Djrodunchained Posted November 29, 2020 Share Posted November 29, 2020 I might be a little younger then some of you, 41 currently. I started collecting as a kid and my older brother got me into some great older stories. I amassed a humble but decent collection when I quit collecting in the 90's due to lack of quality in the industry. I lugged around 4 long boxes for about 2 decades, only to sell them all together about 2 years ago. I've dipped my toes back in a bit, carefully buying a few comics here. I definitely regret selling some of my books as I see what it would cost to replace them (Amazing Spiderman #15). I find it a fun hobby again! I've always collected for the nostalgia (I don't flip or look to buy books just to sell for a profit) and to display comic books as art. While the internet has made finding pretty much any comic relatively simple, its lost the charm and fun of finding books in person, or looking and searching for it with a bit of work/time commitment. I hope all of you guys a bit older then me can find someone to pass on your collections to who will appreciate them, or sell them and enjoy the remainders of your life and fruits of your labor! The Lions Den 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post SeniorSurfer Posted November 29, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted November 29, 2020 So many good and thoughtful responses that mirror what I’ve felt at differing times, as does your original post. Despite my low posting number, I’m one of the older aged collectors (60+) that has been doing this off-and-on-again, like many others. I was introduced to comics when I was a kid in the early 60s by my cousin. Older by one year, I would emulate him in most everything and this was no exception. He taught me about issue numbering and since he had more books, I would borrow a title from him to read cover-to-cover, then later return them to borrow another title. I still remember passing them back and forth in an old 45 RPM record case which would hold all the issues of a title - only 20-30 in those early days. He later stopped, but I kept going… absorbing his collection and wondering how high those numbers would reach while plugging in the ones that were missing when conventions and bookstores started replacing spinner racks. That question was answered when prices steadily continued to increase dramatically, storylines didn’t seem as interesting and the success of the comic business led to loyal readers being treated like (I felt) never-ending cash machines that were supposed to buy anything printed (multiple books with the same character, crossovers with other uninteresting books that I didn’t collect, title reboots starting with new numbers, etc.). I’m not telling you anything new as most of us lived it. I stopped buying… plugging those holes… collecting for more than 20 years. Like most here, I crated those boxes around through several home addresses. Troublesome as they were, I knew they were worth something and they also gave me a sense of comfort when I would see them… a sense of nostalgia and of happier times. Then people I knew started to pass away: Parents, friends, relatives, acquaintances. Some because of age, some unexpectedly, some way too young, but all had a lifetime of “stuff” which seemed now to be a burden to the living. I reflected how these things might have meant something to their owners and cringed to see how they were disposed of by those left… maybe not so much because of an uncaring nature but other circumstances, like lack of time, lack of storage, etc. From then on I started to pare things down, not only in comics but in any other material that could be looked at as “stuff.” The money and space accumulated, I discovered new experiences… different things to learn, traveling with my wife… new memories that made life pleasing just as those older items did, including the comics. I found (just as someone else here commented) that there wasn’t going to be enough time to see all the old movies I want to see, to travel to all the places I want to go, or to read all the books I want to go through, much less re-read or re-watch or re-visit. Solution? Step back as you’ve done and think about the future, however unknowable your remaining time. Comics still give me pleasure and I’ve refocused now to obtain some super key issues that I never had – a sort of plugging of the holes, albeit in limited form – so I can condense my collecting fervor and hopefully reach a sense of finality and accomplishment in 1-2 boxes. I agree with a previous boardie who advocated not getting rid of Omnis or other collected works of older books if they still give you satisfaction and enjoyment to read as it’s better to have choices. I retain some Omnis and those old DVDs from the GIT Corp that scanned completed runs of the books I collected (though I admit I’ll open an old book at my side so the smell of pulp wafts up while reading those more antiseptic genres). I’ll continue to watch old movies I’ve missed (hey if I haven’t seen them, they’re new to me) and continue to travel when this &$*#$@ pandemic allows. And I’ll continue to pare things down - more things go out of my house