Ever Think of Selling Your Entire Collection for One Big Book? 5 5

[Professor K]

Hi everyone, I know a lot of you here have some serious collections so perhaps this question doesn't wouldn't apply to you. If so consider it hypothetical.

Just wondering if anybody beside myself has ever considered selling every book you have to obtain one big one. I think for a lot of us other than the huge million dollar "grails" - Action 1, Tec 27, Captain America 1, Bat 1, Sup 1, maybe Marvel Comics 1, and maybe 2 or 3 others, this could be done. Maybe some have already done this. Doesn't even have to be a Golden Age book. Maybe a high grade Silver or a 9.8 Bronze book. 

Hypothetically if you were to do this what book (or two) would you get ? I've thought about a few. Action 7, Tec 29, 31, or 38. Even a Flash 1. 

Edited March 12, 2022 by Professor K
spelling correction

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

On 3/12/2022 at 3:50 AM, Professor K said:

Hi everyone, I know a lot of you here have some serious collections so perhaps this question doesn't wouldn't apply to you. If so consider it hypothetical.

Just wondering if anybody beside myself has ever considered selling every book you have to obtain one big one. I think for a lot of us other than the huge million dollar "grails" - Action 1, Tec 27, Captain America 1, Bat 1, Sup 1, maybe Marvel Comics 1, and maybe 2 or 3 others, this could be done. Maybe some have already done this. Doesn't even have to be a Golden Age book. Maybe a high grade Silver or a 9.8 Bronze book. 

Hypothetically if you were to do this what book (or two) would you get ? I've thought about a few. Action 7, Tec 29, 31, or 38. Even a Flash 1. 

I’ve done it. I sold maybe a dozen $5k to $10k books a couple years ago to finance a Cap 1.  I’d had the books a few years, which was just long enough to net me about 10% after CC’s seller commission). Like you, I’d posited this same question to the boards beforehand, and got mostly encouragement. A couple comments cautioned me that it may prove more satisfying to own 10 books rather than 1 book, but I haven’t found that true for me. Another cautioned that if I need to free up some $ down the road, I may wish I had a $10k book rather than a $100k book to part with, depending on the need. The only other thing I can think to add concerns long term value. To use a stock analogy, you may be better off with a diversified portfolio, because some books might heat up while other books cool down. With just 1 book, you’re putting all your eggs in one basket. At this exact moment in time, that’s great if you moved into a Bat 1. Jury is still out, IMHO, as to where the market is on a Cap 1. Of the books you name, they all look good. I personally hate Robin, so the Tec 38 wouldn’t be my choice. Love the rest. YMMV.

[Gotham Kid]

On 3/12/2022 at 11:28 AM, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

I personally hate Robin, so the Tec 38 wouldn’t be my choice

I would consider buying a Tec 38 but only at 40-50% off going rate in today's market.

paging @Chicago Boy Robin's greatest cheerleader

The other day on Instagram I saw someone post a handful of (entry level) 38s in his collection. As if 1 copy wouldn't be bad enough. Is that you Chicago Boy ?

Seek HELP. Quickly.

Edited March 12, 2022 by Gotham Kid

[ThothAmon]

I’d happily do it but who’d want all my drek?  Seriously though the fun thing is finding books like these Crows in my collection. Rinse repeat 50x over and I can get a decent Detective 1

[jimbo_7071]

The idea doesn't appeal to me too much. I'm not interested in first appearances; I mostly collect books for the cover art, and there are plenty of affordable books out there with covers that I like quite a bit. There are only a few books on my want list that would be six figures in 8.0, and I can't imagine selling my entire collection to buy one of them and having only one book to look at.

[Nic8612]

I sold off a good chunk of my collection last year for an Amazing Fantasy 15 signed by Stan. That was always my number one personal grail. I've been having fun rebuilding my collection since then

[D84]

I considered it, but now I have too many awesome books to part with for one big one.

Edited March 12, 2022 by D84

[Chief1332]

Timing, always timing.  Your grail may not come up for you again, or at least when you are prepared.

 

[comicginger1789]

I could sell every book I own and probably get a mid grade AF15. But then I’d miss all the books I had more I think so I will never do it. To me, more makes me happy. I love the diversity of my collection more than I’d value one single book

[Straw-Man]

On 3/12/2022 at 9:16 AM, comicginger1789 said:

I could sell every book I own and probably get a mid grade AF15. But then I’d miss all the books I had more I think so I will never do it. To me, more makes me happy. I love the diversity of my collection more than I’d value one single book

i've recently given a good deal of thought into moving my biggest g.a. book and my af 15 undercopy into the highest graded af 15 they would essentially "trade" for.

Edited March 12, 2022 by Straw-Man

[Robot Man]

NO. I love the collection I have built. I would never be able to replace most of them. 

[eccomic]

I would never even entertain that thought....I could never replace the historically, rare and important esoteric books I have taken decades to amass. 

[goldenacase]

I have have thought of selling 4-5 relatively bigger books for one....but not everything 

[Tri-Color Brian]

Nope...

[batman_fan]

My number one rule I have learned over the years, never sell something to buy something else.  Only sell something to cover for something you already bought.

Every time I sold stuff to build a war chest for an upcoming auction I got screwed and the cash gets frittered away.

Edited March 12, 2022 by batman_fan

[Nic8612]

I should clarify I suppose. I have a ton of golden age books that are super rare, I did not part with ANY of those. Most of what I sold were my major ASM and Thor keys. I have a lot of books that are essentially irreplaceable

 

Edit: Also, that AF15 is worth 3x what I paid for it less than a year later. So I'm glad I made the move when I did

Edited March 12, 2022 by Nic8612

[MattTheDuck]

Today, this idea holds no interest for me.  I like being able to go back and re-read books I bought 45 years or more ago.  But I can imagine this sometime in the future because it would be easier on my heirs if they chose to cash out my collection to do that with one book rather than 4000.

Like others, I can say I would sell books I don't care as much about (basically anything I have that's post-Bronze outside certain titles) to pay for all or part of a single sweet high-grade Silver Age key book I don't have like @Straw-Man's AF #15 undercopy.

Edited March 12, 2022 by MattTheDuck

[circumstances]

30+ years after I stopped actively collecting, all I was left with was keys (and my Centaurs).

For the last 10 years (or so) of my collecting I was trading all my gold runs (and hot new stuff - new xmen, spider 252, etc.) for the keys I was looking for.

So I kind of traded my entire collection over a period of time for several keys (bat 1, sup 1, mf 52, flash 1, etc.).

I've scoffed stuff here and there since then (that I don't really consider part of my personal collection), and some things never got traded for keys (more fun 54, 55, action 4, sup 4, tec 5, etc. ).

 

Edited March 12, 2022 by circumstances

[fishbone]

How about this question :   selling some (only some though, not all)  big books to purchase original comic art ?

That's kinda been my MO over the last 4 years   

[Flex Mentallo]

To each his own. I can understand why a collector would want to. It's the reverse for me. Over the past few years, as my posts in other threads show, I've built a library of hardcover books that span the whole spectrum of my various interests and I'm now enjoying reading them. Effectively, my apartment became a three room library. To do so I stopped buying comics, though I held onto what I had. I've no idea what the books cost me, but while it would probably have been more than their resale value, I can be fairly sure that what they cost me would have bought me no more than a handful of GA comics, as opposed to some 1500 to 2000 hardbacks. And I'd have nothing to read. While its certainly true that the hypothetical handful of GA books would have had greater investment potential, I don't think that would have been adequate compensation.