Collection Cuts 1 1

[ConcreteMob181]

Looking for advice from folks who have successfully pared down their collections. I have typically been very good at this, only keeping runs that I plan to reread or which have historical value. Goal is to keep collection around 5K. But since I collect runs, and not single issues, those numbers are getting harder to maintain. Welcome any metrics, thoughts, etc. fully understanding that there are limits when you only collect runs. Thanks!

[Robot Man]

Maybe trim down your runs a bit. Instead of collecting ASM 1-present, collect 1-100 for example. Or even better, realize that you are merely just storing a lot of books that really don’t mean all that much.

I broke the long run habit many years ago and just kept the stuff I like the most. Trouble is, there is a lot of stuff I like…

[stormflora]

It's easier (and more budget friendly) to focus on series that do not have more than a few hundred issues at most. And it's best to focus on series that you have a deep emotional attachment to, not just something that seems interesting at the immediate moment because of a nice cover but you have never really delved into before. Going with lower grade comics helps reduce financial strain as well, and makes it psychologically easier to read a comic without being too careful about maintaining its value.

Some of the older superhero comic series have run for hundreds to thousands of issues, many of which are expensive key issues most people would never be able to afford if they aren't filthy rich. So the sooner you realize that you're guaranteed to have gaps, the sooner you'll know to be more realistic with your expectations. Of course, low grade or reprints will help fill those gaps.

I recently started up a Chip 'n' Dale collection (on Oct. 13, although I had two issues to start with beforehand) and finally finished it today. Every issue from every imprint (excluding foreign variants). It wasn't easy and involved a lot of haggling and bundling comics to maintain a healthy average cost per issue. I knew right from the get-go how many issues it would be in total. I initially started with the Gold Key imprint, but realized later on that the other imprints had original content that the GK one did not, so I expanded to those as well. A grand total of 140 issues. Some of them are still coming in the mail, but I plan to take photos and showcase the collection once they are all in my hand. And then I plan to press each and every one of them and perform some restorations.

In the meanwhile, due to having to average down the cost, I also started collecting Tom & Jerry issues as well. But that's going to be far more daunting, due to the greater issue count as well as the first imprints being insanely rare. It's going to be a longer journey and will involve a heavier investment. But my wife and I both love T&J, so it's not going to be collecting dust on a shelf. Our daughter will eventually read these comics as well.

I would say that if you have outgrown some series, sell it as a collection lot.

[ConcreteMob181]

On 11/21/2023 at 8:10 PM, Robot Man said:

Maybe trim down your runs a bit. Instead of collecting ASM 1-present, collect 1-100 for example. Or even better, realize that you are merely just storing a lot of books that really don’t mean all that much.

I broke the long run habit many years ago and just kept the stuff I like the most. Trouble is, there is a lot of stuff I like…

That's good advice. I have mostly cut my character runs down to creator runs. So, instead of all of Fantastic Four I have the best part of the Kirby/Lee (IMO) run, the Byrne run, the Waid run, and the Hickman run. The only full character run I may have left is Hellblazer but admittedly there are some pretty long creator runs such as Peter David's Hulk and Chris Claremont's X-Men that I could give a second look to. The problem with cutting the creator runs is that while I like having the whole run I also read all my post-Silver books in single issues. In other words, with a couple of exceptions, I don't have any of this stuff in trade. While this gives some folks watching me flip through a Giant Size X-Men #1 or an Iron Man #55 a kitten attack, I like reading the single issues, looking at the adds, the original paper, etc. and wouldn't be too stoked to suddenly replace all that with hardcovers. But definitely some things to think about. Thanks!

[ConcreteMob181]

On 11/21/2023 at 8:30 PM, stormflora said:

It's easier (and more budget friendly) to focus on series that do not have more than a few hundred issues at most. And it's best to focus on series that you have a deep emotional attachment to, not just something that seems interesting at the immediate moment because of a nice cover but you have never really delved into before. Going with lower grade comics helps reduce financial strain as well, and makes it psychologically easier to read a comic without being too careful about maintaining its value.