than the amount that goes in. And if I can't quite get that other book or obtain that elusive item, I’ll keep reminding myself that we’re only caretakers of any physical things that, as is often remarked, you can’t take with you anyway. troydivision1, piper, iggy and 7 others 9 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Buzzetta Posted November 29, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted November 29, 2020 35 minutes ago, Randall Dowling said: FWIW, I personally don't recommend making any major life decisions during this pandemic. It's gone on for way too long and can start to feel like the new normal. It isn't. It will end. And when it does, life will look and feel very different than it does now and than it did before the pandemic. Wait until it's over if you can. I've also gone through cycles of interest and complete disinterest and the one lesson I've found is that sooner or later, everything comes back around. I completely disagree... This pandemic shook people out of their comfort zone and perhaps opened their eyes to reevaluate priorities. At the end of the day, this is nothing but 'stuff'. troydivision1, Ken Aldred, SeniorSurfer and 9 others 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WolverineX Posted November 29, 2020 Share Posted November 29, 2020 @NoMan honestly, i would rather have a Porsche then an Action 1 or whatever rare slab you have hidden away . Enjoy that fast car. Robot Man and davidtere 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post shadroch Posted November 29, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 29, 2020 16 hours ago, Domo Arigato said: This. If you simply have no interest in opening the shop or working in it, then that's understandable. However, there is a lot of pent up cabin fever in people.....and once a vaccine is wide spread, there could very likely be a massive surge in tourism which could have a big impact on your business. If this happens, would it be possible to hire someone part time to run the store when you aren't there? This would allow you to continue to hunt (which some people enjoy) for unique items for your store, without having to work the retail counter full time. Just a thought. I still plan on opening my shop at some point, it just won't be focused on comics. In January, I plan on moving in and doing yard sales every weekend. To live in the building and have a business in it at the same time, I need to do certain improvements. I can live in it as long as it isn't open to the public, and I can do unlimited yard sales since it is a commercial property. If I can handle working two days and find someone to do two days, I'll be good. For the first time in almost thirty years, I don't have a dog so I'm free to travel. I'm hoping to be able to do that this spring. For the last twenty-five years or so, I've looked at comics as an investment, a nestegg for my retirement. I'm six years into my retirement and while I've sold more than I bought the last few years, I still thought of being retired as somewhere down the road. I look around and it's obvious I'm suffering from stuffitis. I like swords, but I don't need forty of them. I like old obsolete currency- silver certificates, national bank notes, brown and red seal notes, ect, ect, but in most cases I have dozens of them. I like old tin soldiers, but don't need hundreds of them. Yesterday I came across five Wolverine min-series slabs. Turns out I have four 9.8s and a 9.6. I thought I had two 9.8s., so I could sell the three books, pocket $800+ and be where I thought I was to start with. I have four long boxes of Legion books,almost all Adventures and Superboys. I also have a complete set of Legion archives and at least one Omnibus sized book. Too much stuff. I found a short box that was labeled Unbagged DCs.In it were 40 Crisis #1s, a dozen Perez Wonder Woman 1s, and about a hundred various issues of Watchmen, multiple copies of Blue Beetle and Booster Gold #1s. I'm guessing I put this away in the late 80s and somehow it never got opened. I have two long boxes of Tales of Suspense. I went thru them and picked the best copy of each issue, but that left me well over 300 books, mostly low to midgrade. Most of my SA books are in the 4.0-6.0 range with many being below that. In the 90s, TOS was dollar box fodder and I'd buy whatever I saw. I should have been a bit more selective but even the worse of them has made a profit. It's not like I'm going to dump everything to a dealer for twenty cents on the dollar. The market is up right now and it seems like a good time to sell. I'm just surprised I have lost my emotional attachments to the books. In the past, it hurt to sell a book. Now I ship boxes to MCS and get a thrill when they sell. HighVoltage, oldmilwaukee6er, Larryw7 and 9 others 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Robot Man Posted November 29, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted November 29, 2020 This year has been a real wake up call for me. Although my collection has kept me real occupied and kept my mind off the real world, the enormity of it has really sunk in. As many of you might know. Comic books are only one part of