Have you ever taken a wrong turn? 2 2

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

My first love was Timely WWII covers, but in feeding the beast, I soon found myself straying into other areas. Some areas I got lured into by boardie posts, and some areas came only from my fevered brain. Boardies lured me into GGA and LB Cole. I myself took a side trip collecting single pages of noteworthy character developments like first Joker and etc. I don’t know if this is a lack of discipline on my part. Probably so. At any rate, in judging the success of my dalliances, I find that I never look at my GGA, sometimes look at my single pages, and am consumed by my LB Coles. I probably should purge my GGA and put that money into WWII war covers. 
 

anyone else take an alternate path? Which side trips were successful for you, and which ones weren’t?

Edited May 28, 2022 by GreatCaesarsGhost

[Cat-Man_America]

On 5/28/2022 at 10:51 AM, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

My first love was Timely WWII covers, but in feeding the beast, I soon found myself straying into other areas. Some areas I got lured into by boardie posts, and some areas came only from my fevered brain. Boardies lured me into GGA and LB Cole. I myself took a side trip collecting single pages of noteworthy character developments like first Joker and etc. I don’t know if this is a lack of discipline on my part. Probably so. At any rate, in judging the success of my dalliances, I find that I never look at my GGA, sometimes look at my single pages, and am consumed by my LB Coles. I probably should purge my GGA and put that money into WWII war covers. 
 

anyone else take an alternate path? Which side trips were successful for you, and which ones weren’t?

I had a crush on Timely WWII, and Schomburg art has definite sex appeal, but my fickle mind also strayed to romancing Standard and Harvey.  Nedor set the Standard promising Better Schomburg love forward and backwards (Alex to Xela), but Harvey only flirted briefly with my passion then moved on after the war. The most exotic date I ever had was a fling with an exotic Continental Kitten who was into bondage under the guidance of Holyoke's Cat-Man.  With Cat-Man 's encouragement Kitten's charms can't be overstated. For awhile I succumbed to LB Cole art toward the end as I had Quinlan before, but soon realized a whole relationship was all but impossible.  In the long run though, my love of those Timely affairs never quieted. 

GGA is just one of many paths; none of those paths are wrong, but they all lead to more questions than answers. That said, the journey of a thousand comics begins with the first step. 

[shadroch]

I wouldn't call them wrong turns but at times, I bought any and every Schomburg cover I could find, and the same with Atlas war comics that had covers I liked. Now they sit in boxes and every few months I pick a couple to purge. I think of selling them all, but I don't need the money and I think they will appreciate as much as any investmen that I'd put the money into.

Edited May 28, 2022 by shadroch

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

On 5/28/2022 at 12:02 PM, Cat-Man_America said:

I had a crush on Timely WWII, and Schomburg art has definite sex appeal, but my fickle mind also strayed to romancing Standard and Harvey.  Nedor set the Standard promising Better Schomburg love forward and backwards (Alex to Xela), but Harvey only flirted briefly with my passion then moved on after the war. The most exotic date I ever had was a fling with an exotic Continental Kitten who was into bondage under the guidance of Holyoke's Cat-Man.  With Cat-Man 's encouragement Kitten's charms can't be overstated. For awhile I succumbed to LB Cole art toward the end as I had Quinlan before, but soon realized a whole relationship was all but impossible.  In the long run though, my love of those Timely affairs never quieted. 

GGA is just one of many paths; none of those paths are wrong, but they all lead to more questions than answers. That said, the journey of a thousand comics begins with the first step. 

Looks like you and I traveled parallel paths(I guess I better look into this Kitten!).  So did you decide to keep keep your “fling” books? Or did they get tossed overboard?

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

On 5/28/2022 at 12:14 PM, shadroch said:

I wouldn't call them wrong turns but at times, I bought any and every Schomburg cover I could find, and the same with Atlas war comics that had covers I liked. Now they sit in boxes and every few months I pick a couple to purge. I think of selling them all, but I don't need the money and I think they will appreciate as much as any investmen that I'd put the money into.

You’re right. There are no wrong turns. For a side project, Schomburg sounds like a good solid choice. So is there some other genre you view as your wheelhouse “take em to the grave” books?

Edited May 28, 2022 by GreatCaesarsGhost

[path4play]

I re-started started with GGA ('cause that was all I could afford 12 years ago), then went to motorcycle covers, football covers, then anything that tickled my fancy, then pedigrees, and Police Comics pedigrees, then realized I should focus on basically any superheros, sold some that I regret, then in last two years after prices exploded exponentially realized I should never sell anything superhero, now buying covers only and coverless...

But I still like robots...Schomburg motorcycles... and basically anything I can get my hands on that seems affordable.

So, in summary, the only wrong turn was selling anything...

Edited May 28, 2022 by path4play

[shadroch]

As I plan on being cremated, I'm taking nothing to the grave, but I do have two boxes that will be the last to go. Most are SA Marvels, but there is a Captain America 4 or 5, signed by Stan and Joe Simon, that has a Schomburg cover. I don't imagine selling that unless I need the money.  The others are more mundane- Avengers 1,4,9,16. , Ditko Spideys, FF trilogy, ect,ect. Now that I'm thinking about it, if the last book I own is a Defenders 10, I'll be happy.  That is the book that got me back into comics after my friends had convinced me comics weren't cool.

[circumstances]

I am a superhero guy.

