Your Collecting 'Philosophy'... 3 3

[D2]

Often times this is a discussion I find myself looping back into with fellow collectors, even haphazardly or inadvertently, but time and time again, it's always interesting to see where people are similar and where we differ.

So I'd love to hear what your own personal collecting 'philosophies' are, if any. Maybe you don't have any, and that's your philosophy...

But I myself, have had to clearly define what it is that I deem worthy to collect, simply because if I don't, then my spending and purchasing habits will get way out of control. I'm a fat kid in the ice cream store.

Let's hear your collecting habits, rituals, reasonings, on why you specifically collect, exactly what you collect. It would also be interesting to hear what you buy that breaks that rule... and why.

[royaluglydudes]

I just collect whatever makes me happy.  It could be a cover that brings back a nice memory or one where I simply love the art, or a story that does the same.  It could be an important book at a good price where the joy of a getting a good deal and owning a significant book is what attracts me.  

I never buy anything as an investment so I'm very conservative with purchases and set fairly hard limits for my spending.

[wardevil0]

Hopefully we all collect based on what makes us happy, but for me that's based on two main factors: the direct enjoyment I feel from the item, and the feeling of accomplishment for acquiring it.  My main efforts right now are Antarctic Press comics and non-US editions.  Finding a copy of Gold Digger or Ninja High School with a print run of about 2200 from 25 years ago that has survived since then in bins and still earns a 9.6 or higher grade feels great.  It's even more exciting to find a foreign edition of an Antarctic Press comic in great condition!  There may be no better copy of this comic left in the world:

 

[MattTheDuck]

"As long as I have the sex and drugs, I can do without the rock n roll."

[Stefan_W]

On 8/2/2024 at 9:35 AM, D2 said:

Often times this is a discussion I find myself looping back into with fellow collectors, even haphazardly or inadvertently, but time and time again, it's always interesting to see where people are similar and where we differ.

So I'd love to hear what your own personal collecting 'philosophies' are, if any. Maybe you don't have any, and that's your philosophy...

But I myself, have had to clearly define what it is that I deem worthy to collect, simply because if I don't, then my spending and purchasing habits will get way out of control. I'm a fat kid in the ice cream store.

Let's hear your collecting habits, rituals, reasonings, on why you specifically collect, exactly what you collect. It would also be interesting to hear what you buy that breaks that rule... and why.

As an older fellow, the thing that always goes through my mind is "what happens if I get hit by a bus tomorrow?" or something along those lines. We are not immortal, and I care deeply about having a nest egg of different things that will help my family when I am gone. I used to just collect what I love and I still do to some degree, but at this point I always have an eye on books as investments as well. The way this plays out in my collecting is that I turn down a lot of things I find cool and I sometimes buy or trade for things that I know can be rolled easily down the road. My biggest fear is my wife will take $10 a box for comics that are worth double that each, so I spend a lot of time nowadays rolling those smaller ones into bigger graded books that can be sent to auctions for cash that amounts to at least a decent fraction of value.

Having said all of that, I still have my love for horror comics from the 70s that I grew up with and I still cling to the set of Star Wars, Teen Titans, and other titles I bought off the stand as a kid. Those ones will be with me until the day I die. 

[sevans1979]

My collecting philosophy, "Collect what brings me joy, in the best grade possible that I can afford without going into CC debit". I buy some comics just for the cover, I've been getting into Bronze age horror. Neil Adams Covers, working on a run of Wonder Woman and New Teen Titans but only issues written and/or art by George Perez. I've slowed down collecting Modern issues and my Pull file is down to about 4 titles. I get more joy out of buying older $1-$5 bin books for runs and Keys under the $500 mark. I try not to spec to much or get caught up in movie hype. I enjoy looking through bins for Weird War Tales $5 issues while everyone is going nuts over the new movie hype "key" that just came out a couple years ago. I have one of those Black BCW Boxes with all my good stuff that I told my wife is worth the most money. The rest of the collection (5,000 comics) can be bulked out when I'm gone.

[Dr. Balls]

I've always collected "things" over the course of my life. My philosophy was always to find good representations within budget mixed with personal preference of whatever it is that I collected.