it. I also collect (or have accumulated) a LOT of old toys, sports stuff, advertising and other memorabilia. Anything with color and graphic eye appeal have always appealed to me. I have started selling off a lot of this stuff. I have found I really don’t miss it as much as I thought I would. The money brings me very little pleasure but the thought that it won’t be a burden to my family is comforting. I have always been just a “caretaker” of this stuff anyway. The comics are a bit harder. They have always been my first love. In 50 years, I have amassed a pretty incredible collection. The fun and satisfaction I have had assembling this collection is well worth more than mere money. But, these things just represent the “thrill of the hunt” to me. I can’t imagine not going out and digging up this stuff. The thought is very depressing. I can’t imagine not having that package in the mail or show to look forward to. But I have realized that there is a lot of stuff I have more “accumalated” as opposed to have seemed out. This stuff is easy to part with. I have realized that life and my family are way more important than stuff. Hey, what good is stuff packed away that only I get to enjoy? I plan to sell off a lot of stuff and take my family on a nice vacation when this pandemic is over. I’d rather have my family remember me not my collection. That being said, I will never part with it all. I can’t imagine living in a place without some of it in my life. And, as long as I am able, I will be out looking for that holy grail. WolverineX, silverseeker, Readcomix and 11 others 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mephisto Posted November 29, 2020 Share Posted November 29, 2020 (edited) On 11/28/2020 at 12:10 PM, shadroch said: I've been collecting comics since 1972 and they have been a major part of my life. I've owned two comic shops, managed a third, done countless shows and been buying and selling on the internet since the day after I got my first webtv. Two years ago, I decided to move from Las Vegas to Bisbee ,with the intention of opening a shop that would have a large comic presence. I ran into a few roadblocks and then the virus came along setting me back further. I never dreamed I would be in a position of almost no money coming in for 18 months and I also realized I no longer really want to work. It's been six years since I worked more than an occasional part time gig and the thought of opening a shop and being there fulltime simply isn't appealing anymore. Two weeks ago, I decided I would break into my " retirement vault" - my 100 books worth at least $1,000 each, and sell five of them. In 2016, circumstances forced me into the same situation and I really agonized over which two books to sell. It was like ripping a child out of my arms. This time it was different. Avengers 1 was my pride and joy, now I look at it and see $3,000. My Avengers 4- signed by Stan and Joe Simon-that one I will hold onto. Captain America Comics- I love the Schomburg covers, but I have an original painting and two lithos that are much nicer. I'm still finding a few books I have an emotional tie to- Defenders 10, Captain America 3, the Legion Adventures, Judge Dredd 1, but increasingly I look at the rest and I just see dollar bills. Even when one lives alone, sixty plus comic boxes take up a lot of space. I'm reminded of my friends Mom. Her husband worked for Con Ed and over the course of his career, managed to buy $250,000 worth of stock in the company. I'm sure he intended that to provide for his family, but when he died the mother refused to sell the stock. She insisted that her beloved husband scrimped and saved to buy them the stock and it would dishonor his memory if they were to sell them. He ended up leaving CW Post to go to a state school because they didn't have the money. My son, whom I am not close with, and my nephews, who I am close to , have zero interest in my books. If I die, they would be a burden on my nephew to sell. In my will, I leave my books to a comic industry charity. but they can have what is left over. I also have underestimated what these book are going for. A GS X-Men I bought on these boards for $300 sold for $920 even when it turned out to be restored , and another copy I bought from MCS for $410 just sold for $1400. While I don't "need" the money, those two books just allowed me to buy a nice patio set. I've thought about selling out in the past, but I'm pretty sure this time I will go thru with it. I look at my two bookcases full of Omni's , Archives and Masterpeces and realize I will most likely never get around to reading them. Time to pass them along to someone who will appreciate them. I think I will still bargain hunt when I can, but 99% of my collection no longer means much to me. Forgive my rant, I thought writing this might make me feel different but it didn't. I’ve been losing interest in collecting across the board especially art. Takes up a lot of wall space. Constantly battling light (probably overly parnoid) but my fiancé always has to have the blinds open to the max. I’m also finding that the only collectors I actually enjoy talking to about any hobbies or life in general are from