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Grief on my collecting habits..

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tortoise

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.. and how I view it.

I get a lot of grief for the way I collect. I buy a book, decide I don't want it, and sell it (usually at a loss) a week later. I do that often. I don't really pay attention to the people who criticize me for it. Your free to collect however you want, and so am I. I enjoy the way I collect, and that's all that really matters. It ( the grief) has however, made me pause and think about what I collect, and have collected. When I first started collecting (1990) my grail of grails was "Sleepwalker 1", I had Tons of Predator books, Silver Surfer v3, and McFarlane ASM, but that Sleepwalker 1 always eluded me. My neighbor at the time had a copy of Sleepwalker 1, and we all stared at it like it was a copy of Detective comics 27. For years, I searched for a copy to no avail. I was 7 years old living in New York, so my searching capabilities were limited. To This day, I covet Sleepwalker 1(I have it now) as a personal grail.

Fast forward to today. I'm 28 living in Arizona, and the books I coveted as a child are the books I refuse to sell. My Sleepwalker 1,Predator 1-4, Batman Vs Predator, Silver Surfer v3 #50 and Amazing Spider-Man 375, are all coveted books to me.

When I became a "serious" collector Hulk became my focal point, with 340 being my grail. Eventually I would find a copy for $100. It was around Fine, I bought it for $85. and for years I would overpay for crappy books. Around 2002, I was an "adult", I understood the value of a dollar, and changed my collecting habits. I started working on ASM 1-100 Hulk 1-6 X-men 1-66. I got bored with X-men quickly, ASM wouldn't be far behind, but Hulk... Hulk eluded me. In all my years of Comic Shop hopping I hadn't seen many old Hulks. Hulk 1 became my grail.

What drives me as a Collector..? Nostalgia. Hulk 1-6 became a goal that I hadn't achieved until 2010. In 2010 in the span of a week I was able to purchase Hulk 1-6. Over the course of the next 6 months I would obtain 3 more Hulk # 1s. But I started collecting FF, and I sold all the Hulks. I quickly began to miss having Hulk 1. Prices were going up, and they were getting harder to find. Before Long FF would bore me, and I would got to TOS. 39 quickly became a favorite book of mine. for the next year, I would buy and sell, keeping very little for longer then 3 months. I upgraded my Tos 39, and started building that run before deciding I didn't really like it. Hulk was where I wanted to be. I sold off my TOS run (excluding 39) and started searching for another Hulk 1. I was able to find and purchase a 4.5. Again I find myself working on Hulk 1-6 and now TTA 59-101. But I' thoroughly enjoying it. I fully intend to sell my Hulk 1 (hopefully, sooner than later) to fund an Upgrade. But for right now I'm thrilled with my current copy.

Throughout the 22 years I've been collecting, I have owned every major silver Key, and to me that holds a lot of value. Today I own quite a few Silver Keys, but none for the sake of having. I own and buy what I like, I sell what I'm bored with. That's how I'm wired. and It's How I most thoroughly enjoy this hobby. To my knowledge there is no mandatory time limit I need to own a book before I sell it. I own it, It's mine, I'll do with it what I want. I've had sellers get angry at me for not keeping the book they sold me long enough and you know what? I'm ok with that.

-Mark (Tortoise)

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