bobel

celestials

I am returning to collecting after selling big chunks of a collection in 1981 and the valuable chunks of another one in 2000? or 1999.....Have you been following me around? I buy what I like...I bought what I liked back then too. Sure, they are worth more money now but.... you know selling f plus marvels from 63-72 getting much bigger bucks than I had paid for them( most of the older stuff was free it was put out to the curb by a neighbor when they moved) seemed like a hell of a deal in 1981....By 1986 I was actively collecting again Ebaying all those X comics I had sitting in storage when that movie came out got me 2K....and I could probably buy everyone I sold back for less now( unless they were slabbed) frankly...and I probably will I sold the first time because I was too "old" for collecting and wanted cash. I sold the second because I had stopped buying and actively collecting when I got married( My wife was a succubus if I made a dollar she spent 2)) and they had just been hanging around for 7 years. Last year I had back surgery and picked up some comics while recovering. Here it is a yr later and I am full blown collecting again. I feel like Al Pacino in the Godfather 3...just when I got out they sucked me back in I am lucky in that a lot of the commons I just kept because they didnt sell in the early 80s are not so common now and I have a lot of the other X titles other than Uncanny because they just werent worth the effort of EBAYING although, they are all no better than f/vf 10-20 years in the same bag in cold/hot storage yellowed them. If I ever marry again and she doesn't like the comics well.... that's what Lawyers are for Ebay has been great for me I had one bad experience with grading but overall I bought a lot of the back issues had missed and many of those I sold from the late 80s early 90s for less than half what i would of paid at a dealer. At first i bought small lots then I started bidding on the big ones and doing the wait till there was 10 seconds left to put in my max bid( just so if their is a disreputeable dealer driving his own price up I dont get screwed as easily) I know most aren't like that but their are scam artists out there. The biggest change i have seen is the grading and having only bought stuff 85-2004 so far I didnt get burned badly. I did buy some f/vf newer books out of dealer bins w/o reallly realizing it but you know...they were 90s X men it's not like they are ever going to be rare unless California and Ny burn down. I figuire I am now up to speed enough to start buying some books that have some element of rarity rather than just high prices because of "hotness". I apprecitae the marvel stamps commnet I remeber getting burned by that now in the 80s. The nice thing about having collected and sold is I realize that the next "longshot" mini series isnt really an investment it's a speculative bubble. 15 yrs ago the books were on the wall now they are in the bargain bin. Buying and collecting what you like is the onyl way to go imo. I figuire my plan to retire at 55 is probably going to be 59 or 62 now but, damn I like collecting comics again The whole slab thing is beyond me. I don't want valuable books in a sealed peice of plastic. Hell, it might as well be a photo then. I will buy them naked and mylar them....if, I get some screwy notion to sell in 20 yrs again and slabbing is still an industry standard I can always do that. I understand that as an investment tool it's a great concept as long as no one gets greedy and corrupts the system enough to discredit it but I invest in my 401k and frankly it's had a better return than comics the last 15 yrs even with the crash...I collect comics today and hopefully my kid will be in his 70s and sell my collection for enough money to subsidize his privatized social security . If at some point I get out of collecting again it's pretty clear if a book really is high grade it's well worth the cost of slabbing it. I see what they sell for and go HOLY [#@$%!!!] ...but that's me a old newbie collector