these boards. The people I’ve meet through FB add nothing to my collecting or life in general and most of them are just a literal waste of my time. I had one guy just see a few pictures of art that were posted on a couple of artists pages add me FB. It only took me about 2 weeks before I just blocked him. With comics I have concerns about paper quality holding up and damage in the slab especially tears at the Staples. I can’t believe how much more pronounced tanning I am seeing on 60’s books compared to 12-15 years ago. Trimming in the graded sports card community is out of control but prices remain insane. There has been shenanigans with graded Magic cards too. All these things just make it hard to keep my interest in actually collecting. I’ve actually been more interested in stocks. Building a portfolio actually feels a lot like collecting. Don’t have to ship anything when you sell. You can collect dividends, which could be another reason your friend’s mom didn’t want to sell. $250,000 of Con Ed stock would pay out almost 10K a year in dividends currently. Not sure about what the payout was like at the time your friend was in college at that value. Edited November 29, 2020 by Mephisto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Get Marwood & I Posted November 29, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted November 29, 2020 19 minutes ago, Robot Man said: This year has been a real wake up call for me. Although my collection has kept me real occupied and kept my mind off the real world, the enormity of it has really sunk in. As many of you might know. Comic books are only one part of it. I also collect (or have accumulated) a LOT of old toys, sports stuff, advertising and other memorabilia. Anything with color and graphic eye appeal have always appealed to me. I have started selling off a lot of this stuff. I have found I really don’t miss it as much as I thought I would. The money brings me very little pleasure but the thought that it won’t be a burden to my family is comforting. I have always been just a “caretaker” of this stuff anyway. The comics are a bit harder. They have always been my first love. In 50 years, I have amassed a pretty incredible collection. The fun and satisfaction I have had assembling this collection is well worth more than mere money. But, these things just represent the “thrill of the hunt” to me. I can’t imagine not going out and digging up this stuff. The thought is very depressing. I can’t imagine not having that package in the mail or show to look forward to. But I have realized that there is a lot of stuff I have more “accumalated” as opposed to have seemed out. This stuff is easy to part with. I have realized that life and my family are way more important than stuff. Hey, what good is stuff packed away that only I get to enjoy? I plan to sell off a lot of stuff and take my family on a nice vacation when this pandemic is over. I’d rather have my family remember me not my collection. That being said, I will never part with it all. I can’t imagine living in a place without some of it in my life. And, as long as I am able, I will be out looking for that holy grail. The balance I found, to keep comics in my life, was to replace the expensive - AF#15, ASM#1-20 etc - with the inexpensive and yet, as it turns out, equally satisfying Charlton 1960's pence copies. So I still get parcels, I'm still in the hunt, I still get the thrill, go to fairs and shops, trawl online and I still get to record, document, share and explore. And all I have is a thousand or so comics that won't mind too much if circumstances mean that they end their life in a skip. Sell that AF#15, buy a car, go on holiday or secure your families income. Then set a few pennies aside for Gorgo, Doctor Tom Brent, Cynthia Doyle, Black Fury..... tv horror, lizards2, FineCollector and 3 others 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmehdy Posted November 29, 2020 Share Posted November 29, 2020 (edited) One other point I would like to make about the difference between collecting today and say 1960's 1970's 1980's is when you left and sold your books, there was no way you could really get that material again in any form. Today with the incredible reprints, I can buy 3 Vols of Fantastic Four hardcover bigger in size, better in color and get FF 1-93 plus annuals of unpublished covers for around $300...(note they are reprinting Omb #2/3 in 2021). I agree with your beater copies nothing compares to the smell, feeling of holding that original book. But if they are slabbed you cannot read them anyway. So I can see how it is easier to disconnect from collecting today, rather having the actual physical copies you should STILL be considered a collector even if you just have the Big reprint books. But way back when, when you were out, you really out Today, if you come back you can still get the material that who sold back in a different format. I think it is a very interesting issue here..can you still be considered a true comic book collector with a collection of reprints...? any thoughts... Edited November 29, 2020 by Mmehdy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuscemasAvengers Posted November 