Some of the older superhero comic series have run for hundreds to thousands of issues, many of which are expensive key issues most people would never be able to afford if they aren't filthy rich. So the sooner you realize that you're guaranteed to have gaps, the sooner you'll know to be more realistic with your expectations. Of course, low grade or reprints will help fill those gaps.

I recently started up a Chip 'n' Dale collection (on Oct. 13, although I had two issues to start with beforehand) and finally finished it today. Every issue from every imprint (excluding foreign variants). It wasn't easy and involved a lot of haggling and bundling comics to maintain a healthy average cost per issue. I knew right from the get-go how many issues it would be in total. I initially started with the Gold Key imprint, but realized later on that the other imprints had original content that the GK one did not, so I expanded to those as well. A grand total of 140 issues. Some of them are still coming in the mail, but I plan to take photos and showcase the collection once they are all in my hand. And then I plan to press each and every one of them and perform some restorations.

In the meanwhile, due to having to average down the cost, I also started collecting Tom & Jerry issues as well. But that's going to be far more daunting, due to the greater issue count as well as the first imprints being insanely rare. It's going to be a longer journey and will involve a heavier investment. But my wife and I both love T&J, so it's not going to be collecting dust on a shelf. Our daughter will eventually read these comics as well.

I would say that if you have outgrown some series, sell it as a collection lot.

More great advice. As I mentioned in the previous post, a few of my runs are quite long, even if they are mostly creator, rather than character runs. As you mentioned, I do try to only keep the runs that I love and/or runs that have historical/cultural value. Thanks for sharing your experiences with Chip n'Dale and Tom & Jerry. I think it's helped me realize that while I have done a pretty good job of cutting down my collection in the past (I have sold far more books than I currently own), there is still a decent amount of fat. In other words, I still have all the runs I love but I also probably have a few I just like. And I'm not sure I need to keep the ones I just like for the sake of being a completionist. I may go through my collection spreadsheet and start to make that distinction. I'm guessing I can find 500 plus books to trim. Thanks!

[stormflora]

On 11/27/2023 at 9:53 PM, ConcreteMob181 said:

More great advice. As I mentioned in the previous post, a few of my runs are quite long, even if they are mostly creator, rather than character runs. As you mentioned, I do try to only keep the runs that I love and/or runs that have historical/cultural value. Thanks for sharing your experiences with Chip n'Dale and Tom & Jerry. I think it's helped me realize that while I have done a pretty good job of cutting down my collection in the past (I have sold far more books than I currently own), there is still a decent amount of fat. In other words, I still have all the runs I love but I also probably have a few I just like. And I'm not sure I need to keep the ones I just like for the sake of being a completionist. I may go through my collection spreadsheet and start to make that distinction. I'm guessing I can find 500 plus books to trim. Thanks!

The good part about cutting down the fat is that the money you make in doing so can be put towards filling more gaps of your main series  

[jjonahjameson11]

As a run collector, I think you’re part of a dying breed for various reasons: hop on/off points in a run, too costly, too many issues to collect, etc.

might want to change your mindset a bit by keeping only the keys and selling off the non-keys.  Should have enough money to purchase anything you want to read via affordable TPB reprints 

[sd2416]

About to start this myself. My thinking is I want to keep my ASM run.  Gotta cut Spectacular Spider-Man.  Want to keep Uncanny Xmen/Xmen run?  Gotta cut Xfactor, Xforce.  Want to keep Batman and Detective run?  Got to cut all the ancillary Batman titles. Etc, etc, etc.  Of course, keeping any keys from the cut runs.  

[D2]

If you are a run collector, I highly suggest you shift into: Omnibuses

Then, buy high grade CGC copies of your favourite issue(s) as celebration copies of stories you love. 

This will: 
A) Keep your budget manageable 
B) Allow for more run collecting
C) Simplify selling if/when it comes time. 

You will densify your collection to its purest sense. 

[shadroch]

Buy a bigger house. 