When I moved from Silver to Gold, I wanted DC and Timely superhero books, primarily.

Not necessarily completing full runs, but as many as I could get, the earlier the better, and of course I wanted the #1s and first appearances.

Somewhere along the way I started collecting Avon sci fi, but I really only wanted the one-shots and the Wood covers.

I never collected ECs, but over the years I have had all the horror and science fiction ECs (and probably Shock Suspenstories).

I also went on an LB Cole kick, when Overstreet put it in all our heads that it is something we must do.

I had the Masks, and the Law Against Crimes, and the Blue Bolt Weirds, and the Ghostly Weirds, and on and on.

Never collected GGA, Romance, Crime, PCH, Teen, Funny, although many have passed through my hands.

But when it came right down to it, if i could trade lesser comics towards a Bat 1, Supe 1, Torch 1, Subby 1, etc. etc., they were gonzo.

And that is what happened to those Avons, and LB Coles, and ECs and what-have-you.

I am a superhero guy!

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

On 5/28/2022 at 12:31 PM, path4play said:

I re-started started with GGA ('cause that was all I could afford 12 years ago), then went to motorcycle covers, football covers, then anything that tickled my fancy, then pedigrees, and Police Comics pedigrees, then realized I should focus on basically any superheros, sold some that I regret, then in last two years after prices exploded exponentially realized I should never sell anything superhero, now buying covers only and coverless...

But I still like robots...Schomburg motorcycles... and basically anything I can get my hands on that seems affordable.

So, in summary, the only wrong turn was selling anything...

Sounds like you love em all equally.  and yes, all prices have exploded in the last 2 years.  You're saying even if you've moved on to another area, hanging on to your old books makes good financial sense.  I understand

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

On 5/28/2022 at 12:54 PM, circumstances said:

But when it came right down to it, if i could trade lesser comics towards a Bat 1, Supe 1, Torch 1, Subby 1, etc. etc., they were gonzo.

And that is what happened to those Avons, and LB Coles, and ECs and what-have-you.

Logical choice for many reasons.  I too went this path for awhile.  Sold off a bunch of $5k books for Bat and Caps 1.  Now I'm back to drifting sideways and grabbing random books.  

Are you happier with the bigger but fewer books?

[Chief1332]

My biggest wrong turn, was the one that got me hooked.  The very first collection I bought was a small one in rough shape, but I learned a lot, and scored a Matt Baker Diary Secrets 30.

[Scrooge]

Ahhh side trips. All so necessary and most so counter-productive at times. It took me a long time to find my niche with pulps. Knew I was interested but didn't know what to pursue so I started with the obvious (for me), a synchronic collection with pulps circa 1942 and another circa 1939 but they never thrilled as I added to the pile. Meanwhile, I dabbled with hero pulps, the Shadow mostly, and still no spark so to speak. All this took place when I was able to go to the early years of the Windy City show, that's when material was abundant and cheap-ish but I wasted away opportunities to buy quality material readily available. So, yes, side trips with pulps lead me to deeper knowledge but not to strong holdings.

[N e r V]

I’ve always had many interests but lately the Atlas books are more of a focus. Don’t mind the road I’m on…

 

 

[circumstances]

On 5/28/2022 at 2:00 PM, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

Logical choice for many reasons.  I too went this path for awhile.  Sold off a bunch of $5k books for Bat and Caps 1.  Now I'm back to drifting sideways and grabbing random books.  

Are you happier with the bigger but fewer books?

Definitely.

Although I wish I had the cash in those years so that I never had to trade away anything!

I stopped actively collecting over 25 years ago, but I have also been keeping an eye out for the past dozen years or so, grabbing random books that fell through the cracks here and there, which has been super enjoyable.

[buttock]

On 5/28/2022 at 12:00 PM, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

Logical choice for many reasons.  I too went this path for awhile.  Sold off a bunch of $5k books for Bat and Caps 1.  Now I'm back to drifting sideways and grabbing random books.  

Are you happier with the bigger but fewer books?

You're finding that the thrill is in the chase.  It's pretty cool to own a GA mega key, but it's not fun to own a GA mega key. 

[fifties]

I wouldn't say, "a wrong turn", but rather, "a left turn", LOL!  I had always collected PCH books, but some years back, started going after pre code crime fare as well.  Now after 7 boxes worth, including several full runs of them, I've pretty well conquered the genre.  

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

On 5/28/2022 at 5:34 PM, fifties said:

I wouldn't say, "a wrong turn", but rather, "a left turn", LOL!  I had always collected PCH books, but some years back, started going after pre code crime fare as well.  Now after 7 boxes worth, including several full runs of them, I've pretty well conquered the genre.  

Just in the nick of time, too, judging by prices

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

On 5/28/2022 at 1:28 PM, Chief1332 said:

My biggest wrong turn, was the one that got me hooked.  The very first collection I bought was a small one in rough shape, but I learned a lot, and scored a Matt Baker Diary Secrets 30.

Matt Baker mos def took me down a side road

[D84]

My main focus is getting as many golden age Detective Comics as I can, but I've enjoyed my tangents, like More Fun Spectre covers and Wonder Woman. 

[Dr. Love]

My romance collecting was an amusing side turn off of SA superhero, starting off as a goof and turning into a passion. Other side turns were western and giveaways. Those lasted in some cases for decades only to be liquidated in the end for the most part. No regrets.