29, 2020 Share Posted November 29, 2020 23 hours ago, Get Marwood & I said: This might sound silly but I had the most superb collection of books and I sold the lot as I saw no way forward with them, having no outlet or friends to share them with and having completed the various collecting goals I'd set. Then I found this forum and realised I could have got so much pleasure sharing the stuff with the crowd here. Variants, misprints, inserts - a thread of enthusiasts to show off to for each and every damn book. I've always had lousy timing in my life. Perhaps we should hop in this car and correct ... Get Marwood & I 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Man Posted November 29, 2020 Share Posted November 29, 2020 24 minutes ago, shadroch said: I still plan on opening my shop at some point, it just won't be focused on comics. In January, I plan on moving in and doing yard sales every weekend. To live in the building and have a business in it at the same time, I need to do certain improvements. I can live in it as long as it isn't open to the public, and I can do unlimited yard sales since it is a commercial property. If I can handle working two days and find someone to do two days, I'll be good. For the first time in almost thirty years, I don't have a dog so I'm free to travel. I'm hoping to be able to do that this spring. For the last twenty-five years or so, I've looked at comics as an investment, a nestegg for my retirement. I'm six years into my retirement and while I've sold more than I bought the last few years, I still thought of being retired as somewhere down the road. I look around and it's obvious I'm suffering from stuffitis. I like swords, but I don't need forty of them. I like old obsolete currency- silver certificates, national bank notes, brown and red seal notes, ect, ect, but in most cases I have dozens of them. I like old tin soldiers, but don't need hundreds of them. Yesterday I came across five Wolverine min-series slabs. Turns out I have four 9.8s and a 9.6. I thought I had two 9.8s., so I could sell the three books, pocket $800+ and be where I thought I was to start with. I have four long boxes of Legion books,almost all Adventures and Superboys. I also have a complete set of Legion archives and at least one Omnibus sized book. Too much stuff. I found a short box that was labeled Unbagged DCs.In it were 40 Crisis #1s, a dozen Perez Wonder Woman 1s, and about a hundred various issues of Watchmen, multiple copies of Blue Beetle and Booster Gold #1s. I'm guessing I put this away in the late 80s and somehow it never got opened. I have two long boxes of Tales of Suspense. I went thru them and picked the best copy of each issue, but that left me well over 300 books, mostly low to midgrade. Most of my SA books are in the 4.0-6.0 range with many being below that. In the 90s, TOS was dollar box fodder and I'd buy whatever I saw. I should have been a bit more selective but even the worse of them has made a profit. It's not like I'm going to dump everything to a dealer for twenty cents on the dollar. The market is up right now and it seems like a good time to sell. I'm just surprised I have lost my emotional attachments to the books. In the past, it hurt to sell a book. Now I ship boxes to MCS and get a thrill when they sell. Your situation is a bit different than mine. I don’t have massive amounts of “newer” books and none in quantity. I probably have most of that stuff but single copies. This stuff means nothing to me. If it doesn’t fit in my house or garage, I don’t have it. I can’t imagine having storage units or buildings to store it in. I have always been “quality” over “quantity”. But in 50 years I have a lot more quality than I need. For instance, I probably have 15 boxes of pre and some post code horror books. My favorite genre. If I didn’t have it, I bought it. I am probably a dozen books short of completing an Atlas run. I have gotton to the point where I question do I really need to spend the amount of money I would need to in order to just be “complete”? I don’t think so. So in many respects, I am done. I really don’t want to sell them all off. Everybody wants the keys or classic covers they would sell in minutes or a phone call but what about the more run of the mill issues? Not that they aren’t very cool too but I don’t really want to just blow them out after spending so much effort in finding them. Many, I can’t imagine selling at all. I have left my family a complete inventory list and a few people I trust when they want it gone. What about other genres? War, Crime, GGA, Superhero, Same story. I know, tough problem to have... The “other stuff” is a lot more work. Everybody wants old gas and advertising signs and figures out here. Vintage space and character toys ect Problem is it is very hard to be sold online. March was to be the month I was going to ramp up doing live shows. 