news story on Detroit comic collection 7 7

[valiantman]

On 3/28/2023 at 11:13 AM, lostboys said:

Before he passed, he shouldve sold the entire collection to a random 14 year old comic lover for $1.

Isn't that the exact story of how Chuck got the Edgar Church collection? 

[thehumantorch]

On 3/28/2023 at 8:55 AM, 01TheDude said:

that these news people keep referring to it as hoarding is just ridiculous. The family was so ashamed? yeah enoy those millions to help get over your idiotic shame

Rooms full of collectibles, cards, comics, toys, who knows what else.  And what looks like shipping containers actually built into the house to store his collection.   Clearly this collector was beyond the norm and likely difficult to live with and I think it's fair to call it hoarding no matter what it's worth now.

For his family, who didn't share his passion,  dealing with the clutter and the expense would be very difficult.  I think we should remember that we love our hobbies but our family and friends may not and we should respect that.

[kaculler]

I knew Dale and thought he was a pretty nice guy.  He was the lawyer for the comic store I worked at until it closed in 2005 (Classic Movie and Comic Center in Livonia, MI).  He had been the lawyer for the store since before I started working there in 1986.  I didn't know that his collection was that huge, but it doesn't surprise me that much.

[Robot Man]

On 3/28/2023 at 10:41 AM, Readcomix said:

I can’t find “Fantast” as a boardie handle, so I guess he wasn’t on here. Is Harley Yee ever on here? Surely, someone who amassed 300,000 books in the Detroit area must have crossed his path.

Apparently, this collection is being broken up and sold already. I bought this one and a few others from Harley at WonderCon on Friday. No notation or mention of the collection. I was just buying the books. After I paid, he asked me if I wanted the COA? He filled it out and slipped it behind the back board. So now I guess I’m part of the new hype…

[Robot Man]

On 3/28/2023 at 9:24 AM, seanfingh said:

It 100% was hoarding.  It's pretty clear that in some ways the dad poured more into the hoard than he did into his family. The son still obviously was very emotionally attached to his dad - but he clearly wanted the dad to include him more in whatever the dad was into. They hinted at the fact that no one was allowed to touch anything. It's possible that no one else was allowed into the home.  It seems like a pretty jacked up situation.

Hoarders usually hoard junk and trash and don’t take care of it. I would rather think of it as a “compulsion”. Maybe even kind of a mental illness at this point.

This story rings soundly like Edgar Church. Except his heirs, seemed to just want to wash him and his compulsion out of their lives.

When the compulsion alienates your family to this extent, it is very sad.

His family now seems to enjoy the limelight and the financial rewards these are going to give them. 

 

[Krismusic]

I feel so torn about this story… I mean on the one hand I felt bad for Dale that his family only now seems happy about his collection after they realize they won the lottery…. But they seem so bitter about it kind of but I understand that they said he alienated them no one was allowed to touch the books etc… and it caused a divorce… I wonder if she would of divorced him knowing it was a huge pay day down the road or not… but either way rest in peace and good luck to the family hopefully this moment everyone can find happiness and move forward in a positive way! 

[MetaHuman]

It's too bad that his desire to collect cost him his marriage. It's also too bad he didn't want to include his children in his hobby as many dads do through sports, comics, etc. .... He might have created a next generation of comic book collectors to keep his legacy going.  

[valiantman]

The CGC 7.0 Superman #1 was graded 12/30/2020. https://www.cgccomics.com/certlookup/3764915020/

The CGC 8.0 Batman #1 was graded 12/31/2020.  https://www.cgccomics.com/certlookup/3764916014/

 

 

[JQ Comics]

[1950's war comics]

he had a passion for collecting  and he stored them very safe and secure !!

[piper]

On 3/28/2023 at 3:40 PM, kaculler said:

I knew Dale and thought he was a pretty nice guy.  He was the lawyer for the comic store I worked at until it closed in 2005 (Classic Movie and Comic Center in Livonia, MI).  He had been the lawyer for the store since before I started working there in 1986.  I didn't know that his collection was that huge, but it doesn't surprise me that much.

I loved that shop!

[Telegan]

While it is hoarding in a way, consider the fact he apparently also had Asperger's Syndrome, so the wild collecting/hoarding/whatever you want to call it may be somewhat explained by that.  His focus, repetitive collecting, organization of the comics (?) to that extent may be a direct result of Asperger's.  In any case, I can understand why the family may have found it difficult to deal with this.  I'm guessing when you have shipping containers worth of "stuff" all around the house, it may have gotten a bit much for the average person to deal with.  Especially understandable why they'd be kind of perturbed when they said they never really knew what was inside the boxes - all they knew was they may have contained some popular comics.  I really don't have any issues with him doing it or them getting perturbed by it.  It's an incredible collection.

