get a re-release of the early BPRD volumes

There was a time when only DC seemed to reprint regularly - these days everyone seems to be doing it!

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 8/2/2022 at 10:46 AM, Flex Mentallo said:

The last two volumes were astronomically expensive long before the tv series. I had to hold out a long time to land affordable copies.

Contents aside, is the quality worth it? Based on the images I'm seeing they don't appear as nice as, let's say, the Spawn Origins Deluxe series.

[Flex Mentallo]

On 8/2/2022 at 3:51 PM, theCapraAegagrus said:

Contents aside, is the quality worth it? Based on the images I'm seeing they don't appear as nice as, let's say, the Spawn Origins Deluxe series.

Well, there is a new omnibus edition, split into three volumes rather than six, so they'd probably be a better bet. [Although the 'Absolutes' may come down in price now because of the new printing.]

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 8/2/2022 at 10:54 AM, Flex Mentallo said:

Well, there is a new omnibus edition, split into three volumes rather than six, so they'd probably be a better bet. [Although the 'Absolutes' may come down in price now because of the new printing.]

Those are actually perfect. Didn't see them on the Wiki. Saves me $2k.   Much thanks!

[Flex Mentallo]

A better look at my Absolutes et al.

[Flex Mentallo]

This is what's on the shelves surrounding the Absolutes, starting with the Dark Horse...I suppose the most notable volumes are the Colossal Conans, the biggest of which is an absolute brick. Down below are my sets of Creepy Archives and Eerie Archives [not visible in this shot].

[Flex Mentallo]

Some EC Archives, Girasol pulp facsimiles, and various books on related topics.

[Flex Mentallo]

Atomic Age collected editions - I have most of the PSArt horror and sci fi titles on four shelves, but hard to get the camera at them. The Craig Yoe anthologies are fun - and the repo is superior to the PSArt books. The Brenda Starr book is quite scarce.

[Flex Mentallo]

Some of my better books here - I'll delve into these a bit tomorrow!