[D2]

[Robot Man]

On 11/27/2023 at 6:46 PM, ConcreteMob181 said:

That's good advice. I have mostly cut my character runs down to creator runs. So, instead of all of Fantastic Four I have the best part of the Kirby/Lee (IMO) run, the Byrne run, the Waid run, and the Hickman run. The only full character run I may have left is Hellblazer but admittedly there are some pretty long creator runs such as Peter David's Hulk and Chris Claremont's X-Men that I could give a second look to. The problem with cutting the creator runs is that while I like having the whole run I also read all my post-Silver books in single issues. In other words, with a couple of exceptions, I don't have any of this stuff in trade. While this gives some folks watching me flip through a Giant Size X-Men #1 or an Iron Man #55 a kitten attack, I like reading the single issues, looking at the adds, the original paper, etc. and wouldn't be too stoked to suddenly replace all that with hardcovers. But definitely some things to think about. Thanks!

I can dig it. I collect PCH and ECs. Even though most of them can be read online or reprints, there is nothing like reading and carefully handling originals. 

[Robot Man]

On 11/28/2023 at 7:50 AM, D2 said:

Great until it rains… 

[D2]

On 11/28/2023 at 10:54 AM, Robot Man said:

Great until it rains… 

True! Comic integrity in jeopardy 

[MattTheDuck]

On 11/28/2023 at 7:50 AM, D2 said:

Is this another Dylan product?

[KirbyJack]

You and i collect very similarly. Before our move, I went from 2 pallets of long boxes to this.

 
Very happy with it. We both collect along creator lines and use the “am I ever going to reread this” razor to trim down, so all I can recommend is that you raise your limit.  

[stormflora]

On 11/28/2023 at 11:49 AM, KirbyJack said:

You and i collect very similarly. Before our move, I went from 2 pallets of long boxes to this.

 
Very happy with it. We both collect along creator lines and use the “am I ever going to reread this” razor to trim down, so all I can recommend is that you raise your limit.  

Those three boxes and gap that are unlike the rest... xP

Also...

 

[Dr. Balls]

On 11/28/2023 at 8:33 AM, D2 said:

If you are a run collector, I highly suggest you shift into: Omnibuses

Then, buy high grade CGC copies of your favourite issue(s) as celebration copies of stories you love. 

This will: 
A) Keep your budget manageable 
B) Allow for more run collecting
C) Simplify selling if/when it comes time. 

You will densify your collection to its purest sense. 

I'd say pretty much this. I've pared down my collection several times over the past decades, and each time my run collections got smaller and smaller. I'm stuck in the middle of having a huge digital collection, but it's always hard to remind myself to load them onto my iPad - which is where omnibuses would be really handy.

As a person who has had to get rid of lots of runs, it comes down to this: if you want to get rid of them, sell them cheap. If you're hung up on losing money on them, prepare to store them for awhile. Either philosophy is fine, I tend to be more of the former - because I like to have a small, concise collection and sometime I take it in the slats on resale. But, I'm ok with that.

[stormflora]

On 11/28/2023 at 2:06 PM, Dr. Balls said:

I'd say pretty much this. I've pared down my collection several times over the past decades, and each time my run collections got smaller and smaller. I'm stuck in the middle of having a huge digital collection, but it's always hard to remind myself to load them onto my iPad - which is where omnibuses would be really handy.

As a person who has had to get rid of lots of runs, it comes down to this: if you want to get rid of them, sell them cheap. If you're hung up on losing money on them, prepare to store them for awhile. Either philosophy is fine, I tend to be more of the former - because I like to have a small, concise collection and sometime I take it in the slats on resale. But, I'm ok with that.

It all boils down to how patient you are. Even if some comics may have intrinsic value, urgency can weigh on profitability. A comic issue could be worth $100, but as the adage goes, it's only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it. So either you wait a month, a year, or a decade for someone to bite, or you settle for less.

It's easier if you're running a business with plenty of storage space as well as a long-time horizon, but it is much more difficult if you're an average joe without much cash to use.

I personally go for runs, but only because the series that I'm interested in (cartoon characters) are relatively accessible and wouldn't break the bank to collect.

[lizards2]

I've regretted everything I've ever sold.  

Except for Cerebus - I got out at the right time on that dumpster fire.