As I learned more about the topic of what I was collecting, I managed to adhere to my philosophy. Starting out collecting something would be the learning process of developing the philosophy. I might end up with some junk items as I worked my way through the topic, but I tried to be a fast learner. After some time, the philosophy would emerge to help me make better choices that would lead to more enjoyment of the topic.

Right now, and I hope I don't lose interest - I collect original art. I have to really focus on my philosophy within my collecting focus (a specific era), because it's real easy for me to want to go after something I really like that resides outside my era of interest. For me and my artistic background: my philosophy for art is well-composed, well-balanced pieces. This could me a lot of things to a lot of people, but for me - I know what I like, and can effectively filter out anything I don't really want to bid or buy. I tend to look more critically at the way a piece was created, which - for me - increases the enjoyment and admiration of the artwork and artist.

With only one exception, I don't collect stories or specific characters, I mainly focus on art that falls within that philosophy. This helps, because there is a lot of stuff out there that doesn't fit the philosophy and money could easily be spent - but the philosophy keeps me from going Buy Crazy (which I had done for a few years, and now I'm staying in my lane).

[RockMyAmadeus]

On 8/2/2024 at 7:33 AM, wardevil0 said:

Hopefully we all collect based on what makes us happy, but for me that's based on two main factors: the direct enjoyment I feel from the item, and the feeling of accomplishment for acquiring it.  My main efforts right now are Antarctic Press comics and non-US editions.  Finding a copy of Gold Digger or Ninja High School with a print run of about 2200 from 25 years ago that has survived since then in bins and still earns a 9.6 or higher grade feels great.  It's even more exciting to find a foreign edition of an Antarctic Press comic in great condition!  There may be no better copy of this comic left in the world:

 

[LordRahl]

My collecting philosophy most of the time is this... 

Sigh... I need to learn to focus.

[David-Lance Roten]

Scattershot sums it up      As I get older and unwiser  I've found that nostalgia plays a much bigger role in my comic buying vs. my card buying. Comics were such a big deal to me when I was 4, 5, 6 years old. I can't go back and relive the past of my Mom or my older sisters buying me comics but I can seek out those comics now and keep those past memories alive. If that makes any sense at all.

[evilskip]

I don't even put my bookshelves in any kind of order and you want a philosophy? Ha!

[Telegan]

I only collect stuff that I find interesting and try my best not to overpay for them.  If I don't get them for the price I want, I just wait for the next one to show up.  It's rare I pay up much beyond FMV, but it's happened.  I generally only collect GA comics nowadays, but still buy SA here and there.  I'll start buying more SA once I think that market has tanked enough.  I don't put too much of my net worth into comics and don't consider them much of an investment despite the fact I hope to come out on top once the time comes to sell them.

I don't care about collecting runs or any specific artist's entire runs.  I love the Fantstic Four, but I like them because of Galactus and the cosmic-themed stories they had.  I don't really read comics much anymore - just like the cover art from yesteryear.  I pretty much focus on GA pre-code stuff, and more specifically pre-code sci-fi and pre-code horror.  I'll dabble in other stuff here and there that is pre-code, but not in those two categories, too.

As far as grades, I don't really care as long as it doesn't look like complete trash or moldy.  Unless it's a new book, probably 98% of my purchases are slabs.  I'll go for 7's, 8's, and 9's now in the SA since they've tanked.  In the GA, I'm content a lot of times with 3's and 4's, but usually go for 5's and up now.  I don't mind purple label books, if that's all I can get or if I otherwise would have no chance to buy anything "better".

Basically, I guess, I like a lot of the older stuff in mid-to-high grade and try not to go overboard with it.  But as with everything ... it depends.  But I always try not to let it get out of hand.

 

Edited August 2 by Telegan

[Ken Aldred]

I’m in the scattershot group.

I’ve never really developed beyond an arrested recollection of that sense of magic and excitement, which blew me away back when I started reading and collecting in the 70s.  To be a complete fanboy about it, all of those brilliant comic books, artists, writers, characters, the concepts realised visually which would’ve then been impossible for TV or film.  Where to look, what to focus on, when there was so much brilliant stuff available from so many different publishers?  Also, being attention deficient and easily bored, I liked, and still like, to read a wide range of material.  That’s just as applicable to collecting back issues, whatever meant the most to me; great, exciting artists, memorable stories, certain particular, significant issues, in the best presentation I could find, and afford.

