Have you ever seen several KEY issues of various comic titles and just go bananas and say, "I have to have these books," when you know you already have sets you started working on, but never completed? Well if you are like most hard-core CGC Comic Collectors, such as myself, you probably have!

What I have learned is that this behavior is strictly impulsive, and can sometimes impair our good judgement!

I grew up collecting primarily Wolverine (1988) comics and secondly Amazing Spider-Man comics. Although Wolverine has always been and always will remain my favorite character, I couldn't help but to get into buying Amazing Spider-Man comics - especially because I personally feel that they contain the BEST VILLAINS in the entire Marvel Universe!

Just look at all the silver age ASM gems that depict Spider-Man VS a Villain on the front cover! They made Spider-Man look like the champion superhero as they advertised & promoted those early issues like a prized boxing match!!

Anyway, if we fast-forward into my adult years - primarily my early 30's, as I just recently got into collecting CGC comics, this passion, or "impulse" ... compelled me to buy certain comics at random, sometimes when I really couldn't afford it! I had the collector's "itch," which meant that I saw an opportunity and I did not want another collector to grab ahold of the book-I needed to have it!

With this in mind, I began my CGC collection by attaining a few 9.8 graded books of Wolverine Limited Series (1982). Since I was always a Wolverine fan first, I thought this would be a good set to begin with, as there are only four (4) issues with one (1) Trade Paperback to complete the set. Great! After gaining some momentum, I continued to expand my FOCUS on collecting Wolverine books, so I branched out my search engines towards finding several KEY Wolverine (1988) books of a 222 book set! It was going pretty good at first, but then, the Amazing Spider-Man threw me off course! ()

So now I purchased 9.8 copies of ASM #298, #299, and #301! Then I purchased a 9.6 copy of issue #300! Then bought 9.8 copies of issues #200 and #361! I even purchased "two" raw copies of ASM #129 off of eBay; one I acquired for $345.00 and the other for $811.00. I submitted them into the CGC for grading, and the $345.00 copy received a Universal 6.0 and the $811.00 copy received a Universal 8.5. WOW! Now I am like $2,000.00 into ASM comics that I never planned on purchasing!! IMPULSES got the best of me!!

It came to a point where I had to really sit back and evaluate my collecting goals, the buying patterns - or lack thereof, and devise a realistic financial plan in attaining these collecting goals. I had to be honest with myself, as much as I loved my new ASM CGC collection, my real goal was to focus on assembling one of the strongest Wolverine collections, with the future potential of being one of the best in the world! This is a lofty goal to say the least!

From this point on, I made some decisions. So the first one was to start working on the Incredible Hulk #180 - #182 set, because you cannot possibly have one of the best Wolverine colletions if you do not own any of these Bronze Age classics! So what I managed to do, was make a CGC Comic Trade Agreement with another seller on eBay. He had a copy of Incredible Hulk #182 CGC 9.8 with White Pages (see attached below) for sale and boy I REALLY WANTED THAT GEM! So I reached out to him, we made a deal that was also in "writing" in the form of a contractual agreement, and I traded both of my ASM #129 books (the 6.0 and the 8.5) for the Incredible Hulk #182 CGC 9.8 with White Pages! YES! I was ecstatic that I got myself back on track with my collecting focus, and just attained the highest graded copy of that KEY issue with white pages, without paying with any cash!! It was a tremendous collecting accomplishment and "come back!"

I also ended up selling the majority of my ASM books on eBay, along with several other Wolverine books not used in my competitive sets, and generated all my money I previously invested in the ASM books and more!

I continued my collecting focus, and the result is that I am currently ranked #1 for the Wolverine Limited Series (1982) set and currently ranked #6 for the Wolverine (1988) set! In addition, I am in the process of paying off the only 9.8 pedigree copy of Incredible Hulk #180 in existence! So my collecting FOCUS has been shifted in the right direction, and once I am thoroughly finished with completing and achieving the highest possible rank in the following sets:

Incredible Hulk #180-#182 (Wolverine)

Wolverine Limited Series (1982)

Wolverine (1988)

THEN, I will entertain the thoughts of investing in some KEY ASM books! I won't have to meander in different directions this time! HAVING A CLEAR, FOCUSED APPROACH TO COLLECTING CGC COMPETITIVE COMICS MAKES LIFE EASIER & RELIEVES THE ANXIETY OF FEELING PRESSURE TO ACQUIRE EVERY BOOK THAT APPEARS ON THE MARKET THAT YOU DESIRE!

With that said, there is no stopping me now!! Watch out for Professor Pecora in the coming months and years!

I know I blessed someone with this Journal Entry!

Thanks for reading! :-) I plan to write on a more consistent basis, so look for more journal postings in the near future!

HAPPY COLLECTING!

-Professor Pecora

To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.