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Mix/Budget For Buying

Started by Ringfinger,

20 posts in this topic

Ringfinger

Ringfinger

Posted
Posted

Just curious, we all know that moderns have no resale. We all know that wriring was better Bronze and Silver (well, maybe just my opinion). So, how do you collect? I seem to buy $120 average a month on DC only moderns. I spend little to no money on backissues. Reality is, should I consider just buying back issues and cut down my modern purchases? Why would I do that? I guess the question is, what do you buy and why? Okay, lets converse.

 

I asked this over at the E-Bay board as well.

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the blob

the blob

Posted
Posted

"We all know that wriring was better Bronze and Silver (well, maybe just my opinion)."

 

I dunno, a lot of that stuff was written at about a 5th grade level.

 

It depends on the book(s). When they bother writing a comic (as opposed to having 10 consecutive splash pages and 11 words of dialogue in an 18 page comic)I think the writing is better on most books as is the art, though there are some pretty boring generic artists out there now (as there were 20-40 years ago). [This especially applies to DC, which has so many spectacular covers, but when I open them up and look at the interior art I have absolutely no interest in continuing]

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Chi Bamm

Chi Bamm

Posted
Posted
"We all know that wriring was better Bronze and Silver (well, maybe just my opinion)."

 

I dunno, a lot of that stuff was written at about a 5th grade level.

 

It depends on the book(s). When they bother writing a comic (as opposed to having 10 consecutive splash pages and 11 words of dialogue in an 18 page comic)I think the writing is better on most books as is the art, though there are some pretty boring generic artists out there now (as there were 20-40 years ago). [This especially applies to DC, which has so many spectacular covers, but when I open them up and look at the interior art I have absolutely no interest in continuing]

 

So true about DC artists. Even the artwork for Infintite Crisis was out there, eventhough I love the guy.

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SolitaireOne

SolitaireOne

Posted
Posted

Hmmm... I spend most of my hobby-budget (not that I really have one insane.gif) on CGCs and back issue Bronze books.

 

The back issue BA books in particular are strickly for reading and recapturing my youth cloud9.gif.

 

The only Moderns that I grabbed this year were the new Moon Knight #1-5, the new Wonder Woman and the JLA relaunch to try 'em out... not bad, but we'll see from here.

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alecholland

alecholland

Posted
Posted

Personally, I've cut quite quite a few books from my pull list because I have found that I enjoy Bronze, Silver, and Golden Age books better. For me, they have a sentimental appeal that I don't get from Modern books. I like the campy and hokey dialog. It's a better form of escapism than Modern books in my opinion, which is mostly why I read comics.

 

I'm not sure about the writing being better or worse. It's different. They were written in different time periods with much different consumers in mind. Modern books are written for older people because the market is getting older and therefore many of todays books have much more mature themes. Bronze and Silver age books were written for 12 year olds and therefore read like they were written for a grade schooler. Although some of those books also dealt with some very mature themes, their target market was still much younger than it is today.

 

In answer to your question, it can't be said any better than what Beyonder said; buy what you like. I think of comics as entertainment I get to keep and enjoy over and over again. I don't worry about whether I'm making a good financial investment when I purchase a book. In my case I'm making a mental health investment to take my mind off everything else for 15-20 minutes and be entertained. The numbers of people who are going to get filthy rich off comic books are very few. The rest of us should just enjoy the great art and stories whether they are Modern books or BA, SA, or GA books.

 

Selah.

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minutekev@50

minutekev@50

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Posted

I've actually stopped collecting comics. Old and new.

 

One, there's no local comic shop around me to visit (the nearest is 45 miles away), and two, comics are just two darn expensive these days. Old and new. I'm sure if I dropped in a comic store on a whim, I'd pick up some books just to see what was going on with some of the characters I used to love (Spidey, X-Men, Batman, etc.). You know, sort of like visiting some old friends that you haven't seen in awhile.

 

However, I do like trade paperbacks. Simply, because you don't have to wait for a story to develop (as in the 32-pagers where it could take months to get to the conclusion). TPB's are also a good way to read stuff you would have liked to read that you missed. I started on Gaiman's Sandman just recently with TPBs. Collecting all the comics would have been a pain. I buy these because I enjoy reading them. Almost like buying a good book. For pleasure. Not for profit.

 

Undoubtedly, collecting back issues is where the money is. Most moderns will never see the skyrocketing prices of key Bronze, Silver or Gold issues.

 

But the thing is to just go with what you like (thine own self be true and all that jazz). I find comics from the last 20 years are so better written with great storylines. Whereas in the 60s and 70s, the art was the key to catching kids attention, I think the stories are what drives books today. Maybe because us readers of old all grew up.

 

Sure those old comics will always hold a nostalgic place in our hearts, but a Hulk "Smash" comic I may have loved as 10-year-old boy doesn't hold a candle to the writing of Miller, Moore, or Gaiman.

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Shadow

Shadow

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I'm at about 50/50 though I've been contemplating cutting down on the Moderns recently. I have to admit to buying some Moderns that I don't even read. It's usually because I don't want to stop what I started. (ie. complete the run, etc. ) But it's a "space" issue for me. The Moderns are piling up faster than I can (or desire to) record and store them. The staorage space is getting tighter. Funny thing is, 10 years ago when I started collecting again, I thought I left a ton of space for the future. The future got here faster than anticipated. 27_laughing.gif

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Karma23

Karma23

Posted
Posted

I stopped buying masses of moderns about 10 years ago and now only buy a few select titles a month. I spend the bulk of my comic budget of Silver and Bronze back issues and I couldn't be happier! My collection isn't swollen with books that I read once and forget and I am way happier with the one of two books that I pick up that I missed way back when

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Ringfinger

Ringfinger

Posted
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I like your style and would like to get to that. I am at like 30 titels of so a month, example:

 

Batman

Detective

Legends

Robin

Nightwing

All Star Batman

Superman

Action

All Star Superman

Batman/Superman

JLA

JSA

JLA Classified

JSA Classified

52

Wonder Woman

Flash

Green Lantern

Ion

Guy Gardner

Solo (Must drop this, don't really care for it)

Any Infinite Crisi Spinoff

Blue Beetle

Atom

Green Arrow

 

See the pattern, all related, all DC If I could get down to a few, I would, but those are my core favorites and yes, I do hate to break up a run as well.

 

Arghh!!

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Karma23

Karma23

Posted
Posted
It is the completionist thing in my case!!!

Oh, I understand. I had to just cut it off somewhere, except for my favorite title, The Avengers. I still buy modern Avengers related titles, BUT as far as my other favorites go, I simply focus on filling out runs from the past FF 1-100 for example, or replacing lost favorites, things like that thumbsup2.gif

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the-comic-trader

the-comic-trader

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So, how do you collect?

 

I only collect late bronze / early and late copper age. Reason you ask? ..very simple, I enjoy reading and collecting comic books from my era. I was born on Jan. 19th 1982, so I tend to collect issues from that year onward mostly. But, ..I do collect bronze as well, which is well before I was even thought of or concieved.

 

I sometimes buy Golden / Silver age comic books only for trading purposes, particularly on this board. It's not that bad when you can trade 1 or 2 gold or silvers for about 10 or more copper age stuff, ..which is what I collect.

 

As far as what copper age titles I collect, ..thats simple too, ..X-Men, GI-Joe, Alpha Flight, Avengers, Spawn, X-Factor, X-Force, Classic X-Men, Dazzler, and various 1980's on up mini-series. thumbsup2.gif

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