[serling1978]

On 3/28/2023 at 12:13 PM, lostboys said:

Before he passed, he shouldve sold the entire collection to a random 14 year old comic lover for $1.

 

Don't underestimate how quickly I can make myself look like a 14 year old comic lover.

[1Cool]

The story kind of turns my stomach.  Family despised this guys collecting habits but now are wearing t-shirts about his cool collecting habits.  Son says his Dad was visionary enough to buy multiple copies of key books but if they were all ratty duck books and archies then I seriously doubt he would view his dad as a visionary.  You can't have it both ways.  Oh well - hope they enjoy spending the millions and toast their obsessive dad after every drink.

[joeypost]

I picked up a few of these from Harley in California at Terrys show. The colors are dripping they look so fresh. 

[FoggyNelson]

Watched the video an he has millions of items ‼️👍💰💰💰

[lostboys]

The dude was a lawyer? So he probably had money to burn.

Not everyone loves collecting gold bars, expensive cars and real estate. If his family was fed and cared for then I honestly dont see why this would be such a negative.

He obviously took the time to store his collection and make sure it stayed fresh. Thats not hoarding, thats just collecting on the next level. 99% of us will never sniff that level so maybe its just hard for us to grasp.

He bought storage containers for Gods sake! Its not like there were stacks of comics under the bathroom sink.

And his family can say what they like about not being included in his hobby NOW.

Who knows how they felt back then. I know my children, ages 14 and 23, have ZERO interest in my comic collecting. 

Ive tried my best but you cant force someone to love what you love.

We watch Marvel movies together but they simply dont want to read comic books.

Edited March 29, 2023 by lostboys

[seanfingh]

On 3/28/2023 at 5:52 PM, Robot Man said:

Hoarders usually hoard junk and trash and don’t take care of it. I would rather think of it as a “compulsion”. Maybe even kind of a mental illness at this point.

This story rings soundly like Edgar Church. Except his heirs, seemed to just want to wash him and his compulsion out of their lives.

When the compulsion alienates your family to this extent, it is very sad.

His family now seems to enjoy the limelight and the financial rewards these are going to give them. 

 

I think you are dead on.  Whatever nomenclature you attach, you have a dad that, while putting together an amazing array of comics and other collectibles, missed the hearts of his people.  No amount of attention or money is going to fix that.

[gcstomp]

Family was told not to enter certain rooms, not at all allowing family to participate in his life passion during life. Friends were not allowed over, no one was even allowed to mention the comics to others, and the family themselves were not even allowed to see any part of collection that took up every dollar and minute of the mans spare time. This is all from the video snipet, the full length doc will clarify further. I cant wrap my head around the multiple 40' shipping containers he had built under/around house to hold collection, and the multiples of every key in high grades. But for what purpose, to die, while having pushed your family away, and now family get heckled for how they disburse this lifes obsession, that for decades had maybe created a hostile family dynamic?

A lawyers with aspergers contributing to compulsive accumulation, resulting in maybe the biggest find in decades. I would guess family is even underselling the value of this hoard.

[valiantman]

Counterpoint to the "sad story" that is implied by statements from the family in the video and even in this topic.

Men who decide that they cannot deal with a wife or a child abandon them all over the U.S. and around the world every minute. It's even cliché to say "he went out for a pack of cigarettes" or "he said he was going to get some milk", but what did he really do? He left to do whatever he wanted to do instead.

This man may have been driven to leave, exactly as millions of other men have, but he stayed. Distracted? Sure. Working a real job, having an obsessive hobby, but not gone. 

On 3/29/2023 at 9:45 AM, gcstomp said:

A lawyer with aspergers contributing to compulsive accumulation

Romantic intimacy, patient fatherhood, selfless in spending time with others, these are not common qualities that accompany an "obsessive focus and driven man". Is it his fault? Maybe.

Would the family have preferred a "loving husband" who came home and played catch with his son and brought flowers to his wife every week? Probably.

Would the family have preferred the man who just leaves one day and never comes back? I doubt it.

They got something in between, and millions and millions of dollars when he was gone.

It's possible he did give them everything he could, just not enough to satisfy all they wanted.