2 or 3 a month. I had organized boxes and sorted out a ton of stuff. Then, everything shut down. No idea when shows will be back. I’ve still got plenty of time (I hope) just lost my momentum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Dowling Posted November 29, 2020 Share Posted November 29, 2020 1 hour ago, Buzzetta said: At the end of the day, this is nothing but 'stuff'. davidtere, snitzer and Norrin's lawyer 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post BuscemasAvengers Posted November 29, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted November 29, 2020 (edited) Shad: by the range of responses in the thread so far, you've obviously hit a good nerve, perhaps a gusher, among the collecting crew. So many things to ponder, such as the mere materialism of the hobby (stuff we cannot take with us), the enjoyment of the art and stories, the current value of many books, making a decision during a time of pandemic (or seeing more clearly during a time of pandemic), and so on. There is one thing you simply cannot deny: it has been a significant part of your life, and you have, through habituation, allowed it to shape a little/a lot of who you are. One thing you may ask yourself, if you haven't done so already, is: am I comfortable with acknowledging this part of myself? I do not know you, good sir, but I'm hoping you would be, even though you're experiencing these thoughts at the present. Significant experiences in our lives demand significant time for reflection and contemplation. Take your time with this one ... Edited November 30, 2020 by BuscemasAvengers Randall Dowling, Mmehdy, Robot Man and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Man Posted November 29, 2020 Share Posted November 29, 2020 23 minutes ago, Mephisto said: I’ve been losing interest in collecting across the board especially art. Takes up a lot of wall space. Constantly battling light (probably overly parnoid) but my fiancé always has to have the blinds open to the max. I’m also finding that the only collectors I actually enjoy talking to about any hobbies or life in general are from these boards. The people I’ve meet through FB add nothing to my collecting or life in general and most of them are just a literal waste of my time. I had one guy just see a few pictures of art that were posted on a couple of artists pages add me FB. It only took me about 2 weeks before I just blocked him. With comics I have concerns about paper quality holding up and damage in the slab especially tears at the Staples. I can’t believe how much more pronounced tanning I am seeing on 60’s books compared to 12-15 years ago. Trimming in the graded sports card community is out of control but prices remain insane. There has been shenanigans with graded Magic cards too. All these things just make it hard to keep my interest in actually collecting. I’ve actually been more interested in stocks. Building a portfolio actually feels a lot like collecting. Don’t have to ship anything when you sell. You can collect dividends, which could be another reason your friend’s mom didn’t want to sell. $250,000 of Con Ed stock would pay out almost 10K a year in dividends currently. Not sure about what the payout was like at the time your friend was in college at that value. I know what you mean. What good is all this stuff if you can’t share it with other collectors? I respect dedicated collectors of almost anything. A friend who passed away this year had a museum quality collection of south sea islands primitive art. Masks, war clubs, paddles, knives, spears and art. Not my thing at all but going over to his place and seeing his passion was always inspiring to me. I have no worry of damage. I keep my comics in a cool, dry dark place. Stuff on the walls are protected from direct light. Three dimensional items are in display cases or on shelves and neat. My worst problem is dusting... Money is boring. It is just simply a vehicle to obtain more stuff or to travel or for experiences. Money isn’t that hard to obtain if I want it. My needs are simple. I have set myself up so I don’t have to deal with it and live a happy life. I’d much rather have another vintage electric guitar than a pile of cash or a stock certificate. But how many more do I really need? oldmilwaukee6er and lizards2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Man Posted November 29, 2020 Share Posted November 29, 2020 28 minutes ago, Mmehdy said: One other point I would like to make about the difference between collecting today and say 1960's 1970's 1980's is when you left and sold your books, there was no way you could really get that material again in any form. Today with the incredible reprints, I can buy 3 Vols of Fantastic Four hardcover bigger in size, better in color and get FF 1-93 plus annuals of unpublished covers for around $300...