Edited August 2 by Ken Aldred

[aszumilo]

My philosophy...

[ADAMANTIUM]

Nothing set in stone.

I collect and remember as I go, a budget under $500 per comic sets the tone, usually. 

1st 2nd 3rd appearances happen, sometimes due to budget only 2nd and 3rd appearances that kind of thing.

If I thought I had an idea of what drove the collection, other than thrill of the hunt obviously , it would change tomorrow

I can look back now and make some assertions, but I don't think any were in my head at the time of purchase.

[Telegan]

On 8/2/2024 at 5:47 PM, ADAMANTIUM said:

Nothing set in stone.

I collect and remember as I go, a budget under $500 per comic sets the tone, usually. 

1st 2nd 3rd appearances happen, sometimes due to budget only 2nd and 3rd appearances that kind of thing.

If I thought I had an idea of what drove the collection, other than thrill of the hunt obviously , it would change tomorrow

I can look back now and make some assertions, but I don't think any were in my head at the time of purchase.

 

A budget under $500/comic but no limit on the number of comics?  I sense trouble.   jk.

[jlafan44]

Ditto on going where the wind takes us. When I was a kid, my philosophy was "I want them all"--like collecting Pokemon. And like Pokemon, I wanted the hot titles, the trendy stuff, the death of Superman and Knightfall, the stuff that all my friends were into. But as I got older (not wiser), I realized that flipping through the pages of many modern comics didn't do much for me and that I was basically just buying comics and filing them in a sleeve and board. Running out to buy the next issue was more like a hassle than a hobby.

So, yeah, just going with whatever catches my eye or sparks a new interest. The biggest lesson I learned was that it's okay not to have a complete run, or even a complete story arc. 

[troydivision1]

For my personal collection...I made a list of what comic books I wanted then sold books to save the money for those books.
I have three or four left, but am not really in the rush to get them as I know myself well enough that I will just add more once completed.
Had to create this process because if left unchecked I would just buy whatever I wanted just for the dopamine hit.
I collect comics primarily to make the child inside me who pored over and loved comics happy.
Definitely don't read comics anymore nor know what is going on in the last 5 years for any publisher.
Ever since that shift in not being active in reading comics my 'purchases' began expanding into celebrity CGC SS; which I don't count as comics...if that makes sense.

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 8/2/2024 at 6:02 PM, Telegan said:

 

A budget under $500/comic but no limit on the number of comics?  I sense trouble.   jk.

Well, I've made 20 or so exceptions, but every "joke" has a hint of truth, so I don't doubt it too much. I'm listening though?  if you'd care to elaborate  

[jimbo_7071]

I guess I have a few basic philosophies:

1) I stick to Golden Age comics for the most part, but within GA I try to have a little of everything. I didn't have any romance books in my collection, so I went out and bought a few. I didn't have any Centaurs, so I bought one, and I intend to buy a few more and then move on to something else.

2) Keeping with the diversification theme, I want to pick up at least one comic with a cover done by each identifiable GA artist or team. For example, I didn't have an Irv Novick cover, so I bought my first one this year. That pursuit means that I'll be buying some covers drawn by artists whose work I don't especially like, but I'm O.K. with that. (I probably won't spend much on a book if I don't like the cover art.) I have a LONG way to go.

3) I don't care about first appearances; I never have. I guess I've always been more focused on the artwork. (I don't love every cover in my collection; I have been guilty of plenty of impulse buys only to say to myself afterward, "Wait a minute—I don't even like that cover. Why did I get into a bidding war and pay ten times guide for it?")

4) I care about eye appeal; I don't care about the numerical grade. I realize that grade and eye appeal often go hand in hand—but they don't always.

5) Page quality is the only thing I care about more than eye appeal. If you show me a 5.0 white, a 7.0 off-white-to-white, and a 9.0 off-white, I'll take the 5.0 white every time as long as there's no rust, tape, or resto.

6) I stick to actual comic books. I'd end up spending too much money if I started to dabble in pulps, original art, action figures, etc. (I've collected other stuff at times but not for many years.)

7) My mantra is, "There's always another book." And there is. If the bidding on a book climbs above my own assessment of the fair market value, then I let it go. (It took me a while to learn that lesson.)

Edited August 10 by jimbo_7071