Post by G on Jul 24, 2010 13:33:00 GMT -5
Like many of you, I have been collecting a long time. For me, it's been on and off since 1978. Although I'm sure a lot of you can blow this away, in my 32 years of collecting I've amassed I would guess around 7,000 comics. Those comics take up a LOT of room in one room in my house. Anytime anyone comes over and see's my collection for the 1st time is simply blown away I have so many comics. Its an instant conversation starter when they see it. As much as it is hard to keep neat and organized (I have all but the ones not filed in Alpha-numeric order), I do feel a bit of pride of the collection as a whole. It's typically not something one gets over night unless all you did is buy in bulk. For the most part, my collection was obtained one piece at a time.
My collecting over the years has certainly changed. Originally I was like any other kid collecting comics. A reader who along with my friends read stories and traded books. Back then I collected favorite series one after another.
In the 90s, I feel lucky enough to have been apart of the speculator boom well before most of the other speculators caught on and basically ruined the fun. In those days, I collected for resale value. I was looking for quick flips and often found them and exploited their value fast. But of course there was a lot of flops along the way too. When the speculation boom was over, I tried returning to being a reader collector. When I was hit with financial hardship, I got out altogether for a few more years.
During the past decade I think of myself a lot more as a collector than a reader although I still actively collect some new books and read them to try and have an idea of what is going on. My search for comics is more to gather worthy pieces to strengthen my overall collection. I'm typically looking for real collectibles. Even if they are minor, they are indeed collectibles. They have their own distinction of worth in some way. That is pretty much what I try and do today.
It's hard for me to admit to myself but I could probably easily rid myself of half my collection and still be just about as strong as without the other half. Half my collection I think I have a lot of great books. The other half is just the same junk most of us end up with. Misfires and overproduced bunk that a lot of us got suckered into when the hype was big during it's heyday only to be worthless trash today.
I hear of a lot of guys weeding out their collections and skimming it down to only their pride and joys and essentials. And while I have a time or two tried to sell away my crappier books, I tend to not want to give it away. Over the years I've seen more than a few crap books during its time obtain minor to moderate values years later. While I'm sure most books will remain just as worthless, you never really know what books will catch on again and what future catalyst will make people look back for the old books.
However in this day and age of dwindling readers and collectors, will anything ever really be valuable again if it's not already?
Thus the thread here. Is it just plain wrong and selfish to hold onto ALL your comics whether valuable or not? Like I said, I'd sell them for a respectable price (yes, an honest price, not pie in the sky prices) if I could find a buyer, but honestly some stuff there just isn't hardly a buyer for this kind of stuff unless you practically give it away. And I know people do give lots of their less desirable crap away but I personally cannot bring myself to do it. If it was to bring someone into collecting, sure....I'd do my part. But I'm not going to grant them hundreds of books at a time because I feel charitable. I just tend to feel even my least desirable books are part of MY collection and I just feel too selfish to give LOTS of books away.
So the question is, is it wrong to hoard your collection even though half of it has no real value? Should you realistically be looking to rid yourself of the excess or is it perfectly alright to keep your collection together no matter how big both the good and bad collections are because dammit, their yours!
I'd like to hear others thoughts on dealing with their own huge collections. Do you envision or even practice selling for next to nothing or just plain giving it away or are you perfectly content to leave what you have together and damn what anyone else thinks because they are yours?
My collecting over the years has certainly changed. Originally I was like any other kid collecting comics. A reader who along with my friends read stories and traded books. Back then I collected favorite series one after another.
In the 90s, I feel lucky enough to have been apart of the speculator boom well before most of the other speculators caught on and basically ruined the fun. In those days, I collected for resale value. I was looking for quick flips and often found them and exploited their value fast. But of course there was a lot of flops along the way too. When the speculation boom was over, I tried returning to being a reader collector. When I was hit with financial hardship, I got out altogether for a few more years.
During the past decade I think of myself a lot more as a collector than a reader although I still actively collect some new books and read them to try and have an idea of what is going on. My search for comics is more to gather worthy pieces to strengthen my overall collection. I'm typically looking for real collectibles. Even if they are minor, they are indeed collectibles. They have their own distinction of worth in some way. That is pretty much what I try and do today.
It's hard for me to admit to myself but I could probably easily rid myself of half my collection and still be just about as strong as without the other half. Half my collection I think I have a lot of great books. The other half is just the same junk most of us end up with. Misfires and overproduced bunk that a lot of us got suckered into when the hype was big during it's heyday only to be worthless trash today.
I hear of a lot of guys weeding out their collections and skimming it down to only their pride and joys and essentials. And while I have a time or two tried to sell away my crappier books, I tend to not want to give it away. Over the years I've seen more than a few crap books during its time obtain minor to moderate values years later. While I'm sure most books will remain just as worthless, you never really know what books will catch on again and what future catalyst will make people look back for the old books.
However in this day and age of dwindling readers and collectors, will anything ever really be valuable again if it's not already?
Thus the thread here. Is it just plain wrong and selfish to hold onto ALL your comics whether valuable or not? Like I said, I'd sell them for a respectable price (yes, an honest price, not pie in the sky prices) if I could find a buyer, but honestly some stuff there just isn't hardly a buyer for this kind of stuff unless you practically give it away. And I know people do give lots of their less desirable crap away but I personally cannot bring myself to do it. If it was to bring someone into collecting, sure....I'd do my part. But I'm not going to grant them hundreds of books at a time because I feel charitable. I just tend to feel even my least desirable books are part of MY collection and I just feel too selfish to give LOTS of books away.
So the question is, is it wrong to hoard your collection even though half of it has no real value? Should you realistically be looking to rid yourself of the excess or is it perfectly alright to keep your collection together no matter how big both the good and bad collections are because dammit, their yours!
I'd like to hear others thoughts on dealing with their own huge collections. Do you envision or even practice selling for next to nothing or just plain giving it away or are you perfectly content to leave what you have together and damn what anyone else thinks because they are yours?