(note they are reprinting Omb #2/3 in 2021). I agree with your beater copies nothing compares to the smell, feeling of holding that original book. But if they are slabbed you cannot read them anyway. So I can see how it is easier to disconnect from collecting today, rather having the actual physical copies you should STILL be considered a collector even if you just have the Big reprint books. But way back when, when you were out, you really out. I think it is a very interesting issue here..can you still be considered a true comic book collector with a collection of reprints...? any thoughts... Reprints are OK I guess. They get the job done but kind of like sex with a condom. Just nothing like the real thing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spidrvacc Posted November 29, 2020 Share Posted November 29, 2020 (edited) I think the only thing now keeping me from selling now is the effort to sell and the tax implications. Not sure if thats an issue with everyone else. I dont want to sell piece by piece. Want to take all 500 books and sell eventually but these are more expensive books. Could be quite a bit of money . My issue and maybe some others here. I purchase these things 20 plus years ago. I got no receipts for anything. Will get stuck getting taxed at full sale price. ( I was an accountant in a previous life ). Its an issue for me . Maybe I just started separate thread on that for advice. But definitely an issue for me. Edited November 29, 2020 by spidrvacc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Man Posted November 29, 2020 Share Posted November 29, 2020 54 minutes ago, Get Marwood & I said: The balance I found, to keep comics in my life, was to replace the expensive - AF#15, ASM#1-20 etc - with the inexpensive and yet, as it turns out, equally satisfying Charlton 1960's pence copies. So I still get parcels, I'm still in the hunt, I still get the thrill, go to fairs and shops, trawl online and I still get to record, document, share and explore. And all I have is a thousand or so comics that won't mind too much if circumstances mean that they end their life in a skip. Sell that AF#15, buy a car, go on holiday or secure your families income. Then set a few pennies aside for Gorgo, Doctor Tom Brent, Cynthia Doyle, Black Fury..... Although, I have always hated selling big books unless for a solid reason, real estate, college educations, or other life changing situations, I have done so with no regrets. I realized at the time that they would be gone forever but hey, I know I actually owned them for a while. Past few years, I have seen prices climb to a point that I really just can’t enjoy blowing so much money on something that in the long run, I could live happily without. I really never want to be out of the hunt either. The journey is so much better than the destination. So, I have just adjusted my expectations. Spending $20.-$100. on a book brings me a whole lot of fun and satisfaction. BuscemasAvengers, HighVoltage, Get Marwood & I and 1 other 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Monstro Posted November 29, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted November 29, 2020 I had very similar feelings about my comics 10 years ago, maybe a little longer. But I didn't sell anything, I just stacked the boxes in multiple closets and completely forgot about them. I did not look at them once. If I thought about them I couldn't imagine ever collecting again. About 3 months ago I decided I would finally sell them. Pulled them all out to begin putting together a detailed list of what I have. Next thing I knew I had fallen in love with them again. Haven't sold a single issue, instead I've added about 30 books to my collection. Good times. oldmilwaukee6er, ADAMANTIUM, Mmehdy and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Man Posted November 29, 2020 Share Posted November 29, 2020 1 minute ago, Monstro said: I had very similar feelings about my comics 10 years ago, maybe a little longer. But I didn't sell anything, I just stacked the boxes in multiple closets and completely forgot about them. I did not look at them once. If I thought about them I couldn't imagine ever collecting again. About 3 months ago I decided I would finally sell them. Pulled them all out to begin putting together a detailed list of what I have. Next thing I knew I had fallen in love with them again. Haven't sold a single issue, instead I've added about 30 books to my collection. Good times. Smart move. Sometimes you just need a little “vacation”... Monstro 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JollyComics Posted November 29, 2020 Share Posted November 29, 2020 (edited) Back in 1998, I was serious to open the comic book store in Illinois but too many roadblocks were ahead of me. My dad is very good with money and understood the business functionally and structurally. He has excellent business credits and was ready to support me. Only two main things prevented the privilege of opening the business were the office space rental for 2400 sq feet and Diamond Comic Distribution subscription. The space rental was about $1800 per month and DCD's minimum requirement was $250 per month. We were kind of too late to run the comic book store. The best time to start the business was 1986. I am 12 years too late. Too many greedy banks keep increasing the rental fees every year. Now, that same office space rental was increased to $3400 a month and is still vacant. DCD is still screwing up the businesses. I would see why so many comic book stores were out of the business and have seen many vacant office spaces out there. The greedy took the thrill out of us. I am happy that I didn't open the business but I missed the thrills in 1980's. Edited November 29, 2020 by JollyComics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...